Inkjet printing of aligned single-walled carbon-nanotube thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takagi, Yuki; Nobusa, Yuki; Gocho, Shota; Kudou, Hikaru; Yanagi, Kazuhiro; Kataura, Hiromichi; Takenobu, Taishi

2013-04-01

We report a method for the inkjet printing of aligned single-walled carbon-nanotube (SWCNT) films by combining inkjet technology with the strong wettability contrast between hydrophobic and hydrophilic areas based on the patterning of self-assembled monolayers. Both the drying process control using the strong wettability boundary and the coffee-stain effect strongly promote the aggregation of SWCNTs along the contact line of a SWCNT ink droplet, thereby demonstrating our achievement of inkjet-printed aligned SWCNT films. This method could open routes for developing high-performance and environmentally friendly SWCNT printed electronics.

3-Dimensional Microstructure of Al-Al3Ti Alloy Severely Deformed by ECAP

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sato, Hisashi; Hishikawa, Takahisa; Makino, Yuuki; Kunimine, Takahiro; Watanabe, Yoshimi

Microstructure of Al-Al3Ti alloy deformed by Equal-Channel-Angular Pressing (ECAP) is 3-dimensionally investigated. Especially, distribution of Al3Ti particles is focused in this study. The Al-Al3Ti alloy has coarse Al3Ti platelet particles in α-Al matrix. When the Al-Al3Ti alloy is deformed by ECAP under route A, fine Al3Ti platelet particles are observed. These Al3Ti platelet particles are aligned along to deformation axis, and its plane normal is perpendicular to the deformation axis. On the other hand, Al-Al3Ti alloy ECAPed under route Bc forms several groups consisted of fine Al3Ti platelet particles. Moreover, longitudinal size of the Al3Ti particle groups is close to that of initial Al3Ti particles with 4-pass ECAP specimen. These distribution behaviors of the Al3Ti particle can be explained by plastic flow of α-Al matrix. Finally, it is concluded that distribution of Al3Ti particle in Al-Al3Ti alloy by ECAP is controlled by plastic deformation of α-Al matrix.

Rock billboards on the basaltic cliff along the Route 66 ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

Rock billboards on the basaltic cliff along the Route 66 alignment, ca. 1926. The sign on the left is for "La Bajada Service Shop" (faint "da" visible), "Santa Fe Camp" in the center, and a petroglyph at far right. View facing northwest. - La Bajada Historic Trails and Roads, Approximately 1 mile East/Northeast of intersection of State Highway 16 and Indian Service Road 841, La Bajada, Santa Fe County, NM

In-situ poling and structurization of piezoelectric particulate composites.

PubMed

Khanbareh, H; van der Zwaag, S; Groen, W A

2017-11-01

Composites of lead zirconate titanate particles in an epoxy matrix are prepared in the form of 0-3 and quasi 1-3 with different ceramic volume contents from 10% to 50%. Two different processing routes are tested. Firstly a conventional dielectrophoretic structuring is used to induce a chain-like particle configuration, followed by curing the matrix and poling at a high temperature and under a high voltage. Secondly a simultaneous combination of dielectrophoresis and poling is applied at room temperature while the polymer is in the liquid state followed by subsequent curing. This new processing route is practiced in an uncured thermoset system while the polymer matrix still possess a relatively high electrical conductivity. Composites with different degrees of alignment are produced by altering the magnitude of the applied electric field. A significant improvement in piezoelectric properties of quasi 1-3 composites can be achieved by a combination of dielectrophoretic alignment of the ceramic particles and poling process. It has been observed that the degree of structuring as well as the functional properties of the in-situ structured and poled composites enhance significantly compared to those of the conventionally manufactured structured composites. Improving the alignment quality enhances the piezoelectric properties of the particulate composites.

Instability mechanisms and transition scenarios of spiral turbulence in Taylor-Couette flow.

PubMed

Meseguer, Alvaro; Mellibovsky, Fernando; Avila, Marc; Marques, Francisco

2009-10-01

Alternating laminar and turbulent helical bands appearing in shear flows between counterrotating cylinders are accurately computed and the near-wall instability phenomena responsible for their generation identified. The computations show that this intermittent regime can only exist within large domains and that its spiral coherence is not dictated by endwall boundary conditions. A supercritical transition route, consisting of a progressive helical alignment of localized turbulent spots, is carefully studied. Subcritical routes disconnected from secondary laminar flows have also been identified.

77 FR 37653 - Utility Scale Wind Towers From the People's Republic of China: Alignment of Final Countervailing...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-22

... From the People's Republic of China: Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty Determination With Final... People's Republic of China (PRC) with the final determination in the companion antidumping duty (AD..., 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20230; telephone: 202-482-4793 and 202-482-1503...

High-harmonic spectroscopy of aligned molecules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yun, Hyeok; Yun, Sang Jae; Lee, Gae Hwang; Nam, Chang Hee

2017-01-01

High harmonics emitted from aligned molecules driven by intense femtosecond laser pulses provide the opportunity to explore the structural information of molecules. The field-free molecular alignment technique is an expedient tool for investigating the structural characteristics of linear molecules. The underlying physics of field-free alignment, showing the characteristic revival structure specific to molecular species, is clearly explained from the quantum-phase analysis of molecular rotational states. The anisotropic nature of molecules is shown from the harmonic polarization measurement performed with spatial interferometry. The multi-orbital characteristics of molecules are investigated using high-harmonic spectroscopy, applied to molecules of N2 and CO2. In the latter case the two-dimensional high-harmonic spectroscopy, implemented using a two-color laser field, is applied to distinguish harmonics from different orbitals. Molecular high-harmonic spectroscopy will open a new route to investigate ultrafast dynamics of molecules.

Route disruption analysis : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-01-01

The objective of this project is to analyze the major highway routes in and through Kentucky to determine the potential liabilities associated with disruption of these routes. The analysis assesses the availability of convenient by-pass routes and th...

Highly aligned arrays of high aspect ratio barium titanate nanowires via hydrothermal synthesis

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

Bowland, Christopher C.; Zhou, Zhi; Malakooti, Mohammad H.

2015-06-01

We report on the development of a hydrothermal synthesis procedure that results in the growth of highly aligned arrays of high aspect ratio barium titanate nanowires. Using a multiple step, scalable hydrothermal reaction, a textured titanium dioxide film is deposited on titanium foil upon which highly aligned nanowires are grown via homoepitaxy and converted to barium titanate. Scanning electron microscope images clearly illustrate the effect the textured film has on the degree of orientation of the nanowires. The alignment of nanowires is quantified by calculating the Herman's Orientation Factor, which reveals a 58% improvement in orientation as compared to growthmore » in the absence of the textured film. The ferroelectric properties of barium titanate combined with the development of this scalable growth procedure provide a powerful route towards increasing the efficiency and performance of nanowire-based devices in future real-world applications such as sensing and power harvesting.« less

Laser-assisted simultaneous transfer and patterning of vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays on polymer substrates for flexible devices.

PubMed

In, Jung Bin; Lee, Daeho; Fornasiero, Francesco; Noy, Aleksandr; Grigoropoulos, Costas P

2012-09-25

We demonstrate a laser-assisted dry transfer technique for assembling patterns of vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays on a flexible polymeric substrate. A laser beam is applied to the interface of a nanotube array and a polycarbonate sheet in contact with one another. The absorbed laser heat promotes nanotube adhesion to the polymer in the irradiated regions and enables selective pattern transfer. A combination of the thermal transfer mechanism with rapid direct writing capability of focused laser beam irradiation allows us to achieve simultaneous material transfer and direct micropatterning in a single processing step. Furthermore, we demonstrate that malleability of the nanotube arrays transferred onto a flexible substrate enables post-transfer tailoring of electric conductance by collapsing the aligned nanotubes in different directions. This work suggests that the laser-assisted transfer technique provides an efficient route to using vertically aligned nanotubes as conductive elements in flexible device applications.

75 FR 68022 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on Proposed Highway in Illinois

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-04

... Crossing over the Fox River between Illinois Route 31 and Illinois Route 25 in Kane County, Illinois. Those... trail across the Fox River from Illinois Route 31 (IL 31) to Illinois Route 25 (IL 25); a distance of 0...

76 FR 37261 - Establishment of Helicopter Area Navigation (RNAV) Routes; Northeast United States

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-27

...; Northeast United States AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY...) structure and designates two helicopter RNAV routes (TK-routes) in the northeast corridor between the... Register a notice of proposed rulemaking to establish two helicopter RNAV routes in Northeast United States...

Integration of multimodal transportation services : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-03-08

Flexible route paratransit services may complement as well as compete with conventional public transportation services (that : have fixed routes and schedules). Flexible routes are especially suitable for service areas or time periods with low demand...

Improved alignment evaluation and optimization : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-09-11

This report outlines the development of an enhanced highway alignment evaluation and optimization : model. A GIS-based software tool is prepared for alignment optimization that uses genetic algorithms for : optimal search. The software is capable of ...

Nonequilibrium Synthesis of Highly Porous Single-Crystalline Oxide Nanostructures

DOE PAGES

Lee, Dongkyu; Gao, Xiang; Fan, Lisha; ...

2017-01-20

A novel synthesis route to the formation of vertically aligned single–crystalline oxide nanostructures is found by precisely controlling the nonequilibrium pulsed laser deposition process. Here, the columnar nanostructures with deep crevices offering a large surface area are generated owing to the diffusion limited geometric shadowing effect.

The high-speed sliding friction of graphene and novel routes to persistent superlubricity

PubMed Central

Liu, Yilun; Grey, François; Zheng, Quanshui

2014-01-01

Recent experiments on microscopic graphite mesas demonstrate reproducible high-speed microscale superlubricity, even under ambient conditions. Here, we explore the same phenomenon on the nanoscale, by studying a graphene flake sliding on a graphite substrate, using molecular dynamics. We show that superlubricity is punctuated by high-friction transients as the flake rotates through successive crystallographic alignments with the substrate. Further, we introduce two novel routes to suppress frictional scattering and achieve persistent superlubricity. We use graphitic nanoribbons to eliminate frictional scattering by constraining the flake rotation, an approach we call frictional waveguides. We can also effectively suppress frictional scattering by biaxial stretching of the graphitic substrate. These new routes to persistent superlubricity at the nanoscale may guide the design of ultra-low dissipation nanomechanical devices. PMID:24786521

Self-assembled vertically aligned Au nanorod arrays for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of Cannabinol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Milliken, Sarah; Fraser, Jeff; Poirier, Shawn; Hulse, John; Tay, Li-Lin

2018-05-01

Self-assembled multi-layered vertically aligned gold nanorod (AuNR) arrays have been fabricated by a simple preparation process that requires a balance between the particle concentration and the ionic strength of the solvent. An experimentally determined critical AuNR concentration of 2.0 nM and 50 mM NaCl produces well-ordered vertically aligned hexagonally close-packed AuNR arrays. We demonstrate surface treatment via UV Ozone cleaning of such samples to allow introduction of analyte molecules (benzenethiol and cannabinol) for effective surface enhanced Raman scattering detection. This is the first demonstration of the SERS analysis of cannabinol. This approach demonstrates a cost-effective, high-yield and simple fabrication route to SERS sensors with application in the screening for the cannabinoids.

Preliminary access routes and cost study analyses for seven potentially acceptable salt sites: Final report, October 1984

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

Not Available

1987-02-01

This report analyzes highway and railroad access to seven potentially acceptable salt repository sites: Richton Dome and Cypress Creek Dome in Mississippi, Vacherie Dome in Louisiana, Swisher County and Deaf Smith County in Texas, and Davis Canyon and Lavender Canyon in utah. The objectives of the study were to investigate the routing of reasonable access corridors to the sites, describe major characteristics of each route, and estimate the costs for constructing or upgrading highways and railroads. The routes used in the analysis are not necessarily recommended or preferred over other routes, nor do they represent an implied final selection. Detailedmore » engineering studies must be performed for the Davis Canyon and Lavender Canyon highway access before the analyzed routes can be considered to be viable. 20 refs., 7 figs., 3 tabs.« less

Theoretical studies on lattice-oriented growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes on sapphire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Zhengwei; Meng, Xianhong; Xiao, Jianliang

2017-09-01

Due to their excellent mechanical and electrical properties, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) can find broad applications in many areas, such as field-effect transistors, logic circuits, sensors and flexible electronics. High-density, horizontally aligned arrays of SWNTs are essential for high performance electronics. Many experimental studies have demonstrated that chemical vapor deposition growth of nanotubes on crystalline substrates such as sapphire offers a promising route to achieve such dense, perfectly aligned arrays. In this work, a theoretical study is performed to quantitatively understand the van der Waals interactions between SWNTs and sapphire substrates. The energetically preferred alignment directions of SWNTs on A-, R- and M-planes and the random alignment on the C-plane predicted by this study are all in good agreement with experiments. It is also shown that smaller SWNTs have better alignment than larger SWNTs due to their stronger interaction with sapphire substrate. The strong vdW interactions along preferred alignment directions can be intuitively explained by the nanoscale ‘grooves’ formed by atomic lattice structures on the surface of sapphire. This study provides important insights to the controlled growth of nanotubes and potentially other nanomaterials.

75 FR 29652 - Amendment of Area Navigation Route Q-15; California

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-27

...-0028; Airspace Docket No. 10-AWP-1] Amendment of Area Navigation Route Q-15; California AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This action amends Area Navigation Route Q... Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to amend Area Navigation Route Q- 15 in California (75 FR...

Routes for GMR-Sensor Design in Non-Destructive Testing

PubMed Central

Pelkner, Matthias; Neubauer, Andreas; Reimund, Verena; Kreutzbruck, Marc; Schütze, Andreas

2012-01-01

GMR sensors are widely used in many industrial segments such as information technology, automotive, automation and production, and safety applications. Each area requires an adaption of the sensor arrangement in terms of size adaption and alignment with respect to the field source involved. This paper deals with an analysis of geometric sensor parameters and the arrangement of GMR sensors providing a design roadmap for non-destructive testing (NDT) applications. For this purpose we use an analytical model simulating the magnetic flux leakage (MFL) distribution of surface breaking defects and investigate the flux leakage signal as a function of various sensor parameters. Our calculations show both the influence of sensor length and height and that when detecting the magnetic flux leakage of μm sized defects a gradiometer base line of 250 μm leads to a signal strength loss of less than 10% in comparison with a magnetometer response. To validate the simulation results we finally performed measurements with a GMR magnetometer sensor on a test plate with artificial μm-range cracks. The differences between simulation and measurement are below 6%. We report on the routes for a GMR gradiometer design as a basis for the fabrication of NDT-adapted sensor arrays. The results are also helpful for the use of GMR in other application when it comes to measure positions, lengths, angles or electrical currents.

City public service learns to speed read. [Computerized routing system for meter reading

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

Aitken, E.L.

1994-02-01

City Public Service (CPS) of San Antonio, TX is a municipally owned utility that serves a densely populated 1,566 square miles in and around San Antonio. CPS's service area is divided into 21 meter reading districts, each of which is broken down into no more than 99 regular routes. Every day, a CPS employee reads one of the districts, following one or more routes. In 1991, CPS began using handheld computers to record reads for regular routes, which are stored on the devices themselves. In contrast, rereads and final reads occur at random throughout the service area. Because they changemore » every day, the process of creating routes that can be loaded onto a handheld device is difficult. Until recently, rereads and final reads were printed on paper orders, and route schedulers would spend close to two hours sorting the paper orders into routes. Meter readers would then hand-sequence the orders on their routes, often using a city map, before taking them into the field in stacks. When the meter readers returned, their completed orders had to be separated by type of reread, and then keyed into the mainframe computer before bill processing could begin. CPS's data processing department developed a computerized routing system of its own that saves time and labor, as well as paper. The system eliminates paper orders entirely, enabling schedulers to create reread and final read routes graphically on a PC. Information no longer needs to be keyed from hard copy, reducing the margin of error and streamlining bill processing by incorporating automated data transfer between systems.« less

Identifying best practices for snowplow route optimization : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-12-01

Well-designed winter maintenance routes result in snow and ice control service that is both more effective, because roads are cleared more rapidly, and more cost-efficient, because deadheading, route overlap and other inefficiencies are reduced or el...

Reverse alignment "mirror image" visualization as a laparoscopic training tool improves task performance.

PubMed

Dunnican, Ward J; Singh, T Paul; Ata, Ashar; Bendana, Emma E; Conlee, Thomas D; Dolce, Charles J; Ramakrishnan, Rakesh

2010-06-01

Reverse alignment (mirror image) visualization is a disconcerting situation occasionally faced during laparoscopic operations. This occurs when the camera faces back at the surgeon in the opposite direction from which the surgeon's body and instruments are facing. Most surgeons will attempt to optimize trocar and camera placement to avoid this situation. The authors' objective was to determine whether the intentional use of reverse alignment visualization during laparoscopic training would improve performance. A standard box trainer was configured for reverse alignment, and 34 medical students and junior surgical residents were randomized to train with either forward alignment (DIRECT) or reverse alignment (MIRROR) visualization. Enrollees were tested on both modalities before and after a 4-week structured training program specific to their modality. Student's t test was used to determine differences in task performance between the 2 groups. Twenty-one participants completed the study (10 DIRECT, 11 MIRROR). There were no significant differences in performance time between DIRECT or MIRROR participants during forward or reverse alignment initial testing. At final testing, DIRECT participants had improved times only in forward alignment performance; they demonstrated no significant improvement in reverse alignment performance. MIRROR participants had significant time improvement in both forward and reverse alignment performance at final testing. Reverse alignment imaging for laparoscopic training improves task performance for both reverse alignment and forward alignment tasks. This may be translated into improved performance in the operating room when faced with reverse alignment situations. Minimal lab training can account for drastic adaptation to this environment.

Optimum routing of freight in urban environments under normal operations and disruptions : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-12-27

The complexity and dynamics of multimodal freight transportation together with the unpredictability of incidents, disruptions and demand changes make the optimum routing of freight a challenging task. Optimum routing decisions in a multimodal transpo...

77 FR 71492 - Amendment of Area Navigation Route Q-1; CA

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-03

...-1049; Airspace Docket No. 12-ANM-12] RIN 2120-AA66 Amendment of Area Navigation Route Q-1; CA AGENCY...) route Q-1. This action corrects the spelling of the TOCOS waypoint. DATES: Effective date 0901 UTC... published a final rule, technical amendment in the Federal Register amending the description of RNAV route Q...

Formation of radial aligned and uniform nematic liquid crystal droplets via drop-on-demand inkjet printing into a partially-wet polymer layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parry, Ellis; Kim, Dong-Jin; Castrejón-Pita, Alfonso A.; Elston, Steve J.; Morris, Stephen M.

2018-06-01

This paper investigates the drop-on-demand inkjet printing of a nematic liquid crystal (LC) onto a variety of substrates. Achieving both a well-defined droplet boundary and uniformity of the LC director in printed droplets can be challenging when traditional alignment surfaces are employed. Despite the increasing popularity of inkjet printing LCs, the mechanisms that are involved during the deposition process such as drop impact, wetting and spreading have received very little attention, in the way of experiments, as viable routes for promoting alignment of the resultant LC droplets. In this work, radial alignment of the director and uniformity of the droplet boundary are achieved in combination via the use of a partially-wet polymer substrate, which makes use of the forces and flow generated during droplet impact and subsequent wetting process. Our findings could have important consequences for future LC inkjet applications, including the development of smart inks, printable sensors and lasers.

Re/membering (to) Shifting Alignments: Korean Women's Transnational Narratives in U.S. Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rhee, Jeong-eun

2006-01-01

At the location of alter-native researcher in US higher education, the author interweaves two Korean women's transnational narratives that intersect with her autobiographical route. Through this re-narrativization, the paper discusses the material and ideological specificities that place each individual differently in engagements with various…

Pathway Tools version 19.0 update: software for pathway/genome informatics and systems biology

PubMed Central

Latendresse, Mario; Paley, Suzanne M.; Krummenacker, Markus; Ong, Quang D.; Billington, Richard; Kothari, Anamika; Weaver, Daniel; Lee, Thomas; Subhraveti, Pallavi; Spaulding, Aaron; Fulcher, Carol; Keseler, Ingrid M.; Caspi, Ron

2016-01-01

Pathway Tools is a bioinformatics software environment with a broad set of capabilities. The software provides genome-informatics tools such as a genome browser, sequence alignments, a genome-variant analyzer and comparative-genomics operations. It offers metabolic-informatics tools, such as metabolic reconstruction, quantitative metabolic modeling, prediction of reaction atom mappings and metabolic route search. Pathway Tools also provides regulatory-informatics tools, such as the ability to represent and visualize a wide range of regulatory interactions. This article outlines the advances in Pathway Tools in the past 5 years. Major additions include components for metabolic modeling, metabolic route search, computation of atom mappings and estimation of compound Gibbs free energies of formation; addition of editors for signaling pathways, for genome sequences and for cellular architecture; storage of gene essentiality data and phenotype data; display of multiple alignments, and of signaling and electron-transport pathways; and development of Python and web-services application programming interfaces. Scientists around the world have created more than 9800 Pathway/Genome Databases by using Pathway Tools, many of which are curated databases for important model organisms. PMID:26454094

Research on the optimization of vehicle distribution routes in logistics enterprises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, Zhigou; Ma, Mengkun

2018-01-01

With the rapid development of modern logistics, the vehicle routing problem has become one of the urgent problems in the logistics industry. The rationality of distribution route planning directly affects the efficiency and quality of logistics distribution. This paper first introduces the definition of logistics distribution and the three methods of optimizing the distribution routes, and then analyzes the current vehicle distribution route by using a representative example, finally puts forward the optimization schemes of logistics distribution route.

A molded surface-micromachining and bulk etching release (MOSBE) fabrication platform on (1 1 1) Si for MOEMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Mingching; Fang, Weileun

2006-02-01

This work attempts to integrate poly-Si thin film and single-crystal-silicon (SCS) structures in a monolithic process. The process integrated multi-depth DRIE (deep reactive ion etching), trench-refilled molding, a two poly-Si MUMPs process and (1 1 1) Si bulk micromachining to accomplish multi-thickness and multi-depth structures for superior micro-optical devices. In application, a SCS scanning mirror driven by self-aligned vertical comb-drive actuators was demonstrated. The stiffness of the mirror was significantly increased by thick SCS structures. The thin poly-Si film served as flexible torsional springs and electrical routings. The depth difference of the vertical comb electrodes was tuned by DRIE to increase the devices' stroke. Finally, a large moving space was available after the bulk Si etching. In summary, the present fabrication process, named (1 1 1) MOSBE (molded surface-micromachining and bulk etching release on (1 1 1) Si substrate), can further integrate with the MUMPs devices to establish a more powerful platform.

Band alignment and optical response of facile grown NiO/ZnO nano-heterojunctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sultan, Muhammad; Mumtaz, Sundas; Ali, Asad; Khan, Muhammad Yaqoob; Iqbal, Tahir

2017-12-01

ZnO nanorods decorated by NiO nanostructures were fabricated using facile chemical route. The nanorods of ZnO were prepared by using chemical bath deposition technique and subsequently decorated by NiO using sol-gel spin coating. The density and orientation of the ZnO nanorods was controlled through the seed layer with preferential growth along c-axis and hexagonal face. X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) analysis was used to confirm stoichiometry of the materials and band alignment study of the heterostructures. Type-II band alignment was observed from the experimental results. The IV characteristics of the device depicting rectifying behavior at different temperatures were observed with photocurrent generation in response to light excitation. The electrical properties reported in this study are in line with earlier work where heterojunctions were fabricated by physical deposition techniques.

Electrically switchable photonic liquid crystal devices for routing of a polarized light wave

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rushnova, Irina I.; Melnikova, Elena A.; Tolstik, Alexei L.; Muravsky, Alexander A.

2018-04-01

The new mode of LC alignment based on photoalignment AtA-2 azo dye where the refractive interface between orthogonal orientations of the LC director exists without voltage and disappeared or changed with critical voltage has been proposed. The technology to fabricate electrically controlled liquid crystal elements for spatial separation and switching of linearly polarized light beams on the basis of the total internal reflection effect has been significantly improved. Its distinctive feature is the application of a composite alignment material comprising two sublayers of Nylon-6 and AtA-2 photoalignment azo dye offering patterned liquid crystal director orientation with high alignment quality value q = 0 . 998. The fabricated electrically controlled spatially structured liquid crystal devices enable implementation of propagation directions separation for orthogonally polarized light beams and their switching with minimal crosstalk.

Self-assembled vertically aligned Au nanorod arrays for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of Cannabinol.

PubMed

Milliken, Sarah; Fraser, Jeff; Poirier, Shawn; Hulse, John; Tay, Li-Lin

2018-05-05

Self-assembled multi-layered vertically aligned gold nanorod (AuNR) arrays have been fabricated by a simple preparation process that requires a balance between the particle concentration and the ionic strength of the solvent. An experimentally determined critical AuNR concentration of 2.0nM and 50mM NaCl produces well-ordered vertically aligned hexagonally close-packed AuNR arrays. We demonstrate surface treatment via UV Ozone cleaning of such samples to allow introduction of analyte molecules (benzenethiol and cannabinol) for effective surface enhanced Raman scattering detection. This is the first demonstration of the SERS analysis of cannabinol. This approach demonstrates a cost-effective, high-yield and simple fabrication route to SERS sensors with application in the screening for the cannabinoids. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Economic and quality of life impacts of route 21 freeway construction : final report, October 2009.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-10-01

Opened to traffic in December 2000, the missing section of the Route 21 Freeway in Clifton : and Passaic (Hope Ave. to the Route 46 Interchange) was designed utilizing the equivalent to : the Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) approach at ...

Biomineralization of superhydrophilic vertically aligned carbon nanotubes.

PubMed

Marsi, Teresa Cristina O; Santos, Tiago G; Pacheco-Soares, Cristina; Corat, Evaldo J; Marciano, Fernanda R; Lobo, Anderson O

2012-03-06

Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNT) promise a great role for the study of tissue regeneration. In this paper, we introduce a new biomimetic mineralization routine employing superhydrophilic VACNT films as highly stable template materials. The biomineralization was obtained after VACNT soaking in simulated body fluid solution. Detailed structural analysis reveals that the polycrystalline biological apatites formed due to the -COOH terminations attached to VACNT tips after oxygen plasma etching. Our approach not only provides a novel route for nanostructured materials, but also suggests that COOH termination sites can play a significant role in biomimetic mineralization. These new nanocomposites are very promising as nanobiomaterials due to the excellent human osteoblast adhesion.

Single-molecule tracking studies of flow-induced microdomain alignment in cylinder-forming polystyrene-poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymer films.

PubMed

Tran-Ba, Khanh-Hoa; Higgins, Daniel A; Ito, Takashi

2014-09-25

Flow-based approaches are promising routes to preparation of aligned block copolymer microdomains within confined spaces. An in-depth characterization of such nanoscale morphologies within macroscopically nonuniform materials under ambient conditions is, however, often challenging. In this study, single-molecule tracking (SMT) methods were employed to probe the flow-induced alignment of cylindrical microdomains (ca. 22 nm in diameter) in polystyrene-poly(ethylene oxide) diblock copolymer (PS-b-PEO) films. Films of micrometer-scale thicknesses were prepared by overlaying a benzene solution droplet on a glass coverslip with a rectangular glass plate, followed by solvent evaporation under a nitrogen atmosphere. The microdomain alignment was quantitatively assessed from SMT data exhibiting the diffusional motions of individual sulforhodamine B fluorescent probes that preferentially partitioned into cylindrical PEO microdomains. Better overall microdomain orientation along the flow direction was observed near the substrate interface in films prepared at a higher flow rate, suggesting that the microdomain alignment was primarily induced by shear flow. The SMT data also revealed the presence of micrometer-scale grains consisting of highly ordered microdomains with coherent orientation. The results of this study provide insights into shear-based preparation of aligned cylindrical microdomains in block copolymer films from solutions within confined spaces.

Controlling orientational order in block copolymers using low-intensity magnetic fields

PubMed Central

Choo, Youngwoo; Kawabata, Kohsuke; Kaufman, Gilad; Feng, Xunda; Di, Xiaojun; Rokhlenko, Yekaterina; Mahajan, Lalit H.; Ndaya, Dennis; Kasi, Rajeswari M.

2017-01-01

The interaction of fields with condensed matter during phase transitions produces a rich variety of physical phenomena. Self-assembly of liquid crystalline block copolymers (LC BCPs) in the presence of a magnetic field, for example, can result in highly oriented microstructures due to the LC BCP’s anisotropic magnetic susceptibility. We show that such oriented mesophases can be produced using low-intensity fields (<0.5 T) that are accessible using permanent magnets, in contrast to the high fields (>4 T) and superconducting magnets required to date. Low-intensity field alignment is enabled by the addition of labile mesogens that coassemble with the system’s nematic and smectic A mesophases. The alignment saturation field strength and alignment kinetics have pronounced dependences on the free mesogen concentration. Highly aligned states with orientation distribution coefficients close to unity were obtained at fields as small as 0.2 T. This remarkable field response originates in an enhancement of alignment kinetics due to a reduction in viscosity, and increased magnetostatic energy due to increases in grain size, in the presence of labile mesogens. These developments provide routes for controlling structural order in BCPs, including the possibility of producing nontrivial textures and patterns of alignment by locally screening fields using magnetic nanoparticles. PMID:29078379

Call for Papers: Photonics in Switching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wosinska, Lena; Glick, Madeleine

2006-04-01

Call for Papers: Photonics in Switching

Guest Editors:

Lena Wosinska, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) / ICT Sweden Madeleine Glick, Intel Research, Cambridge, UK

Scope of Submission

• WDM node architectures
• Novel device technologies enabling photonics in switching, such as optical switch fabrics, optical memory, and wavelength conversion
• Routing protocols
• WDM switching and routing
• Quality of service
• Performance measurement and evaluation
• Next-generation optical networks: architecture, signaling, and control
• Traffic measurement and field trials
• Optical burst and packet switching
• OBS/OPS node architectures
• Burst/Packet scheduling and routing algorithms
• Contention resolution/avoidance strategies
• Services and applications for OBS/OPS (e.g., grid networks, storage-area networks, etc.)
• Burst assembly and ingress traffic shaping
• Hybrid OBS/TDM or OBS/wavelength routing

Manuscript Submission

Preferential growth of short aligned, metallic-rich single-walled carbon nanotubes from perpendicular layered double hydroxide film.

PubMed

Zhao, Meng-Qiang; Tian, Gui-Li; Zhang, Qiang; Huang, Jia-Qi; Nie, Jing-Qi; Wei, Fei

2012-04-07

Direct bulk growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with required properties, such as diameter, length, and chirality, is the first step to realize their advanced applications in electrical and optical devices, transparent conductive films, and high-performance field-effect transistors. Preferential growth of short aligned, metallic-rich SWCNTs is a great challenge to the carbon nanotube community. We report the bulk preferential growth of short aligned SWCNTs from perpendicular Mo-containing FeMgAl layered double hydroxide (LDH) film by a facile thermal chemical vapor deposition with CH(4) as carbon source. The growth of the short aligned SWCNTs showed a decreased growth velocity with an initial value of 1.9 nm s(-1). Such a low growth velocity made it possible to get aligned SWCNTs shorter than 1 μm with a growth duration less than 15 min. Raman spectra with different excitation wavelengths indicated that the as-grown short aligned SWCNTs showed high selectivity of metallic SWCNTs. Various kinds of materials, such as mica, quartz, Cu foil, and carbon fiber, can serve as the substrates for the growth of perpendicular FeMoMgAl LDH films and also the growth of the short aligned SWCNTs subsequently. These findings highlight the easy route for bulk preferential growth of aligned metallic-rich SWCNTs with well defined length for further bulk characterization and applications. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

Geohazard assessment lifecycle for a natural gas pipeline project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lekkakis, D.; Boone, M. D.; Strassburger, E.; Li, Z.; Duffy, W. P.

2015-09-01

This paper is a walkthrough of the geohazard risk assessment performed for the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) of a planned large-diameter natural gas pipeline, extending from Eastern Europe to Western Asia for a total length of approximately 1,850 km. The geohazards discussed herein include liquefaction-induced pipe buoyancy, cyclic softening, lateral spreading, slope instability, groundwater rise-induced pipe buoyancy, and karst. The geohazard risk assessment lifecycle was comprised of 4 stages: initially a desktop study was carried out to describe the geologic setting along the alignment and to conduct a preliminary assessment of the geohazards. The development of a comprehensive Digital Terrain Model topography and aerial photography data were fundamental in this process. Subsequently, field geohazard mapping was conducted with the deployment of 8 teams of geoprofessionals, to investigate the proposed major reroutes and delve into areas of poor or questionable data. During the third stage, a geotechnical subsurface site investigation was then executed based on the results of the above study and mapping efforts in order to obtain sufficient data tailored for risk quantification. Lastly, all gathered and processed information was overlain into a Geographical Information database towards a final determination of the critical reaches of the pipeline alignment. Input from Subject Matter Experts (SME) in the fields of landslides, karst and fluvial geomorphology was incorporated during the second and fourth stages of the assessment. Their experience in that particular geographical region was key to making appropriate decisions based on engineering judgment. As the design evolved through the above stages, the pipeline corridor was narrowed from a 2-km wide corridor, to a 500-m corridor and finally to a fixed alignment. Where the geohazard risk was high, rerouting of the pipeline was generally selected as a mitigation measure. In some cases of high uncertainty in the assessment, further exploration was proposed. In cases where rerouting was constrained, mitigation via structural measures was proposed. This paper further discusses the cost, schedule and resource challenges of planning and executing such a large-scale geotechnical investigation, the interfaces between the various disciplines involved during the assessment, the innovative tools employed for the field mapping, the classifications developed for mapping landslides, karst geology, and trench excavatability, determining liquefaction stretches and the process for the site localization of the Above Ground Installations (AGI). It finally discusses the objectives of the FEED study in terms of providing a route, a ± 20% project cost estimate and a schedule, and the additional engineering work foreseen to take place in the detailed engineering phase of the project.

Moving from Traditional Teacher Education to a Field-Based Urban Teacher Education Program: One Program's Story of Reform

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Waddell, Jennifer; Vartuli, Sue

2015-01-01

In recent years, teacher education has been charged with reforming programs to better align curriculum, clinical practice, and accountability. The sense of urgency for reform has been heightened by competition from alternative routes to teaching that jump straight to practice, often criticized for foregoing essential knowledge and theory. This…

75 FR 62919 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on the Route 250 Bypass Interchange at McIntire Road...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-13

... on the Route 250 Bypass Interchange at McIntire Road Project in Virginia AGENCY: Federal Highway.... 139(l)(1). The actions relate to the Route 250 Bypass Interchange at McIntire Road project in the City... Virginia: Route 250 Bypass Interchange at McIntire Road. The project would involve construction of a grade...

75 FR 24789 - Modification of Jet Route J-3; Spokane, WA

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-06

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Aviation Administration 14 CFR Part 71 [Docket No. FAA-2010-0008; Airspace Docket No. 09-ANM-21] Modification of Jet Route J-3; Spokane, WA AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This action modifies Jet Route J-3 by...

77 FR 54805 - Revocation of Jet Route J-528; WA

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-06

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Aviation Administration 14 CFR Part 71 [Docket No. FAA-2012-0749; Airspace Docket No. 11-ANM-29] RIN 2120-AA66 Revocation of Jet Route J-528; WA AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This action removes Jet Route J-528...

A Machine Learning Concept for DTN Routing

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dudukovich, Rachel; Hylton, Alan; Papachristou, Christos

2017-01-01

This paper discusses the concept and architecture of a machine learning based router for delay tolerant space networks. The techniques of reinforcement learning and Bayesian learning are used to supplement the routing decisions of the popular Contact Graph Routing algorithm. An introduction to the concepts of Contact Graph Routing, Q-routing and Naive Bayes classification are given. The development of an architecture for a cross-layer feedback framework for DTN (Delay-Tolerant Networking) protocols is discussed. Finally, initial simulation setup and results are given.

Direct current injection and thermocapillary flow for purification of aligned arrays of single-walled carbon nanotubes

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

Xie, Xu; Islam, Ahmad E.; Seabron, Eric

2015-04-07

Aligned arrays of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-SWNTs) represent ideal configurations for use of this class of material in high performance electronics. Development of means for removing the metallic SWNTs (m-SWNTs) in as-grown arrays represents an essential challenge. Here, we introduce a simple scheme that achieves this type of purification using direct, selective current injection through interdigitated electrodes into the m-SWNTs, to allow their complete removal using processes of thermocapillarity and dry etching. Experiments and numerical simulations establish the fundamental aspects that lead to selectivity in this process, thereby setting design rules for optimization. Single-step purification of arrays that includemore » thousands of SWNTs demonstrates the effectiveness and simplicity of the procedures. The result is a practical route to large-area aligned arrays of purely s-SWNTs with low-cost experimental setups.« less

Vertically-aligned BCN Nanotube Arrays with Superior Performance in Electrochemical capacitors

PubMed Central

Zhou, Junshuang; Li, Na; Gao, Faming; Zhao, Yufeng; Hou, Li; Xu, Ziming

2014-01-01

Electrochemical capacitors (EC) have received tremendous interest due to their high potential to satisfy the urgent demand in many advanced applications. The development of new electrode materials is considered to be the most promising approach to enhance the EC performance substantially. Herein, we present a high-capacity capacitor material based on vertically-aligned BC2N nanotube arrays (VA-BC2NNTAs) synthesized by low temperature solvothermal route. The obtained VA-BC2NNTAs display the good aligned nonbuckled tubular structure, which could indeed advantageously enhance capacitor performance. VA-BC2NNTAs exhibit an extremely high specific capacitance, 547 Fg−1, which is about 2–6 times larger than that of the presently available carbon-based materials. Meanwhile, VA-BC2NNTAs maintain an excellent rate capability and high durability. All these characteristics endow VA-BC2NNTAs an alternative promising candidate for an efficient electrode material for electrochemical capacitors (EC). PMID:25124300

Ion Conduction in Microphase-Separated Block Copolymer Electrolytes

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

Kambe, Yu; Arges, Christopher G.; Patel, Shrayesh

2017-01-01

Microphase separation of block copolymers provides a promising route towards engineering a mechanically robust ion conducting film for electrochemical devices. The separation into two different nano-domains enables the film to simultaneously exhibit both high ion conductivity and mechanical robustness, material properties inversely related in most homopolymer and random copolymer electrolytes. To exhibit the maximum conductivity and mechanical robustness, both domains would span across macroscopic length scales enabling uninterrupted ion conduction. One way to achieve this architecture is through external alignment fields that are applied during the microphase separation process. In this review, we present the progress and challenges for aligningmore » the ionic domains in block copolymer electrolytes. A survey of alignment and characterization is followed by a discussion of how the nanoscale architecture affects the bulk conductivity and how alignment may be improved to maximize the number of participating conduction domains.« less

75 FR 16336 - Establishment of Low Altitude Area Navigation Route (T-284); Houston, TX

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-01

... (T-284); Houston, TX AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This action establishes a low altitude area navigation (RNAV) route, designated T-284, in the Houston... Register a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to establish low altitude area navigation route T-284 (74...

75 FR 27427 - Amendment of Jet Route J-120; Alaska

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-17

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Aviation Administration 14 CFR Part 71 [Docket No. FAA-2009-0007; Airspace Docket No. 09-AAL-20] Amendment of Jet Route J-120; Alaska AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This action amends Jet Route J-120, in Alaska. The FAA is...

76 FR 2799 - Amendment of Jet Route J-93; CA

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-18

...; Airspace Docket No. 10-AWP-4] RIN 2120-AA66 Amendment of Jet Route J-93; CA AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This action amends Jet Route J-93 in California between...) to amend J-93, (75 FR 66344). Interested parties were invited to participate in this rulemaking...

Degrees of Freedom: Varying Routes to Math Readiness and the Challenge of Intersegmental Alignment (Report 2 of a 3-Part Series)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burdman, Pamela

2015-01-01

The conventional algebra-intensive math curriculum commonly dictates students' options for entering and completing college, including their ability to transfer from two-year to four-year institutions. The assumption that higher-level algebra is necessary for college success has led some equity advocates to promote algebra for all students. Nearly…

Community College Student Persistence: Understanding Students' Decisions about College Transfer in Southeastern Kentucky

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hlinka, Karen Ramey

2012-01-01

One route to increase the number of baccalaureate degree holders in the US is for educators to guide students through the open door of the community college to the point of transfer to a four-year institution. This qualitative study is comprised of three companion projects aligned to examine the decision-making process of traditional-age students…

Molecular Frame Reconstruction Using Time-Domain Photoionization Interferometry.

PubMed

Marceau, Claude; Makhija, Varun; Platzer, Dominique; Naumov, A Yu; Corkum, P B; Stolow, Albert; Villeneuve, D M; Hockett, Paul

2017-08-25

Photoionization of molecular species is, essentially, a multipath interferometer with both experimentally controllable and intrinsic molecular characteristics. In this work, XUV photoionization of impulsively aligned molecular targets (N_{2}) is used to provide a time-domain route to "complete" photoionization experiments, in which the rotational wave packet controls the geometric part of the photoionization interferometer. The data obtained is sufficient to determine the magnitudes and phases of the ionization matrix elements for all observed channels, and to reconstruct molecular frame interferograms from lab frame measurements. In principle, this methodology provides a time-domain route to complete photoionization experiments and the molecular frame, which is generally applicable to any molecule (no prerequisites), for all energies and ionization channels.

236. Reconnaissance report photograph, used in the early 1930's of ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

236. Reconnaissance report photograph, used in the early 1930's of North Carolina landscape before determination of the roadway alignment. Stanley Abbott realized that maps and plan drawings would mean little to his supervisors who were unfamiliar with the region and chose photographs to communicate route alternatives. On the photo would be a dashed white line to indicate the proposed route. Abbott's written reports included a written description of the region and a suggestion of the acreages necessary to create the parkway, serving as an initiation to field trips with BPR engineers and interior and NPS officials. - Blue Ridge Parkway, Between Shenandoah National Park & Great Smoky Mountains, Asheville, Buncombe County, NC

Pathway Tools version 19.0 update: software for pathway/genome informatics and systems biology.

PubMed

Karp, Peter D; Latendresse, Mario; Paley, Suzanne M; Krummenacker, Markus; Ong, Quang D; Billington, Richard; Kothari, Anamika; Weaver, Daniel; Lee, Thomas; Subhraveti, Pallavi; Spaulding, Aaron; Fulcher, Carol; Keseler, Ingrid M; Caspi, Ron

2016-09-01

Pathway Tools is a bioinformatics software environment with a broad set of capabilities. The software provides genome-informatics tools such as a genome browser, sequence alignments, a genome-variant analyzer and comparative-genomics operations. It offers metabolic-informatics tools, such as metabolic reconstruction, quantitative metabolic modeling, prediction of reaction atom mappings and metabolic route search. Pathway Tools also provides regulatory-informatics tools, such as the ability to represent and visualize a wide range of regulatory interactions. This article outlines the advances in Pathway Tools in the past 5 years. Major additions include components for metabolic modeling, metabolic route search, computation of atom mappings and estimation of compound Gibbs free energies of formation; addition of editors for signaling pathways, for genome sequences and for cellular architecture; storage of gene essentiality data and phenotype data; display of multiple alignments, and of signaling and electron-transport pathways; and development of Python and web-services application programming interfaces. Scientists around the world have created more than 9800 Pathway/Genome Databases by using Pathway Tools, many of which are curated databases for important model organisms. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

On Intelligent Design and Planning Method of Process Route Based on Gun Breech Machining Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hongzhi, Zhao; Jian, Zhang

2018-03-01

The paper states an approach of intelligent design and planning of process route based on gun breech machining process, against several problems, such as complex machining process of gun breech, tedious route design and long period of its traditional unmanageable process route. Based on gun breech machining process, intelligent design and planning system of process route are developed by virtue of DEST and VC++. The system includes two functional modules--process route intelligent design and its planning. The process route intelligent design module, through the analysis of gun breech machining process, summarizes breech process knowledge so as to complete the design of knowledge base and inference engine. And then gun breech process route intelligently output. On the basis of intelligent route design module, the final process route is made, edited and managed in the process route planning module.

Magnetic field alignment of coil-coil diblock copolymers and blends via intrinsic chain anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rokhlenko, Yekaterina; Majewski, Pawel; Larson, Steven; Yager, Kevin; Gopalan, Padma; Avgeropoulos, Apostolos; Chan, Edwin; Osuji, Chinedum

Magnetic fields can control alignment of self-assembled soft materials such as block copolymers provided there is a suitably large magnetic susceptibility anisotropy present in the system. Recent results have highlighted the existence of a non-trivial intrinsic anisotropy in coil-coil diblock copolymers, specifically in lamellar-forming PS-b-P4VP, which enables alignment at field strengths of a few tesla in systems lacking mesogenic components. Alignment is predicated on correlation in the orientation of end-end vectors implied by the localization of block junctions at the microdomain interface and is observed on cooling across the order-disorder transition in the presence of the field. For appropriate combinations of field strength and grain size, we can leverage intrinsic chain anisotropy to magnetically direct self-assembly of many non-mesogenic systems, including other coil-coil BCPs like PS-b-PDMS and PS-b-PMMA, blends of BCPs of disparate morphologies and MWs, and blends of BCPs with homopolymers. This is noteworthy as blends of PS-b-P4VP with PEO provide a route to form functional materials such as nanoporous films by dissolution of PEO, or aligned ion conduction materials. We survey these various systems using TEM and in-situ X-ray scattering to study the phase behavior and temperature-, time- and field- dependent dynamics of alignment.

The power of change: interpersonal attraction as a function of attitude similarity and attitude alignment.

PubMed

Reid, Chelsea A; Davis, Jody L; Green, Jeffrey D

2013-01-01

Does attitude alignment predict attraction? Would you like a stranger more who shifts her/his attitudes to more closely align with yours? In pairs, participants (N = 77) discussed social issues about which they disagreed and received false feedback on whether the partner engaged in attitude alignment (shifted her/his attitudes toward the participant's attitude) following discussion. Participants also received false feedback about the proportion of similarity to the partner on a set of issues (i.e., 25%, 50%, or 75%). Participants reported greater attraction to partners who engaged in attitude alignment and who were more similar. Moreover, similarity and attitude alignment interacted. Similarity predicted attraction when attitude alignment did not occur, but did not predict attraction when attitude alignment did occur. Finally, partner attitude alignment led to participant attitude alignment, and perceived reasoning ability mediated the attitude alignment-attraction relationship.

75 FR 27384 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on Proposed Highway in California

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-14

... State Route 99 from the existing four-lane facility to six lanes from the Austin Road interchange in the... California. The State Route 99 Manteca Widening Project would provide congestion relief along a stretch of State Route 99 from the Austin Road interchange to the Arch Road interchange, improve future traffic...

FASMA: a service to format and analyze sequences in multiple alignments.

PubMed

Costantini, Susan; Colonna, Giovanni; Facchiano, Angelo M

2007-12-01

Multiple sequence alignments are successfully applied in many studies for under- standing the structural and functional relations among single nucleic acids and protein sequences as well as whole families. Because of the rapid growth of sequence databases, multiple sequence alignments can often be very large and difficult to visualize and analyze. We offer a new service aimed to visualize and analyze the multiple alignments obtained with different external algorithms, with new features useful for the comparison of the aligned sequences as well as for the creation of a final image of the alignment. The service is named FASMA and is available at http://bioinformatica.isa.cnr.it/FASMA/.

PASTA: Ultra-Large Multiple Sequence Alignment for Nucleotide and Amino-Acid Sequences.

PubMed

Mirarab, Siavash; Nguyen, Nam; Guo, Sheng; Wang, Li-San; Kim, Junhyong; Warnow, Tandy

2015-05-01

We introduce PASTA, a new multiple sequence alignment algorithm. PASTA uses a new technique to produce an alignment given a guide tree that enables it to be both highly scalable and very accurate. We present a study on biological and simulated data with up to 200,000 sequences, showing that PASTA produces highly accurate alignments, improving on the accuracy and scalability of the leading alignment methods (including SATé). We also show that trees estimated on PASTA alignments are highly accurate--slightly better than SATé trees, but with substantial improvements relative to other methods. Finally, PASTA is faster than SATé, highly parallelizable, and requires relatively little memory.

Analysis of Convective Weather Impact on Pre-Departure Routing of Flights from Fort Worth Center to New York Center

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arneson, Heather; Bombelli, Alessandro; Segarra-Torne, Adria; Tse, Elmer

2017-01-01

In response to severe weather conditions, Traffic Managers specify flow constraints and reroutes to route air traffic around affected regions of airspace. Providing analysis and recommendations of available reroute options and associated airspace capacities would assist Traffic Managers in making more efficient decisions in response to convective weather. These recommendations can be developed by examining historical data to determine which previous reroute options were used in similar weather and traffic conditions. This paper describes the initial steps and methodology used towards this goal. The focus of this work is flights departing from Fort Worth Center destined for New York Center. Dominant routing structures used in the absence of convective weather are identified. A method to extract relevant features from the large volume of weather data available to quantify the impact of convective weather on this routing structure over a given time range is presented. Finally, a method of estimating flow rate capacity along commonly used routes during convective weather events is described. Results show that the flow rates drop exponentially as a function of the values of the proposed feature and that convective weather on the final third of the route was found to have a greater impact on the flow rate restriction than other portions of the route.

A Low Power and High Throughput Self Synchronous FPGA Using 65nm CMOS with Throughput Optimization by Pipeline Alignment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stefan Devlin, Benjamin; Nakura, Toru; Ikeda, Makoto; Asada, Kunihiro

We detail a self synchronous field programmable gate array (SSFPGA) with dual-pipeline (DP) architecture to conceal pre-charge time for dynamic logic, and its throughput optimization by using pipeline alignment implemented on benchmark circuits. A self synchronous LUT (SSLUT) consists of a three input tree-type structure with 8bits of SRAM for programming. A self synchronous switch box (SSSB) consists of both pass transistors and buffers to route signals, with 12bits of SRAM. One common block with one SSLUT and one SSSB occupies 2.2Mλ2 area with 35bits of SRAM, and the prototype SSFPGA with 34 × 30 (1020) blocks is designed and fabricated using 65nm CMOS. Measured results show at 1.2V 430MHz and 647MHz operation for a 3bit ripple carry adder, without and with throughput optimization, respectively. We find that using the proposed pipeline alignment techniques we can perform at maximum throughput of 647MHz in various benchmarks on the SSFPGA. We demonstrate up to 56.1 times throughput improvement with our pipeline alignment techniques. The pipeline alignment is carried out within the number of logic elements in the array and pipeline buffers in the switching matrix.

Matt: local flexibility aids protein multiple structure alignment.

PubMed

Menke, Matthew; Berger, Bonnie; Cowen, Lenore

2008-01-01

Even when there is agreement on what measure a protein multiple structure alignment should be optimizing, finding the optimal alignment is computationally prohibitive. One approach used by many previous methods is aligned fragment pair chaining, where short structural fragments from all the proteins are aligned against each other optimally, and the final alignment chains these together in geometrically consistent ways. Ye and Godzik have recently suggested that adding geometric flexibility may help better model protein structures in a variety of contexts. We introduce the program Matt (Multiple Alignment with Translations and Twists), an aligned fragment pair chaining algorithm that, in intermediate steps, allows local flexibility between fragments: small translations and rotations are temporarily allowed to bring sets of aligned fragments closer, even if they are physically impossible under rigid body transformations. After a dynamic programming assembly guided by these "bent" alignments, geometric consistency is restored in the final step before the alignment is output. Matt is tested against other recent multiple protein structure alignment programs on the popular Homstrad and SABmark benchmark datasets. Matt's global performance is competitive with the other programs on Homstrad, but outperforms the other programs on SABmark, a benchmark of multiple structure alignments of proteins with more distant homology. On both datasets, Matt demonstrates an ability to better align the ends of alpha-helices and beta-strands, an important characteristic of any structure alignment program intended to help construct a structural template library for threading approaches to the inverse protein-folding problem. The related question of whether Matt alignments can be used to distinguish distantly homologous structure pairs from pairs of proteins that are not homologous is also considered. For this purpose, a p-value score based on the length of the common core and average root mean squared deviation (RMSD) of Matt alignments is shown to largely separate decoys from homologous protein structures in the SABmark benchmark dataset. We postulate that Matt's strong performance comes from its ability to model proteins in different conformational states and, perhaps even more important, its ability to model backbone distortions in more distantly related proteins.

78 FR 78948 - Intent To Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Route 460 Location Study...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-27

... Environmental Impact Statement for the Route 460 Location Study From Prince George County to the City of Suffolk... Route 460 Location Study Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The purpose of this SEIS is to... roads. The Applicant has entered into a design-build contract with VDOT to design and construct the...

77 FR 57010 - Modification of Area Navigation (RNAV) Route Q-62; Northeast United States

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-17

...; Northeast United States AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY... proposed rulemaking to modify RNAV route Q-62 in Northeast United States by extending it further west (77...

Strategy for alignment of electron beam trajectory in LEReC cooling section

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

Seletskiy, S.; Blaskiewicz, M.; Fedotov, A.

2016-09-23

We considered the steps required to align the electron beam trajectory through the LEReC cooling section. We devised a detailed procedure for the beam-based alignment of the cooling section solenoids. We showed that it is critical to have an individual control of each CS solenoid current. Finally, we modeled the alignment procedure and showed that with two BPM fitting the solenoid shift can be measured with 40 um accuracy and the solenoid inclination can be measured with 30 urad accuracy. These accuracies are well within the tolerances of the cooling section solenoid alignment.

Electrospun Nanofibers: Solving Global Issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Si, Yang; Tang, Xiaomin; Yu, Jianyong; Ding, Bin

Energy and environment will head the list of top global issues facing society for the next 50 years. Nanotechnology is responding to these challenges by designing and fabricating functional nanofibers optimized for energy and environmental applications. The route toward these nano-objects is based primarily on electrospinning: a highly versatile method that allows the fabrication of continuous fibers with diameters down to a few nanometers. The mechanism responsible for the fiber formation mainly includes the Taylor Cone theory and flight-instability theory, which can be predicted theoretically and controlled experimentally. Moreover, the electrospinning has been applied to natural polymers, synthetic polymers, ceramics, and carbon. Fibers with complex architectures, such as ribbon fiber, porous fiber, core-shell fiber, or hollow fiber, can be produced by special electrospinning methods. It is also possible to produce nanofibrous membranes with designed aggregate structure including alignment, patterning, and two-dimensional nanonets. Finally, the brief analysis of nanofibers used for advanced energy and environmental applications in the past decade indicates that their impact has been realized well and is encouraging, and will continually represent a key technology to ensure sustainable energy and preserve our environment for the future.

Optimization of self-aligned double patterning (SADP)-compliant layout designs using pattern matching for sub-20nm metal routing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lynn T.-N.; Schroeder, Uwe Paul; Madhavan, Sriram

2017-03-01

A pattern-based methodology for optimizing SADP-compliant layout designs is developed based on identifying cut mask patterns and replacing them with pre-characterized fixing solutions. A pattern-based library of difficult-tomanufacture cut patterns with pre-characterized fixing solutions is built. A pattern-based engine searches for matching patterns in the decomposed layouts. When a match is found, the engine opportunistically replaces the detected pattern with a pre-characterized fixing solution. The methodology was demonstrated on a 7nm routed metal2 block. A small library of 30 cut patterns increased the number of more manufacturable cuts by 38% and metal-via enclosure by 13% with a small parasitic capacitance impact of 0.3%.

Band alignment at the Cu2ZnSn(SxSe1-x)4/CdS interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haight, Richard; Barkhouse, Aaron; Gunawan, Oki; Shin, Byungha; Copel, Matt; Hopstaken, Marinus; Mitzi, David B.

2011-06-01

Energy band alignments between CdS and Cu2ZnSn(SxSe1-x)4 (CZTSSe) grown via solution-based and vacuum-based deposition routes were studied as a function of the [S]/[S+Se] ratio with femtosecond laser ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, photoluminescence, medium energy ion scattering, and secondary ion mass spectrometry. Band bending in the underlying CZTSSe layer was measured via pump/probe photovoltage shifts of the photoelectron spectra and offsets were determined with photoemission under flat band conditions. Increasing the S content of the CZTSSe films produces a valence edge shift to higher binding energy and increases the CZTSSe band gap. In all cases, the CdS conduction band offsets were spikes.

A Route for Polymer Nanocomposites with Engineered Electrical Conductivity and Percolation Threshold

PubMed Central

Kalaitzidou, Kyriaki; Fukushima, Hiroyuki; Drzal, Lawrence T.

2010-01-01

Polymer nanocomposites with engineered electrical properties can be made by tuning the fabrication method, processing conditions and filler’s geometric and physical properties. This work focuses on investigating the effect of filler’s geometry (aspect ratio and shape), intrinsic electrical conductivity, alignment and dispersion within the polymer, and polymer crystallinity, on the percolation threshold and electrical conductivity of polypropylene based nanocomposites. The conductive reinforcements used are exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets, carbon black, vapor grown carbon fibers and polyacrylonitrile carbon fibers. The composites are made using melt mixing followed by injection molding. A coating method is also employed to improve the nanofiller’s dispersion within the polymer and compression molding is used to alter the nanofiller’s alignment.

PASTA: Ultra-Large Multiple Sequence Alignment for Nucleotide and Amino-Acid Sequences

PubMed Central

Mirarab, Siavash; Nguyen, Nam; Guo, Sheng; Wang, Li-San; Kim, Junhyong

2015-01-01

Abstract We introduce PASTA, a new multiple sequence alignment algorithm. PASTA uses a new technique to produce an alignment given a guide tree that enables it to be both highly scalable and very accurate. We present a study on biological and simulated data with up to 200,000 sequences, showing that PASTA produces highly accurate alignments, improving on the accuracy and scalability of the leading alignment methods (including SATé). We also show that trees estimated on PASTA alignments are highly accurate—slightly better than SATé trees, but with substantial improvements relative to other methods. Finally, PASTA is faster than SATé, highly parallelizable, and requires relatively little memory. PMID:25549288

Navigated total knee arthroplasty: is it error-free?

PubMed

Chua, Kerk Hsiang Zackary; Chen, Yongsheng; Lingaraj, Krishna

2014-03-01

The aim of this study was to determine whether errors do occur in navigated total knee arthroplasty (TKAs) and to study whether errors in bone resection or implantation contribute to these errors. A series of 20 TKAs was studied using computer navigation. The coronal and sagittal alignments of the femoral and tibial cutting guides, the coronal and sagittal alignments of the final tibial implant and the coronal alignment of the final femoral implant were compared with that of the respective bone resections. To determine the post-implantation mechanical alignment of the limb, the coronal alignment of the femoral and tibial implants was combined. The median deviation between the femoral cutting guide and bone resection was 0° (range -0.5° to +0.5°) in the coronal plane and 1.0° (range -2.0° to +1.0°) in the sagittal plane. The median deviation between the tibial cutting guide and bone resection was 0.5° (range -1.0° to +1.5°) in the coronal plane and 1.0° (range -1.0° to +3.5°) in the sagittal plane. The median deviation between the femoral bone resection and the final implant was 0.25° (range -2.0° to 3.0°) in the coronal plane. The median deviation between the tibial bone resection and the final implant was 0.75° (range -3.0° to +1.5°) in the coronal plane and 1.75° (range -4.0° to +2.0°) in the sagittal plane. The median post-implantation mechanical alignment of the limb was 0.25° (range -3.0° to +2.0°). When navigation is used only to guide the positioning of the cutting jig, errors may arise in the manual, non-navigated steps of the procedure. Our study showed increased cutting errors in the sagittal plane for both the femur and the tibia, and following implantation, the greatest error was seen in the sagittal alignment of the tibial component. Computer navigation should be used not only to guide the positioning of the cutting jig, but also to check the bone resection and implant position during TKA. IV.

Band alignment of rutile and anatase TiO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scanlon, David O.; Dunnill, Charles W.; Buckeridge, John; Shevlin, Stephen A.; Logsdail, Andrew J.; Woodley, Scott M.; Catlow, C. Richard A.; Powell, Michael. J.; Palgrave, Robert G.; Parkin, Ivan P.; Watson, Graeme W.; Keal, Thomas W.; Sherwood, Paul; Walsh, Aron; Sokol, Alexey A.

2013-09-01

The most widely used oxide for photocatalytic applications owing to its low cost and high activity is TiO2. The discovery of the photolysis of water on the surface of TiO2 in 1972 launched four decades of intensive research into the underlying chemical and physical processes involved. Despite much collected evidence, a thoroughly convincing explanation of why mixed-phase samples of anatase and rutile outperform the individual polymorphs has remained elusive. One long-standing controversy is the energetic alignment of the band edges of the rutile and anatase polymorphs of TiO2 (ref. ). We demonstrate, through a combination of state-of-the-art materials simulation techniques and X-ray photoemission experiments, that a type-II, staggered, band alignment of ~ 0.4 eV exists between anatase and rutile with anatase possessing the higher electron affinity, or work function. Our results help to explain the robust separation of photoexcited charge carriers between the two phases and highlight a route to improved photocatalysts.

Developing Secure Power Systems Professional Competence: Alignment and Gaps in Workforce Development Programs—Summary Report

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

O'Neil, Lori Ross; Assante, Michael; Tobey, D. H.

2013-07-01

This document is a summarization of the report, Developing Secure Power Systems Professional Competence: Alignment and Gaps in Workforce Development Programs, the final report for phase 2 of the SPSP (DOE workforce study) project.

3D highway alignment optimization for Brookeville Bypass : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-06-01

This study applies the previously developed Highway Alignment Optimization (HAO) : model to the MD 97 Bypass project in Brookeville, Maryland. The objective of this study is to : demonstrate the applicability of the HAO model to a real highway projec...

Flexible Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Based on Vertical ZnO Nanowire Arrays

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Flexible dye-sensitized solar cells are fabricated using vertically aligned ZnO nanowire arrays that are transferred onto ITO-coated poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrates using a simple peel-off process. The solar cells demonstrate an energy conversion efficiency of 0.44% with good bending tolerance. This technique paves a new route for building large-scale cost-effective flexible photovoltaic and optoelectronic devices. PMID:27502660

Method and apparatus for routing data in an inter-nodal communications lattice of a massively parallel computer system by employing bandwidth shells at areas of overutilization

DOEpatents

Archer, Charles Jens; Musselman, Roy Glenn; Peters, Amanda; Pinnow, Kurt Walter; Swartz, Brent Allen; Wallenfelt, Brian Paul

2010-04-27

A massively parallel computer system contains an inter-nodal communications network of node-to-node links. An automated routing strategy routes packets through one or more intermediate nodes of the network to reach a final destination. The default routing strategy is altered responsive to detection of overutilization of a particular path of one or more links, and at least some traffic is re-routed by distributing the traffic among multiple paths (which may include the default path). An alternative path may require a greater number of link traversals to reach the destination node.

Alignment system for SGII-Up laser facility

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Yanqi; Cui, Yong; Li, Hong; Gong, Lei; Lin, Qiang; Liu, Daizhong; Zhu, Baoqiang; Ma, Weixin; Zhu, Jian; Lin, Zunqi

2018-03-01

The SGII-Up laser facility in Shanghai is one of the most important high-power laser facilities in China. It is designed to obtain 24 kJ (3ω) of energy with a square pulse of 3 ns using eight laser beams (two bundles). To satisfy the requirements for the safety, efficiency, and quality, an alignment system is developed for this facility. This alignment system can perform automatic alignment of the preamplifier system, main amplifier system, and harmonic conversion system within 30 min before every shot during the routine operation of the facility. In this article, an overview of the alignment system is first presented. Then, its alignment characteristics are discussed, along with the alignment process. Finally, experimental results, including the alignment results and the facility performance, are reported. The results show that the far-field beam pointing alignment accuracy is better than 3 μrad, and the alignment error of the near-field beam centering is no larger than 1 mm. These satisfy the design requirements very well.

Osm-Oriented Method of Multimodal Route Planning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, X.; Wu, Q.; Chen, L.; Xiong, W.; Jing, N.

2015-07-01

With the increasing pervasiveness of basic facilitate of transportation and information, the need of multimodal route planning is becoming more essential in the fields of communication and transportation, urban planning, logistics management, etc. This article mainly described an OSM-oriented method of multimodal route planning. Firstly, it introduced how to extract the information we need from OSM data and build proper network model and storage model; then it analysed the accustomed cost standard adopted by most travellers; finally, we used shortest path algorithm to calculate the best route with multiple traffic means.

Identification of Metabolic Routes and Catabolic Enzymes Involved in Phytoremediation of the Nitro-Substituted Explosives TNT, RDX, and HMX

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-07-31

Identification of Metabolic Routes and Catabolic Enzymes Involved in Phytoremediation of the Nitro- Substituted Explosives TNT, RDX...Routes and Catabolic Enzymes Involved in Phytoremediation of the Nitro-Substituted Explosives TNT, RDX, and HMX Final Technical Report 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER... Phytoremediation has been shown to provide a cost-effective alternative to classical technologies for cleaning up nitro-substituted explosive

An Analysis of the Alignment of the Grade 12 Physical Sciences Examination and the Core Curriculum in South Africa

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Nazeem

2010-01-01

I report on an analysis of the alignment between the South African Grade 12 Physical Sciences core curriculum content and the exemplar papers of 2008, and the final examination papers of 2008 and 2009. A two-dimensional table was used for both the curriculum and the examination in order to calculate the Porter alignment index, which indicates the…

A Survey on Clustering Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Liu, Xuxun

2012-01-01

The past few years have witnessed increased interest in the potential use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in a wide range of applications and it has become a hot research area. Based on network structure, routing protocols in WSNs can be divided into two categories: flat routing and hierarchical or clustering routing. Owing to a variety of advantages, clustering is becoming an active branch of routing technology in WSNs. In this paper, we present a comprehensive and fine grained survey on clustering routing protocols proposed in the literature for WSNs. We outline the advantages and objectives of clustering for WSNs, and develop a novel taxonomy of WSN clustering routing methods based on complete and detailed clustering attributes. In particular, we systematically analyze a few prominent WSN clustering routing protocols and compare these different approaches according to our taxonomy and several significant metrics. Finally, we summarize and conclude the paper with some future directions. PMID:23112649

A survey on clustering routing protocols in wireless sensor networks.

PubMed

Liu, Xuxun

2012-01-01

The past few years have witnessed increased interest in the potential use of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in a wide range of applications and it has become a hot research area. Based on network structure, routing protocols in WSNs can be divided into two categories: flat routing and hierarchical or clustering routing. Owing to a variety of advantages, clustering is becoming an active branch of routing technology in WSNs. In this paper, we present a comprehensive and fine grained survey on clustering routing protocols proposed in the literature for WSNs. We outline the advantages and objectives of clustering for WSNs, and develop a novel taxonomy of WSN clustering routing methods based on complete and detailed clustering attributes. In particular, we systematically analyze a few prominent WSN clustering routing protocols and compare these different approaches according to our taxonomy and several significant metrics. Finally, we summarize and conclude the paper with some future directions.

Security-Oriented and Load-Balancing Wireless Data Routing Game in the Integration of Advanced Metering Infrastructure Network in Smart Grid

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

He, Fulin; Cao, Yang; Zhang, Jun Jason

Ensuring flexible and reliable data routing is indispensable for the integration of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) networks, we propose a secure-oriented and load-balancing wireless data routing scheme. A novel utility function is designed based on security routing scheme. Then, we model the interactive security-oriented routing strategy among meter data concentrators or smart grid meters as a mixed-strategy network formation game. Finally, such problem results in a stable probabilistic routing scheme with proposed distributed learning algorithm. One contributions is that we studied that different types of applications affect the routing selection strategy and the strategy tendency. Another contributions is that themore » chosen strategy of our mixed routing can adaptively to converge to a new mixed strategy Nash equilibrium (MSNE) during the learning process in the smart grid.« less

Studies on in situ magnetic alignment of bonded anisotropic Nd-Fe-B alloy powders

DOE PAGES

Nlebedim, I. C.; Ucar, Huseyin; Hatter, Christine B.; ...

2016-08-30

We presented some considerations for achieving high degree of alignment in polymer bonded permanent magnets via the results of a study on in situ magnetic alignment of anisotropic Nd-Fe-B magnet powders. Contributions from effect of the alignment temperature, alignment magnetic field and the properties of the polymer on the hard magnetic properties of the bonded magnet were considered. Moreover, the thermo-rheological properties of the polymer and the response of the magnet powders to the applied magnetic field indicate that hard magnetic properties were optimized at an alignment temperature just above the melting temperature of the EVA co-polymer. This agrees withmore » an observed correlation between the change in magnetization due to improved magnetic alignment of the anisotropic powders and the change in viscosity of the binder. Finally, manufacturing cost can be minimized by identifying optimum alignment temperatures and magnetic field strengths.« less

Minimization of reflection cracks, Route 17, Gloucester County : installation report 1976.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1976-01-01

The installation of two fabrics, Petromat and Mirafi, to reduce reflection cracking on Route 17 in Gloucester County in- August 1976 is described. A brief review of the performance of previous installations is included. Finally, it is recommended tha...

Application of IHSDM: KY 30 case study : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-09-01

A section of KY 30 in Jackson and Owsley Counties is targeted for redesign to provide a safer and more efficient corridor that will support economic activity in eastern Kentucky. Data for the existing KY 30 alignment and eight alternative alignments ...

Investigation of the growth of directionally solidified eutectics with potential as electron emitters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chapman, A. T.; Cochran, J. K.

1976-01-01

The construction of a solar furnace was completed and it was tested after a preliminary alignment of the heliostat mirrors. After final alignment, the solar furnace is used for directional solidification experiments designed to simulate space conditions.

Experimental Estimation of CLASP Spatial Resolution: Results of the Instrument's Optical Alignment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Giono, Gabrial; Katsukawa, Yukio; Ishikawa, Ryoko; Narukage, Noriyuki; Bando, Takamasa; Kano, Ryohei; Suematsu, Yoshinori; Kobayashi, Ken; Winebarger, Amy; Auchere, Frederic

2015-01-01

The Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP) is a sounding-rocket experiment currently being built at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. This instrument aims to probe for the first time the magnetic field strength and orientation in the solar upper-chromosphere and lower-transition region. CLASP will measure the polarization of the Lyman-Alpha line (121.6nm) with an unprecedented accuracy, and derive the magnetic field information through the Hanle effect. Although polarization accuracy and spectral resolution are crucial for the Hanle effect detection, spatial resolution is also important to get reliable context image via the slit-jaw camera. As spatial resolution is directly related with the alignment of optics, it is also a good way of ensuring the alignment of the instrument to meet the scientific requirement. This poster will detail the experiments carried out to align CLASP's optics (telescope and spectrograph), as both part of the instrument were aligned separately. The telescope was aligned in double-pass mode, and a laser interferometer (He-Ne) was used to measure the telescope's wavefront error (WFE). The secondary mirror tilt and position were adjusted to remove comas and defocus aberrations from the WFE. Effect of gravity on the WFE measurement was estimated and the final WFE derived in zero-g condition for CLASP telescope will be presented. In addition, an estimation of the spot shape and size derived from the final WFE will also be shown. The spectrograph was aligned with a custom procedure: because Ly-??light is absorbed by air, the spectrograph's off-axis parabolic mirrors were aligned in Visible Light (VL) using a custom-made VL grating instead of the flight Ly-? grating. Results of the alignment in Visible Light will be shown and the spot shape recorded with CCDs at various position along the slit will be displayed. Results from both alignment experiment will be compared to the design requirement, and will be combined in order to estimate CLASP spatial resolution after its alignment in visible light.

Glaciers along proposed routes extending the Copper River Highway, Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Glass, R.L.

1996-01-01

Three inland highway routes are being considered by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to connect the community of Cordova in southcentral Alaska to a statewide road system. The routes use part of a Copper River and Northwest Railway alignment along the Copper River through mountainous terrain having numerous glaciers. An advance of any of several glaciers could block and destroy the roadway, whereas retreating glaciers expose large quantities of unconsolidated, unvegetated, and commonly ice-rich sediments. The purpose of this study was to map historical locations of glacier termini near these routes and to describe hazards associated with glaciers and seasonal snow. Historical and recent locations of glacier termini along the proposed Copper River Highway routes were determined by reviewing reports and maps and by interpreting aerial photographs. The termini of Childs, Grinnell, Tasnuna, and Woodworth Glaciers were 1 mile or less from a proposed route in the most recently available aerial photography (1978-91); the termini of Allen, Heney, and Schwan Glaciers were 1.5 miles or less from a proposed route. In general, since 1911, most glaciers have slowly retreated, but many glaciers have had occasional advances. Deserted Glacier and one of its tributary glaciers have surge-type medial moraines, indicating potential rapid advances. The terminus of Deserted Glacier was about 2.1 miles from a proposed route in 1978, but showed no evidence of surging. Snow and rock avalanches and snowdrifts are common along the proposed routes and will periodically obstruct the roadway. Floods from ice-dammed lakes also pose a threat. For example, Van Cleve Lake, adjacent to Miles Glacier, is as large as 4.4 square miles and empties about every 6 years. Floods from drainages of Van Cleve Lake have caused the Copper River to rise on the order of 20 feet at Million Dollar Bridge.

Dispatching demand response transit service maximizing productivity and service quality guidebook : final report, March 2009.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-03-01

The ability of transit agencies to staff dispatch effectively and use technology to its full advantage is critical : in responding proactively as service changes occur and in making sound routing decisions. Sound routing : decisions result in improve...

Evaluation of the Corridor Safety Improvement Program : phase 1 final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-09-01

This project is an analysis of Oregon's Corridor Safety Improvement Programs implemented on Oregon Route 22 and Oregon Route 34. Improvements were : made along each corridor in 1993. : The project used a mail-out survey to determine the level of awar...

Mechanical alignment of particles for use in fabricating superconducting and permanent magnetic materials

DOEpatents

Nellis, William J.; Maple, M. Brian

1992-01-01

A method for mechanically aligning oriented superconducting or permanently magnetic materials for further processing into constructs. This pretreatment optimizes the final crystallographic orientation and, thus, properties in these constructs. Such materials as superconducting fibers, needles and platelets are utilized.

Challenges in global ballast water management.

PubMed

Endresen, Øyvind; Lee Behrens, Hanna; Brynestad, Sigrid; Bjørn Andersen, Aage; Skjong, Rolf

2004-04-01

Ballast water management is a complex issue raising the challenge of merging international regulations, ship's specific configurations along with ecological conservation. This complexity is illustrated in this paper by considering ballast water volume, discharge frequency, ship safety and operational issues aligned with regional characteristics to address ecological risk for selected routes. A re-estimation of ballast water volumes gives a global annual level of 3500 Mton. Global ballast water volume discharged into open sea originating from ballast water exchange operations is estimated to approximately 2800 Mton. Risk based decision support systems coupled to databases for different ports and invasive species characteristics and distributions can allow for differentiated treatment levels while maintaining low risk levels. On certain routes, the risk is estimated to be unacceptable and some kind of ballast water treatment or management should be applied.

Compressing a spinodal surface at fixed area: bijels in a centrifuge.

PubMed

Rumble, Katherine A; Thijssen, Job H J; Schofield, Andrew B; Clegg, Paul S

2016-05-11

Bicontinuous interfacially jammed emulsion gels (bijels) are solid-stabilised emulsions with two inter-penetrating continuous phases. Employing the method of centrifugal compression we find that macroscopically the bijel yields at relatively low angular acceleration. Both continuous phases escape from the top of the structure, making any compression immediately irreversible. Microscopically, the bijel becomes anisotropic with the domains aligned perpendicular to the compression direction which inhibits further liquid expulsion; this contrasts strongly with the sedimentation behaviour of colloidal gels. The original structure can, however, be preserved close to the top of the sample and thus the change to an anisotropic structure suggests internal yielding. Any air bubbles trapped in the bijel are found to aid compression by forming channels aligned parallel to the compression direction which provide a route for liquid to escape.

NASA Tech Briefs, December 2013

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2013-01-01

Topics include: Microwave Kinetic Inductance Detector With; Selective Polarization Coupling; Flexible Microstrip Circuits for; Superconducting Electronics; CFD Extraction Tool for TecPlot From DPLR Solutions; RECOVIR Software for Identifying Viruses; Enhanced Contact Graph Routing (ECGR) MACHETE Simulation Model; Orbital Debris Engineering Model (ORDEM) v.3; Scatter-Reducing Sounding Filtration Using a Genetic Algorithm and Mean Monthly Standard Deviation; Thermo-Mechanical Methodology for Stabilizing Shape Memory Alloy Response; Hermetic Seal Designs for Sample Return Sample Tubes; Silicon Alignment Pins: An Easy Way To Realize a Wafer-to-Wafer Alignment; Positive-Buoyancy Rover for Under Ice Mobility; Electric Machine With Boosted Inductance to Stabilize Current Control; International Space Station-Based Electromagnetic Launcher for Space Science Payloads; Advanced Hybrid Spacesuit Concept Featuring Integrated Open Loop and Closed Loop Ventilation Systems; Data Quality Screening Service.

Chemical Routes to Ceramics with Tunable Properties and Structures: Chemical Routes to Nano and Micro-Structured Ceramics

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-20

condensations, ordered macroporous arrays of titania , zirconia, and alumina . Other work employing the silica templates has yielded macroporous carbons...Final 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) 05/01/05-09/30/09 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Chemical Routes to Ceramics with Tunable Properties and...ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER 9-2009 9. SPONSORING / MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) Air Force Office of Scientific Research Ceramic and

Study on the key alignment technology of the catadioptric optical system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Chong; Fu, Xing; Fu, Xi-hong; Kang, Xiao-peng; Liu, Kai

2017-02-01

Optical system alignment has a great influence on the whole system accuracy. In this paper, the processing of optical system alignment was mainly studied, the processing method of optics on the primary and secondary mirrors, front correction lens group and behind correction lens group with high precision centering lathe and internal focusing telescope. Then using the height indicator complete the system alignment of the primary mirror, secondary mirror, front correction group and behind correction group. Finally, based on the zygo interferometer detect the wavefront information. Using this alignment program for catadioptric optical system, the wavefront aberration of optical system, focal length, modulation transfer function (MTF) and other technical indicators have reached the requirements.

Portable data flow in UNIX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fox, R.; Molen, A. Vander; Hannuschke, S.

1994-02-01

We describe the dataflow of a nuclear physics data acquisition system. The system features a high speed active routing subsystem which allows an arbitrary number of data producers to contribute data to the system. Data are then routed to an arbitrary number of data consumers. Low overhead route-by-reference mechanisms are used to allow high rate operations. The system has been ported to a variety of UNIX systems. Timings are given for the routing component of the system on several systems. Finally, we give an example of a set of programs which can be added to the system to produce a complete data acquisition system.

Proposed definition of the term en route in en route aircraft noise

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Garbell, Maurice A.

1990-01-01

The problem of en route aircraft noise was examined in a formal, dedicated, setting. Whereas the general meaning of the term en route might be intuitively understood, it is suggested that a precise formal definition of the term en route would be opportune from the outset, especially since the scientific and technical investigation of the problem of noise immissions on the ground from aircraft in flight away from the airspace of an airport may conceivably lead to administrative, regulatory, and legal consequences that would mandatorily require a precise definition of the term en route. Five flight segments, with their differing airframe configurations, engine thrusts, and airspeed management, should form the basis for the differential consideration of the noise immissions perceived on the ground underneath or near the defined segments of the flightpath in en route flight, from the end of the initial climb from an airport after takeoff until the final approach to an airport.

Multiple nodes transfer alignment for airborne missiles based on inertial sensor network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Si, Fan; Zhao, Yan

2017-09-01

Transfer alignment is an important initialization method for airborne missiles because the alignment accuracy largely determines the performance of the missile. However, traditional alignment methods are limited by complicated and unknown flexure angle, and cannot meet the actual requirement when wing flexure deformation occurs. To address this problem, we propose a new method that uses the relative navigation parameters between the weapons and fighter to achieve transfer alignment. First, in the relative inertial navigation algorithm, the relative attitudes and positions are constantly computed in wing flexure deformation situations. Secondly, the alignment results of each weapon are processed using a data fusion algorithm to improve the overall performance. Finally, the feasibility and performance of the proposed method were evaluated under two typical types of deformation, and the simulation results demonstrated that the new transfer alignment method is practical and has high-precision.

Automated interferometric alignment system for paraboloidal mirrors

DOEpatents

Maxey, L.C.

1993-09-28

A method is described for a systematic method of interpreting interference fringes obtained by using a corner cube retroreflector as an alignment aid when aligning a paraboloid to a spherical wavefront. This is applicable to any general case where such alignment is required, but is specifically applicable in the case of aligning an autocollimating test using a diverging beam wavefront. In addition, the method provides information which can be systematically interpreted such that independent information about pitch, yaw and focus errors can be obtained. Thus, the system lends itself readily to automation. Finally, although the method is developed specifically for paraboloids, it can be seen to be applicable to a variety of other aspheric optics when applied in combination with a wavefront corrector that produces a wavefront which, when reflected from the correctly aligned aspheric surface will produce a collimated wavefront like that obtained from the paraboloid when it is correctly aligned to a spherical wavefront. 14 figures.

High-Precision Coupling Mechanism Operable By Robots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Voellmer, George

1992-01-01

Coupling mechanism has features making it easily operable by hand and suitable for operation by robots: tolerates some initial misalignment, imposes precise final alignment, and protects itself against overtightening. Typically used to mount equipment module on structure. Mechanism includes kinematic mounts, which tolerate small initial misalignment and enforce precise final alignment as two assemblies brought together. Clamping force applied to kinematic mounts via two flexible plates. Bolt and nut tightened on flexible plates to impose spring clamping load. Repeatability of interface tested and found to be better than forty-millionths of inch.

Incremental Validity of Biographical Data in the Prediction of En Route Air Traffic Control Specialist Technical Skills

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-07-01

Incremental Validity of Biographical Data in the Prediction of En Route Air Traffic Control Specialist Technical Skills Dana Broach Civil Aerospace...Medical Institute Federal Aviation Administration Oklahoma City, OK 73125 July 2012 Final Report DOT/FAA/AM- 12 /8 Office of Aerospace Medicine...FAA/AM- 12 /8 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date July 2012 Incremental Validity of Biographical Data in the Prediction of En Route Air

Reduced posting and marking of flight progress strips for en route air traffic control : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-02-01

The new Display System Replacement (DSR) being implemented in air route traffic control centers (ARTCCs) will allow the data-side controller less room to post Flight Progress Strips (FPSs). We tested a new FPS marking and posting procedure designed t...

Final findings on the development and evaluation of an en-route fuel optimal conflict resolution algorithm to support strategic decision-making.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-01-01

The novel strategic conflict-resolution algorithm for fuel minimization that is documented in this report : provides air traffic controllers and/or pilots with fuel-optimal heading, speed, and altitude : recommendations in the en route flight phase, ...

A systematic evaluation of the impacts of traffic condition information on the reduction of on-road mobile emissions : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-07-01

Current Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) allow travelers to change their route, mode, departure time, route choice or destination to avoid delays and congestions, which results in improved traffic flow. This means higher vehicle speed, lo...

Synthesis of Monodispersed Tantalum(V) oxide Nanospheres by an Ethylene Glycol Mediated Route

EPA Science Inventory

Tantalum(V) oxide (Ta2O5) nanospheres have been synthesized by a very simple ethylene glycol mediated route. The two-step process involves the formation of glycolate nanoparticles and their subsequent hydrolysis and calcination to generate the final Ta2O5 nanospheres. The synthes...

Approximate matching of regular expressions.

PubMed

Myers, E W; Miller, W

1989-01-01

Given a sequence A and regular expression R, the approximate regular expression matching problem is to find a sequence matching R whose optimal alignment with A is the highest scoring of all such sequences. This paper develops an algorithm to solve the problem in time O(MN), where M and N are the lengths of A and R. Thus, the time requirement is asymptotically no worse than for the simpler problem of aligning two fixed sequences. Our method is superior to an earlier algorithm by Wagner and Seiferas in several ways. First, it treats real-valued costs, in addition to integer costs, with no loss of asymptotic efficiency. Second, it requires only O(N) space to deliver just the score of the best alignment. Finally, its structure permits implementation techniques that make it extremely fast in practice. We extend the method to accommodate gap penalties, as required for typical applications in molecular biology, and further refine it to search for sub-strings of A that strongly align with a sequence in R, as required for typical data base searches. We also show how to deliver an optimal alignment between A and R in only O(N + log M) space using O(MN log M) time. Finally, an O(MN(M + N) + N2log N) time algorithm is presented for alignment scoring schemes where the cost of a gap is an arbitrary increasing function of its length.

Properties of WZ21 (%wt) alloy processed by a powder metallurgy route.

PubMed

Cabeza, Sandra; Garcés, Gerardo; Pérez, Pablo; Adeva, Paloma

2015-06-01

Microstructure, mechanical properties and corrosion behaviour of WZ21 (%wt) alloy prepared by a powder metallurgy route from rapidly solidified powders have been studied. Results were compared to those of the same alloy prepared through a conventional route of casting and extrusion. The microstructure of the extruded ingot consisted of α-Mg grains and Mg3Zn3Y2 (W-phase) and LPSO-phase particles located at grain boundaries. Moreover, stacking faults were also observed within α-Mg grains. The alloy processed by the powder metallurgy route exhibited a more homogeneous and finer microstructure, with a grain size of 2 μm. In this case W-phase and Mg24Y5 phase were identified, but not the LPSO-phase. The microstructural refinement induced by the use of rapidly solidified powders strengthened the alloy at room temperature and promoted superplasticity at higher strain rates. Corrosion behaviour in PBS medium evidenced certain physical barrier effect of the almost continuous arrangements of second phases aligned along the extrusion direction in conventionally processed WZ21 alloy, with a stable tendency around 7 mm/year. On the other hand, powder metallurgy processing promoted significant pitting corrosion, inducing accelerated corrosion rate during prolonged immersion times. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Allocentric and contra-aligned spatial representations of a town environment in blind people.

PubMed

Chiesa, Silvia; Schmidt, Susanna; Tinti, Carla; Cornoldi, Cesare

2017-10-01

Evidence concerning the representation of space by blind individuals is still unclear, as sometimes blind people behave like sighted people do, while other times they present difficulties. A better understanding of blind people's difficulties, especially with reference to the strategies used to form the representation of the environment, may help to enhance knowledge of the consequences of the absence of vision. The present study examined the representation of the locations of landmarks of a real town by using pointing tasks that entailed either allocentric points of reference with mental rotations of different degrees, or contra-aligned representations. Results showed that, in general, people met difficulties when they had to point from a different perspective to aligned landmarks or from the original perspective to contra-aligned landmarks, but this difficulty was particularly evident for the blind. The examination of the strategies adopted to perform the tasks showed that only a small group of blind participants used a survey strategy and that this group had a better performance with respect to people who adopted route or verbal strategies. Implications for the comprehension of the consequences on spatial cognition of the absence of visual experience are discussed, focusing in particular on conceivable interventions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Self-aligned photolithography for the fabrication of fully transparent high-voltage devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yonghui; Mei, Zengxia; Huo, Wenxing; Wang, Tao; Liang, Huili; Du, Xiaolong

2018-05-01

High-voltage devices, working in the range of hundreds of volts, are indispensable elements in the driving or readout circuits for various kinds of displays, integrated microelectromechanical systems and x-ray imaging sensors. However, the device performances are found hardly uniform or repeatable due to the misalignment issue, which are extremely common for offset drain high-voltage devices. To resolve this issue, this article reports a set of self-aligned photolithography technology for the fabrication of high-voltage devices. High-performance fully-transparent high-voltage thin film transistors, diodes and logic inverters are successfully fabricated with this technology. Unlike other self-aligned routes, opaque masks are introduced on the backside of the transparent substrate to facilitate proximity exposure method. The photolithography process is simulated and analyzed with technology computer aided design simulation to explain the working principle of the proximity exposure method. The substrate thickness is found to be vital for the implementation of this technology based on both simulation and experimental results. The electrical performance of high-voltage devices is dependent on the offset length, which can be delicately modulated by changing the exposure dose. The presented self-aligned photolithography technology is proved to be feasible in high-voltage circuits, demonstrating its huge potential in practical industrial applications.

A Facile Method to Fabricate Anisotropic Hydrogels with Perfectly Aligned Hierarchical Fibrous Structures.

PubMed

Mredha, Md Tariful Islam; Guo, Yun Zhou; Nonoyama, Takayuki; Nakajima, Tasuku; Kurokawa, Takayuki; Gong, Jian Ping

2018-03-01

Natural structural materials (such as tendons and ligaments) are comprised of multiscale hierarchical architectures, with dimensions ranging from nano- to macroscale, which are difficult to mimic synthetically. Here a bioinspired, facile method to fabricate anisotropic hydrogels with perfectly aligned multiscale hierarchical fibrous structures similar to those of tendons and ligaments is reported. The method includes drying a diluted physical hydrogel in air by confining its length direction. During this process, sufficiently high tensile stress is built along the length direction to align the polymer chains and multiscale fibrous structures (from nano- to submicro- to microscale) are spontaneously formed in the bulk material, which are well-retained in the reswollen gel. The method is useful for relatively rigid polymers (such as alginate and cellulose), which are susceptible to mechanical signal. By controlling the drying with or without prestretching, the degree of alignment, size of superstructures, and the strength of supramolecular interactions can be tuned, which sensitively influence the strength and toughness of the hydrogels. The mechanical properties are comparable with those of natural ligaments. This study provides a general strategy for designing hydrogels with highly ordered hierarchical structures, which opens routes for the development of many functional biomimetic materials for biomedical applications. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Pithy Review on Routing Protocols in Wireless Sensor Networks and Least Routing Time Opportunistic Technique in WSN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salman Arafath, Mohammed; Rahman Khan, Khaleel Ur; Sunitha, K. V. N.

2018-01-01

Nowadays due to most of the telecommunication standard development organizations focusing on using device-to-device communication so that they can provide proximity-based services and add-on services on top of the available cellular infrastructure. An Oppnets and wireless sensor network play a prominent role here. Routing in these networks plays a significant role in fields such as traffic management, packet delivery etc. Routing is a prodigious research area with diverse unresolved issues. This paper firstly focuses on the importance of Opportunistic routing and its concept then focus is shifted to prime aspect i.e. on packet reception ratio which is one of the highest QoS Awareness parameters. This paper discusses the two important functions of routing in wireless sensor networks (WSN) namely route selection using least routing time algorithm (LRTA) and data forwarding using clustering technique. Finally, the simulation result reveals that LRTA performs relatively better than the existing system in terms of average packet reception ratio and connectivity.

Improving scanner wafer alignment performance by target optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leray, Philippe; Jehoul, Christiane; Socha, Robert; Menchtchikov, Boris; Raghunathan, Sudhar; Kent, Eric; Schoonewelle, Hielke; Tinnemans, Patrick; Tuffy, Paul; Belen, Jun; Wise, Rich

2016-03-01

In the process nodes of 10nm and below, the patterning complexity along with the processing and materials required has resulted in a need to optimize alignment targets in order to achieve the required precision, accuracy and throughput performance. Recent industry publications on the metrology target optimization process have shown a move from the expensive and time consuming empirical methodologies, towards a faster computational approach. ASML's Design for Control (D4C) application, which is currently used to optimize YieldStar diffraction based overlay (DBO) metrology targets, has been extended to support the optimization of scanner wafer alignment targets. This allows the necessary process information and design methodology, used for DBO target designs, to be leveraged for the optimization of alignment targets. In this paper, we show how we applied this computational approach to wafer alignment target design. We verify the correlation between predictions and measurements for the key alignment performance metrics and finally show the potential alignment and overlay performance improvements that an optimized alignment target could achieve.

Reversible optical switching memristors with tunable STDP synaptic plasticity: a route to hierarchical control in artificial intelligent systems.

PubMed

Jaafar, Ayoub H; Gray, Robert J; Verrelli, Emanuele; O'Neill, Mary; Kelly, Stephen M; Kemp, Neil T

2017-11-09

Optical control of memristors opens the route to new applications in optoelectronic switching and neuromorphic computing. Motivated by the need for reversible and latched optical switching we report on the development of a memristor with electronic properties tunable and switchable by wavelength and polarization specific light. The device consists of an optically active azobenzene polymer, poly(disperse red 1 acrylate), overlaying a forest of vertically aligned ZnO nanorods. Illumination induces trans-cis isomerization of the azobenzene molecules, which expands or contracts the polymer layer and alters the resistance of the off/on states, their ratio and retention time. The reversible optical effect enables dynamic control of a memristor's learning properties including control of synaptic potentiation and depression, optical switching between short-term and long-term memory and optical modulation of the synaptic efficacy via spike timing dependent plasticity. The work opens the route to the dynamic patterning of memristor networks both spatially and temporally by light, thus allowing the development of new optically reconfigurable neural networks and adaptive electronic circuits.

Positioning and joining of organic single-crystalline wires

PubMed Central

Wu, Yuchen; Feng, Jiangang; Jiang, Xiangyu; Zhang, Zhen; Wang, Xuedong; Su, Bin; Jiang, Lei

2015-01-01

Organic single-crystal, one-dimensional materials can effectively carry charges and/or excitons due to their highly ordered molecule packing, minimized defects and eliminated grain boundaries. Controlling the alignment/position of organic single-crystal one-dimensional architectures would allow on-demand photon/electron transport, which is a prerequisite in waveguides and other optoelectronic applications. Here we report a guided physical vapour transport technique to control the growth, alignment and positioning of organic single-crystal wires with the guidance of pillar-structured substrates. Submicrometre-wide, hundreds of micrometres long, highly aligned, organic single-crystal wire arrays are generated. Furthermore, these organic single-crystal wires can be joined within controlled angles by varying the pillar geometries. Owing to the controllable growth of organic single-crystal one-dimensional architectures, we can present proof-of-principle demonstrations utilizing joined wires to allow optical waveguide through small radii of curvature (internal angles of ~90–120°). Our methodology may open a route to control the growth of organic single-crystal one-dimensional materials with potential applications in optoelectronics. PMID:25814032

Dramatic improvement in water retention and proton conductivity in electrically aligned functionalized CNT/SPEEK nanohybrid PEM.

PubMed

Gahlot, Swati; Kulshrestha, Vaibhav

2015-01-14

Nanohybrid membranes of electrically aligned functionalized carbon nanotube f CNT with sulfonated poly ether ether ketone (SPEEK) have been successfully prepared by solution casting. Functionalization of CNTs was done through a carboxylation and sulfonation route. Further, a constant electric field (500 V·cm(-2)) has been applied to align CNTs in the same direction during the membrane drying process. All the membranes are characterized chemically, thermally, and mechanically by the means of FTIR, DSC, DMA, UTM, SEM, TEM, and AFM techniques. Intermolecular interactions between the components in hybrid membranes are established by FTIR. Physicochemical measurements were done to analyze membrane stability. Membranes are evaluated for proton conductivity (30-90 °C) and methanol crossover resistance to reveal their potential for direct methanol fuel cell application. Incorporation of f CNT reasonably increases the ion-exchange capacity, water retention, and proton conductivity while it reduces the methanol permeability. The maximum proton conductivity has been found in the S-sCNT-5 nanohybrid PEM with higher methanol crossover resistance. The prepared membranes can be also used for electrode material for fuel cells and batteries.

A hop count based heuristic routing protocol for mobile delay tolerant networks.

PubMed

You, Lei; Li, Jianbo; Wei, Changjiang; Dai, Chenqu; Xu, Jixing; Hu, Lejuan

2014-01-01

Routing in delay tolerant networks (DTNs) is a challenge since it must handle network partitioning, long delays, and dynamic topology. Meanwhile, routing protocols of the traditional mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) cannot work well due to the failure of its assumption that most network connections are available. In this paper, we propose a hop count based heuristic routing protocol by utilizing the information carried by the peripatetic packets in the network. A heuristic function is defined to help in making the routing decision. We formally define a custom operation for square matrices so as to transform the heuristic value calculation into matrix manipulation. Finally, the performance of our proposed algorithm is evaluated by the simulation results, which show the advantage of such self-adaptive routing protocol in the diverse circumstance of DTNs.

A patient with aphasia using the nonsemantic lexical route for Kanji reading.

PubMed

Hashimoto, Kosei; Uno, Akira; Sambai, Ami; Mizumoto, Go

We report a patient with aphasia, caused by cerebral hemorrhage, who probably used the nonsemantic lexical route when reading words aloud. To investigate the mechanisms underlying her reading dysfunction, we analyzed her reading abilities using the Dual-Route Cascaded Model. Language tests resulted in low correct percentages for both reading comprehension and reading nonwords aloud, suggesting problems in the semantic system and the nonlexical route. Conversely, the patient showed high scores on the reading words aloud task. Although she failed to understand many inconsistent-atypical words in the reading comprehension test, she correctly read most words aloud, suggesting that she used the nonsemantic lexical route. In addition, the lexical reading route was analyzed in detail by using inconsistent-atypical Kanji words as stimuli. Finally, we analyzed her reading dysfunction compared with previous cases.

A Hop Count Based Heuristic Routing Protocol for Mobile Delay Tolerant Networks

PubMed Central

Wei, Changjiang; Dai, Chenqu; Xu, Jixing; Hu, Lejuan

2014-01-01

Routing in delay tolerant networks (DTNs) is a challenge since it must handle network partitioning, long delays, and dynamic topology. Meanwhile, routing protocols of the traditional mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) cannot work well due to the failure of its assumption that most network connections are available. In this paper, we propose a hop count based heuristic routing protocol by utilizing the information carried by the peripatetic packets in the network. A heuristic function is defined to help in making the routing decision. We formally define a custom operation for square matrices so as to transform the heuristic value calculation into matrix manipulation. Finally, the performance of our proposed algorithm is evaluated by the simulation results, which show the advantage of such self-adaptive routing protocol in the diverse circumstance of DTNs. PMID:25110736

Polyhedral integrated and free space optical interconnection

DOEpatents

Erteza, I.A.

1998-01-06

An optical communication system uses holographic optical elements to provide guided wave and non-guided communication, resulting in high bandwidth, high connectivity optical communications. Holograms within holographic optical elements route optical signals between elements and between nodes connected to elements. Angular and wavelength multiplexing allow the elements to provide high connectivity. The combination of guided and non-guided communication allows compact polyhedral system geometries. Guided wave communications provided by multiplexed substrate-mode holographic optical elements eases system alignment. 7 figs.

Polyhedral integrated and free space optical interconnection

DOEpatents

Erteza, Ireena A.

1998-01-01

An optical communication system uses holographic optical elements to provide guided wave and non-guided communication, resulting in high bandwidth, high connectivity optical communications. Holograms within holographic optical elements route optical signals between elements and between nodes connected to elements. Angular and wavelength multiplexing allow the elements to provide high connectivity. The combination of guided and non-guided communication allows compact polyhedral system geometries. Guided wave communications provided by multiplexed substrate-mode holographic optical elements eases system alignment.

The effect of substrate distance to evaporation source on morphology of ZnO:In nanorods fabricated by means of a vapor transfer route and the study of their optical and electrical properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghafouri, Vahid; Shariati, Mohsen; Ebrahimzad, Akbar

2014-03-01

High-quality polycrystalline and single crystalline Indium-doped ZnO (ZnO:In) nanorods (NRs) have been synthesized on Si (100) substrates via a vapor transfer route in an oxygen-rich tube furnace. The morphology of the nanostructures and their distribution on the surface is highly related to distance between the substrate and evaporation sources. The morphology can be adjusted from micro-porous film to the vertically aligned hexagonal NRs by this distance. The diameter of the grown NRs varies between 50 and 200 nm, and their length mostly changes from 1 to 3 mm. EDS analysis indicated the presence of zinc, oxygen, and indium in the structures. FTIR measurements confirmed the existence of Zn-O and In-O bands in ZnO:In NRs. X-ray diffractions and SAED patterns showed that the vertically aligned hexagonal NRs have a preferential orientation along the (002) direction. Room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra of NRs are dominated by a green band emission between 420 and 700 nm. The peak of the green emission has shifted in different samples, which is probably due to indium impurity. The results of the electrical transport measurement of the NRs showed that the amount of In impurity is effective in the increase of samples' conductivity.

Strategy modulates spatial perspective-taking: evidence for dissociable disembodied and embodied routes

PubMed Central

Gardner, Mark R.; Brazier, Mark; Edmonds, Caroline J.; Gronholm, Petra C.

2013-01-01

Previous research provides evidence for a dissociable embodied route to spatial perspective-taking that is under strategic control. The present experiment investigated further the influence of strategy on spatial perspective-taking by assessing whether participants may also elect to employ a separable “disembodied” route loading on inhibitory control mechanisms. Participants (N = 92) undertook both the “own body transformation” (OBT) perspective-taking task, requiring speeded spatial judgments made from the perspective of an observed figure, and a control task measuring ability to inhibit spatially compatible responses in the absence of a figure. Perspective-taking performance was found to be related to performance on the response inhibition control task, in that participants who tended to take longer to adopt a new perspective also tended to show a greater elevation in response times when inhibiting spatially compatible responses. This relationship was restricted to those participants reporting that they adopted the perspective of another by reversing left and right whenever confronted with a front-view figure; it was absent in those participants who reported perspective-taking by mentally transforming their spatial orientation to align with that of the figure. Combined with previously published results, these findings complete a double dissociation between embodied and disembodied routes to spatial perspective-taking, implying that spatial perspective-taking is subject to modulation by strategy, and suggesting that embodied routes to perspective-taking may place minimal demands on domain general executive functions. PMID:23964229

Metro passengers’ route choice model and its application considering perceived transfer threshold

PubMed Central

Jin, Fanglei; Zhang, Yongsheng; Liu, Shasha

2017-01-01

With the rapid development of the Metro network in China, the greatly increased route alternatives make passengers’ route choice behavior and passenger flow assignment more complicated, which presents challenges to the operation management. In this paper, a path sized logit model is adopted to analyze passengers’ route choice preferences considering such parameters as in-vehicle time, number of transfers, and transfer time. Moreover, the “perceived transfer threshold” is defined and included in the utility function to reflect the penalty difference caused by transfer time on passengers’ perceived utility under various numbers of transfers. Next, based on the revealed preference data collected in the Guangzhou Metro, the proposed model is calibrated. The appropriate perceived transfer threshold value and the route choice preferences are analyzed. Finally, the model is applied to a personalized route planning case to demonstrate the engineering practicability of route choice behavior analysis. The results show that the introduction of the perceived transfer threshold is helpful to improve the model’s explanatory abilities. In addition, personalized route planning based on route choice preferences can meet passengers’ diversified travel demands. PMID:28957376

FeP@C Nanotube Arrays Grown on Carbon Fabric as a Low Potential and Freestanding Anode for High-Performance Li-Ion Batteries.

PubMed

Xu, Xijun; Liu, Jun; Liu, Zhengbo; Wang, Zhuosen; Hu, Renzong; Liu, Jiangwen; Ouyang, Liuzhang; Zhu, Min

2018-06-26

An anode of self-supported FeP@C nanotube arrays on carbon fabric (CF) is successfully fabricated via a facile template-based deposition and phosphorization route: first, well-aligned FeOOH nanotube arrays are simply obtained via a solution deposition and in situ etching route with hydrothermally crystallized (Co,Ni)(CO 3 ) 0.5 OH nanowire arrays as the template; subsequently, these uniform FeOOH nanotube arrays are transformed into robust carbon-coated Fe 3 O 4 (Fe 3 O 4 @C) nanotube arrays via glucose adsorption and annealing treatments; and finally FeP@C nanotube arrays on CF are achieved through the facile phosphorization of the oxide-based arrays. As an anode for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), these FeP@C nanotube arrays exhibit superior rate capability (reversible capacities of 945, 871, 815, 762, 717, and 657 mA h g -1 at 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.3, and 2.2 A g -1 , respectively, corresponding to area specific capacities of 1.73, 1.59, 1.49, 1.39, 1.31, 1.20 mA h cm -2 at 0.18, 0.37, 0.732, 1.46, 2.38, and 4.03 mA cm -2 , respectively) and a stable long-cycling performance (a high specific capacity of 718 mA h g -1 after 670 cycles at 0.5 A g -1 , corresponding to an area capacity of 1.31 mA h cm -2 at 0.92 mA cm -2 ). © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Real-time dangling objects sensing: A preliminary design of mobile headset ancillary device for visual impaired.

PubMed

Lin, C H; Cheng, P H; Shen, S T

2014-01-01

Blinds and severe visual impairments can utilize tactile sticks to assist their walking. However, they cannot fully understand the dangling objects in front of their walking routes. This research proposed a mobile real-time dangling objects sensing (RDOS) prototype, which is located on the cap to sense any front barrier. This device utilized cheap ultrasonic sensor to act as another complement eye for blinds to understand the front dangling objects. Meanwhile, the RDOS device can dynamically adjust the sensor's front angle that is depended on the user's body height and promote the sensing accuracy. Meanwhile, two major required algorithms, height-angle measurement and ultrasonic sensor alignment, are proposed with this prototype. The research team also integrated the RDOS device prototype with mobile Android devices by communicating with Bluetooth to record the walking route.

Field-aligned current sources in the high-latitude ionosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barbosa, D. D.

1979-01-01

The paper determines the electric potential in a plane which is fed current from a pair of field-aligned current sheets. The ionospheric conductivity is modelled as a constant with an enhanced conductivity annular ring. It is shown that field-aligned current distributions are arbitrary functions of azimuth angle (MLT) and thus allow for asymmetric potential configurations over the pole cap. In addition, ionospheric surface currents are computed by means of stream functions. Finally, the discussion relates these methods to the electrical characteristics of the magnetosphere.

Design considerations for a compact infrared airborne imager to meet alignment and assembly requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spencer, Harvey

2002-09-01

Helicopter mounted optical systems require compact packaging, good image performance (approaching the diffraction-limit), and must survive and operate in a rugged shock and thermal environment. The always-present requirement for low weight in an airborne sensor is paramount when considering the optical configuration. In addition, the usual list of optical requirements which must be satisfied within narrow tolerances, including field-of-view, vignetting, boresight, stray light rejection, and transmittance drive the optical design. It must be determined early in the engineering process which internal optical alignment adjustment provisions must be included, which may be included, and which will have to be omitted, since adding alignment features often conflicts with the requirement for optical component stability during operation and of course adds weight. When the system is to be modular and mates with another optical system, a telescope designed by different contractor in this case, additional alignment requirements between the two systems must be specified and agreed upon. Final delivered cost is certainly critical and "touch labor" assembly time must be determined and controlled. A clear plan for the alignment and assembly steps must be devised before the optical design can even begin to ensure that an arrangement of optical components amenable to adjustment is reached. The optical specification document should be written contemporaneously with the alignment plan to insure compatibility. The optics decisions that led to the success of this project are described and the final optical design is presented. A description of some unique pupil alignment adjustments, never performed by us in the infrared, is described.

Portable data flow in UNIX

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

Fox, R.; Molen, A.V.; Hannuschke, S.

1994-02-01

The authors describe the data flow of a nuclear physics data acquisition system. The system features a high speed active routing subsystem which allows an arbitrary number of data producers to contribute data to the system. Data are then routed to an arbitrary number of data consumers. Low overhead route-by-reference mechanisms are used to allow high rate operations. The system has been ported to a variety of UNIX[trademark] systems. Timings are given for the routing component of the system on several systems. Finally, they give an example of a set of programs which can be added to the system tomore » produce a complete data acquisition system.« less

77 FR 42428 - Amendment of Jet Routes and VOR Federal Airways; Northeastern United States

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-19

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Aviation Administration 14 CFR Part 71 Docket No. FAA-2012-0622; Airspace Docket No. 12-ANE-11 RIN 2120-AA66 Amendment of Jet Routes and VOR Federal Airways; Northeastern United States AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule; technical...

75 FR 20774 - Modification of Jet Routes J-37 and J-55; Northeast United States

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-21

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Aviation Administration 14 CFR Part 71 [Docket No. FAA-2010-0003; Airspace Docket No. 09-ANE-104] Modification of Jet Routes J-37 and J-55; Northeast United States AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This action modifies Jet...

Evaluation of Subsequent Heat Treatment Routes for Near-β Forged TA15 Ti-Alloy

PubMed Central

Sun, Zhichao; Wu, Huili; Yang, He

2016-01-01

TA15 Ti-alloy is widely used to form key load-bearing components in the aerospace field, where excellent service performance is needed. Near-β forging technology provides an attractive way to form these complicated Ti-alloy components but subsequent heat treatment has a great impact on the final microstructure and mechanical properties. Therefore evaluation and determination of the heat treatment route is of particular significance. In this paper, for the near-β forged TA15 alloy, the formation and evolution of microstructures under different subsequent heat treatment routes (annealing, solution and aging, toughening and strengthening) were studied and the cooling mode after forging was also considered. Then, the type and characteristics of the obtained microstructures were discussed through quantitative metallographic analysis. The corresponding mechanical properties (tensile, impact toughness, and fracture toughness) and effects of microstructural characteristics were investigated. Finally, for a required microstructure and performance a reasonable heat treatment route was recommended. The work is of importance for the application and development of near-β forging technology. PMID:28773994

Constructive Alignment in Economics Teaching: A Reflection on Effective Implementation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCann, Michael

2017-01-01

The typical approach to student-centred learning in Economics has focused on innovation within the classroom, with little thought given to how this complements teaching and learning and, crucially, assessment. This paper reflects on the implementation of constructive alignment in a final year managerial economics course. It demonstrates how it is…

Methylamphetamine synthesized from cold medication as precursor source via two different routes show significantly different stable isotope signatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jayaram, S.; Daeid, N. Nic; Kerr, W. J.; Kemp, H. F.; Meier-Augenstein, W.

2012-04-01

This work exposes the variation in light element stable isotopic abundance values of 13C, 2H and 15N) derived from the analysis of methylamphetamine synthesized via 2 different synthetic routes popular with clandestine laboraties, the Hypophosphorous and the Moscow route. We repeatedly prepared the final product using known clandestine synthetic methods where the precursors, catalysts and reducing agents have themselves been derived from house hold products and commonly available cold medications. Methylamphetamine was prepared from both lab grade pseudoephedrine and pseudoephedrine extracted (using three different solvent systems) from Sudafed®, an over-the-counter cold medication widely available in the United Kingdom. Six repetitive batches of the final product were produced in each case to provide within and between batch variations thus yielding a total of 48 samples (24 for each route). We have demonstrated that stable isotope analysis by Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) is potentially useful in the comparison and discrimination of batches of methylamphetamine produced for each route and for each precursor depending on the solvent used for extracting the pseudoephedrine starting material. To our knowledge this is the first time multivariate stable isotope analysis has been applied to methylamphetamine samples synthesized from pseudoephedrine extracted from over-the-counter cold medications.

The twilight zone of cis element alignments.

PubMed

Sebastian, Alvaro; Contreras-Moreira, Bruno

2013-02-01

Sequence alignment of proteins and nucleic acids is a routine task in bioinformatics. Although the comparison of complete peptides, genes or genomes can be undertaken with a great variety of tools, the alignment of short DNA sequences and motifs entails pitfalls that have not been fully addressed yet. Here we confront the structural superposition of transcription factors with the sequence alignment of their recognized cis elements. Our goals are (i) to test TFcompare (http://floresta.eead.csic.es/tfcompare), a structural alignment method for protein-DNA complexes; (ii) to benchmark the pairwise alignment of regulatory elements; (iii) to define the confidence limits and the twilight zone of such alignments and (iv) to evaluate the relevance of these thresholds with elements obtained experimentally. We find that the structure of cis elements and protein-DNA interfaces is significantly more conserved than their sequence and measures how this correlates with alignment errors when only sequence information is considered. Our results confirm that DNA motifs in the form of matrices produce better alignments than individual sequences. Finally, we report that empirical and theoretically derived twilight thresholds are useful for estimating the natural plasticity of regulatory sequences, and hence for filtering out unreliable alignments.

The twilight zone of cis element alignments

PubMed Central

Sebastian, Alvaro; Contreras-Moreira, Bruno

2013-01-01

Sequence alignment of proteins and nucleic acids is a routine task in bioinformatics. Although the comparison of complete peptides, genes or genomes can be undertaken with a great variety of tools, the alignment of short DNA sequences and motifs entails pitfalls that have not been fully addressed yet. Here we confront the structural superposition of transcription factors with the sequence alignment of their recognized cis elements. Our goals are (i) to test TFcompare (http://floresta.eead.csic.es/tfcompare), a structural alignment method for protein–DNA complexes; (ii) to benchmark the pairwise alignment of regulatory elements; (iii) to define the confidence limits and the twilight zone of such alignments and (iv) to evaluate the relevance of these thresholds with elements obtained experimentally. We find that the structure of cis elements and protein–DNA interfaces is significantly more conserved than their sequence and measures how this correlates with alignment errors when only sequence information is considered. Our results confirm that DNA motifs in the form of matrices produce better alignments than individual sequences. Finally, we report that empirical and theoretically derived twilight thresholds are useful for estimating the natural plasticity of regulatory sequences, and hence for filtering out unreliable alignments. PMID:23268451

‘He's going to be a doctor in August’: a narrative interview study of medical students' and their educators' experiences of aligned and misaligned assistantships

PubMed Central

Jones, Owen Meurig; Okeke, Chiemeka; Bullock, Alison; Wells, Stephanie E; Monrouxe, Lynn V

2016-01-01

Objective To explore final-year students’ and clinical supervisors’ experiences of alignment and misalignment with future Foundation Year 1 (F1) posts in an assistantship programme in the UK. Setting Assistantships are clinical placements in which students assist junior doctors by undertaking similar duties under supervision. Models of assistantship programmes vary across curricula. Some actively seek to align with students’ initial postgraduate F1 post. To date, no research has examined the implications of this association for teaching and learning. Qualitative individual and group narrative interviews were conducted with students and supervisors of 2 Welsh medical schools to address: RQ1: How do students and supervisors understand the purpose of the longitudinal assistantship? RQ2: Does alignment/misalignment of the assistantship with students’ initial F1 post influence students’ and supervisors’ teaching and learning experiences? Audio-recordings of interviews were transcribed, participants anonymised and framework analysis was used. Participants A convenience sample of 4 participant groups comprised (1) final-year medical students whose assistantship and F1 post were aligned (n=27), (2) final-year medical students whose assistantship and F1 post were misaligned (n=18) and (3) supervisors (n=10, junior doctors; n=11, consultants). Results All participant groups highlighted increased student confidence in undertaking the duties of an F1 doctor arising from their assistantship period. Learning transferable skills was also highlighted. Many students considered themselves to be team members, ‘learning the trade’ as they shadowed their F1. Opportunities for caring for acutely unwell patients were scarce. The evidence shows enhanced engagement for students aligned to their first F1 post with greater opportunities for workplace acclimatisation. Those who were misaligned were perceived as being disadvantaged. Conclusions Our findings suggest that alignment with students’ first F1 post enhances the assistantship experience. Further longitudinal assessment is required to examine whether and how this translates into improvements in functioning and reductions in stress and anxiety during this transitional period. PMID:27288387

CRANE POSITIONING APPARATUS

DOEpatents

Landsiedel, F.W.; Wolff, H.

1960-06-28

An apparatus is described for automatically accomplishing the final accurate horizontal positioning of a crane after the latter has been placed to within 1/8 in. of its selected position. For this purpose there is provided a tiltable member on the crane mast for lowering into contact with a stationary probe. Misalignment of the tiltable member, with respect to the probe as the member is lowered, causes tilting of the latter to actuate appropriate switches that energize motors for bringing the mast into proper position. When properly aligned the member is not tilted and a central switch is actuated to indicate the final alignment of the crane.

Triazole Fungicides Can Induce Cross-Resistance to Medical Triazoles in Aspergillus fumigatus

PubMed Central

Karawajczyk, Anna; Schaftenaar, Gijs; Kema, Gert H. J.; van der Lee, Henrich A.; Klaassen, Corné H.; Melchers, Willem J. G.; Verweij, Paul E.

2012-01-01

Background Azoles play an important role in the management of Aspergillus diseases. Azole resistance is an emerging global problem in Aspergillus fumigatus, and may develop through patient therapy. In addition, an environmental route of resistance development has been suggested through exposure to 14α-demethylase inhibitors (DMIs). The main resistance mechanism associated with this putative fungicide-driven route is a combination of alterations in the Cyp51A-gene (TR34/L98H). We investigated if TR34/L98H could have developed through exposure to DMIs. Methods and Findings Thirty-one compounds that have been authorized for use as fungicides, herbicides, herbicide safeners and plant growth regulators in the Netherlands between 1970 and 2005, were investigated for cross-resistance to medical triazoles. Furthermore, CYP51-protein homology modeling and molecule alignment studies were performed to identify similarity in molecule structure and docking modes. Five triazole DMIs, propiconazole, bromuconazole, tebuconazole, epoxiconazole and difenoconazole, showed very similar molecule structures to the medical triazoles and adopted similar poses while docking the protein. These DMIs also showed the greatest cross-resistance and, importantly, were authorized for use between 1990 and 1996, directly preceding the recovery of the first clinical TR34/L98H isolate in 1998. Through microsatellite genotyping of TR34/L98H isolates we were able to calculate that the first isolate would have arisen in 1997, confirming the results of the abovementioned experiments. Finally, we performed induction experiments to investigate if TR34/L98H could be induced under laboratory conditions. One isolate evolved from two copies of the tandem repeat to three, indicating that fungicide pressure can indeed result in these genomic changes. Conclusions Our findings support a fungicide-driven route of TR34/L98H development in A. fumigatus. Similar molecule structure characteristics of five triazole DMIs and the three medical triazoles appear the underlying mechanism of cross resistance development. Our findings have major implications for the assessment of health risks associated with the use of triazole DMIs. PMID:22396740

Valiant load-balanced robust routing under hose model for WDM mesh networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiaoning; Li, Lemin; Wang, Sheng

2006-09-01

In this paper, we propose Valiant Load-Balanced robust routing scheme for WDM mesh networks under the model of polyhedral uncertainty (i.e., hose model), and the proposed routing scheme is implemented with traffic grooming approach. Our Objective is to maximize the hose model throughput. A mathematic formulation of Valiant Load-Balanced robust routing is presented and three fast heuristic algorithms are also proposed. When implementing Valiant Load-Balanced robust routing scheme to WDM mesh networks, a novel traffic-grooming algorithm called MHF (minimizing hop first) is proposed. We compare the three heuristic algorithms with the VPN tree under the hose model. Finally we demonstrate in the simulation results that MHF with Valiant Load-Balanced robust routing scheme outperforms the traditional traffic-grooming algorithm in terms of the throughput for the uniform/non-uniform traffic matrix under the hose model.

Oxygen-promoted catalyst sintering influences number density, alignment, and wall number of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes.

PubMed

Shi, Wenbo; Li, Jinjing; Polsen, Erik S; Oliver, C Ryan; Zhao, Yikun; Meshot, Eric R; Barclay, Michael; Fairbrother, D Howard; Hart, A John; Plata, Desiree L

2017-04-20

A lack of synthetic control and reproducibility during vertically aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) synthesis has stifled many promising applications of organic nanomaterials. Oxygen-containing species are particularly precarious in that they have both beneficial and deleterious effects and are notoriously difficult to control. Here, we demonstrated diatomic oxygen's ability, independent of water, to tune oxide-supported catalyst thin film dewetting and influence nanoscale (diameter and wall number) and macro-scale (alignment and density) properties for as-grown vertically aligned CNTs. In particular, single- or few-walled CNT forests were achieved at very low oxygen loading, with single-to-multi-walled CNT diameters ranging from 4.8 ± 1.3 nm to 6.4 ± 1.1 nm over 0-800 ppm O 2 , and an expected variation in alignment, where both were related to the annealed catalyst morphology. Morphological differences were not the result of subsurface diffusion, but instead occurred via Ostwald ripening under several hundred ppm O 2 , and this effect was mitigated by high H 2 concentrations and not due to water vapor (as confirmed in O 2 -free water addition experiments), supporting the importance of O 2 specifically. Further characterization of the interface between the Fe catalyst and Al 2 O 3 support revealed that either oxygen-deficit metal oxide or oxygen-adsorption on metals could be functional mechanisms for the observed catalyst nanoparticle evolution. Taken as a whole, our results suggest that the impacts of O 2 and H 2 on the catalyst evolution have been underappreciated and underleveraged in CNT synthesis, and these could present a route toward facile manipulation of CNT forest morphology through control of the reactive gaseous atmosphere alone.

Automated interferometric alignment system for paraboloidal mirrors

DOEpatents

Maxey, L. Curtis

1993-01-01

A method is described for a systematic method of interpreting interference fringes obtained by using a corner cube retroreflector as an alignment aid when aigning a paraboloid to a spherical wavefront. This is applicable to any general case where such alignment is required, but is specifically applicable in the case of aligning an autocollimating test using a diverging beam wavefront. In addition, the method provides information which can be systematically interpreted such that independent information about pitch, yaw and focus errors can be obtained. Thus, the system lends itself readily to automation. Finally, although the method is developed specifically for paraboloids, it can be seen to be applicable to a variety of other aspheric optics when applied in combination with a wavefront corrector that produces a wavefront which, when reflected from the correctly aligned aspheric surface will produce a collimated wavefront like that obtained from the paraboloid when it is correctly aligned to a spherical wavefront.

The Generation of the Distant Kuiper Belt by Planet Nine from an Initially Broad Perihelion Distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khain, Tali; Batygin, Konstantin; Brown, Michael E.

2018-04-01

The observation that the orbits of long-period Kuiper Belt objects are anomalously clustered in physical space has recently prompted the Planet Nine hypothesis - the proposed existence of a distant and eccentric planetary member of our Solar System. Within the framework of this model, a Neptune-like perturber sculpts the orbital distribution of distant Kuiper Belt objects through a complex interplay of resonant and secular effects, such that the surviving orbits get organized into apsidally aligned and anti-aligned configurations with respect to Planet Nine's orbit. We present results on the role of Kuiper Belt initial conditions on the evolution of the outer Solar System using numerical simulations. Intriguingly, we find that the final perihelion distance distribution depends strongly on the primordial state of the system, and demonstrate that a bimodal structure corresponding to the existence of both aligned and anti-aligned clusters is only reproduced if the initial perihelion distribution is assumed to extend well beyond 36 AU. The bimodality in the final perihelion distance distribution is due to the permanently stable objects, with the lower perihelion peak corresponding to the anti-aligned orbits and the higher perihelion peak corresponding to the aligned orbits. We identify the mechanisms that enable the persistent stability of these objects and locate the regions of phase space in which they reside. The obtained results contextualize the Planet Nine hypothesis within the broader narrative of solar system formation, and offer further insight into the observational search for Planet Nine.

76 FR 55157 - Final Public Meeting in Washington, DC for the Proposed Keystone XL Project

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-06

... along the pipeline route, a final meeting will be held in Washington, DC. Friday, October 7, 2011 Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Atrium Hall, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington...

Pathway-engineering for highly-aligned block copolymer arrays.

PubMed

Choo, Youngwoo; Majewski, Paweł W; Fukuto, Masafumi; Osuji, Chinedum O; Yager, Kevin G

2017-12-21

While the ultimate driving force in self-assembly is energy minimization and the corresponding evolution towards equilibrium, kinetic effects can also play a very strong role. These kinetic effects, such as trapping in metastable states, slow coarsening kinetics, and pathway-dependent assembly, are often viewed as complications to be overcome. Here, we instead exploit these effects to engineer a desired final nano-structure in a block copolymer thin film, by selecting a particular ordering pathway through the self-assembly energy landscape. In particular, we combine photothermal shearing with high-temperature annealing to yield hexagonal arrays of block copolymer cylinders that are aligned in a single prescribed direction over macroscopic sample dimensions. Photothermal shearing is first used to generate a highly-aligned horizontal cylinder state, with subsequent thermal processing used to reorient the morphology to the vertical cylinder state in a templated manner. Finally, we demonstrate the successful transfer of engineered morphologies into inorganic replicas.

Compression Molding and Novel Sintering Treatments for Alnico Type-8 Permanent Magnets in Near-Final Shape with Preferred Orientation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kassen, Aaron G.; White, Emma M. H.; Tang, Wei; Hu, Liangfa; Palasyuk, Andriy; Zhou, Lin; Anderson, Iver E.

2017-09-01

Economic uncertainty in the rare earth (RE) permanent magnet marketplace, as well as in an expanding electric drive vehicle market that favors permanent magnet alternating current synchronous drive motors, motivated renewed research in RE-free permanent magnets like "alnico," an Al-Ni-Co-Fe alloy. Thus, high-pressure, gas-atomized isotropic type-8H pre-alloyed alnico powder was compression molded with a clean burn- out binder to near-final shape and sintered to density >99% of cast alnico 8 (full density of 7.3 g/cm3). To produce aligned sintered alnico magnets for improved energy product and magnetic remanence, uniaxial stress was attempted to promote controlled grain growth, avoiding directional solidification that provides alignment in alnico 9. Successful development of solid-state powder processing may enable anisotropically aligned alnico magnets with enhanced energy density to be mass-produced.

Route visualization using detail lenses.

PubMed

Karnick, Pushpak; Cline, David; Jeschke, Stefan; Razdan, Anshuman; Wonka, Peter

2010-01-01

We present a method designed to address some limitations of typical route map displays of driving directions. The main goal of our system is to generate a printable version of a route map that shows the overview and detail views of the route within a single, consistent visual frame. Our proposed visualization provides a more intuitive spatial context than a simple list of turns. We present a novel multifocus technique to achieve this goal, where the foci are defined by points of interest (POI) along the route. A detail lens that encapsulates the POI at a finer geospatial scale is created for each focus. The lenses are laid out on the map to avoid occlusion with the route and each other, and to optimally utilize the free space around the route. We define a set of layout metrics to evaluate the quality of a lens layout for a given route map visualization. We compare standard lens layout methods to our proposed method and demonstrate the effectiveness of our method in generating aesthetically pleasing layouts. Finally, we perform a user study to evaluate the effectiveness of our layout choices.

76 FR 58240 - Modoc National Forest, Alturas, CA, Supplemental Information for the Final Environmental Impact...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-20

... supports: The addition of 331 miles of unauthorized routes to the National Forest Transportation System... Maintenance Level 3 (ML3) roads to allow for mixed use by both highway legal and non-highway legal vehicles... proposes to add 331 miles of unauthorized routes to the National Forest Transportation System (NFTS) on the...

75 FR 33164 - Modification of Jet Routes J-32, J-38, and J-538; Minnesota

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-11

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Aviation Administration 14 CFR Part 71 [Docket No. FAA-2009-1080; Airspace Docket No. 09-AGL-13] RIN 2120-AA66 Modification of Jet Routes J-32, J-38, and J-538; Minnesota AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This action...

75 FR 12674 - Amendment of Jet Routes and VOR Federal Airways in the Vicinity of Gage, OK

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-17

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Aviation Administration 14 CFR Part 71 [Docket No. FAA-2010-0004; Airspace Docket No. 09-ASW-32] RIN 2120-AA66 Amendment of Jet Routes and VOR Federal Airways in the Vicinity of Gage, OK AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule...

78 FR 22190 - Modification of Area Navigation (RNAV) Route T-266; AK

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-15

...; AK AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: This action... modifying RNAV route T-266 in Alaska. T-266 is currently defined by the Coghland Island, AK, NDB, the Fredericks Point, AK, NDB and the Annette Island, AK, VOR/DME. The Annette Island VOR/DME remains as one end...

Initial Alignment for SINS Based on Pseudo-Earth Frame in Polar Regions.

PubMed

Gao, Yanbin; Liu, Meng; Li, Guangchun; Guang, Xingxing

2017-06-16

An accurate initial alignment must be required for inertial navigation system (INS). The performance of initial alignment directly affects the following navigation accuracy. However, the rapid convergence of meridians and the small horizontalcomponent of rotation of Earth make the traditional alignment methods ineffective in polar regions. In this paper, from the perspective of global inertial navigation, a novel alignment algorithm based on pseudo-Earth frame and backward process is proposed to implement the initial alignment in polar regions. Considering that an accurate coarse alignment of azimuth is difficult to obtain in polar regions, the dynamic error modeling with large azimuth misalignment angle is designed. At the end of alignment phase, the strapdown attitude matrix relative to local geographic frame is obtained without influence of position errors and cumbersome computation. As a result, it would be more convenient to access the following polar navigation system. Then, it is also expected to unify the polar alignment algorithm as much as possible, thereby further unifying the form of external reference information. Finally, semi-physical static simulation and in-motion tests with large azimuth misalignment angle assisted by unscented Kalman filter (UKF) validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Alignment and Integration Techniques for Mirror Segment Pairs on the Constellation X Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hadjimichael, Theo; Lehan, John; Olsen, Larry; Owens, Scott; Saha, Timo; Wallace, Tom; Zhang, Will

2007-01-01

We present the concepts behind current alignment and integration techniques for testing a Constellation-X primary-secondary mirror segment pair in an x-ray beam line test. We examine the effects of a passive mount on thin glass x-ray mirror segments, and the issues of mount shape and environment on alignment. We also investigate how bonding and transfer to a permanent housing affects the quality of the final image, comparing predicted results to a full x-ray test on a primary secondary pair.

Channel erosion surveys along the TAPS route, Alaska, 1977

USGS Publications Warehouse

Loeffler, Robert M.; Childers, Joseph M.

1977-01-01

Channel surveys were made along the trans-Alaska pipeline system (TAPS) route during 1977 at the same 28 sites that were studied in 1976. In addition, a new site at pipeline mile 22 near Deadhorse (alignment No 134) along the Sagavanirktok River was put under surveillance. Except for changes wrought by the completion of construction, most of the sites showed very little change. Significant events include virtual completion of all construction activities along the pipeline, the pipeline startup , and the breakup flood along the Sagavanirktok River which breached many river-training structures. In general, 1977 saw heavy flooding on streams draining the north and south slopes of the Brooks Range and only moderate flooding on streams further south. Aerial photogrammetric surveys were used again in 1977 on the same seven sites as in 1976. Results document the applicability of the method for channel erosion studies. (Woodard-USGS)

Mg-catalyzed autoclave synthesis of aligned silicon carbide nanostructures.

PubMed

Xi, Guangcheng; Liu, Yankuan; Liu, Xiaoyan; Wang, Xiaoqing; Qian, Yitai

2006-07-27

In this article, a novel magnesium-catalyzed co-reduction route was developed for the large-scale synthesis of aligned beta-SiC one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures at relative lower temperature (600 degrees C). By carefully controlling the reagent concentrations, we could synthesize beta-SiC rodlike and needlelike nanostructures. The possible growth mechanism of the as-synthesized beta-SiC 1D nanostructures has been investigated. The structure and morphology of the as-synthesized beta-SiC nanostructures are characterized using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared absorption, and scanning and transmission electron microscopes. Raman and photoluminescence properties are also investigated at room temperature. The as-synthesized beta-SiC nanostructures exhibit strong shape-dependent field emission properties. Corresponding to their shapes, the as-synthesized nanorods and nanoneedles display the turn-on fields of 12, 8.4, and 1.8 V/microm, respectively.

Hierarchical micro-architectures of electrodes for energy storage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yue, Yuan; Liang, Hong

2015-06-01

The design of electrodes for the electrochemical energy storage devices, particularly Lithium ion batteries (LIBs) and Supercapacitors (SCs), has extraordinary importance in optimization of electrochemical performance. Regardless of the materials used, the architecture of electrodes is crucial for charge transport efficiency and electrochemical interactions. This report provides a critical review of the prototype architectural design and micro- and nano-material properties designated to electrodes of LIBs and SCs. An alternative classification criterion is proposed that divides reported hierarchical architectures into two categories: aligned and unaligned structures. The structures were evaluated and it was found that the aligned architectures are superior to the unaligned in the following characteristics: 1) highly-organized charger pathways, 2) tunable interspaces between architecture units, and 3) good electric-contacted current collectors prepared along with electrodes. Based on these findings, challenges and potential routes to resolve those are provided for future development.

Giant magnetic splitting inducing near-unity valley polarization in van der Waals heterostructures.

PubMed

Nagler, Philipp; Ballottin, Mariana V; Mitioglu, Anatolie A; Mooshammer, Fabian; Paradiso, Nicola; Strunk, Christoph; Huber, Rupert; Chernikov, Alexey; Christianen, Peter C M; Schüller, Christian; Korn, Tobias

2017-11-16

Monolayers of semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides exhibit intriguing fundamental physics of strongly coupled spin and valley degrees of freedom for charge carriers. While the possibility of exploiting these properties for information processing stimulated concerted research activities towards the concept of valleytronics, maintaining control over spin-valley polarization proved challenging in individual monolayers. A promising alternative route explores type II band alignment in artificial van der Waals heterostructures. The resulting formation of interlayer excitons combines the advantages of long carrier lifetimes and spin-valley locking. Here, we demonstrate artificial design of a two-dimensional heterostructure enabling intervalley transitions that are not accessible in monolayer systems. The resulting giant effective g factor of -15 for interlayer excitons induces near-unity valley polarization via valley-selective energetic splitting in high magnetic fields, even after nonselective excitation. Our results highlight the potential to deterministically engineer novel valley properties in van der Waals heterostructures using crystallographic alignment.

Nerve Cells Decide to Orient inside an Injectable Hydrogel with Minimal Structural Guidance.

PubMed

Rose, Jonas C; Cámara-Torres, María; Rahimi, Khosrow; Köhler, Jens; Möller, Martin; De Laporte, Laura

2017-06-14

Injectable biomaterials provide the advantage of a minimally invasive application but mostly lack the required structural complexity to regenerate aligned tissues. Here, we report a new class of tissue regenerative materials that can be injected and form an anisotropic matrix with controlled dimensions using rod-shaped, magnetoceptive microgel objects. Microgels are doped with small quantities of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (0.0046 vol %), allowing alignment by external magnetic fields in the millitesla order. The microgels are dispersed in a biocompatible gel precursor and after injection and orientation are fixed inside the matrix hydrogel. Regardless of the low volume concentration of the microgels below 3%, at which the geometrical constrain for orientation is still minimum, the generated macroscopic unidirectional orientation is strongly sensed by the cells resulting in parallel nerve extension. This finding opens a new, minimal invasive route for therapy after spinal cord injury.

MaxAlign: maximizing usable data in an alignment.

PubMed

Gouveia-Oliveira, Rodrigo; Sackett, Peter W; Pedersen, Anders G

2007-08-28

The presence of gaps in an alignment of nucleotide or protein sequences is often an inconvenience for bioinformatical studies. In phylogenetic and other analyses, for instance, gapped columns are often discarded entirely from the alignment. MaxAlign is a program that optimizes the alignment prior to such analyses. Specifically, it maximizes the number of nucleotide (or amino acid) symbols that are present in gap-free columns - the alignment area - by selecting the optimal subset of sequences to exclude from the alignment. MaxAlign can be used prior to phylogenetic and bioinformatical analyses as well as in other situations where this form of alignment improvement is useful. In this work we test MaxAlign's performance in these tasks and compare the accuracy of phylogenetic estimates including and excluding gapped columns from the analysis, with and without processing with MaxAlign. In this paper we also introduce a new simple measure of tree similarity, Normalized Symmetric Similarity (NSS) that we consider useful for comparing tree topologies. We demonstrate how MaxAlign is helpful in detecting misaligned or defective sequences without requiring manual inspection. We also show that it is not advisable to exclude gapped columns from phylogenetic analyses unless MaxAlign is used first. Finally, we find that the sequences removed by MaxAlign from an alignment tend to be those that would otherwise be associated with low phylogenetic accuracy, and that the presence of gaps in any given sequence does not seem to disturb the phylogenetic estimates of other sequences. The MaxAlign web-server is freely available online at http://www.cbs.dtu.dk/services/MaxAlign where supplementary information can also be found. The program is also freely available as a Perl stand-alone package.

Multiobjective optimization of cartilage stress for non-invasive, patient-specific recommendations of high tibial osteotomy correction angle - a novel method to investigate alignment correction.

PubMed

Zheng, Keke; Scholes, Corey J; Chen, Junning; Parker, David; Li, Qing

2017-04-01

Medial opening wedge high tibial osteotomy (MOWHTO) is a surgical procedure to treat knee osteoarthritis associated with varus deformity. However, the ideal final alignment of the Hip-Knee-Ankle (HKA) angle in the frontal plane, that maximizes procedural success and post-operative knee function, remains controversial. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to introduce a subject-specific modeling procedure in determining the biomechanical effects of MOWHTO alignment on tibiofemoral cartilage stress distribution. A 3D finite element knee model derived from magnetic resonance imaging of a healthy participant was manipulated in-silico to simulate a range of final HKA angles (i.e. 0.2°, 2.7°, 3.9° and 6.6° valgus). Loading and boundary conditions were assigned based on subject-specific kinematic and kinetic data from gait analysis. Multiobjective optimization was used to identify the final alignment that balanced compressive and shear forces between medial and lateral knee compartments. Peak stresses decreased in the medial and increased in the lateral compartment as the HKA was shifted into valgus, with balanced loading occurring at angles of 4.3° and 2.9° valgus for the femoral and tibial cartilage respectively. The concept introduced here provides a platform for non-invasive, patient-specific preoperative planning of the osteotomy for medial compartment knee osteoarthritis. Copyright © 2017 IPEM. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of flow routing on catchment area calculations, slope estimates, and numerical simulations of landscape development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shelef, Eitan; Hilley, George E.

2013-12-01

Flow routing across real or modeled topography determines the modeled discharge and wetness index and thus plays a central role in predicting surface lowering rate, runoff generation, likelihood of slope failure, and transition from hillslope to channel forming processes. In this contribution, we compare commonly used flow-routing rules as well as a new routing rule, to commonly used benchmarks. We also compare results for different routing rules using Airborne Laser Swath Mapping (ALSM) topography to explore the impact of different flow-routing schemes on inferring the generation of saturation overland flow and the transition between hillslope to channel forming processes, as well as on location of saturation overland flow. Finally, we examined the impact of flow-routing and slope-calculation rules on modeled topography produced by Geomorphic Transport Law (GTL)-based simulations. We found that different rules produce substantive differences in the structure of the modeled topography and flow patterns over ALSM data. Our results highlight the impact of flow-routing and slope-calculation rules on modeled topography, as well as on calculated geomorphic metrics across real landscapes. As such, studies that use a variety of routing rules to analyze and simulate topography are necessary to determine those aspects that most strongly depend on a chosen routing rule.

Alignments of Dark Matter Halos with Large-scale Tidal Fields: Mass and Redshift Dependence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Sijie; Wang, Huiyuan; Mo, H. J.; Shi, Jingjing

2016-07-01

Large-scale tidal fields estimated directly from the distribution of dark matter halos are used to investigate how halo shapes and spin vectors are aligned with the cosmic web. The major, intermediate, and minor axes of halos are aligned with the corresponding tidal axes, and halo spin axes tend to be parallel with the intermediate axes and perpendicular to the major axes of the tidal field. The strengths of these alignments generally increase with halo mass and redshift, but the dependence is only on the peak height, ν \\equiv {δ }{{c}}/σ ({M}{{h}},z). The scaling relations of the alignment strengths with the value of ν indicate that the alignment strengths remain roughly constant when the structures within which the halos reside are still in a quasi-linear regime, but decreases as nonlinear evolution becomes more important. We also calculate the alignments in projection so that our results can be compared directly with observations. Finally, we investigate the alignments of tidal tensors on large scales, and use the results to understand alignments of halo pairs separated at various distances. Our results suggest that the coherent structure of the tidal field is the underlying reason for the alignments of halos and galaxies seen in numerical simulations and in observations.

A comparative study of wireless sensor networks and their routing protocols.

PubMed

Bhattacharyya, Debnath; Kim, Tai-hoon; Pal, Subhajit

2010-01-01

Recent developments in the area of micro-sensor devices have accelerated advances in the sensor networks field leading to many new protocols specifically designed for wireless sensor networks (WSNs). Wireless sensor networks with hundreds to thousands of sensor nodes can gather information from an unattended location and transmit the gathered data to a particular user, depending on the application. These sensor nodes have some constraints due to their limited energy, storage capacity and computing power. Data are routed from one node to other using different routing protocols. There are a number of routing protocols for wireless sensor networks. In this review article, we discuss the architecture of wireless sensor networks. Further, we categorize the routing protocols according to some key factors and summarize their mode of operation. Finally, we provide a comparative study on these various protocols.

Aligning for accountable care: Strategic practices for change in accountable care organizations.

PubMed

Hilligoss, Brian; Song, Paula H; McAlearney, Ann Scheck

Alignment within accountable care organizations (ACOs) is crucial if these new entities are to achieve their lofty goals. However, the concept of alignment remains underexamined, and we know little about the work entailed in creating alignment. The aim of this study was to develop the concept of aligning by identifying and describing the strategic practices administrators use to align the structures, processes, and behaviors of their organizations and individual providers in pursuit of accountable care. We conducted 2-year qualitative case studies of four ACOs that have assumed full risk for the costs and quality of care for defined populations. Five strategic aligning practices were used by all four ACOs. Informing both aligns providers' understandings with the goals and value proposition of the ACO and aligns the providers' attention with the drivers of performance. Involving both aligns ACO leaders' understandings with the realities facing providers and aligns the policies of the ACO with the needs of providers. Enhancing both aligns the operations of individual provider practices with the operations of the ACO and aligns the trust of providers with the ACO. Motivating aligns what providers value with the goals of the ACO. Finally, evolving is a metapractice of learning and adapting that guides the execution of the other four practices. Our findings suggest that there are second-order cognitive (e.g., understandings and attention) and cultural (e.g., trust and values) levels of alignment, as well as a first-order operational level (organizational structures, processes, and incentives). A well-aligned organization may require ongoing repositioning at each of these levels, as well as attention to both cooperative and coordinative dimensions of alignment. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

A Fuzzy Logic Based Controller for the Automated Alignment of a Laser-beam-smoothing Spatial Filter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Krasowski, M. J.; Dickens, D. E.

1992-01-01

A fuzzy logic based controller for a laser-beam-smoothing spatial filter is described. It is demonstrated that a human operator's alignment actions can easily be described by a system of fuzzy rules of inference. The final configuration uses inexpensive, off-the-shelf hardware and allows for a compact, readily implemented embedded control system.

Synthesis and Investigation of Millimeter-Scale Vertically Aligned Boron Nitride Nanotube Arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tay, Roland; Li, Hongling; Tsang, Siu Hon; Jing, Lin; Tan, Dunlin; Teo, Edwin Hang Tong

Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) have shown potential in a wide range of applications due to their superior properties such as exceptionally high mechanical strength, excellent chemical and thermal stabilities. However, previously reported methods to date only produced BNNTs with limited length/density and insufficient yield at high temperatures. Here we present a facile and effective two-step synthesis route involving template-assisted chemical vapor deposition at a relatively low temperature of 900 degree C and subsequent annealing process to fabricate vertically aligned (VA) BN coated carbon nanotube (VA-BN/CNT) and VA-BNNT arrays. By using this method, we achieve the longest VA-BN/CNTs and VA-BNNTs to date with lengths of over millimeters (exceeding two orders of magnitude longer than the previously reported length of VA-BNNTs). In addition, the morphology, chemical composition and microstructure of the resulting products, as well as the mechanism of coating process are systematically investigated. This versatile BN coating technique and the synthesis of millimeter-scale BN/CNT and BNNT arrays pave a way for new applications especially where the aligned geometry of the NTs is essential such as for field-emission, interconnects and thermal management.

The Generation of the Distant Kuiper Belt by Planet Nine from an Initially Broad Perihelion Distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khain, Tali; Batygin, Konstantin; Brown, Michael E.

2018-06-01

The observation that the orbits of long-period Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) are anomalously clustered in physical space has recently prompted the Planet Nine hypothesis—the proposed existence of a distant and eccentric planetary member of our solar system. Within the framework of this model, a Neptune-like perturber sculpts the orbital distribution of distant KBOs through a complex interplay of resonant and secular effects, such that in addition to perihelion-circulating objects, the surviving orbits get organized into apsidally aligned and anti-aligned configurations with respect to Planet Nine’s orbit. In this work, we investigate the role of Kuiper Belt initial conditions on the evolution of the outer solar system using numerical simulations. Intriguingly, we find that the final perihelion distance distribution depends strongly on the primordial state of the system, and we demonstrate that a bimodal structure corresponding to the existence of both aligned and anti-aligned clusters is only reproduced if the initial perihelion distribution is assumed to extend well beyond ∼36 au. The bimodality in the final perihelion distance distribution is due to the existence of permanently stable objects, with the lower perihelion peak corresponding to the anti-aligned orbits and the higher perihelion peak corresponding to the aligned orbits. We identify the mechanisms that enable the persistent stability of these objects and locate the regions of phase space in which they reside. The obtained results contextualize the Planet Nine hypothesis within the broader narrative of solar system formation and offer further insight into the observational search for Planet Nine.

Freight Advanced Traveler Information System (FRATIS) – Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) prototype : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-05-01

This is the Final Report for the FRATIS Dallas-Fort Worth DFW prototype system. The FRATIS prototype in DFW consisted of the following components: optimization algorithm, terminal wait time, route specific navigation/traffic/weather, and advanced not...

Using constructive alignment theory to develop nursing skills curricula.

PubMed

Joseph, Sundari; Juwah, Charles

2012-01-01

Constructive alignment theory has been used to underpin the development of curricula in higher education for some time (Biggs and Tang, 2007), however, its use to inform and determine skills curricula in nursing is less well documented. This paper explores the use of constructive alignment theory within a study of undergraduate student nurses undertaking clinical skill acquisition in the final year of a BSc (Hons) Nursing course. Students were followed up as newly qualified nurses (NQN) (n = 58) to ascertain the impact of skill acquisition in this way. Comparisons were made with newly qualified nurses who did not participate in a constructively aligned curriculum. This mixed methods study reported skill identification within the immediate post-registration period and evaluated the constructively aligned curriculum as having positive benefits for NQNs in terms of confidence to practice. This was supported by preceptors' views. The study recommends two process models for nursing skills curriculum development and reports that constructive alignment is a useful theoretical framework for nurse educators. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Aligning for Innovation - Alignment Strategy to Drive Innovation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, Hurel; Teltschik, David; Bussey, Horace, Jr.; Moy, James

2010-01-01

With the sudden need for innovation that will help the country achieve its long-term space exploration objectives, the question of whether NASA is aligned effectively to drive the innovation that it so desperately needs to take space exploration to the next level should be entertained. Authors such as Robert Kaplan and David North have noted that companies that use a formal system for implementing strategy consistently outperform their peers. They have outlined a six-stage management systems model for implementing strategy, which includes the aligning of the organization towards its objectives. This involves the alignment of the organization from the top down. This presentation will explore the impacts of existing U.S. industrial policy on technological innovation; assess the current NASA organizational alignment and its impacts on driving technological innovation; and finally suggest an alternative approach that may drive the innovation needed to take the world to the next level of space exploration, with NASA truly leading the way.

Architecture of a framework for providing information services for public transport.

PubMed

García, Carmelo R; Pérez, Ricardo; Lorenzo, Alvaro; Quesada-Arencibia, Alexis; Alayón, Francisco; Padrón, Gabino

2012-01-01

This paper presents OnRoute, a framework for developing and running ubiquitous software that provides information services to passengers of public transportation, including payment systems and on-route guidance services. To achieve a high level of interoperability, accessibility and context awareness, OnRoute uses the ubiquitous computing paradigm. To guarantee the quality of the software produced, the reliable software principles used in critical contexts, such as automotive systems, are also considered by the framework. The main components of its architecture (run-time, system services, software components and development discipline) and how they are deployed in the transportation network (stations and vehicles) are described in this paper. Finally, to illustrate the use of OnRoute, the development of a guidance service for travellers is explained.

European policymaking on the tobacco advertising ban: the importance of escape routes.

PubMed

Adamini, Sandra; Versluis, Esther; Maarse, Hans

2011-01-01

This article analyses the European Union policymaking process regarding tobacco advertising. While others already highlighted the importance of intergovernmental bargaining between member states to explain the outcome of the tobacco advertising case, the main aim of this article is to identify the use of escape routes by the Commission, the European Parliament, the Council and interest groups that played an important role in overcoming the deadlock. When looking at the different institutions that structure policymaking, we argue that indeed focusing on escape routes provides a clear insight in the process and in what strategies were necessary to 'make Europe work'. In the end, it appears to be a combination of escape routes that resulted in the final decision.

Scalable alignment of CdS nanowires based on efficient roll-on transfer technique.

PubMed

Yan, Shancheng; Shi, Yi; Xiao, Zhongdang; Wang, Junzhuan; Hu, Dong; Xul, Xin; Lu, Tao; Liu, Aili; Gao, Fan

2013-06-01

A roll-on transfer strategy is developed to enable large-scale and uniform assembly of CdS nanowires on various rigid and flexible substrate materials. In this method, the CdS nanowires were synthesized by the hydrothermal method. The dispersed CdS NWs could be firstly aligned and selectively deposited at the micro/nanochannels between aligned nanofibers on the surface of the donor roller as a result of evaporation-induced flow and capillary action, and then the directional and aligned transfer of the CdS NWs from the donor roller to a receiver substrate via roll-on transfer technique. Finally, a device structures consisting of the nanowire channel and two metal electrodes was fabricated. The electrical property of this device was observed.

Parallel algorithms for placement and routing in VLSI design. Ph.D. Thesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brouwer, Randall Jay

1991-01-01

The computational requirements for high quality synthesis, analysis, and verification of very large scale integration (VLSI) designs have rapidly increased with the fast growing complexity of these designs. Research in the past has focused on the development of heuristic algorithms, special purpose hardware accelerators, or parallel algorithms for the numerous design tasks to decrease the time required for solution. Two new parallel algorithms are proposed for two VLSI synthesis tasks, standard cell placement and global routing. The first algorithm, a parallel algorithm for global routing, uses hierarchical techniques to decompose the routing problem into independent routing subproblems that are solved in parallel. Results are then presented which compare the routing quality to the results of other published global routers and which evaluate the speedups attained. The second algorithm, a parallel algorithm for cell placement and global routing, hierarchically integrates a quadrisection placement algorithm, a bisection placement algorithm, and the previous global routing algorithm. Unique partitioning techniques are used to decompose the various stages of the algorithm into independent tasks which can be evaluated in parallel. Finally, results are presented which evaluate the various algorithm alternatives and compare the algorithm performance to other placement programs. Measurements are presented on the parallel speedups available.

A statistically harmonized alignment-classification in image space enables accurate and robust alignment of noisy images in single particle analysis.

PubMed

Kawata, Masaaki; Sato, Chikara

2007-06-01

In determining the three-dimensional (3D) structure of macromolecular assemblies in single particle analysis, a large representative dataset of two-dimensional (2D) average images from huge number of raw images is a key for high resolution. Because alignments prior to averaging are computationally intensive, currently available multireference alignment (MRA) software does not survey every possible alignment. This leads to misaligned images, creating blurred averages and reducing the quality of the final 3D reconstruction. We present a new method, in which multireference alignment is harmonized with classification (multireference multiple alignment: MRMA). This method enables a statistical comparison of multiple alignment peaks, reflecting the similarities between each raw image and a set of reference images. Among the selected alignment candidates for each raw image, misaligned images are statistically excluded, based on the principle that aligned raw images of similar projections have a dense distribution around the correctly aligned coordinates in image space. This newly developed method was examined for accuracy and speed using model image sets with various signal-to-noise ratios, and with electron microscope images of the Transient Receptor Potential C3 and the sodium channel. In every data set, the newly developed method outperformed conventional methods in robustness against noise and in speed, creating 2D average images of higher quality. This statistically harmonized alignment-classification combination should greatly improve the quality of single particle analysis.

The deployment of routing protocols in distributed control plane of SDN.

PubMed

Jingjing, Zhou; Di, Cheng; Weiming, Wang; Rong, Jin; Xiaochun, Wu

2014-01-01

Software defined network (SDN) provides a programmable network through decoupling the data plane, control plane, and application plane from the original closed system, thus revolutionizing the existing network architecture to improve the performance and scalability. In this paper, we learned about the distributed characteristics of Kandoo architecture and, meanwhile, improved and optimized Kandoo's two levels of controllers based on ideological inspiration of RCP (routing control platform). Finally, we analyzed the deployment strategies of BGP and OSPF protocol in a distributed control plane of SDN. The simulation results show that our deployment strategies are superior to the traditional routing strategies.

Improved artificial bee colony algorithm for vehicle routing problem with time windows

PubMed Central

Yan, Qianqian; Zhang, Mengjie; Yang, Yunong

2017-01-01

This paper investigates a well-known complex combinatorial problem known as the vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW). Unlike the standard vehicle routing problem, each customer in the VRPTW is served within a given time constraint. This paper solves the VRPTW using an improved artificial bee colony (IABC) algorithm. The performance of this algorithm is improved by a local optimization based on a crossover operation and a scanning strategy. Finally, the effectiveness of the IABC is evaluated on some well-known benchmarks. The results demonstrate the power of IABC algorithm in solving the VRPTW. PMID:28961252

Alignment-Annotator web server: rendering and annotating sequence alignments.

PubMed

Gille, Christoph; Fähling, Michael; Weyand, Birgit; Wieland, Thomas; Gille, Andreas

2014-07-01

Alignment-Annotator is a novel web service designed to generate interactive views of annotated nucleotide and amino acid sequence alignments (i) de novo and (ii) embedded in other software. All computations are performed at server side. Interactivity is implemented in HTML5, a language native to web browsers. The alignment is initially displayed using default settings and can be modified with the graphical user interfaces. For example, individual sequences can be reordered or deleted using drag and drop, amino acid color code schemes can be applied and annotations can be added. Annotations can be made manually or imported (BioDAS servers, the UniProt, the Catalytic Site Atlas and the PDB). Some edits take immediate effect while others require server interaction and may take a few seconds to execute. The final alignment document can be downloaded as a zip-archive containing the HTML files. Because of the use of HTML the resulting interactive alignment can be viewed on any platform including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Android and iOS in any standard web browser. Importantly, no plugins nor Java are required and therefore Alignment-Anotator represents the first interactive browser-based alignment visualization. http://www.bioinformatics.org/strap/aa/ and http://strap.charite.de/aa/. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Alignment-Annotator web server: rendering and annotating sequence alignments

PubMed Central

Gille, Christoph; Fähling, Michael; Weyand, Birgit; Wieland, Thomas; Gille, Andreas

2014-01-01

Alignment-Annotator is a novel web service designed to generate interactive views of annotated nucleotide and amino acid sequence alignments (i) de novo and (ii) embedded in other software. All computations are performed at server side. Interactivity is implemented in HTML5, a language native to web browsers. The alignment is initially displayed using default settings and can be modified with the graphical user interfaces. For example, individual sequences can be reordered or deleted using drag and drop, amino acid color code schemes can be applied and annotations can be added. Annotations can be made manually or imported (BioDAS servers, the UniProt, the Catalytic Site Atlas and the PDB). Some edits take immediate effect while others require server interaction and may take a few seconds to execute. The final alignment document can be downloaded as a zip-archive containing the HTML files. Because of the use of HTML the resulting interactive alignment can be viewed on any platform including Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Android and iOS in any standard web browser. Importantly, no plugins nor Java are required and therefore Alignment-Anotator represents the first interactive browser-based alignment visualization. Availability: http://www.bioinformatics.org/strap/aa/ and http://strap.charite.de/aa/. PMID:24813445

MEMS Integrated Submount Alignment for Optoelectronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shakespeare, W. Jeffrey; Pearson, Raymond A.; Grenestedt, Joachim L.; Hutapea, Parsaoran; Gupta, Vikas

2005-02-01

One of the most expensive and time-consuming production processes for single-mode fiber-optic components is the alignment of the photonic chip or waveguide to the fiber. The alignment equipment is capital intensive and usually requires trained technicians to achieve desired results. Current technology requires active alignment since tolerances are only ~0.2 μ m or less for a typical laser diode. This is accomplished using piezoelectric actuated stages and active optical feedback. Joining technologies such as soldering, epoxy bonding, or laser welding may contribute significant postbond shift, and final coupling efficiencies are often less than 80%. This paper presents a method of adaptive optical alignment to freeze in place directly on an optical submount using a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) shape memory alloy (SMA) actuation technology. Postbond shift is eliminated since the phase change is the alignment actuation. This technology is not limited to optical alignment but can be applied to a variety of MEMS actuations, including nano-actuation and nano-alignment for biomedical applications. Experimental proof-of-concept results are discussed, and a simple analytical model is proposed to predict the stress strain behavior of the optical submount. Optical coupling efficiencies and alignment times are compared with traditional processes. The feasibility of this technique in high-volume production is discussed.

Method and System For an Automated Tool for En Route Traffic Controllers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erzberger, Heinz (Inventor); McNally, B. David (Inventor)

2001-01-01

A method and system for a new automation tool for en route air traffic controllers first finds all aircraft flying on inefficient routes, then determines whether it is possible to save time by bypassing some route segments, and finally whether the improved route is free of conflicts with other aircraft. The method displays all direct-to eligible aircraft to an air traffic controller in a list sorted by highest time savings. By allowing the air traffic controller to easily identify and work with the highest pay-off aircraft, the method of the present invention contributes to a significant increase in both air traffic controller and aircraft productivity. A graphical computer interface (GUI) is used to enable the air traffic controller to send the aircraft direct to a waypoint or fix closer to the destination airport by a simple point and click action.

Method and system for an automated tool for en route traffic controllers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Erzberger, Heinz (Inventor); McNally, B. David (Inventor)

2001-01-01

A method and system for a new automation tool for en route air traffic controllers first finds all aircraft flying on inefficient routes, then determines whether it is possible to save time by bypassing some route segments, and finally whether the improved route is free of conflicts with other aircraft. The method displays all direct-to eligible aircraft to an air traffic controller in a list sorted by highest time savings. By allowing the air traffic controller to easily identify and work with the highest pay-off aircraft, the method of the present invention contributes to a significant increase in both air traffic controller and aircraft productivity. A graphical computer interface (GUI) is used to enable the air traffic controller to send the aircraft direct to a waypoint or fix closer to the destination airport by a simple point and click action.

Surface tension-driven self-alignment.

PubMed

Mastrangeli, Massimo; Zhou, Quan; Sariola, Veikko; Lambert, Pierre

2017-01-04

Surface tension-driven self-alignment is a passive and highly-accurate positioning mechanism that can significantly simplify and enhance the construction of advanced microsystems. After years of research, demonstrations and developments, the surface engineering and manufacturing technology enabling capillary self-alignment has achieved a degree of maturity conducive to a successful transfer to industrial practice. In view of this transition, a broad and accessible review of the physics, material science and applications of capillary self-alignment is presented. Statics and dynamics of the self-aligning action of deformed liquid bridges are explained through simple models and experiments, and all fundamental aspects of surface patterning and conditioning, of choice, deposition and confinement of liquids, and of component feeding and interconnection to substrates are illustrated through relevant applications in micro- and nanotechnology. A final outline addresses remaining challenges and additional extensions envisioned to further spread the use and fully exploit the potential of the technique.

Yet Another Role for Team Building and Work Motivation -Enabler of Knowledge Creation and Knowledge Sharing

DTIC Science & Technology

2002-06-01

team socialising , and finally, goal alignment. The findings strongly suggest that there is a closely coupled relationship between effectiveness of...affiliation, gender , rank, whether military or civilian, work location, and duration of placement. The main advantage of this type of sampling was that it...Goal Alignment *Communication Climate *Recognition & Reward * Socialising *Induction *Mentoring & Buddying *Career Management *Posting & Promotion

Compression Molding and Novel Sintering Treatments for Alnico Type-8 Permanent Magnets in Near-Final Shape with Preferred Orientation

DOE PAGES

Kassen, Aaron G.; White, Emma M. H.; Tang, Wei; ...

2017-07-14

We present economic uncertainty in the rare earth (RE) permanent magnet marketplace, as well as in an expanding electric drive vehicle market that favors permanent magnet alternating current synchronous drive motors, motivated renewed research in RE-free permanent magnets like “alnico,” an Al-Ni-Co-Fe alloy. Thus, high-pressure, gas-atomized isotropic type-8H pre-alloyed alnico powder was compression molded with a clean burn-out binder to near-final shape and sintered to density >99% of cast alnico 8 (full density of 7.3 g/cm 3). To produce aligned sintered alnico magnets for improved energy product and magnetic remanence, uniaxial stress was attempted to promote controlled grain growth, avoidingmore » directional solidification that provides alignment in alnico 9. Lastly, successful development of solid-state powder processing may enable anisotropically aligned alnico magnets with enhanced energy density to be mass-produced.« less

SANA NetGO: a combinatorial approach to using Gene Ontology (GO) terms to score network alignments.

PubMed

Hayes, Wayne B; Mamano, Nil

2018-04-15

Gene Ontology (GO) terms are frequently used to score alignments between protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks. Methods exist to measure GO similarity between proteins in isolation, but proteins in a network alignment are not isolated: each pairing is dependent on every other via the alignment itself. Existing measures fail to take into account the frequency of GO terms across networks, instead imposing arbitrary rules on when to allow GO terms. Here we develop NetGO, a new measure that naturally weighs infrequent, informative GO terms more heavily than frequent, less informative GO terms, without arbitrary cutoffs, instead downweighting GO terms according to their frequency in the networks being aligned. This is a global measure applicable only to alignments, independent of pairwise GO measures, in the same sense that the edge-based EC or S3 scores are global measures of topological similarity independent of pairwise topological similarities. We demonstrate the superiority of NetGO in alignments of predetermined quality and show that NetGO correlates with alignment quality better than any existing GO-based alignment measures. We also demonstrate that NetGO provides a measure of taxonomic similarity between species, consistent with existing taxonomic measuresa feature not shared with existing GObased network alignment measures. Finally, we re-score alignments produced by almost a dozen aligners from a previous study and show that NetGO does a better job at separating good alignments from bad ones. Available as part of SANA. whayes@uci.edu. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

EXPOSURES AND INTERNAL DOSES OF TRIHALOMETHANES IN HUMANS: MULTI-ROUTE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM DRINKING WATER (FINAL)

EPA Science Inventory

The National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) has released a final report that presents and applies a method to estimate distributions of internal concentrations of trihalomethanes (THMs) in humans resulting from a residential drinking water exposure. The report presen...

76 FR 19772 - Environmental Impacts Statements; Notice of Availability

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-08

... Barker 208-735-2072. EIS No. 20110101, Final EIS, USFS, CO, Big Moose Vegetation Management Project... Salvage Project, Proposal to Treat Timer Harvest, Prescribe Fire, and Mechanical Thinning, Uinta-Wasatch... No. 20110107, Final EIS, FHWA, IL, Illinois 336 Corridor Project, (Federal Aid Primary Route 315...

Assessing tomorrow's learners: in competency-based education only a radically different holistic method of assessment will work. Six things we could forget.

PubMed

Schuwirth, Lambert; Ash, Julie

2013-07-01

In this paper we are challenging six traditional notions about assessment that are unhelpful when designing 'assessment for learning'-programmes for competency-based education. We are arguing for the following: Reductionism is not the only way to assure rigour in high-stakes assessment; holistic judgements can be equally rigorous. Combining results of assessment parts only because they are of the same format (like different stations in an OSCE) is often not defensible; instead there must be a logically justifiable combination. Numbers describe the quality of the assessment. Therefore, manipulating the numbers is usually not the best way to improve its quality. Not every assessment moment needs to be a decision moment, disconnecting both makes combining summative and formative functions of assessment easier. Standardisation is not the only route to equity. Especially with diverse student groups tailoring is more equitable than standardisation. The most important element to standardise is the quality of the process and not the process itself. Finally, most assessment is too much focussed on detecting deficiencies and not on valuing individual student differences. In competency-based education--especially with a focus on learner orientation--this 'deficiency-model' is not as well aligned as a 'differences-model'.

Three-dimensional fit-to-flow microfluidic assembly.

PubMed

Chen, Arnold; Pan, Tingrui

2011-12-01

Three-dimensional microfluidics holds great promise for large-scale integration of versatile, digitalized, and multitasking fluidic manipulations for biological and clinical applications. Successful translation of microfluidic toolsets to these purposes faces persistent technical challenges, such as reliable system-level packaging, device assembly and alignment, and world-to-chip interface. In this paper, we extended our previously established fit-to-flow (F2F) world-to-chip interconnection scheme to a complete system-level assembly strategy that addresses the three-dimensional microfluidic integration on demand. The modular F2F assembly consists of an interfacial chip, pluggable alignment modules, and multiple monolithic layers of microfluidic channels, through which convoluted three-dimensional microfluidic networks can be easily assembled and readily sealed with the capability of reconfigurable fluid flow. The monolithic laser-micromachining process simplifies and standardizes the fabrication of single-layer pluggable polymeric modules, which can be mass-produced as the renowned Lego(®) building blocks. In addition, interlocking features are implemented between the plug-and-play microfluidic chips and the complementary alignment modules through the F2F assembly, resulting in facile and secure alignment with average misalignment of 45 μm. Importantly, the 3D multilayer microfluidic assembly has a comparable sealing performance as the conventional single-layer devices, providing an average leakage pressure of 38.47 kPa. The modular reconfigurability of the system-level reversible packaging concept has been demonstrated by re-routing microfluidic flows through interchangeable modular microchannel layers.

Branch-pipe-routing approach for ships using improved genetic algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sui, Haiteng; Niu, Wentie

2016-09-01

Branch-pipe routing plays fundamental and critical roles in ship-pipe design. The branch-pipe-routing problem is a complex combinatorial optimization problem and is thus difficult to solve when depending only on human experts. A modified genetic-algorithm-based approach is proposed in this paper to solve this problem. The simplified layout space is first divided into threedimensional (3D) grids to build its mathematical model. Branch pipes in layout space are regarded as a combination of several two-point pipes, and the pipe route between two connection points is generated using an improved maze algorithm. The coding of branch pipes is then defined, and the genetic operators are devised, especially the complete crossover strategy that greatly accelerates the convergence speed. Finally, simulation tests demonstrate the performance of proposed method.

Architecture of a Framework for Providing Information Services for Public Transport

PubMed Central

García, Carmelo R.; Pérez, Ricardo; Lorenzo, Álvaro; Quesada-Arencibia, Alexis; Alayón, Francisco; Padrón, Gabino

2012-01-01

This paper presents OnRoute, a framework for developing and running ubiquitous software that provides information services to passengers of public transportation, including payment systems and on-route guidance services. To achieve a high level of interoperability, accessibility and context awareness, OnRoute uses the ubiquitous computing paradigm. To guarantee the quality of the software produced, the reliable software principles used in critical contexts, such as automotive systems, are also considered by the framework. The main components of its architecture (run-time, system services, software components and development discipline) and how they are deployed in the transportation network (stations and vehicles) are described in this paper. Finally, to illustrate the use of OnRoute, the development of a guidance service for travellers is explained. PMID:22778585

Spatial Updating Strategy Affects the Reference Frame in Path Integration.

PubMed

He, Qiliang; McNamara, Timothy P

2018-06-01

This study investigated how spatial updating strategies affected the selection of reference frames in path integration. Participants walked an outbound path consisting of three successive waypoints in a featureless environment and then pointed to the first waypoint. We manipulated the alignment of participants' final heading at the end of the outbound path with their initial heading to examine the adopted reference frame. We assumed that the initial heading defined the principal reference direction in an allocentric reference frame. In Experiment 1, participants were instructed to use a configural updating strategy and to monitor the shape of the outbound path while they walked it. Pointing performance was best when the final heading was aligned with the initial heading, indicating the use of an allocentric reference frame. In Experiment 2, participants were instructed to use a continuous updating strategy and to keep track of the location of the first waypoint while walking the outbound path. Pointing performance was equivalent regardless of the alignment between the final and the initial headings, indicating the use of an egocentric reference frame. These results confirmed that people could employ different spatial updating strategies in path integration (Wiener, Berthoz, & Wolbers Experimental Brain Research 208(1) 61-71, 2011), and suggested that these strategies could affect the selection of the reference frame for path integration.

Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes for microelectrode arrays applications.

PubMed

Castro Smirnov, J R; Jover, Eric; Amade, Roger; Gabriel, Gemma; Villa, Rosa; Bertran, Enric

2012-09-01

In this work a methodology to fabricate carbon nanotube based electrodes using plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition has been explored and defined. The final integrated microelectrode based devices should present specific properties that make them suitable for microelectrode arrays applications. The methodology studied has been focused on the preparation of highly regular and dense vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) mat compatible with the standard lithography used for microelectrode arrays technology.

THE FINAL SPIN FROM BINARY BLACK HOLES IN QUASI-CIRCULAR ORBITS

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

Hofmann, Fabian; Rezzolla, Luciano; Barausse, Enrico

2016-07-10

We revisit the problem of predicting the spin magnitude and direction of the black hole (BH) resulting from the merger of two BHs with arbitrary masses and spins inspiraling in quasi-circular orbits. We do this by analyzing a catalog of 619 recent numerical-relativity simulations collected from the literature and spanning a large variety of initial conditions. By combining information from the post-Newtonian approximation, the extreme mass-ratio limit, and perturbative calculations, we improve our previously proposed phenomenological formulae for the final remnant spin. In contrast with alternative suggestions in the literature, and in analogy with our previous expressions, the new formulamore » is a simple algebraic function of the initial system parameters and is not restricted to binaries with spins aligned/anti-aligned with the orbital angular momentum but can be employed for fully generic binaries. The accuracy of the new expression is significantly improved, especially for almost extremal progenitor spins and for small mass ratios, yielding an rms error σ ≈ 0.002 for aligned/anti-aligned binaries and σ ≈ 0.006 for generic binaries. Our new formula is suitable for cosmological applications and can be employed robustly in the analysis of the gravitational waveforms from advanced interferometric detectors.« less

76 FR 51462 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on Proposed Highway in Utah

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-18

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Highway Administration Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on Proposed Highway in Utah AGENCY: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), USDOT. ACTION: Notice of... highway project, Tooele Midvalley Highway, from I-80 to State Route 36 Tooele County, State of Utah. Those...

75 FR 14496 - Commerce Acquisition Regulation (CAR); Correction

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-26

... Commerce Acquisition Regulation (CAR); Correction AGENCY: Department of Commerce (DOC). ACTION: Final rule... Commerce published a final rule to amend the CAR to update the regulations since its last revision on September 12, 1995. That rule updated the CAR to bring it into alignment with the current provisions of the...

75 FR 32362 - Certain Steel Grating from the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-08

... the People's Republic of China: Final Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination AGENCY: Import... exporters of steel grating from the People's Republic of China (PRC). For information on the estimated... People's Republic of China: Preliminary Affirmative Countervailing Duty Determination and Alignment of...

A novel technique for reference point generation to aid in intraoral scan alignment.

PubMed

Renne, Walter G; Evans, Zachary P; Mennito, Anthony; Ludlow, Mark

2017-11-12

When using a completely digital workflow on larger prosthetic cases it is often difficult to communicate to the laboratory or chairside Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing system the provisional prosthetic information. The problem arises when common hard tissue data points are limited or non-existent such as in complete arch cases in which the 3D model of the complete arch provisional restorations must be aligned perfectly with the 3D model of the complete arch preparations. In these instances, soft tissue is not enough to ensure an accurate automatic or manual alignment due to a lack of well-defined reference points. A new technique is proposed for the proper digital alignment of the 3D virtual model of the provisional prosthetic to the 3D virtual model of the prepared teeth in cases where common and coincident hard tissue data points are limited. Clinical considerations: A technique is described in which fiducial composite resin dots are temporarily placed on the intraoral keratinized tissue in strategic locations prior to final impressions. These fiducial dots provide coincident and clear 3D data points that when scanned into a digital impression allow superimposition of the 3D models. Composite resin dots on keratinized tissue were successful at allowing accurate merging of provisional restoration and post-preparation 3D models for the purpose of using the provisional restorations as a guide for final CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Composite resin dots placed temporarily on attached tissue were successful at allowing accurate merging of the provisional restoration 3D models to the preparation 3D models for the purposes of using the provisional restorations as a guide for final restoration design and manufacturing. In this case, they allowed precise superimposition of the 3D models made in the absence of any other hard tissue reference points, resulting in the fabrication of ideal final restorations. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Ordered to isotropic morphology transition in pattern-directed dewetting of polymer thin films on substrates with different feature heights.

PubMed

Roy, Sudeshna; Mukherjee, Rabibrata

2012-10-24

Controlled dewetting of a thin polymer film on a topographically patterned substrate is an interesting approach for aligning isotropic dewetted structures. In this article, we investigate the influence of substrate feature height (H(S)) on the dewetting pathway and final pattern morphology by studying the dewetting of polystyrene (PS) thin films on grating substrates with identical periodicity (λ(P) = 1.5 μm), but H(S) varying between 10 nm and 120 nm. We identify four distinct categories of final dewetted morphology, with different extent of ordering: (1) array of aligned droplets (H(S) ≈ 120 nm); (2) aligned undulating ribbons (H(S) ≈ 70-100 nm); (3) multilength scale structures with coexisting large droplets uncorrelated to the substrate and smaller droplets/ribbons aligned along the stripes (H(S) ≈ 40-60 nm); and (4) large droplets completely uncorrelated to the substrate (H(S) < 25 nm). The distinct morphologies across the categories are attributed to two major factors: (a) whether the as-cast film is continuous (H(S)≤ 80 nm) or discontinuous (H(S)≥ 100 nm) and (b) in case of a continuous film, whether the film ruptures along each substrate stripe (H(S)≥ 70 nm) or with nucleation of random holes that are not correlated to the substrate features (H(S)≤ 60 nm). While the ranges of H(S) values indicated in the parentheses are valid for PS films with an equivalent thickness (h(E)) ≈ 50.3 nm on a flat substrate, a change in h(E) merely alters the cut-off values of H(S), as the final dewetted morphologies and transition across categories remain generically unaltered. We finally show that the structures obtained by dewetting on different H(S) substrates exhibits different levels of hydrophobicity because of combined spatial variation of chemical and topographic contrast along the surface. Thus, the work reported in this article can find potential application in fabricating surfaces with controlled wettability.

Precision alignment and calibration of optical systems using computer generated holograms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coyle, Laura Elizabeth

As techniques for manufacturing and metrology advance, optical systems are being designed with more complexity than ever before. Given these prescriptions, alignment and calibration can be a limiting factor in their final performance. Computer generated holograms (CGHs) have several unique properties that make them powerful tools for meeting these demanding tolerances. This work will present three novel methods for alignment and calibration of optical systems using computer generated holograms. Alignment methods using CGHs require that the optical wavefront created by the CGH be related to a mechanical datum to locate it space. An overview of existing methods is provided as background, then two new alignment methods are discussed in detail. In the first method, the CGH contact Ball Alignment Tool (CBAT) is used to align a ball or sphere mounted retroreflector (SMR) to a Fresnel zone plate pattern with micron level accuracy. The ball is bonded directly onto the CGH substrate and provides permanent, accurate registration between the optical wavefront and a mechanical reference to locate the CGH in space. A prototype CBAT was built and used to align and bond an SMR to a CGH. In the second method, CGH references are used to align axi-symmetric optics in four degrees of freedom with low uncertainty and real time feedback. The CGHs create simultaneous 3D optical references where the zero order reflection sets tilt and the first diffracted order sets centration. The flexibility of the CGH design can be used to accommodate a wide variety of optical systems and maximize sensitivity to misalignments. A 2-CGH prototype system was aligned multiplied times and the alignment uncertainty was quantified and compared to an error model. Finally, an enhanced calibration method is presented. It uses multiple perturbed measurements of a master sphere to improve the calibration of CGH-based Fizeau interferometers ultimately measuring aspheric test surfaces. The improvement in the calibration is a function of the interferometer error and the aspheric departure of the desired test surface. This calibration is most effective at reducing coma and trefoil from figure error or misalignments of the interferometer components. The enhanced calibration can reduce overall measurement uncertainty or allow the budgeted error contribution from another source to be increased. A single set of sphere measurements can be used to calculate calibration maps for closely related aspheres, including segmented primary mirrors for telescopes. A parametric model is developed and compared to the simulated calibration of a case study interferometer.

Eighteen-Month Final Evaluation of UPS Second Generation Diesel Hybrid-Electric Delivery Vans

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

Lammert, M.; Walkowicz, K.

2012-09-01

A parallel hybrid-electric diesel delivery van propulsion system was evaluated at a UPS facility in Minneapolis using on-vehicle data logging, fueling, and maintenance records. Route and drive cycle analysis showed different duty cycles for hybrid vs. conventional delivery vans; routes were switched between the study groups to provide a valid comparison. The hybrids demonstrated greater advantage on the more urban routes; the initial conventional vans' routes had less dense delivery zones. The fuel economy of the hybrids on the original conventional group?s routes was 10.4 mpg vs. 9.2 mpg for the conventional group on those routes a year earlier. Themore » hybrid group's fuel economy on the original hybrid route assignments was 9.4 mpg vs. 7.9 mpg for the conventional group on those routes a year later. There was no statistically significant difference in total maintenance cost per mile or for the vehicle total cost of operation per mile. Propulsion-related maintenance cost per mile was 77% higher for the hybrids, but only 52% more on a cost-per-delivery-day basis. Laboratory dynamometer testing demonstrated 13%-36% hybrid fuel economy improvement, depending on duty cycle, and up to a 45% improvement in ton-mi/gal. NOx emissions increased 21%-49% for the hybrids in laboratory testing.« less

AIRNOISE: A Tool for Preliminary Noise-Abatement Terminal Approach Route Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, Jinhua; Sridhar, Banavar; Xue, Min; Ng, Hok

2016-01-01

Noise from aircraft in the airport vicinity is one of the leading aviation-induced environmental issues. The FAA developed the Integrated Noise Model (INM) and its replacement Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT) software to assess noise impact resulting from all aviation activities. However, a software tool is needed that is simple to use for terminal route modification, quick and reasonably accurate for preliminary noise impact evaluation and flexible to be used for iterative design of optimal noise-abatement terminal routes. In this paper, we extend our previous work on developing a noise-abatement terminal approach route design tool, named AIRNOISE, to satisfy this criterion. First, software efficiency has been significantly increased by over tenfold using the C programming language instead of MATLAB. Moreover, a state-of-the-art high performance GPU-accelerated computing module is implemented that was tested to be hundreds time faster than the C implementation. Secondly, a Graphical User Interface (GUI) was developed allowing users to import current terminal approach routes and modify the routes interactively to design new terminal approach routes. The corresponding noise impacts are then calculated and displayed in the GUI in seconds. Finally, AIRNOISE was applied to Baltimore-Washington International Airport terminal approach route to demonstrate its usage.

Influence of culture conditions and extracellular matrix alignment on human mesenchymal stem cells invasion into decellularized engineered tissues.

PubMed

Weidenhamer, Nathan K; Moore, Dusty L; Lobo, Fluvio L; Klair, Nathaniel T; Tranquillo, Robert T

2015-05-01

The variables that influence the in vitro recellularization potential of decellularized engineered tissues, such as cell culture conditions and scaffold alignment, have yet to be explored. The goal of this work was to explore the influence of insulin and ascorbic acid and extracellular matrix (ECM) alignment on the recellularization of decellularized engineered tissue by human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). Aligned and non-aligned tissues were created by specifying the geometry and associated mechanical constraints to fibroblast-mediated fibrin gel contraction and remodelling using circular and C-shaped moulds. Decellularized tissues (matrices) of the same alignment were created by decellularization with detergents. Ascorbic acid promoted the invasion of hMSCs into the matrices due to a stimulated increase in motility and proliferation. Invasion correlated with hyaluronic acid secretion, α-smooth muscle actin expression and decreased matrix thickness. Furthermore, hMSCs invasion into aligned and non-aligned matrices was not different, although there was a difference in cell orientation. Finally, we show that hMSCs on the matrix surface appear to differentiate toward a smooth muscle cell or myofibroblast phenotype with ascorbic acid treatment. These results inform the strategy of recellularizing decellularized engineered tissue with hMSCs. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Solvent-free fabrication of three dimensionally aligned polycaprolactone microfibers for engineering of anisotropic tissues.

PubMed

An, Jia; Chua, Chee Kai; Leong, Kah Fai; Chen, Chih-Hao; Chen, Jyh-Ping

2012-10-01

Fabrication of aligned microfiber scaffolds is critical in successful engineering of anisotropic tissues such as tendon, ligaments and nerves. Conventionally, aligned microfiber scaffolds are two dimensional and predominantly fabricated by electrospinning which is solvent dependent. In this paper, we report a novel technique, named microfiber melt drawing, to fabricate a bundle of three dimensionally aligned polycaprolactone microfibers without using any organic solvent. This technique is simple yet effective. It has been demonstrated that polycaprolactone microfibers of 10 μm fiber diameter can be directly drawn from a 2 mm orifice. Orifice diameter, temperature and take-up speed significantly influence the final linear density and fiber diameter of the microfibers. Mechanical test suggests that mechanical properties such as stiffness and breaking force of microfiber bundles can be easily adjusted by the number of fibers. In vitro study shows that these microfibers are able to support the proliferation of human dermal fibroblasts over 7 days. In vivo result of Achilles tendon repair in a rabbit model shows that the microfibers were highly infiltrated by tendon tissue as early as in 1 month, besides, the repaired tendon have a well-aligned tissue structure under the guidance of aligned microfibers. However whether these three dimensionally aligned microfibers can induce three dimensionally aligned cells remains inconclusive.

The Deployment of Routing Protocols in Distributed Control Plane of SDN

PubMed Central

Jingjing, Zhou; Di, Cheng; Weiming, Wang; Rong, Jin; Xiaochun, Wu

2014-01-01

Software defined network (SDN) provides a programmable network through decoupling the data plane, control plane, and application plane from the original closed system, thus revolutionizing the existing network architecture to improve the performance and scalability. In this paper, we learned about the distributed characteristics of Kandoo architecture and, meanwhile, improved and optimized Kandoo's two levels of controllers based on ideological inspiration of RCP (routing control platform). Finally, we analyzed the deployment strategies of BGP and OSPF protocol in a distributed control plane of SDN. The simulation results show that our deployment strategies are superior to the traditional routing strategies. PMID:25250395

The PILOT optical alignment for its first flight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mot, B.; Longval, Y.; Bernard, J.-Ph.; Ade, P.; André, Y.; Aumont, J.; Bautista, L.; Bray, N.; deBernardis, P.; Boulade, O.; Bousquet, F.; Bouzit, M.; Buttice, V.; Caillat, A.; Chaigneau, M.; Coudournac, C.; Crane, B.; Douchin, F.; Doumayrou, E.; Dubois, J.-P.; Engel, C.; Etcheto, P.; Gélot, P.; Griffin, M.; Foenard, G.; Grabarnik, S.; Hargrave, P.; Hughes, A.; Laureijs, R.; Lepennec, Y.; Leriche, B.; Maestre, S.; Maffei, B.; Mangilli, A.; Martignac, J.; Marty, C.; Marty, W.; Masi, S.; Mirc, F.; Misawa, R.; Montel, J.; Montier, L.; Narbonne, J.; Nicot, J.-M.; Pajot, F.; Parot, G.; Pérot, E.; Pimentao, J.; Pisano, G.; Ponthieu, N.; Ristorcelli, I.; Rodriguez, L.; Roudil, G.; Saccoccio, M.; Salatino, M.; Savini, G.; Stever, S.; Simonella, O.; Tapie, P.; Tauber, J.; Tibbs, C.; Torre, J.-P.; Tucker, C.

2017-12-01

PILOT is a balloon-borne astronomy experiment designed to study the polarization of dust emission in the diffuse interstellar medium in our Galaxy at wavelengths 240 and 550 µm with an angular resolution of about two arc-min. PILOT optics is composed of an off-axis Gregorian telescope and a refractive re-imager system. All these optical elements, except the primary mirror, are in a cryostat cooled to 3K. We used optical and 3D measurements combined with thermo-elastic modeling to perform the optical alignment. This paper describes the system analysis, the alignment procedure, and finally the performances obtained during the first flight in September 2015

Automatic registration of multi-modal microscopy images for integrative analysis of prostate tissue sections.

PubMed

Lippolis, Giuseppe; Edsjö, Anders; Helczynski, Leszek; Bjartell, Anders; Overgaard, Niels Chr

2013-09-05

Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer related deaths. For diagnosis, predicting the outcome of the disease, and for assessing potential new biomarkers, pathologists and researchers routinely analyze histological samples. Morphological and molecular information may be integrated by aligning microscopic histological images in a multiplex fashion. This process is usually time-consuming and results in intra- and inter-user variability. The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using modern image analysis methods for automated alignment of microscopic images from differently stained adjacent paraffin sections from prostatic tissue specimens. Tissue samples, obtained from biopsy or radical prostatectomy, were sectioned and stained with either hematoxylin & eosin (H&E), immunohistochemistry for p63 and AMACR or Time Resolved Fluorescence (TRF) for androgen receptor (AR). Image pairs were aligned allowing for translation, rotation and scaling. The registration was performed automatically by first detecting landmarks in both images, using the scale invariant image transform (SIFT), followed by the well-known RANSAC protocol for finding point correspondences and finally aligned by Procrustes fit. The Registration results were evaluated using both visual and quantitative criteria as defined in the text. Three experiments were carried out. First, images of consecutive tissue sections stained with H&E and p63/AMACR were successfully aligned in 85 of 88 cases (96.6%). The failures occurred in 3 out of 13 cores with highly aggressive cancer (Gleason score ≥ 8). Second, TRF and H&E image pairs were aligned correctly in 103 out of 106 cases (97%).The third experiment considered the alignment of image pairs with the same staining (H&E) coming from a stack of 4 sections. The success rate for alignment dropped from 93.8% in adjacent sections to 22% for sections furthest away. The proposed method is both reliable and fast and therefore well suited for automatic segmentation and analysis of specific areas of interest, combining morphological information with protein expression data from three consecutive tissue sections. Finally, the performance of the algorithm seems to be largely unaffected by the Gleason grade of the prostate tissue samples examined, at least up to Gleason score 7.

[Custom-fit kinematic alignment in total knee arthroplasty using PSI. The story of ShapeMatch technology].

PubMed

Calliess, T; Ettinger, M; Stukenborg-Colsmann, C; Windhagen, H

2016-04-01

The story of ShapeMatch® custom-fit cutting guides for primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is special compared to other available techniques. First, it was the first such patient-specific instrument (PSI) on the market. Second, the underlying philosophy of kinematic alignment is unique compared to other competitors. Finally, it is the only PSI technique that has been withdrawn from the market. The objective of this paper is to summarize the history of the ShapeMatch® technology and to review the current literature regarding clinical evidence for kinematically aligned TKA. In the recent literature, faster rehabilitation, better knee function and higher patient satisfaction are described for kinematically aligned TKA compared to conventional alignment. However, there is also evidence for inaccuracies by using the PSI technology as a possible cause of treatment failures. Due to those problems, this technology was recalled from the market. As an alternative method to achieve kinematic alignment in TKA, manual as well as computer-assisted techniques are currently under development and are discussed here.

Tidal alignment of galaxies

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

Blazek, Jonathan; Vlah, Zvonimir; Seljak, Uroš

We develop an analytic model for galaxy intrinsic alignments (IA) based on the theory of tidal alignment. We calculate all relevant nonlinear corrections at one-loop order, including effects from nonlinear density evolution, galaxy biasing, and source density weighting. Contributions from density weighting are found to be particularly important and lead to bias dependence of the IA amplitude, even on large scales. This effect may be responsible for much of the luminosity dependence in IA observations. The increase in IA amplitude for more highly biased galaxies reflects their locations in regions with large tidal fields. We also consider the impact ofmore » smoothing the tidal field on halo scales. We compare the performance of this consistent nonlinear model in describing the observed alignment of luminous red galaxies with the linear model as well as the frequently used "nonlinear alignment model," finding a significant improvement on small and intermediate scales. We also show that the cross-correlation between density and IA (the "GI" term) can be effectively separated into source alignment and source clustering, and we accurately model the observed alignment down to the one-halo regime using the tidal field from the fully nonlinear halo-matter cross correlation. Inside the one-halo regime, the average alignment of galaxies with density tracers no longer follows the tidal alignment prediction, likely reflecting nonlinear processes that must be considered when modeling IA on these scales. Finally, we discuss tidal alignment in the context of cosmic shear measurements.« less

Tidal alignment of galaxies

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

Blazek, Jonathan; Vlah, Zvonimir; Seljak, Uroš, E-mail: blazek@berkeley.edu, E-mail: zvlah@stanford.edu, E-mail: useljak@berkeley.edu

We develop an analytic model for galaxy intrinsic alignments (IA) based on the theory of tidal alignment. We calculate all relevant nonlinear corrections at one-loop order, including effects from nonlinear density evolution, galaxy biasing, and source density weighting. Contributions from density weighting are found to be particularly important and lead to bias dependence of the IA amplitude, even on large scales. This effect may be responsible for much of the luminosity dependence in IA observations. The increase in IA amplitude for more highly biased galaxies reflects their locations in regions with large tidal fields. We also consider the impact ofmore » smoothing the tidal field on halo scales. We compare the performance of this consistent nonlinear model in describing the observed alignment of luminous red galaxies with the linear model as well as the frequently used 'nonlinear alignment model,' finding a significant improvement on small and intermediate scales. We also show that the cross-correlation between density and IA (the 'GI' term) can be effectively separated into source alignment and source clustering, and we accurately model the observed alignment down to the one-halo regime using the tidal field from the fully nonlinear halo-matter cross correlation. Inside the one-halo regime, the average alignment of galaxies with density tracers no longer follows the tidal alignment prediction, likely reflecting nonlinear processes that must be considered when modeling IA on these scales. Finally, we discuss tidal alignment in the context of cosmic shear measurements.« less

Diffeomorphic functional brain surface alignment: Functional demons.

PubMed

Nenning, Karl-Heinz; Liu, Hesheng; Ghosh, Satrajit S; Sabuncu, Mert R; Schwartz, Ernst; Langs, Georg

2017-08-01

Aligning brain structures across individuals is a central prerequisite for comparative neuroimaging studies. Typically, registration approaches assume a strong association between the features used for alignment, such as macro-anatomy, and the variable observed, such as functional activation or connectivity. Here, we propose to use the structure of intrinsic resting state fMRI signal correlation patterns as a basis for alignment of the cortex in functional studies. Rather than assuming the spatial correspondence of functional structures between subjects, we have identified locations with similar connectivity profiles across subjects. We mapped functional connectivity relationships within the brain into an embedding space, and aligned the resulting maps of multiple subjects. We then performed a diffeomorphic alignment of the cortical surfaces, driven by the corresponding features in the joint embedding space. Results show that functional alignment based on resting state fMRI identifies functionally homologous regions across individuals with higher accuracy than alignment based on the spatial correspondence of anatomy. Further, functional alignment enables measurement of the strength of the anatomo-functional link across the cortex, and reveals the uneven distribution of this link. Stronger anatomo-functional dissociation was found in higher association areas compared to primary sensory- and motor areas. Functional alignment based on resting state features improves group analysis of task based functional MRI data, increasing statistical power and improving the delineation of task-specific core regions. Finally, a comparison of the anatomo-functional dissociation between cohorts is demonstrated with a group of left and right handed subjects. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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

Kim, Hoyoung; Korea Institute of Materials Science, 797 Changwon-daero, Seongsan-gu, Changwon, Gyeongnam 642-831; Kang, Jun-Yun, E-mail: firice@kims.re.kr

This study aimed to present the complete history of carbide evolution in a cold-work tool steel along its full processing route for fabrication and application. A sequence of processes from cast to final hardening heat treatment was conducted on an 8% Cr-steel to reproduce a typical commercial processing route in a small scale. The carbides found at each process step were then identified by electron diffraction with energy dispersive spectroscopy in a scanning or transmission electron microscope. After solidification, MC, M{sub 7}C{sub 3} and M{sub 2}C carbides were identified and the last one dissolved during hot compression at 1180 °C.more » In a subsequent annealing at 870 °C followed by slow cooling, M{sub 6}C and M{sub 23}C{sub 6} were added, while they were dissolved in the following austenitization at 1030 °C. After the final tempering at 520 °C, fine M{sub 23}C{sub 6} precipitated again, thus the final microstructure was the tempered martensite with MC, M{sub 7}C{sub 3} and M{sub 23}C{sub 6} carbide. The transient M{sub 2}C and M{sub 6}C originated from the segregation of Mo and finally disappeared due to attenuated segregation and the consequent thermodynamic instability. - Highlights: • The full processing route of a cold-work tool steel was simulated in a small scale. • The carbides in the tool steel were identified by chemical–crystallographic analyses. • MC, M{sub 7}C{sub 3}, M{sub 2}C, M{sub 6}C and M{sub 23}C{sub 6} carbides were found during the processing of the steel. • M{sub 2}C and M{sub 6}C finally disappeared due to thermodynamic instability.« less

Tunable band alignment in two-phase-coexistence Nb3O7F nanocrystals with enhanced light harvesting and photocatalytic performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Zhen; Huang, Fei; Feng, Xin; Yan, Aihua; Dong, Haiming; Hu, Miao; Li, Qi

2018-06-01

A two-phase-coexistence technique offers intriguing variables to maneuver novel and enhanced functionality in a single-component material. Most importantly, new band alignment and perfect interfaces between two phases can strongly affect local photoelectronic properties. However, previous efforts to achieve two-phase coexistence were mainly restricted to specific systems and methods. Here we demonstrate a phase-transition route to acquire two-phase-coexistence niobium oxyfluoride (Nb3O7F) nanocrystals for the first time. Based on key distinguishing features of the experimental results and theoretical analysis, the phase transition of Nb3O7F involves an organic/inorganic hybrid, heat treating, Al-doping, lattice deformation and structural rearrangement. The band gap can be effectively tuned from 3.03 eV to 2.84 eV, and the VBM can be tuned from 1.49 eV to 1.69 eV according to the phase proportion. Benefiting from uniform nanocrystal size, tunable band alignment and an optimized interfacial structure, the two-phase coexistence markedly enhances visible-light harvesting and the photocatalytic performance of Nb3O7F nanocrystals. The results not only demonstrate an opportunity to explore two-phase coexistence of novel nanocrystals, but also illustrate the role of two-phase coexistence in achieving enhanced photoelectronic properties.

Tunable band alignment in two-phase-coexistence Nb3O7F nanocrystals with enhanced light harvesting and photocatalytic performance.

PubMed

Li, Zhen; Huang, Fei; Feng, Xin; Yan, Aihua; Dong, Haiming; Hu, Miao; Li, Qi

2018-06-01

A two-phase-coexistence technique offers intriguing variables to maneuver novel and enhanced functionality in a single-component material. Most importantly, new band alignment and perfect interfaces between two phases can strongly affect local photoelectronic properties. However, previous efforts to achieve two-phase coexistence were mainly restricted to specific systems and methods. Here we demonstrate a phase-transition route to acquire two-phase-coexistence niobium oxyfluoride (Nb 3 O 7 F) nanocrystals for the first time. Based on key distinguishing features of the experimental results and theoretical analysis, the phase transition of Nb 3 O 7 F involves an organic/inorganic hybrid, heat treating, Al-doping, lattice deformation and structural rearrangement. The band gap can be effectively tuned from 3.03 eV to 2.84 eV, and the VBM can be tuned from 1.49 eV to 1.69 eV according to the phase proportion. Benefiting from uniform nanocrystal size, tunable band alignment and an optimized interfacial structure, the two-phase coexistence markedly enhances visible-light harvesting and the photocatalytic performance of Nb 3 O 7 F nanocrystals. The results not only demonstrate an opportunity to explore two-phase coexistence of novel nanocrystals, but also illustrate the role of two-phase coexistence in achieving enhanced photoelectronic properties.

Improvement and modification of the routing system for the health-care waste collection and transportation in Istanbul

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

Alagoez, Aylin Zeren; Kocasoy, Guenay

Handling of health-care wastes is among the most important environmental problems in Turkey as it is in the whole world. Approximately 25-30 tons of health-care wastes, in addition to the domestic and recyclable wastes, are generated from hospitals, clinics and other small health-care institutions daily on the European and the Asian sides of Istanbul [Kocasoy, G., Topkaya, B., Zeren, B.A., Kilic, M., et al., 2004. Integrated Health-care Waste Management in Istanbul, Final Report of the LIFE00 TCY/TR/054 Project, Turkish National Committee on Solid Wastes, Istanbul, Turkey; Zeren, B.A., 2004. The Health-care Waste Management of the Hospitals in the European Sidemore » of Istanbul, M.S. Thesis, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey; Kilic, M., 2004. Determination of the Health-care Waste Handling and Final Disposal of the Infected Waste of Hospital-Medical Centers in the Anatolian Side of Istanbul. M.S. Thesis, Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey]. Unfortunately, these wastes are not handled, collected or temporarily stored at the institutions properly according to the published Turkish Medical Waste Control Regulation [Ministry of Environment and Forestry, 2005. Medical Waste Control Regulation. Official Gazette No. 25883, Ankara, Turkey]. Besides the inappropriate handling at the institutions, there is no systematic program for the transportation of the health-care wastes to the final disposal sites. The transportation of these wastes is realized by the vehicles of the municipalities in an uncontrolled, very primitive way. As a consequence, these improperly managed health-care wastes cause many risks to the public health and people who handle them. This study has been conducted to develop a health-care waste collection and transportation system for the city of Istanbul, Turkey. Within the scope of the study, the collection of health-care wastes from the temporary storage rooms of the health-care institutions, transportation of these wastes to the final disposal areas and the cost-benefit analyses of the existing and the proposed optimum transportation routes are investigated and the most feasible routes from the point of view of efficiency and economy have been determined. In order to solve the scheduling and route optimization problem, special software programs called MapInfo and Roadnet were used. For the program, the geocodes of hospital locations, data about the amount of the health-care wastes generated, the loading and unloading process times, and the capacity of the collecting vehicles were taken into account. The new systems developed aim at the daily collection of the health-care wastes from the institutions and their transportation directly to the final disposal area/facility by using the shortest and the most efficient routes to resolve the routing and scheduling problem and to reduce the cost arising from the transportation.« less

Improvement and modification of the routing system for the health-care waste collection and transportation in Istanbul.

PubMed

Alagöz, Aylin Zeren; Kocasoy, Günay

2008-01-01

Handling of health-care wastes is among the most important environmental problems in Turkey as it is in the whole world. Approximately 25-30tons of health-care wastes, in addition to the domestic and recyclable wastes, are generated from hospitals, clinics and other small health-care institutions daily on the European and the Asian sides of Istanbul [Kocasoy, G., Topkaya, B., Zeren, B.A., Kiliç, M., et al., 2004. Integrated Health-care Waste Management in Istanbul, Final Report of the LIFE00 TCY/TR/054 Project, Turkish National Committee on Solid Wastes, Istanbul, Turkey; Zeren, B.A., 2004. The Health-care Waste Management of the Hospitals in the European Side of Istanbul, M.S. Thesis, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey; Kiliç, M., 2004. Determination of the Health-care Waste Handling and Final Disposal of the Infected Waste of Hospital-Medical Centers in the Anatolian Side of Istanbul. M.S. Thesis, Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey]. Unfortunately, these wastes are not handled, collected or temporarily stored at the institutions properly according to the published Turkish Medical Waste Control Regulation [Ministry of Environment and Forestry, 2005. Medical Waste Control Regulation. Official Gazette No. 25883, Ankara, Turkey]. Besides the inappropriate handling at the institutions, there is no systematic program for the transportation of the health-care wastes to the final disposal sites. The transportation of these wastes is realized by the vehicles of the municipalities in an uncontrolled, very primitive way. As a consequence, these improperly managed health-care wastes cause many risks to the public health and people who handle them. This study has been conducted to develop a health-care waste collection and transportation system for the city of Istanbul, Turkey. Within the scope of the study, the collection of health-care wastes from the temporary storage rooms of the health-care institutions, transportation of these wastes to the final disposal areas and the cost-benefit analyses of the existing and the proposed optimum transportation routes are investigated and the most feasible routes from the point of view of efficiency and economy have been determined. In order to solve the scheduling and route optimization problem, special software programs called MapInfo and Roadnet were used. For the program, the geocodes of hospital locations, data about the amount of the health-care wastes generated, the loading and unloading process times, and the capacity of the collecting vehicles were taken into account. The new systems developed aim at the daily collection of the health-care wastes from the institutions and their transportation directly to the final disposal area/facility by using the shortest and the most efficient routes to resolve the routing and scheduling problem and to reduce the cost arising from the transportation.

Mesocrystalline calcium silicate hydrate: A bioinspired route toward elastic concrete materials

PubMed Central

Picker, Andreas; Nicoleau, Luc; Burghard, Zaklina; Bill, Joachim; Zlotnikov, Igor; Labbez, Christophe; Nonat, André; Cölfen, Helmut

2017-01-01

Calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) is the binder in concrete, the most used synthetic material in the world. The main weakness of concrete is the lack of elasticity and poor flexural strength considerably limiting its potential, making reinforcing steel constructions necessary. Although the properties of C-S-H could be significantly improved in organic hybrids, the full potential of this approach could not be reached because of the random C-S-H nanoplatelet structure. Taking inspiration from a sea urchin spine with highly ordered nanoparticles in the biomineral mesocrystal, we report a bioinspired route toward a C-S-H mesocrystal with highly aligned C-S-H nanoplatelets interspaced with a polymeric binder. A material with a bending strength similar to nacre is obtained, outperforming all C-S-H–based materials known to date. This strategy could greatly benefit future construction processes because fracture toughness and elasticity of brittle cementitious materials can be largely enhanced on the nanoscale. PMID:29209660

Sequencing and generation of an infectious clone of the pathogenic goose parvovirus strain LH.

PubMed

Wang, Jianye; Duan, Jinkun; Zhu, Liqian; Jiang, Zhiwei; Zhu, Guoqiang

2015-03-01

In this study, the complete genome of the virulent strain LH of goose parvovirus (GPV) was sequenced and cloned into the pBluescript II (SK) plasmid vector. Sequence alignments of the inverted terminal repeats (ITR) of GPV strains revealed a common 14-nt-pair deletion in the stem of the palindromic structure in the LH strain and three other strains isolated after 1982 when compared to three GPV strains isolated earlier than that time. Transfection of 11-day-old embryonated goose eggs with the plasmid pLH, which contains the entire genome of strain LH, resulted in successful rescue of the infectious virus. Death of embryos after transfection via the chorioallantoic membrane infiltration route occurred earlier than when transfection was done via the allantoic cavity inoculation route. The rescued virus exhibited virulence similar to that of its parental virus, as evaluated by the mortality rate in goslings. Generation of the pathogenic infectious clone provides us with a powerful tool to elucidate the molecular pathogenesis of GPV in the future.

Liquid gallium ball/crystalline silicon polyhedrons/aligned silicon oxide nanowires sandwich structure: An interesting nanowire growth route

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Zheng Wei; Dai, Sheng; Beach, David B.; Lowndes, Douglas H.

2003-10-01

We demonstrate the growth of silicon oxide nanowires through a sandwich-like configuration, i.e., Ga ball/Si polyhedrons/silicon oxide nanowires, by using Ga as the catalyst and SiO powder as the source material. The sandwich-like structures have a carrot-like morphology, consisting of three materials with different morphologies, states, and crystallographic structures. The "carrot" top is a liquid Ga ball with diameter of ˜10-30 μm; the middle part is a Si ring usually composed of about 10 μm-sized, clearly faceted, and crystalline Si polyhedrons that are arranged sequentially in a band around the lower hemisphere surface of the Ga ball; the bottom part is a carrot-shaped bunch of highly aligned silicon oxide nanowires that grow out from the downward facing facets of the Si polyhedrons. This study reveals several interesting nanowire growth phenomena that enrich the conventional vapor-liquid-solid nanowire growth mechanism.

Interfacing whispering-gallery microresonators and free space light with cavity enhanced Rayleigh scattering

PubMed Central

Zhu, Jiangang; Özdemir, Şahin K.; Yilmaz, Huzeyfe; Peng, Bo; Dong, Mark; Tomes, Matthew; Carmon, Tal; Yang, Lan

2014-01-01

Whispering gallery mode resonators (WGMRs) take advantage of strong light confinement and long photon lifetime for applications in sensing, optomechanics, microlasers and quantum optics. However, their rotational symmetry and low radiation loss impede energy exchange between WGMs and the surrounding. As a result, free-space coupling of light into and from WGMRs is very challenging. In previous schemes, resonators are intentionally deformed to break circular symmetry to enable free-space coupling of carefully aligned focused light, which comes with bulky size and alignment issues that hinder the realization of compact WGMR applications. Here, we report a new class of nanocouplers based on cavity enhanced Rayleigh scattering from nano-scatterer(s) on resonator surface, and demonstrate whispering gallery microlaser by free-space optical pumping of an Ytterbium doped silica microtoroid via the scatterers. This new scheme will not only expand the range of applications enabled by WGMRs, but also provide a possible route to integrate them into solar powered green photonics. PMID:25227918

Functional Equivalence of Spatial Images from Touch and Vision: Evidence from Spatial Updating in Blind and Sighted Individuals

PubMed Central

Giudice, Nicholas A.; Betty, Maryann R.; Loomis, Jack M.

2012-01-01

This research examines whether visual and haptic map learning yield functionally equivalent spatial images in working memory, as evidenced by similar encoding bias and updating performance. In three experiments, participants learned four-point routes either by seeing or feeling the maps. At test, blindfolded participants made spatial judgments about the maps from imagined perspectives that were either aligned or misaligned with the maps as represented in working memory. Results from Experiments 1 and 2 revealed a highly similar pattern of latencies and errors between visual and haptic conditions. These findings extend the well known alignment biases for visual map learning to haptic map learning, provide further evidence of haptic updating, and most importantly, show that learning from the two modalities yields very similar performance across all conditions. Experiment 3 found the same encoding biases and updating performance with blind individuals, demonstrating that functional equivalence cannot be due to visual recoding and is consistent with an amodal hypothesis of spatial images. PMID:21299331

Interfacing whispering-gallery microresonators and free space light with cavity enhanced Rayleigh scattering.

PubMed

Zhu, Jiangang; Özdemir, Sahin K; Yilmaz, Huzeyfe; Peng, Bo; Dong, Mark; Tomes, Matthew; Carmon, Tal; Yang, Lan

2014-09-17

Whispering gallery mode resonators (WGMRs) take advantage of strong light confinement and long photon lifetime for applications in sensing, optomechanics, microlasers and quantum optics. However, their rotational symmetry and low radiation loss impede energy exchange between WGMs and the surrounding. As a result, free-space coupling of light into and from WGMRs is very challenging. In previous schemes, resonators are intentionally deformed to break circular symmetry to enable free-space coupling of carefully aligned focused light, which comes with bulky size and alignment issues that hinder the realization of compact WGMR applications. Here, we report a new class of nanocouplers based on cavity enhanced Rayleigh scattering from nano-scatterer(s) on resonator surface, and demonstrate whispering gallery microlaser by free-space optical pumping of an Ytterbium doped silica microtoroid via the scatterers. This new scheme will not only expand the range of applications enabled by WGMRs, but also provide a possible route to integrate them into solar powered green photonics.

Adsorption and self-assembly of M13 phage into directionally organized structures on C and SiO2 films.

PubMed

Moghimian, Pouya; Srot, Vesna; Rothenstein, Dirk; Facey, Sandra J; Harnau, Ludger; Hauer, Bernhard; Bill, Joachim; van Aken, Peter A

2014-09-30

A versatile method for the directional assembly of M13 phage using amorphous carbon and SiO2 thin films was demonstrated. A high affinity of the M13 phage macromolecules for incorporation into aligned structures on an amorphous carbon surface was observed at the concentration range, in which the viral nanofibers tend to disorder. In contrast, the viral particles showed less freedom to adopt an aligned orientation on SiO2 films when deposited in close vicinity. Here an interpretation of the role of the carbon surface in significant enhancement of adsorption and generation of viral arrays with a high orientational order was proposed in terms of surface chemistry and competitive electrostatic interactions. This study suggests the use of amorphous carbon substrates as a template for directional organization of a closely-packed and two-dimensional M13 viral film, which can be a promising route to mineralize a variety of smooth and homogeneous inorganic nanostructure layers.

Graphene--nanotube--iron hierarchical nanostructure as lithium ion battery anode.

PubMed

Lee, Si-Hwa; Sridhar, Vadahanambi; Jung, Jung-Hwan; Karthikeyan, Kaliyappan; Lee, Yun-Sung; Mukherjee, Rahul; Koratkar, Nikhil; Oh, Il-Kwon

2013-05-28

In this study, we report a novel route via microwave irradiation to synthesize a bio-inspired hierarchical graphene--nanotube--iron three-dimensional nanostructure as an anode material in lithium-ion batteries. The nanostructure comprises vertically aligned carbon nanotubes grown directly on graphene sheets along with shorter branches of carbon nanotubes stemming out from both the graphene sheets and the vertically aligned carbon nanotubes. This bio-inspired hierarchical structure provides a three-dimensional conductive network for efficient charge-transfer and prevents the agglomeration and restacking of the graphene sheets enabling Li-ions to have greater access to the electrode material. In addition, functional iron-oxide nanoparticles decorated within the three-dimensional hierarchical structure provides outstanding lithium storage characteristics, resulting in very high specific capacities. The anode material delivers a reversible capacity of ~1024 mA · h · g(-1) even after prolonged cycling along with a Coulombic efficiency in excess of 99%, which reflects the ability of the hierarchical network to prevent agglomeration of the iron-oxide nanoparticles.

The improvement and simulation for LEACH clustering routing protocol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Ai-guo; Zhao, Jun-xiang

2017-01-01

An energy-balanced unequal multi-hop clustering routing protocol LEACH-EUMC is proposed in this paper. The candidate cluster head nodes are elected firstly, then they compete to be formal cluster head nodes by adding energy and distance factors, finally the date are transferred to sink through multi-hop. The results of simulation show that the improved algorithm is better than LEACH in network lifetime, energy consumption and the amount of data transmission.

Progress in linear optics, non-linear optics and surface alignment of liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ong, H. L.; Meyer, R. B.; Hurd, A. J.; Karn, A. J.; Arakelian, S. M.; Shen, Y. R.; Sanda, P. N.; Dove, D. B.; Jansen, S. A.; Hoffmann, R.

We first discuss the progress in linear optics, in particular, the formulation and application of geometrical-optics approximation and its generalization. We then discuss the progress in non-linear optics, in particular, the enhancement of a first-order Freedericksz transition and intrinsic optical bistability in homeotropic and parallel oriented nematic liquid crystal cells. Finally, we discuss the liquid crystal alignment and surface effects on field-induced Freedericksz transition.

Optimization for Service Routes of Pallet Service Center Based on the Pallet Pool Mode

PubMed Central

He, Shiwei; Song, Rui

2016-01-01

Service routes optimization (SRO) of pallet service center should meet customers' demand firstly and then, through the reasonable method of lines organization, realize the shortest path of vehicle driving. The routes optimization of pallet service center is similar to the distribution problems of vehicle routing problem (VRP) and Chinese postman problem (CPP), but it has its own characteristics. Based on the relevant research results, the conditions of determining the number of vehicles, the one way of the route, the constraints of loading, and time windows are fully considered, and a chance constrained programming model with stochastic constraints is constructed taking the shortest path of all vehicles for a delivering (recycling) operation as an objective. For the characteristics of the model, a hybrid intelligent algorithm including stochastic simulation, neural network, and immune clonal algorithm is designed to solve the model. Finally, the validity and rationality of the optimization model and algorithm are verified by the case. PMID:27528865

Seeded Growth Route to Noble Calcium Carbonate Nanocrystal.

PubMed

Islam, Aminul; Teo, Siow Hwa; Rahman, M Aminur; Taufiq-Yap, Yun Hin

2015-01-01

A solution-phase route has been considered as the most promising route to synthesize noble nanostructures. A majority of their synthesis approaches of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) are based on either using fungi or the CO2 bubbling methods. Here, we approached the preparation of nano-precipitated calcium carbonate single crystal from salmacis sphaeroides in the presence of zwitterionic or cationic biosurfactants without external source of CO2. The calcium carbonate crystals were rhombohedron structure and regularly shaped with side dimension ranging from 33-41 nm. The high degree of morphological control of CaCO3 nanocrystals suggested that surfactants are capable of strongly interacting with the CaCO3 surface and control the nucleation and growth direction of calcium carbonate nanocrystals. Finally, the mechanism of formation of nanocrystals in light of proposed routes was also discussed.

Seeded Growth Route to Noble Calcium Carbonate Nanocrystal

PubMed Central

Islam, Aminul; Teo, Siow Hwa; Rahman, M. Aminur; Taufiq-Yap, Yun Hin

2015-01-01

A solution-phase route has been considered as the most promising route to synthesize noble nanostructures. A majority of their synthesis approaches of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) are based on either using fungi or the CO2 bubbling methods. Here, we approached the preparation of nano-precipitated calcium carbonate single crystal from salmacis sphaeroides in the presence of zwitterionic or cationic biosurfactants without external source of CO2. The calcium carbonate crystals were rhombohedron structure and regularly shaped with side dimension ranging from 33–41 nm. The high degree of morphological control of CaCO3 nanocrystals suggested that surfactants are capable of strongly interacting with the CaCO3 surface and control the nucleation and growth direction of calcium carbonate nanocrystals. Finally, the mechanism of formation of nanocrystals in light of proposed routes was also discussed. PMID:26700479

Alignment of the Stanford Linear Collider Arcs: Concepts and results

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

Pitthan, R.; Bell, B.; Friedsam, H.

1987-02-01

The alignment of the Arcs for the Stanford Linear Collider at SLAC has posed problems in accelerator survey and alignment not encountered before. These problems come less from the tight tolerances of 0.1 mm, although reaching such a tight statistically defined accuracy in a controlled manner is difficult enough, but from the absence of a common reference plane for the Arcs. Traditional circular accelerators, including HERA and LEP, have been designed in one plane referenced to local gravity. For the SLC Arcs no such single plane exists. Methods and concepts developed to solve these and other problems, connected with themore » unique design of SLC, range from the first use of satellites for accelerator alignment, use of electronic laser theodolites for placement of components, computer control of the manual adjustment process, complete automation of the data flow incorporating the most advanced concepts of geodesy, strict separation of survey and alignment, to linear principal component analysis for the final statistical smoothing of the mechanical components.« less

Boresight alignment method for mobile laser scanning systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rieger, P.; Studnicka, N.; Pfennigbauer, M.; Zach, G.

2010-06-01

Mobile laser scanning (MLS) is the latest approach towards fast and cost-efficient acquisition of 3-dimensional spatial data. Accurately evaluating the boresight alignment in MLS systems is an obvious necessity. However, recent systems available on the market may lack of suitable and efficient practical workflows on how to perform this calibration. This paper discusses an innovative method for accurately determining the boresight alignment of MLS systems by employing 3D laser scanners. Scanning objects using a 3D laser scanner operating in a 2D line-scan mode from various different runs and scan directions provides valuable scan data for determining the angular alignment between inertial measurement unit and laser scanner. Field data is presented demonstrating the final accuracy of the calibration and the high quality of the point cloud acquired during an MLS campaign.

[Application of orientation to the mechanical alignment of lower limbs in operation of high tibial osteotomy].

PubMed

Hu, Yue-Zheng; Wen, Hong; Pan, Xiao-Yun; Yu, Hua-Chen

2012-09-01

To evaluate the effects of orientation to the mechanical alignment of lower limbs in high tibial osteotomy (HTO). From March 2005 to July 2010, the data of 57 patients (63 knees) with medial compartment osteoarthritis were retrospectively analyzed. There were 24 males and 33 females with an average age of 52 years (ranged, 34 to 68). HTO was used in all the patients, and with wire the exact orientation to the mechanical alignment of lower limbs was performed in order to obtain good angle of intercepted bone. X-rays of full-length lower limbs were done at the 3rd month after operation and final follow-up, in which femorotibial angle would be observed. Clinical results were evaluated according to Hospital for Special Surgery knee scores (HSS) including pain, function, activities, myodynamia, deformity and instability. All patients were followed up from 24 to 60 months with an average of 36.7 months. All osteotomy site achieved radiographic healing. The femorotibial angle was corrected from preoperative (182.8 +/- 2.9) degrees to postoperative (167.6 +/- 2.5) degrees and (168.1 +/- 2.5) degrees at final follow-up (compared with preoperative data, P < 0.01). Pain relieved and genu valgum recovered. HSS score improved from preoperative 69.5 +/- 7.1 to postoperative 91.1 +/- 4.9 and 92.2 +/- 5.6 at final follow-up. According to HSS standard, 43 knees got excellent results, 18 good and 2 fair. The orientation to mechanical alignment of lower limbs using wire during operation of HTO is a good method in correcting femorotibial angle and treating medial compartment osteoarthritis of the knee. Moreover, the method is simple and precise for orthopedist.

Scale-Free Compact Routing Schemes in Networks of Low Doubling Dimension

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

Konjevod, Goran; Richa, Andréa W.; Xia, Donglin

In this work, we consider compact routing schemes in networks of low doubling dimension, where the doubling dimension is the least value α such that any ball in the network can be covered by at most 2 α balls of half radius. There are two variants of routing-scheme design: (i) labeled (name-dependent) routing, in which the designer is allowed to rename the nodes so that the names (labels) can contain additional routing information, for example, topological information; and (ii) name-independent routing, which works on top of the arbitrary original node names in the network, that is, the node names aremore » independent of the routing scheme. In this article, given any constant ε ϵ (0, 1) and an n-node edge-weighted network of doubling dimension α ϵ O(loglog n), we present —a (1 + ε)-stretch labeled compact routing scheme with Γlog n-bit routing labels, O(log 2 n/loglog n)-bit packet headers, and ((1/ε) O(α) log 3 n)-bit routing information at each node; —a (9 + ε)-stretch name-independent compact routing scheme with O(log 2 n/loglog n)-bit packet headers, and ((1/ε) O(α) log 3 n)-bit routing information at each node. In addition, we prove a lower bound: any name-independent routing scheme with o(n (ε/60)2) bits of storage at each node has stretch no less than 9 - ε for any ε ϵ (0, 8). Therefore, our name-independent routing scheme achieves asymptotically optimal stretch with polylogarithmic storage at each node and packet headers. Note that both schemes are scale-free in the sense that their space requirements do not depend on the normalized diameter Δ of the network. Finally, we also present a simpler nonscale-free (9 + ε)-stretch name-independent compact routing scheme with improved space requirements if Δ is polynomial in n.« less

Scale-Free Compact Routing Schemes in Networks of Low Doubling Dimension

DOE PAGES

Konjevod, Goran; Richa, Andréa W.; Xia, Donglin

2016-06-15

In this work, we consider compact routing schemes in networks of low doubling dimension, where the doubling dimension is the least value α such that any ball in the network can be covered by at most 2 α balls of half radius. There are two variants of routing-scheme design: (i) labeled (name-dependent) routing, in which the designer is allowed to rename the nodes so that the names (labels) can contain additional routing information, for example, topological information; and (ii) name-independent routing, which works on top of the arbitrary original node names in the network, that is, the node names aremore » independent of the routing scheme. In this article, given any constant ε ϵ (0, 1) and an n-node edge-weighted network of doubling dimension α ϵ O(loglog n), we present —a (1 + ε)-stretch labeled compact routing scheme with Γlog n-bit routing labels, O(log 2 n/loglog n)-bit packet headers, and ((1/ε) O(α) log 3 n)-bit routing information at each node; —a (9 + ε)-stretch name-independent compact routing scheme with O(log 2 n/loglog n)-bit packet headers, and ((1/ε) O(α) log 3 n)-bit routing information at each node. In addition, we prove a lower bound: any name-independent routing scheme with o(n (ε/60)2) bits of storage at each node has stretch no less than 9 - ε for any ε ϵ (0, 8). Therefore, our name-independent routing scheme achieves asymptotically optimal stretch with polylogarithmic storage at each node and packet headers. Note that both schemes are scale-free in the sense that their space requirements do not depend on the normalized diameter Δ of the network. Finally, we also present a simpler nonscale-free (9 + ε)-stretch name-independent compact routing scheme with improved space requirements if Δ is polynomial in n.« less

75 FR 57441 - Aluminum Extrusions From the People's Republic of China: Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-21

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration [C-570-968] Aluminum Extrusions From the... countervailing duty investigation of aluminum extrusions from the People's Republic of China (PRC) with the final... antidumping duty investigations on aluminum extrusions from the PRC. See Aluminum Extrusions from the People's...

Reflectivity and Teaching Performance of Novice Teachers: Three Years of Investigation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pultorak, Edward; Barnes, Debbie

2009-01-01

The purpose of this 3-year investigation was to determine if a relationship exists between teacher reflectivity and the classroom performance of novice teachers when final evaluations are aligned with national standards. This study included 98 novice teachers enrolled in their final field-based teaching experience. Participants reflected over two…

75 FR 34974 - Drill Pipe From the People's Republic of China: Alignment of Final Countervailing Duty...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-06-21

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE International Trade Administration [C-570-966] Drill Pipe From the People's... duty investigation of drill pipe from the People's Republic of China (PRC) with the final determination....S. Department of Commerce, Room 4014, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20230...

Auroral field-aligned current observations during the Cassini F-ring and Proximal orbits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hunt, G. J.; Bunce, E. J.; Cao, H.; Cowley, S.; Dougherty, M. K.; Khurana, K. K.; Provan, G.; Southwood, D. J.

2017-12-01

Cassini's F-ring and Proximal orbits have provided a fantastic opportunity to examine Saturn's magnetic field closer to the planet than ever before. It is critical to understand external contributions to the azimuthal field component, as it can provide information on any asymmetry of the internal field. However, signatures of the auroral field-aligned currents are also present in this field component. Here we will identify and discuss these current signatures in the dawn and dusk sections in the northern and southern hemispheres, respectively. Previous results from observations during 2008 showed that in southern hemisphere these currents were strongly modulated by the southern planetary period oscillation (PPO) system. While the northern hemisphere data was modulated by both northern and southern PPOs, thus giving the first direct evidence of inter-hemispheric PPO currents. In both hemispheres, the PPO currents that give rise to the 10.7 h magnetic field oscillations observed throughout Saturn's magnetosphere, were separated from the PPO-independent (e.g. subcorotation) currents. These results provide a framework to which the Grand Finale orbits can be examined within. Here, we will assess how the field-aligned currents have evolved in comparison to the 2008 dataset. We will show that for the most part the observed field-aligned currents agree with the theoretical expectations. However, we will discuss the differences in terms of the PPO modulation, seasonal, and local time changes between the two datasets. Finally, we will discuss the implications of the azimuthal magnetic field contributions of these field-aligned currents on the data from the Proximal orbits.

Development of visual peak selection system based on multi-ISs normalization algorithm to apply to methamphetamine impurity profiling.

PubMed

Lee, Hun Joo; Han, Eunyoung; Lee, Jaesin; Chung, Heesun; Min, Sung-Gi

2016-11-01

The aim of this study is to improve resolution of impurity peaks using a newly devised normalization algorithm for multi-internal standards (ISs) and to describe a visual peak selection system (VPSS) for efficient support of impurity profiling. Drug trafficking routes, location of manufacture, or synthetic route can be identified from impurities in seized drugs. In the analysis of impurities, different chromatogram profiles are obtained from gas chromatography and used to examine similarities between drug samples. The data processing method using relative retention time (RRT) calculated by a single internal standard is not preferred when many internal standards are used and many chromatographic peaks present because of the risk of overlapping between peaks and difficulty in classifying impurities. In this study, impurities in methamphetamine (MA) were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) method using ethylacetate containing 4 internal standards and analyzed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID). The newly developed VPSS consists of an input module, a conversion module, and a detection module. The input module imports chromatograms collected from GC and performs preprocessing, which is converted with a normalization algorithm in the conversion module, and finally the detection module detects the impurities in MA samples using a visualized zoning user interface. The normalization algorithm in the conversion module was used to convert the raw data from GC-FID. The VPSS with the built-in normalization algorithm can effectively detect different impurities in samples even in complex matrices and has high resolution keeping the time sequence of chromatographic peaks the same as that of the RRT method. The system can widen a full range of chromatograms so that the peaks of impurities were better aligned for easy separation and classification. The resolution, accuracy, and speed of impurity profiling showed remarkable improvement. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Calculating Least Risk Paths in 3d Indoor Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vanclooster, A.; De Maeyer, Ph.; Fack, V.; Van de Weghe, N.

2013-08-01

Over the last couple of years, research on indoor environments has gained a fresh impetus; more specifically applications that support navigation and wayfinding have become one of the booming industries. Indoor navigation research currently covers the technological aspect of indoor positioning and the modelling of indoor space. The algorithmic development to support navigation has so far been left mostly untouched, as most applications mainly rely on adapting Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm to an indoor network. However, alternative algorithms for outdoor navigation have been proposed adding a more cognitive notion to the calculated paths and as such adhering to the natural wayfinding behaviour (e.g. simplest paths, least risk paths). These algorithms are currently restricted to outdoor applications. The need for indoor cognitive algorithms is highlighted by a more challenged navigation and orientation due to the specific indoor structure (e.g. fragmentation, less visibility, confined areas…). As such, the clarity and easiness of route instructions is of paramount importance when distributing indoor routes. A shortest or fastest path indoors not necessarily aligns with the cognitive mapping of the building. Therefore, the aim of this research is to extend those richer cognitive algorithms to three-dimensional indoor environments. More specifically for this paper, we will focus on the application of the least risk path algorithm of Grum (2005) to an indoor space. The algorithm as proposed by Grum (2005) is duplicated and tested in a complex multi-storey building. The results of several least risk path calculations are compared to the shortest paths in indoor environments in terms of total length, improvement in route description complexity and number of turns. Several scenarios are tested in this comparison: paths covering a single floor, paths crossing several building wings and/or floors. Adjustments to the algorithm are proposed to be more aligned to the specific structure of indoor environments (e.g. no turn restrictions, restricted usage of rooms, vertical movement) and common wayfinding strategies indoors. In a later stage, other cognitive algorithms will be implemented and tested in both an indoor and combined indoor-outdoor setting, in an effort to improve the overall user experience during navigation in indoor environments.

Coaxial fundus camera for opthalmology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Matos, Luciana; Castro, Guilherme; Castro Neto, Jarbas C.

2015-09-01

A Fundus Camera for ophthalmology is a high definition device which needs to meet low light illumination of the human retina, high resolution in the retina and reflection free image1. Those constraints make its optical design very sophisticated, but the most difficult to comply with is the reflection free illumination and the final alignment due to the high number of non coaxial optical components in the system. Reflection of the illumination, both in the objective and at the cornea, mask image quality, and a poor alignment make the sophisticated optical design useless. In this work we developed a totally axial optical system for a non-midriatic Fundus Camera. The illumination is performed by a LED ring, coaxial with the optical system and composed of IR of visible LEDs. The illumination ring is projected by the objective lens in the cornea. The Objective, LED illuminator, CCD lens are coaxial making the final alignment easily to perform. The CCD + capture lens module is a CCTV camera with autofocus and Zoom built in, added to a 175 mm focal length doublet corrected for infinity, making the system easily operated and very compact.

Technology Use in Science Instruction (TUSI): Aligning the Integration of Technology in Science Instruction in Ways Supportive of Science Education Reform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campbell, Todd; Abd-Hamid, Nor Hashidah

2013-08-01

This study describes the development of an instrument to investigate the extent to which technology is integrated in science instruction in ways aligned to science reform outlined in standards documents. The instrument was developed by: (a) creating items consistent with the five dimensions identified in science education literature, (b) establishing content validity with both national and international content experts, (c) refining the item pool based on content expert feedback, (d) piloting testing of the instrument, (e) checking statistical reliability and item analysis, and (f) subsequently refining and finalization of the instrument. The TUSI was administered in a field test across eleven classrooms by three observers, with a total of 33 TUSI ratings completed. The finalized instrument was found to have acceptable inter-rater intraclass correlation reliability estimates. After the final stage of development, the TUSI instrument consisted of 26-items separated into the original five categories, which aligned with the exploratory factor analysis clustering of the items. Additionally, concurrent validity of the TUSI was established with the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol. Finally, a subsequent set of 17 different classrooms were observed during the spring of 2011, and for the 9 classrooms where technology integration was observed, an overall Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of 0.913 was found. Based on the analyses completed, the TUSI appears to be a useful instrument for measuring how technology is integrated into science classrooms and is seen as one mechanism for measuring the intersection of technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge in science classrooms.

Face Alignment via Regressing Local Binary Features.

PubMed

Ren, Shaoqing; Cao, Xudong; Wei, Yichen; Sun, Jian

2016-03-01

This paper presents a highly efficient and accurate regression approach for face alignment. Our approach has two novel components: 1) a set of local binary features and 2) a locality principle for learning those features. The locality principle guides us to learn a set of highly discriminative local binary features for each facial landmark independently. The obtained local binary features are used to jointly learn a linear regression for the final output. This approach achieves the state-of-the-art results when tested on the most challenging benchmarks to date. Furthermore, because extracting and regressing local binary features are computationally very cheap, our system is much faster than previous methods. It achieves over 3000 frames per second (FPS) on a desktop or 300 FPS on a mobile phone for locating a few dozens of landmarks. We also study a key issue that is important but has received little attention in the previous research, which is the face detector used to initialize alignment. We investigate several face detectors and perform quantitative evaluation on how they affect alignment accuracy. We find that an alignment friendly detector can further greatly boost the accuracy of our alignment method, reducing the error up to 16% relatively. To facilitate practical usage of face detection/alignment methods, we also propose a convenient metric to measure how good a detector is for alignment initialization.

Effects of alignment on the roll-over shapes of prosthetic feet.

PubMed

Hansen, Andrew

2008-12-01

Recent work suggests that a prosthetic ankle-foot component's roll-over shape - the effective rocker it conforms to between initial contact and opposite initial contact (the 'roll-over' interval of walking) - is closely linked to its final alignment in the prosthesis (as determined by a skilled prosthetist using heuristic techniques). If true, this information may help to determine the appropriate alignment for a lower limb prosthesis before it is built, or a priori. Knowledge is needed for future models that will incorporate the roll-over shape including the relative effect of alignment on the roll-over shape's radius of curvature and arc length. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the hypotheses that: (i) Changes in prosthesis alignment alter the position and orientation of a foot's roll-over shape in prosthesis-based coordinates, and (ii) these changes occur without changing the radius of curvature or arc length of the roll-over shape. To examine the hypotheses, this study examined the effects of nine alignment settings on the roll-over shapes of two prosthetic feet. The idea that alignment changes move and rotate roll-over shapes of prosthetic feet in prosthesis coordinates is supported by this work, but the hypothesis that the radius of curvature and arc length do not change for different alignments is not strongly supported by the data. A revised approach is presented that explains some of the changes to the roll-over shape parameters due to changes in rotational alignment.

Centroid stabilization for laser alignment to corner cubes: designing a matched filter

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

Awwal, Abdul A. S.; Bliss, Erlan; Brunton, Gordon

2016-11-08

Automation of image-based alignment of National Ignition Facility high energy laser beams is providing the capability of executing multiple target shots per day. One important alignment is beam centration through the second and third harmonic generating crystals in the final optics assembly (FOA), which employs two retroreflecting corner cubes as centering references for each beam. Beam-to-beam variations and systematic beam changes over time in the FOA corner cube images can lead to a reduction in accuracy as well as increased convergence durations for the template-based position detector. A systematic approach is described that maintains FOA corner cube templates and guaranteesmore » stable position estimation.« less

Centroid stabilization for laser alignment to corner cubes: designing a matched filter

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

Awwal, Abdul A. S.; Bliss, Erlan; Brunton, Gordon

2016-11-08

Automation of image-based alignment of NIF high energy laser beams is providing the capability of executing multiple target shots per day. One important alignment is beam centration through the second and third harmonic generating crystals in the final optics assembly (FOA), which employs two retro-reflecting corner cubes as centering references for each beam. Beam-to-beam variations and systematic beam changes over time in the FOA corner cube images can lead to a reduction in accuracy as well as increased convergence durations for the template-based position detector. A systematic approach is described that maintains FOA corner cube templates and guarantees stable positionmore » estimation.« less

Energy Partitioning and Impulse Dispersion in the Decorated, Tapered, Strongly Nonlinear Granular Alignment: A System with Many Potential Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-03-01

finally discuss some preliminary experimental results using systems with chrome spheres and small Nitinol interstitial grains to present the... Nitinol interstitial grains to present the underlying nonlinear dynamics of this so-called decorated tapered granular alignment. We are specifically...second was the DTC setup. In this case, small Nitinol 2.38 mm diameter particles were in- troduced between the main STC particles so that NDTC=9. 53 The

Development of controlled solid-state alignment for alnico permanent magnets in near-final shape

DOE PAGES

Anderson, Iver E.; Kassen, Aaron G.; White, Emma M. H.; ...

2017-01-09

The 2011 price shock in the rare earth (RE) permanent magnet (PM) marketplace precipitated realization of extremely poor RE supply diversity and drove renewed research in RE-free permanent magnets such as “alnico.” Essentially, alnico is an Al-Ni-Co-Fe alloy with high magnetic saturation and T C, but low coercivity. It also was last researched extensively in the 1970’s. Currently alnico “9” magnets with the highest energy product (10MGOe) are manufactured by directional solidification to make highly aligned anisotropic magnets. This work developed novel powder processing techniques to improve on unaligned anisotropic alnico “8H” with elevated coercivity. Gas atomization was used tomore » produce pre-alloyed powder for binder-assisted compression molding of near-final shape magnets that were vacuum sintered to full density (<1% porosity). Biased grain growth with resulting grain alignment was achieved during a second solution annealing step, during which a uni-axial stress was applied along the axis parallel to the magnetization direction. Lastly, evaluation of heavily stressed samples (>250g) showed reduced overall loop squareness compared to unaligned (equiaxed) 8H due to grain rotation-induced misalignment, while low stresses improved squareness and greatly improved alignment compared to equiaxed magnets, with squareness approaching 0.30 and remanence ratio as high as 0.79.« less

Optical development system lab alignment solutions for the ICESat-2 ATLAS instrument

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, T.

The ATLAS Instrument for the ICESat-2 mission at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center requires an alignment test-bed to prove out new concepts. The Optical Development System (ODS) lab was created to test prototype models of individual instrument components to simulate how they will act as a system. The main ICESat-2 instrument is the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS). It measures ice elevation by transmitting laser pulses, and collecting the reflection in a telescope. Because the round trip time is used to calculate distance, alignment between the outgoing transmitter beam and the incoming receiver beams are critical. An automated closed loop monitoring control system is currently being tested at the prototype level to prove out implementation for the final spacecraft. To achieve an error of less than 2 micro-radians, an active deformable mirror was used to correct the lab wave front from the collimated “ ground reflection” beam. The lab includes a focal plane assembly set up, a one meter diameter collimator optic, and a 0.8 meter flight spare telescope for alignment. ATLAS prototypes and engineering models of transmitter and receiver optics and sub-systems are brought in to develop and integrate systems as well as write procedures to be used in integration and testing. By having a fully integrated system with prototypes and engineering units, lessons can be learned before flight designs are finalized.

Overcoming Sequence Misalignments with Weighted Structural Superposition

PubMed Central

Khazanov, Nickolay A.; Damm-Ganamet, Kelly L.; Quang, Daniel X.; Carlson, Heather A.

2012-01-01

An appropriate structural superposition identifies similarities and differences between homologous proteins that are not evident from sequence alignments alone. We have coupled our Gaussian-weighted RMSD (wRMSD) tool with a sequence aligner and seed extension (SE) algorithm to create a robust technique for overlaying structures and aligning sequences of homologous proteins (HwRMSD). HwRMSD overcomes errors in the initial sequence alignment that would normally propagate into a standard RMSD overlay. SE can generate a corrected sequence alignment from the improved structural superposition obtained by wRMSD. HwRMSD’s robust performance and its superiority over standard RMSD are demonstrated over a range of homologous proteins. Its better overlay results in corrected sequence alignments with good agreement to HOMSTRAD. Finally, HwRMSD is compared to established structural alignment methods: FATCAT, SSM, CE, and Dalilite. Most methods are comparable at placing residue pairs within 2 Å, but HwRMSD places many more residue pairs within 1 Å, providing a clear advantage. Such high accuracy is essential in drug design, where small distances can have a large impact on computational predictions. This level of accuracy is also needed to correct sequence alignments in an automated fashion, especially for omics-scale analysis. HwRMSD can align homologs with low sequence identity and large conformational differences, cases where both sequence-based and structural-based methods may fail. The HwRMSD pipeline overcomes the dependency of structural overlays on initial sequence pairing and removes the need to determine the best sequence-alignment method, substitution matrix, and gap parameters for each unique pair of homologs. PMID:22733542

Magnetically aligned phospholipid bilayers in weak magnetic fields: optimization, mechanism, and advantages for X-band EPR studies.

PubMed

Cardon, Thomas B; Tiburu, Elvis K; Lorigan, Gary A

2003-03-01

Our lab is developing a spin-labeled EPR spectroscopic technique complementary to solid-state NMR studies to study the structure, orientation, and dynamics of uniaxially aligned integral membrane proteins inserted into magnetically aligned discotic phospholipid bilayers, or bicelles. The focus of this study is to optimize and understand the mechanisms involved in the magnetic alignment process of bicelle disks in weak magnetic fields. Developing experimental conditions for optimized magnetic alignment of bicelles in low magnetic fields may prove useful to study the dynamics of membrane proteins and its interactions with lipids, drugs, steroids, signaling events, other proteins, etc. In weak magnetic fields, the magnetic alignment of Tm(3+)-doped bicelle disks was thermodynamically and kinetically very sensitive to experimental conditions. Tm(3+)-doped bicelles were magnetically aligned using the following optimized procedure: the temperature was slowly raised at a rate of 1.9K/min from an initial temperature being between 298 and 307K to a final temperature of 318K in the presence of a static magnetic field of 6300G. The spin probe 3beta-doxyl-5alpha-cholestane (cholestane) was inserted into the bicelle disks and utilized to monitor bicelle alignment by analyzing the anisotropic hyperfine splitting for the corresponding EPR spectra. The phases of the bicelles were determined using solid-state 2H NMR spectroscopy and compared with the corresponding EPR spectra. Macroscopic alignment commenced in the liquid crystalline nematic phase (307K), continued to increase upon slowly raising the temperature, and was well-aligned in the liquid crystalline lamellar smectic phase (318K).

Multipath Routing in Wireless Sensor Networks: Survey and Research Challenges

PubMed Central

Radi, Marjan; Dezfouli, Behnam; Bakar, Kamalrulnizam Abu; Lee, Malrey

2012-01-01

A wireless sensor network is a large collection of sensor nodes with limited power supply and constrained computational capability. Due to the restricted communication range and high density of sensor nodes, packet forwarding in sensor networks is usually performed through multi-hop data transmission. Therefore, routing in wireless sensor networks has been considered an important field of research over the past decade. Nowadays, multipath routing approach is widely used in wireless sensor networks to improve network performance through efficient utilization of available network resources. Accordingly, the main aim of this survey is to present the concept of the multipath routing approach and its fundamental challenges, as well as the basic motivations for utilizing this technique in wireless sensor networks. In addition, we present a comprehensive taxonomy on the existing multipath routing protocols, which are especially designed for wireless sensor networks. We highlight the primary motivation behind the development of each protocol category and explain the operation of different protocols in detail, with emphasis on their advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, this paper compares and summarizes the state-of-the-art multipath routing techniques from the network application point of view. Finally, we identify open issues for further research in the development of multipath routing protocols for wireless sensor networks. PMID:22368490

Multipath routing in wireless sensor networks: survey and research challenges.

PubMed

Radi, Marjan; Dezfouli, Behnam; Abu Bakar, Kamalrulnizam; Lee, Malrey

2012-01-01

A wireless sensor network is a large collection of sensor nodes with limited power supply and constrained computational capability. Due to the restricted communication range and high density of sensor nodes, packet forwarding in sensor networks is usually performed through multi-hop data transmission. Therefore, routing in wireless sensor networks has been considered an important field of research over the past decade. Nowadays, multipath routing approach is widely used in wireless sensor networks to improve network performance through efficient utilization of available network resources. Accordingly, the main aim of this survey is to present the concept of the multipath routing approach and its fundamental challenges, as well as the basic motivations for utilizing this technique in wireless sensor networks. In addition, we present a comprehensive taxonomy on the existing multipath routing protocols, which are especially designed for wireless sensor networks. We highlight the primary motivation behind the development of each protocol category and explain the operation of different protocols in detail, with emphasis on their advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, this paper compares and summarizes the state-of-the-art multipath routing techniques from the network application point of view. Finally, we identify open issues for further research in the development of multipath routing protocols for wireless sensor networks.

Physics of self-aligned assembly at room temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubey, V.; Beyne, E.; Derakhshandeh, J.; De Wolf, I.

2018-01-01

Self-aligned assembly, making use of capillary forces, is considered as an alternative to active alignment during thermo-compression bonding of Si chips in the 3D heterogeneous integration process. Various process parameters affect the alignment accuracy of the chip over the patterned binding site on a substrate/carrier wafer. This paper discusses the chip motion due to wetting and capillary force using a transient coupled physics model for the two regimes (that is, wetting regime and damped oscillatory regime) in the temporal domain. Using the transient model, the effect of the volume of the liquid and the placement accuracy of the chip on the alignment force is studied. The capillary time (that is, the time it takes for the chip to reach its mean position) for the chip is directly proportional to the placement offset and inversely proportional to the viscosity. The time constant of the harmonic oscillations is directly proportional to the gap between the chips due to the volume of the fluid. The predicted behavior from transient simulations is next experimentally validated and it is confirmed that the liquid volume and the initial placement affect the final alignment accuracy of the top chip on the bottom substrate. With statistical experimental data, we demonstrate an alignment accuracy reaching <1 μm.

AntiClustal: Multiple Sequence Alignment by antipole clustering and linear approximate 1-median computation.

PubMed

Di Pietro, C; Di Pietro, V; Emmanuele, G; Ferro, A; Maugeri, T; Modica, E; Pigola, G; Pulvirenti, A; Purrello, M; Ragusa, M; Scalia, M; Shasha, D; Travali, S; Zimmitti, V

2003-01-01

In this paper we present a new Multiple Sequence Alignment (MSA) algorithm called AntiClusAl. The method makes use of the commonly use idea of aligning homologous sequences belonging to classes generated by some clustering algorithm, and then continue the alignment process ina bottom-up way along a suitable tree structure. The final result is then read at the root of the tree. Multiple sequence alignment in each cluster makes use of the progressive alignment with the 1-median (center) of the cluster. The 1-median of set S of sequences is the element of S which minimizes the average distance from any other sequence in S. Its exact computation requires quadratic time. The basic idea of our proposed algorithm is to make use of a simple and natural algorithmic technique based on randomized tournaments which has been successfully applied to large size search problems in general metric spaces. In particular a clustering algorithm called Antipole tree and an approximate linear 1-median computation are used. Our algorithm compared with Clustal W, a widely used tool to MSA, shows a better running time results with fully comparable alignment quality. A successful biological application showing high aminoacid conservation during evolution of Xenopus laevis SOD2 is also cited.

Social survey findings on en route noise annoyance issues

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fields, James M.

1990-01-01

Most surveys of residents' reactions to aircraft noise were conducted in the vicinity of airports. The findings in those surveys have supported planning and regulatory actions for the airport noise environment. Now, however, aircraft noise planning and regulations are being considered for a new environment, the en route environment. As policy makers search for bases for public policy in these new noise environments, it is appropriate to ask whether the same scientific evidence which supports airport noise policy can also support en route noise policy. Several aspects of that question are considered. An introduction establishes the scope of the present study and examines alternative study methodologies. Next, the selected study methodology is described and important assumptions are listed. The body of the paper then consists of the findings on en route issues. The final section presents findings on relevant research methods and considers priorities for further research.

Self-aligned block technology: a step toward further scaling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lazzarino, Frédéric; Mohanty, Nihar; Feurprier, Yannick; Huli, Lior; Luong, Vinh; Demand, Marc; Decoster, Stefan; Vega Gonzalez, Victor; Ryckaert, Julien; Kim, Ryan Ryoung Han; Mallik, Arindam; Leray, Philippe; Wilson, Chris; Boemmels, Jürgen; Kumar, Kaushik; Nafus, Kathleen; deVilliers, Anton; Smith, Jeffrey; Fonseca, Carlos; Bannister, Julie; Scheer, Steven; Tokei, Zsolt; Piumi, Daniele; Barla, Kathy

2017-04-01

In this work, we present and compare two integration approaches to enable self-alignment of the block suitable for the 5- nm technology node. The first approach is exploring the insertion of a spin-on metal-based material to memorize the first block and act as an etch stop layer in the overall integration. The second approach is evaluating the self-aligned block technology employing widely used organic materials and well-known processes. The concept and the motivation are discussed considering the effects on design and mask count as well as the impact on process complexity and EPE budget. We show the integration schemes and discuss the requirements to enable self-alignment. We present the details of materials and processes selection to allow optimal selective etches and we demonstrate the proof of concept using a 16- nm half-pitch BEOL vehicle. Finally, a study on technology insertion and cost estimation is presented.

Optics Alignment Panel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schroeder, Daniel J.

1992-01-01

The Optics Alignment Panel (OAP) was commissioned by the HST Science Working Group to determine the optimum alignment of the OTA optics. The goal was to find the position of the secondary mirror (SM) for which there is no coma or astigmatism in the camera images due to misaligned optics, either tilt or decenter. The despace position was reviewed of the SM and the optimum focus was sought. The results of these efforts are as follows: (1) the best estimate of the aligned position of the SM in the notation of HDOS is (DZ,DY,TZ,TY) = (+248 microns, +8 microns, +53 arcsec, -79 arcsec), and (2) the best focus, defined to be that despace which maximizes the fractional energy at 486 nm in a 0.1 arcsec radius of a stellar image, is 12.2 mm beyond paraxial focus. The data leading to these conclusions, and the estimated uncertainties in the final results, are presented.

Constraints on axion inflation from the weak gravity conjecture

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

Rudelius, Tom, E-mail: rudelius@physics.harvard.edu

2015-09-01

We derive constraints facing models of axion inflation based on decay constant alignment from a string-theoretic and quantum gravitational perspective. In particular, we investigate the prospects for alignment and 'anti-alignment' of C{sub 4} axion decay constants in type IIB string theory, deriving a strict no-go result in the latter case. We discuss the relationship of axion decay constants to the weak gravity conjecture and demonstrate agreement between our string-theoretic constraints and those coming from the 'generalized' weak gravity conjecture. Finally, we consider a particular model of decay constant alignment in which the potential of C{sub 4} axions in type IIBmore » compactifications on a Calabi-Yau three-fold is dominated by contributions from D7-branes, pointing out that this model evades some of the challenges derived earlier in our paper but is highly constrained by other geometric considerations.« less

Structure-activity relationships of cannabinoids: A joint CoMFA and pseudoreceptor modelling study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schmetzer, Silke; Greenidge, Paulette; Kovar, Karl-Artur; Schulze-Alexandru, Meike; Folkers, Gerd

1997-05-01

A cannabinoid pseudoreceptor model for the CB1-receptor has been constructed for 31 cannabinoids using the molecular modelling software YAK. Additionally, two CoMFA studies were performed on these ligands, the first of which was conducted prior to the building of the pseudoreceptor. Its pharmacophore is identical with the initial superposition of ligands used for pseudoreceptor construction. In contrast, the ligand alignment for the second CoMFA study was taken directly from the final cannabinoid pseudoreceptor model. This altered alignment gives markedly improved cross-validated r2 values as compared to those obtained from the original alignment with{{r}}_{{{cross}}}^2 values of 0.79 and 0.63, respectively, for five components. However, the pharmacophore alignment has the better predictive ability. Both the CoMFA and pseudoreceptor methods predict the free energy of binding of test ligands well.

Measuring Parameters of Massive Black Hole Binaries with Partially-Aligned Spins

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lang, Ryan N.; Hughes, Scott A.; Cornish, Neil J.

2010-01-01

It is important to understand how well the gravitational-wave observatory LISA can measure parameters of massive black hole binaries. It has been shown that including spin precession in the waveform breaks degeneracies and produces smaller expected parameter errors than a simpler, precession-free analysis. However, recent work has shown that gas in binaries can partially align the spins with the orbital angular momentum, thus reducing the precession effect. We show how this degrades the earlier results, producing more pessimistic errors in gaseous mergers. However, we then add higher harmonics to the signal model; these also break degeneracies, but they are not affected by the presence of gas. The harmonics often restore the errors in partially-aligned binaries to the same as, or better than/ those that are obtained for fully precessing binaries with no harmonics. Finally, we investigate what LISA measurements of spin alignment can tell us about the nature of gas around a binary,

Energy-level alignment at organic heterointerfaces

PubMed Central

Oehzelt, Martin; Akaike, Kouki; Koch, Norbert; Heimel, Georg

2015-01-01

Today’s champion organic (opto-)electronic devices comprise an ever-increasing number of different organic-semiconductor layers. The functionality of these complex heterostructures largely derives from the relative alignment of the frontier molecular-orbital energies in each layer with respect to those in all others. Despite the technological relevance of the energy-level alignment at organic heterointerfaces, and despite continued scientific interest, a reliable model that can quantitatively predict the full range of phenomena observed at such interfaces is notably absent. We identify the limitations of previous attempts to formulate such a model and highlight inconsistencies in the interpretation of the experimental data they were based on. We then develop a theoretical framework, which we demonstrate to accurately reproduce experiment. Applying this theory, a comprehensive overview of all possible energy-level alignment scenarios that can be encountered at organic heterojunctions is finally given. These results will help focus future efforts on developing functional organic interfaces for superior device performance. PMID:26702447

Saturn's Magnetic Field from the Cassini Grand Finale orbits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dougherty, M. K.; Cao, H.; Khurana, K. K.; Hunt, G. J.; Provan, G.; Kellock, S.; Burton, M. E.; Burk, T. A.

2017-12-01

The fundamental aims of the Cassini magnetometer investigation during the Cassini Grand Finale orbits were determination of Saturn's internal planetary magnetic field and the rotation rate of the deep interior. The unique geometry of the orbits provided an unprecedented opportunity to measure the intrinsic magnetic field at close distances never before encountered. The surprising close alignment of Saturn's magnetic axis with its spin axis, known about since the days of Pioneer 11, has been a focus of the team's analysis since Cassini Saturn Orbit Insertion. However, the varying northern and southern magnetospheric planetary period oscillations, which fill the magnetosphere, has been a factor in masking the field signals from the interior. Here we describe an overview of the magnetometer results from the Grand Finale orbits, including confirmation of the extreme axisymmetric nature of the planetary magnetic field, implications for knowledge of the rotation rate and the behaviour of external magnetic fields (arising from the ring current, field aligned currents both at high and low latitudes and the modulating effect of the planetary period oscillations).

Alignment of large image series using cubic B-splines tessellation: application to transmission electron microscopy data.

PubMed

Dauguet, Julien; Bock, Davi; Reid, R Clay; Warfield, Simon K

2007-01-01

3D reconstruction from serial 2D microscopy images depends on non-linear alignment of serial sections. For some structures, such as the neuronal circuitry of the brain, very large images at very high resolution are necessary to permit reconstruction. These very large images prevent the direct use of classical registration methods. We propose in this work a method to deal with the non-linear alignment of arbitrarily large 2D images using the finite support properties of cubic B-splines. After initial affine alignment, each large image is split into a grid of smaller overlapping sub-images, which are individually registered using cubic B-splines transformations. Inside the overlapping regions between neighboring sub-images, the coefficients of the knots controlling the B-splines deformations are blended, to create a virtual large grid of knots for the whole image. The sub-images are resampled individually, using the new coefficients, and assembled together into a final large aligned image. We evaluated the method on a series of large transmission electron microscopy images and our results indicate significant improvements compared to both manual and affine alignment.

The fractured landscape of RNA-seq alignment: the default in our STARs.

PubMed

Ballouz, Sara; Dobin, Alexander; Gingeras, Thomas R; Gillis, Jesse

2018-06-01

Many tools are available for RNA-seq alignment and expression quantification, with comparative value being hard to establish. Benchmarking assessments often highlight methods' good performance, but are focused on either model data or fail to explain variation in performance. This leaves us to ask, what is the most meaningful way to assess different alignment choices? And importantly, where is there room for progress? In this work, we explore the answers to these two questions by performing an exhaustive assessment of the STAR aligner. We assess STAR's performance across a range of alignment parameters using common metrics, and then on biologically focused tasks. We find technical metrics such as fraction mapping or expression profile correlation to be uninformative, capturing properties unlikely to have any role in biological discovery. Surprisingly, we find that changes in alignment parameters within a wide range have little impact on both technical and biological performance. Yet, when performance finally does break, it happens in difficult regions, such as X-Y paralogs and MHC genes. We believe improved reporting by developers will help establish where results are likely to be robust or fragile, providing a better baseline to establish where methodological progress can still occur.

The contribution of medializing calcaneal osteotomy on hindfoot alignment in the reconstruction of the stage II adult acquired flatfoot deformity.

PubMed

Chan, Jeremy Y; Williams, Benjamin R; Nair, Pallavi; Young, Elizabeth; Sofka, Carolyn; Deland, Jonathan T; Ellis, Scott J

2013-02-01

Successful correction of hindfoot alignment in adult acquired flatfoot deformity (AAFD) is likely influenced by the degree of medializing calcaneal osteotomy (MCO) performed, but it is not known if other reconstruction procedures significantly contribute as well. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between common preoperative and postoperative variables and hindfoot alignment. Thirty patients with stage II AAFD undergoing flatfoot reconstruction were followed prospectively. Preoperative and postoperative radiographs were reviewed to assess for correction in hindfoot alignment as measured by the change in hindfoot moment arm. Nineteen variables were analyzed, including age, gender, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), medial cuneiform-fifth metatarsal height, anteroposterior (AP) talonavicular coverage, AP talus-first metatarsal, lateral talus-first metatarsal and calcaneal pitch angles as well as intraoperative use of the MCO, lateral column lengthening (LCL), Cotton osteotomy, first tarsometatarsal fusion, flexor digitorum longus transfer, spring ligament reconstruction, and gastrocnemius recession or Achilles lengthening. Mean age was 57.3 years (range, 22-77). Final radiographs were obtained at a mean of 47 weeks (range, 25-78) postoperatively. Seven variables were found to significantly affect hindfoot moment arm. These were gender (P < .05), the amount of MCO performed (P < .001), LCL (P < .01), first tarsometatarsal fusion (P < .01), spring ligament reconstruction (P < .01), medial cuneiform-fifth metatarsal height (P < .001), and calcaneal pitch angle (P < .05). Multivariate regression analysis revealed that MCO was the only significant predictor of hindfoot moment arm. The final regression model for MCO showed a good fit (R(2) = .93, P < .001). Correction of hindfoot valgus alignment obtained in flatfoot reconstruction is primarily determined by the MCO procedure and can be modeled linearly. We believe that the hindfoot alignment view can serve as a valuable preoperative measurement to help surgeons adjust the proper amount of correction intraoperatively. Level IV, prospective case series.

Practicing more retrieval routes leads to greater memory retention.

PubMed

Zheng, Jun; Zhang, Wei; Li, Tongtong; Liu, Zhaomin; Luo, Liang

2016-09-01

A wealth of research has shown that retrieval practice plays a significant role in improving memory retention. The current study focused on one simple yet rarely examined question: would repeated retrieval using two different retrieval routes or using the same retrieval route twice lead to greater long-term memory retention? Participants elaborately learned 22 Japanese-Chinese translation word pairs using two different mediators. Half an hour after the initial study phase, the participants completed two retrieval sessions using either one mediator (Tm1Tm1) or two different mediators (Tm1Tm2). On the final test, which was performed 1week after the retrieval practice phase, the participants received only the cue with a request to report the mediator (M1 or M2) followed by the target (Experiment 1) or only the mediator (M1 or M2) with a request to report the target (Experiment 2). The results of Experiment 1 indicated that the participants who practiced under the Tm1Tm2 condition exhibited greater target retention than those who practiced under the Tm1Tm1 condition. This difference in performance was due to the significant disadvantage in mediator retrieval and decoding of the unpracticed mediator under the Tm1Tm1 condition. Although mediators were provided to participants on the final test in Experiment 2, decoding of the unpracticed mediators remained less effective than decoding of the practiced mediators. We conclude that practicing multiple retrieval routes leads to greater memory retention than focusing on a single retrieval route. Thus, increasing retrieval variability during repeated retrieval practice indeed significantly improves long-term retention in a delay test. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Techniques for Type I Collagen Organization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson-Jackson, LaTecia Diamond

Tissue Engineering is a process in which cells, engineering, and material methods are used in amalgamation to improve biological functions. The purpose of tissue engineering is to develop alternative solutions to treat or cure tissues and organs that have been severely altered or damaged by diseases, congenital defects, trauma, or cancer. One of the most common and most promising biological materials for tissue engineering to develop scaffolds is Type I collagen. A major challenge in biomedical research is aligning Type I collagen to mimic biological structures, such as ligaments, tendons, bones, and other hierarchal aligned structures within the human body. The intent of this research is to examine possible techniques for organizing Type I collagen and to assess which of the techniques is effective for potential biological applications. The techniques used in this research to organize collagen are soft lithography with solution-assisted sonication embossing, directional freezing, and direct poling. The final concentration used for both soft lithography with solution-assisted sonication embossing and direct poling was 1 mg/ml, whereas for directional freezing the final concentration varied between 4mg/ml, 2mg/ml, and 1 mg/ml. These techniques were characterized using the Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and Helium Ion Microscope (HIM). In this study, we have found that out of the three techniques, the soft lithography and directional freezing techniques have been successful in organizing collagen in a particular pattern, but not alignment. We concluded alignment may be dependent on the pH of collagen and the amount of acetic acid used in collagen solution. However, experiments are still being conducted to optimize all three techniques to align collagen in a unidirectional arrangement.

Disruption of sheet-like structures in Alfvénic turbulence by magnetic reconnection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mallet, A.; Schekochihin, A. A.; Chandran, B. D. G.

2017-07-01

We propose a mechanism whereby the intense, sheet-like structures naturally formed by dynamically aligning Alfvénic turbulence are destroyed by magnetic reconnection at a scale \\hat{λ }_D, larger than the dissipation scale predicted by models of intermittent, dynamically aligning turbulence. The reconnection process proceeds in several stages: first, a linear tearing mode with N magnetic islands grows and saturates, and then the X-points between these islands collapse into secondary current sheets, which then reconnect until the original structure is destroyed. This effectively imposes an upper limit on the anisotropy of the structures within the perpendicular plane, which means that at scale \\hat{λ }_D the turbulent dynamics change: at scales larger than \\hat{λ }_D, the turbulence exhibits scale-dependent dynamic alignment and a spectral index approximately equal to -3/2, while at scales smaller than \\hat{λ }_D, the turbulent structures undergo a succession of disruptions due to reconnection, limiting dynamic alignment, steepening the effective spectral index and changing the final dissipation scale. The scaling of \\hat{λ }_D with the Lundquist (magnetic Reynolds) number S_{L_\\perp } depends on the order of the statistics being considered, and on the specific model of intermittency; the transition between the two regimes in the energy spectrum is predicted at approximately \\hat{λ }_D˜ S_{L_\\perp }^{-0.6}. The spectral index below \\hat{λ }_D is bounded between -5/3 and -2.3. The final dissipation scale is at \\hat{λ }_{η ,∞}˜ S_{L_\\perp }^{-3/4}, the same as the Kolmogorov scale arising in theories of turbulence that do not involve scale-dependent dynamic alignment.

76 FR 72627 - Final Flood Elevation Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-11-25

.... confluence with Black Fox Run. Approximately 480 feet +868 upstream of State Route 368. Allegheny River... Assistance No. 97.022, ``Flood Insurance.'' Dated: November 14, 2011. Sandra K. Knight, Deputy Associate...

Joint optimization of green vehicle scheduling and routing problem with time-varying speeds

PubMed Central

Zhang, Dezhi; Wang, Xin; Ni, Nan; Zhang, Zhuo

2018-01-01

Based on an analysis of the congestion effect and changes in the speed of vehicle flow during morning and evening peaks in a large- or medium-sized city, the piecewise function is used to capture the rules of the time-varying speed of vehicles, which are very important in modelling their fuel consumption and CO2 emission. A joint optimization model of the green vehicle scheduling and routing problem with time-varying speeds is presented in this study. Extra wages during nonworking periods and soft time-window constraints are considered. A heuristic algorithm based on the adaptive large neighborhood search algorithm is also presented. Finally, a numerical simulation example is provided to illustrate the optimization model and its algorithm. Results show that, (1) the shortest route is not necessarily the route that consumes the least energy, (2) the departure time influences the vehicle fuel consumption and CO2 emissions and the optimal departure time saves on fuel consumption and reduces CO2 emissions by up to 5.4%, and (3) extra driver wages have significant effects on routing and departure time slot decisions. PMID:29466370

Joint optimization of green vehicle scheduling and routing problem with time-varying speeds.

PubMed

Zhang, Dezhi; Wang, Xin; Li, Shuangyan; Ni, Nan; Zhang, Zhuo

2018-01-01

Based on an analysis of the congestion effect and changes in the speed of vehicle flow during morning and evening peaks in a large- or medium-sized city, the piecewise function is used to capture the rules of the time-varying speed of vehicles, which are very important in modelling their fuel consumption and CO2 emission. A joint optimization model of the green vehicle scheduling and routing problem with time-varying speeds is presented in this study. Extra wages during nonworking periods and soft time-window constraints are considered. A heuristic algorithm based on the adaptive large neighborhood search algorithm is also presented. Finally, a numerical simulation example is provided to illustrate the optimization model and its algorithm. Results show that, (1) the shortest route is not necessarily the route that consumes the least energy, (2) the departure time influences the vehicle fuel consumption and CO2 emissions and the optimal departure time saves on fuel consumption and reduces CO2 emissions by up to 5.4%, and (3) extra driver wages have significant effects on routing and departure time slot decisions.

Thermo-compressive transfer printing for facile alignment and robust device integration of nanowires.

PubMed

Lee, Won Seok; Won, Sejeong; Park, Jeunghee; Lee, Jihye; Park, Inkyu

2012-06-07

Controlled alignment and mechanically robust bonding between nanowires (NWs) and electrodes are essential requirements for reliable operation of functional NW-based electronic devices. In this work, we developed a novel process for the alignment and bonding between NWs and metal electrodes by using thermo-compressive transfer printing. In this process, bottom-up synthesized NWs were aligned in parallel by shear loading onto the intermediate substrate and then finally transferred onto the target substrate with low melting temperature metal electrodes. In particular, multi-layer (e.g. Cr/Au/In/Au and Cr/Cu/In/Au) metal electrodes are softened at low temperatures (below 100 °C) and facilitate submergence of aligned NWs into the surface of electrodes at a moderate pressure (∼5 bar). By using this thermo-compressive transfer printing process, robust electrical and mechanical contact between NWs and metal electrodes can be realized. This method is believed to be very useful for the large-area fabrication of NW-based electrical devices with improved mechanical robustness, electrical contact resistance, and reliability.

Intrinsic alignments in redMaPPer clusters - I. Central galaxy alignments and angular segregation of satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Hung-Jin; Mandelbaum, Rachel; Freeman, Peter E.; Chen, Yen-Chi; Rozo, Eduardo; Rykoff, Eli; Baxter, Eric J.

2016-11-01

The shapes of cluster central galaxies are not randomly oriented, but rather exhibit coherent alignments with the shapes of their parent clusters as well as with the surrounding large-scale structures. In this work, we aim to identify the galaxy and cluster quantities that most strongly predict the central galaxy alignment phenomenon among a large parameter space with a sample of 8237 clusters and 94 817 members within 0.1 < z < 0.35, based on the red-sequence Matched-filter Probabilistic Percolation cluster catalogue constructed from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We first quantify the alignment between the projected central galaxy shapes and the distribution of member satellites, to understand what central galaxy and cluster properties most strongly correlate with these alignments. Next, we investigate the angular segregation of satellites with respect to their central galaxy major axis directions, to identify the satellite properties that most strongly predict their angular segregation. We find that central galaxies are more aligned with their member galaxy distributions in clusters that are more elongated and have higher richness, and for central galaxies with larger physical size, higher luminosity and centring probability, and redder colour. Satellites with redder colour, higher luminosity, located closer to the central galaxy, and with smaller ellipticity show a stronger angular segregation towards their central galaxy major axes. Finally, we provide physical explanations for some of the identified correlations, and discuss the connection to theories of central galaxy alignments, the impact of primordial alignments with tidal fields, and the importance of anisotropic accretion.

Routing protocol for wireless quantum multi-hop mesh backbone network based on partially entangled GHZ state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiong, Pei-Ying; Yu, Xu-Tao; Zhang, Zai-Chen; Zhan, Hai-Tao; Hua, Jing-Yu

2017-08-01

Quantum multi-hop teleportation is important in the field of quantum communication. In this study, we propose a quantum multi-hop communication model and a quantum routing protocol with multihop teleportation for wireless mesh backbone networks. Based on an analysis of quantum multi-hop protocols, a partially entangled Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state is selected as the quantum channel for the proposed protocol. Both quantum and classical wireless channels exist between two neighboring nodes along the route. With the proposed routing protocol, quantum information can be transmitted hop by hop from the source node to the destination node. Based on multi-hop teleportation based on the partially entangled GHZ state, a quantum route established with the minimum number of hops. The difference between our routing protocol and the classical one is that in the former, the processes used to find a quantum route and establish quantum channel entanglement occur simultaneously. The Bell state measurement results of each hop are piggybacked to quantum route finding information. This method reduces the total number of packets and the magnitude of air interface delay. The deduction of the establishment of a quantum channel between source and destination is also presented here. The final success probability of quantum multi-hop teleportation in wireless mesh backbone networks was simulated and analyzed. Our research shows that quantum multi-hop teleportation in wireless mesh backbone networks through a partially entangled GHZ state is feasible.

Methanol Synthesis from CO2 Hydrogenation over a Pd4/In2O3 Model Catalyst: A Combined DFT and Kinetic Study

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

Ye, Jingyun; Liu, Changjun; Mei, Donghai

2014-08-01

Methanol synthesis from CO2 hydrogenation on Pd4/In2O3 has been investigated using density functional theory (DFT) and microkinetic modeling. In this study, three possible routes in the reaction network of CO2 + H2 → CH3OH + H2O have been examined. Our DFT results show that the HCOO route competes with the RWGS route whereas a high activation barrier kinetically blocks the HCOOH route. DFT results also suggest that H2COO* + H* ↔ H2CO* +OH* and cis-COOH* + H* ↔CO* + H2O* are the rate limiting steps in the HCOO route and the RWGS route, respectively. Microkinetic modeling results demonstrate that themore » HCOO route is the dominant reaction route for methanol synthesis from CO2 hydrogenation. We found that the activation of H adatom on the small Pd cluster and the presence of H2O on the In2O3 substrate play important roles in promoting the methanol synthesis. The hydroxyl adsorbed at the interface of Pd4/In2O3 induces the transformation of the supported Pd4 cluster from a butterfly structure into a tetrahedron structure. This important structure change not only indicates the dynamical nature of the supported nanoparticle catalyst structure during the reaction but also shifts the final hydrogenation step from H2COH to CH3O.« less

Routing and Scheduling Algorithms for WirelessHART Networks: A Survey

PubMed Central

Nobre, Marcelo; Silva, Ivanovitch; Guedes, Luiz Affonso

2015-01-01

Wireless communication is a trend nowadays for the industrial environment. A number of different technologies have emerged as solutions satisfying strict industrial requirements (e.g., WirelessHART, ISA100.11a, WIA-PA). As the industrial environment presents a vast range of applications, adopting an adequate solution for each case is vital to obtain good performance of the system. In this context, the routing and scheduling schemes associated with these technologies have a direct impact on important features, like latency and energy consumption. This situation has led to the development of a vast number of routing and scheduling schemes. In the present paper, we focus on the WirelessHART technology, emphasizing its most important routing and scheduling aspects in order to guide both end users and the developers of new algorithms. Furthermore, we provide a detailed literature review of the newest routing and scheduling techniques for WirelessHART, discussing each of their features. These routing algorithms have been evaluated in terms of their objectives, metrics, the usage of the WirelessHART structures and validation method. In addition, the scheduling algorithms were also evaluated by metrics, validation, objectives and, in addition, by multiple superframe support, as well as by the redundancy method used. Moreover, this paper briefly presents some insights into the main WirelessHART simulation modules available, in order to provide viable test platforms for the routing and scheduling algorithms. Finally, some open issues in WirelessHART routing and scheduling algorithms are discussed. PMID:25919371

Evidence for unnatural-parity contributions to electron-impact ionization of laser-aligned atoms

DOE PAGES

Armstrong, Gregory S. J.; Colgan, James Patrick; Pindzola, M. S.; ...

2015-09-11

Recent measurements have examined the electron-impact ionization of excited-state laser-aligned Mg atoms. In this paper we show that the ionization cross section arising from the geometry where the aligned atom is perpendicular to the scattering plane directly probes the unnatural parity contributions to the ionization amplitude. The contributions from natural parity partial waves cancel exactly in this geometry. Our calculations resolve the discrepancy between the nonzero measured cross sections in this plane and the zero cross section predicted by distorted-wave approaches. Finally, we demonstrate that this is a general feature of ionization from p-state targets by additional studies of ionizationmore » from excited Ca and Na atoms.« less

Oscillatory networks of high-level mental alignment: A perspective-taking MEG study.

PubMed

Seymour, R A; Wang, H; Rippon, G; Kessler, K

2018-08-15

Mentally imagining another's perspective is a high-level social process, reliant on manipulating internal representations of the self in an embodied manner. Recently Wang et al. (2016) showed that theta-band (3-7 Hz) brain oscillations within the right temporo-parietal junction (rTPJ) and brain regions coding for motor/body schema contribute to the process of perspective-taking. Using a similar paradigm, we set out to unravel the extended functional brain network in detail. Increasing the angle between self and other perspective was accompanied by longer reaction times and increases in theta power within rTPJ, right lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and right anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). Using Granger-causality, we showed that lateral PFC and ACC exert top-down influence over rTPJ, indicative of executive control processes required for managing conflicts between self and other perspectives. Finally, we quantified patterns of whole-brain phase coupling in relation to the rTPJ. Results suggest that rTPJ increases its theta-band phase synchrony with brain regions involved in mentalizing and regions coding for motor/body schema; whilst decreasing synchrony to visual regions. Implications for neurocognitive models are discussed, and it is proposed that rTPJ acts as a 'hub' to route bottom-up visual information to internal representations of the self during perspective-taking, co-ordinated by theta-band oscillations. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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

Sharma, Rabindar K.; Reddy, G. B.

In this work, we have successfully developed plasma assisted paste sublimation route to deposit vertically aligned MoO{sub 3} nanoflakes (NFs) on nickel coated glass substrate in oxygen plasma ambience with the assistant of Ni thin layer as a catalyst. In our case, sublimation source (Mo strip surface) is resistively heated by flowing current across it. The structural, morphological, and optical properties of NFs have been investigated systematically using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with selected area electron diffraction (SAED), High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), micro-Raman spectroscopy, and Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. Studies reveal thatmore » the presence of oxygen plasma and the nickel thin layer are very essential for the growth of vertically aligned NFs. The observed results divulge that α-MoO{sub 3} NFs are deposited uniformly on large scale with very high aspect (height/thickness) ratio more than 30 and well aligned along [0 k 0] crystallographic direction where k is even (2, 4, 6). Raman spectrum shows a significant size effect on the vibrational property of MoO{sub 3} nanoflakes. The PL spectrum of MoO{sub 3} NFs was recorded at room temperature and four prominent peaks at 365 nm, 395 nm, 452 nm, and 465 nm corresponding to UV-visible region were observed. In this paper, a three step growth strategy for the formation of MoO{sub 3} NFs has been proposed in detail.« less

Sensing surface morphology of biofibers by decorating spider silk and cellulosic filaments with nematic microdroplets

PubMed Central

Aguirre, Luis E.; de Oliveira, Alexandre; Seč, David; Čopar, Simon; Almeida, Pedro L.; Ravnik, Miha; Godinho, Maria Helena; Žumer, Slobodan

2016-01-01

Probing the surface morphology of microthin fibers such as naturally occurring biofibers is essential for understanding their structural properties, biological function, and mechanical performance. The state-of-the-art methods for studying the surfaces of biofibers are atomic force microscopy imaging and scanning electron microscopy, which well characterize surface geometry of the fibers but provide little information on the local interaction potential of the fibers with the surrounding material. In contrast, complex nematic fluids respond very well to external fields and change their optical properties upon such stimuli. Here we demonstrate that liquid crystal droplets deposited on microthin biofibers—including spider silk and cellulosic fibers—reveal characteristics of the fibers’ surface, performing as simple but sensitive surface sensors. By combining experiments and numerical modeling, different types of fibers are identified through the fiber-to-nematic droplet interactions, including perpendicular and axial or helicoidal planar molecular alignment. Spider silks align nematic molecules parallel to fibers or perpendicular to them, whereas cellulose aligns the molecules unidirectionally or helicoidally along the fibers, indicating notably different surface interactions. The nematic droplets as sensors thus directly reveal chirality of cellulosic fibers. Different fiber entanglements can be identified by depositing droplets exactly at the fiber crossings. More generally, the presented method can be used as a simple but powerful approach for probing the surface properties of small-size bioobjects, opening a route to their precise characterization. PMID:26768844

Sensing surface morphology of biofibers by decorating spider silk and cellulosic filaments with nematic microdroplets.

PubMed

Aguirre, Luis E; de Oliveira, Alexandre; Seč, David; Čopar, Simon; Almeida, Pedro L; Ravnik, Miha; Godinho, Maria Helena; Žumer, Slobodan

2016-02-02

Probing the surface morphology of microthin fibers such as naturally occurring biofibers is essential for understanding their structural properties, biological function, and mechanical performance. The state-of-the-art methods for studying the surfaces of biofibers are atomic force microscopy imaging and scanning electron microscopy, which well characterize surface geometry of the fibers but provide little information on the local interaction potential of the fibers with the surrounding material. In contrast, complex nematic fluids respond very well to external fields and change their optical properties upon such stimuli. Here we demonstrate that liquid crystal droplets deposited on microthin biofibers--including spider silk and cellulosic fibers--reveal characteristics of the fibers' surface, performing as simple but sensitive surface sensors. By combining experiments and numerical modeling, different types of fibers are identified through the fiber-to-nematic droplet interactions, including perpendicular and axial or helicoidal planar molecular alignment. Spider silks align nematic molecules parallel to fibers or perpendicular to them, whereas cellulose aligns the molecules unidirectionally or helicoidally along the fibers, indicating notably different surface interactions. The nematic droplets as sensors thus directly reveal chirality of cellulosic fibers. Different fiber entanglements can be identified by depositing droplets exactly at the fiber crossings. More generally, the presented method can be used as a simple but powerful approach for probing the surface properties of small-size bioobjects, opening a route to their precise characterization.

78 FR 10066 - Final Flood Elevation Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-13

... Approximately 175 feet +70 Unincorporated Areas of downstream of Gay Road Edgecombe County. (State Route 1268... +70 City of Rocky Mount. downstream of Gay Road (Secondary Road 1268). Approximately 190 feet +91...

78 FR 29323 - Certain Frozen Fish Fillets From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Amended Final Results of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-20

...The Department of Commerce (the ``Department'') is amending the final results of the eighth administrative review and aligned new shipper reviews on certain frozen fish fillets (``fish fillets'') from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (``Vietnam'') to correct certain ministerial errors.\\1\\ The period of review (``POR'') is August 1, 2010, through July 31, 2011. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linear positioning laser calibration setup of CNC machine tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sui, Xiulin; Yang, Congjing

2002-10-01

The linear positioning laser calibration setup of CNC machine tools is capable of executing machine tool laser calibraiotn and backlash compensation. Using this setup, hole locations on CNC machien tools will be correct and machien tool geometry will be evaluated and adjusted. Machien tool laser calibration and backlash compensation is a simple and straightforward process. First the setup is to 'find' the stroke limits of the axis. Then the laser head is then brought into correct alignment. Second is to move the machine axis to the other extreme, the laser head is now aligned, using rotation and elevation adjustments. Finally the machine is moved to the start position and final alignment is verified. The stroke of the machine, and the machine compensation interval dictate the amount of data required for each axis. These factors determine the amount of time required for a through compensation of the linear positioning accuracy. The Laser Calibrator System monitors the material temperature and the air density; this takes into consideration machine thermal growth and laser beam frequency. This linear positioning laser calibration setup can be used on CNC machine tools, CNC lathes, horizontal centers and vertical machining centers.

Caldecott improvement project : final scoping summary report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-02-01

The California Department of Transportation (the Department) proposes improvements needed : to reduce congestion and improve mobility at and near the Caldecott Tunnel along State Route : (SR) 24. Working with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)...

Manipulating mammalian cell morphologies using chemical-mechanical polished integrated circuit chips

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moussa, Hassan I.; Logan, Megan; Siow, Geoffrey C.; Phann, Darron L.; Rao, Zheng; Aucoin, Marc G.; Tsui, Ting Y.

2017-12-01

Tungsten chemical-mechanical polished integrated circuits were used to study the alignment and immobilization of mammalian (Vero) cells. These devices consist of blanket silicon oxide thin films embedded with micro- and nano-meter scale tungsten metal line structures on the surface. The final surfaces are extremely flat and smooth across the entire substrate, with a roughness in the order of nanometers. Vero cells were deposited on the surface and allowed to adhere. Microscopy examinations revealed that cells have a strong preference to adhere to tungsten over silicon oxide surfaces with up to 99% of cells adhering to the tungsten portion of the surface. Cells self-aligned and elongated into long threads to maximize contact with isolated tungsten lines as thin as 180 nm. The orientation of the Vero cells showed sensitivity to the tungsten line geometric parameters, such as line width and spacing. Up to 93% of cells on 10 μm wide comb structures were aligned within ± 20° of the metal line axis. In contrast, only 22% of cells incubated on 0.18 μm comb patterned tungsten lines were oriented within the same angular interval. This phenomenon is explained using a simple model describing cellular geometry as a function of pattern width and spacing, which showed that cells will rearrange their morphology to maximize their contact to the embedded tungsten. Finally, it was discovered that the materials could be reused after cleaning the surfaces, while maintaining cell alignment capability.

Manipulating mammalian cell morphologies using chemical-mechanical polished integrated circuit chips.

PubMed

Moussa, Hassan I; Logan, Megan; Siow, Geoffrey C; Phann, Darron L; Rao, Zheng; Aucoin, Marc G; Tsui, Ting Y

2017-01-01

Tungsten chemical-mechanical polished integrated circuits were used to study the alignment and immobilization of mammalian (Vero) cells. These devices consist of blanket silicon oxide thin films embedded with micro- and nano-meter scale tungsten metal line structures on the surface. The final surfaces are extremely flat and smooth across the entire substrate, with a roughness in the order of nanometers. Vero cells were deposited on the surface and allowed to adhere. Microscopy examinations revealed that cells have a strong preference to adhere to tungsten over silicon oxide surfaces with up to 99% of cells adhering to the tungsten portion of the surface. Cells self-aligned and elongated into long threads to maximize contact with isolated tungsten lines as thin as 180 nm. The orientation of the Vero cells showed sensitivity to the tungsten line geometric parameters, such as line width and spacing. Up to 93% of cells on 10 μm wide comb structures were aligned within ± 20° of the metal line axis. In contrast, only ~22% of cells incubated on 0.18 μm comb patterned tungsten lines were oriented within the same angular interval. This phenomenon is explained using a simple model describing cellular geometry as a function of pattern width and spacing, which showed that cells will rearrange their morphology to maximize their contact to the embedded tungsten. Finally, it was discovered that the materials could be reused after cleaning the surfaces, while maintaining cell alignment capability.

Manipulating mammalian cell morphologies using chemical-mechanical polished integrated circuit chips

PubMed Central

Moussa, Hassan I.; Logan, Megan; Siow, Geoffrey C.; Phann, Darron L.; Rao, Zheng; Aucoin, Marc G.; Tsui, Ting Y.

2017-01-01

Abstract Tungsten chemical-mechanical polished integrated circuits were used to study the alignment and immobilization of mammalian (Vero) cells. These devices consist of blanket silicon oxide thin films embedded with micro- and nano-meter scale tungsten metal line structures on the surface. The final surfaces are extremely flat and smooth across the entire substrate, with a roughness in the order of nanometers. Vero cells were deposited on the surface and allowed to adhere. Microscopy examinations revealed that cells have a strong preference to adhere to tungsten over silicon oxide surfaces with up to 99% of cells adhering to the tungsten portion of the surface. Cells self-aligned and elongated into long threads to maximize contact with isolated tungsten lines as thin as 180 nm. The orientation of the Vero cells showed sensitivity to the tungsten line geometric parameters, such as line width and spacing. Up to 93% of cells on 10 μm wide comb structures were aligned within ± 20° of the metal line axis. In contrast, only ~22% of cells incubated on 0.18 μm comb patterned tungsten lines were oriented within the same angular interval. This phenomenon is explained using a simple model describing cellular geometry as a function of pattern width and spacing, which showed that cells will rearrange their morphology to maximize their contact to the embedded tungsten. Finally, it was discovered that the materials could be reused after cleaning the surfaces, while maintaining cell alignment capability. PMID:29152017

Unsupervised parameter optimization for automated retention time alignment of severely shifted gas chromatographic data using the piecework alignment algorithm.

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

Pierce, Karisa M.; Wright, Bob W.; Synovec, Robert E.

2007-02-02

First, simulated chromatographic separations with declining retention time precision were used to study the performance of the piecewise retention time alignment algorithm and to demonstrate an unsupervised parameter optimization method. The average correlation coefficient between the first chromatogram and every other chromatogram in the data set was used to optimize the alignment parameters. This correlation method does not require a training set, so it is unsupervised and automated. This frees the user from needing to provide class information and makes the alignment algorithm more generally applicable to classifying completely unknown data sets. For a data set of simulated chromatograms wheremore » the average chromatographic peak was shifted past two neighboring peaks between runs, the average correlation coefficient of the raw data was 0.46 ± 0.25. After automated, optimized piecewise alignment, the average correlation coefficient was 0.93 ± 0.02. Additionally, a relative shift metric and principal component analysis (PCA) were used to independently quantify and categorize the alignment performance, respectively. The relative shift metric was defined as four times the standard deviation of a given peak’s retention time in all of the chromatograms, divided by the peak-width-at-base. The raw simulated data sets that were studied contained peaks with average relative shifts ranging between 0.3 and 3.0. Second, a “real” data set of gasoline separations was gathered using three different GC methods to induce severe retention time shifting. In these gasoline separations, retention time precision improved ~8 fold following alignment. Finally, piecewise alignment and the unsupervised correlation optimization method were applied to severely shifted GC separations of reformate distillation fractions. The effect of piecewise alignment on peak heights and peak areas is also reported. Piecewise alignment either did not change the peak height, or caused it to slightly decrease. The average relative difference in peak height after piecewise alignment was –0.20%. Piecewise alignment caused the peak areas to either stay the same, slightly increase, or slightly decrease. The average absolute relative difference in area after piecewise alignment was 0.15%.« less

Hydrophobic matrix-free graphene-oxide composites with isotropic and nematic states

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wåhlander, Martin; Nilsson, Fritjof; Carlmark, Anna; Gedde, Ulf W.; Edmondson, Steve; Malmström, Eva

2016-08-01

We demonstrate a novel route to synthesise hydrophobic matrix-free composites of polymer-grafted graphene oxide (GO) showing isotropic or nematic alignment and shape-memory effects. For the first time, a cationic macroinitiator (MI) has been immobilised on anionic GO and subsequently grafted with hydrophobic polymer grafts. Dense grafts of PBA, PBMA and PMMA with a wide range of average graft lengths (MW: 1-440 kDa) were polymerised by surface-initiated controlled radical precipitation polymerisation from the statistical MI. The surface modification is designed similarly to bimodal graft systems, where the cationic MI generates nanoparticle repulsion, similar to dense short grafts, while the long grafts offer miscibility in non-polar environments and cohesion. The state-of-the-art dispersions of grafted GO were in the isotropic state. Transparent and translucent matrix-free GO-composites could be melt-processed directly using only grafted GO. After processing, birefringence due to nematic alignment of grafted GO was observed as a single giant Maltese cross, 3.4 cm across. Permeability models for composites containing aligned 2D-fillers were developed, which were compared with the experimental oxygen permeability data and found to be consistent with isotropic or nematic states. The storage modulus of the matrix-free GO-composites increased with GO content (50% increase at 0.67 wt%), while the significant increases in the thermal stability (up to 130 °C) and the glass transition temperature (up to 17 °C) were dependent on graft length. The tuneable matrix-free GO-composites with rapid thermo-responsive shape-memory effects are promising candidates for a vast range of applications, especially selective membranes and sensors.We demonstrate a novel route to synthesise hydrophobic matrix-free composites of polymer-grafted graphene oxide (GO) showing isotropic or nematic alignment and shape-memory effects. For the first time, a cationic macroinitiator (MI) has been immobilised on anionic GO and subsequently grafted with hydrophobic polymer grafts. Dense grafts of PBA, PBMA and PMMA with a wide range of average graft lengths (MW: 1-440 kDa) were polymerised by surface-initiated controlled radical precipitation polymerisation from the statistical MI. The surface modification is designed similarly to bimodal graft systems, where the cationic MI generates nanoparticle repulsion, similar to dense short grafts, while the long grafts offer miscibility in non-polar environments and cohesion. The state-of-the-art dispersions of grafted GO were in the isotropic state. Transparent and translucent matrix-free GO-composites could be melt-processed directly using only grafted GO. After processing, birefringence due to nematic alignment of grafted GO was observed as a single giant Maltese cross, 3.4 cm across. Permeability models for composites containing aligned 2D-fillers were developed, which were compared with the experimental oxygen permeability data and found to be consistent with isotropic or nematic states. The storage modulus of the matrix-free GO-composites increased with GO content (50% increase at 0.67 wt%), while the significant increases in the thermal stability (up to 130 °C) and the glass transition temperature (up to 17 °C) were dependent on graft length. The tuneable matrix-free GO-composites with rapid thermo-responsive shape-memory effects are promising candidates for a vast range of applications, especially selective membranes and sensors. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Figures of LCST, polymerization kinetics, melt-processed films, DLS, TGA, precipitated fiber and powder, TEM (of isotropic GO), birefringence, OP-data, DMTA-data and DSC. See DOI: 10.1039/c6nr01502f

Self-Assembled InAs Nanowires as Optical Reflectors

PubMed Central

Floris, Francesco; Fornasari, Lucia; Marini, Andrea; Roddaro, Stefano; Beltram, Fabio; Cecchini, Marco; Sorba, Lucia; Rossella, Francesco

2017-01-01

Subwavelength nanostructured surfaces are realized with self-assembled vertically-aligned InAs nanowires, and their functionalities as optical reflectors are investigated. In our system, polarization-resolved specular reflectance displays strong modulations as a function of incident photon energy and angle. An effective-medium model allows one to rationalize the experimental findings in the long wavelength regime, whereas numerical simulations fully reproduce the experimental outcomes in the entire frequency range. The impact of the refractive index of the medium surrounding the nanostructure assembly on the reflectance was estimated. In view of the present results, sensing schemes compatible with microfluidic technologies and routes to innovative nanowire-based optical elements are discussed. PMID:29160860

Service discovery with routing protocols for MANETs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Xuemai; Shi, Shuo

2005-11-01

Service discovery is becoming an important topic as its use throughout the Internet becomes more widespread. In Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANETs), the routing protocol is very important because it is special network. To find a path for data, and destination nodes, nodes send packets to each node, creating substantial overhead traffic and consuming much time. Even though a variety of routing protocols have been developed for use in MANETs, they are insufficient for reducing overhead traffic and time. In this paper, we propose SDRP: a new service discovery protocol combined with routing policies in MANETs. The protocol is performed upon a distributed network. We describe a service by a unique ID number and use a group-cast routing policy in advertisement and request. The group-cast routing policy decreases the traffic in networks, and it is efficient to find destination node. In addition, the nodes included in the reply path also cache the advertisement information, and it means when each node finds a node next time, they can know where it is as soon as possible, so they minimize the time. Finally, we compare SDRP with both Flood and MAODV in terms of overload, and average delay. Simulation results show SDRP can spend less response time and accommodate even high mobility network environments.

Effect of band-aligned double absorber layers on photovoltaic characteristics of chemical bath deposited PbS/CdS thin film solar cells.

PubMed

Ho Yeon, Deuk; Chandra Mohanty, Bhaskar; Lee, Seung Min; Soo Cho, Yong

2015-09-23

Here we report the highest energy conversion efficiency and good stability of PbS thin film-based depleted heterojunction solar cells, not involving PbS quantum dots. The PbS thin films were grown by the low cost chemical bath deposition (CBD) process at relatively low temperatures. Compared to the quantum dot solar cells which require critical and multistep complex procedures for surface passivation, the present approach, leveraging the facile modulation of the optoelectronic properties of the PbS films by the CBD process, offers a simpler route for optimization of PbS-based solar cells. Through an architectural modification, wherein two band-aligned junctions are stacked without any intervening layers, an enhancement of conversion efficiency by as much as 30% from 3.10 to 4.03% facilitated by absorption of a wider range of solar spectrum has been obtained. As an added advantage of the low band gap PbS stacked over a wide gap PbS, the devices show stability over a period of 10 days.

Wet-spinning fabrication of shear-patterned alginate hydrogel microfibers and the guidance of cell alignment

PubMed Central

Yang, You; Sun, Jing; Liu, Xiaolu; Guo, Zhenzhen; He, Yunhu; Wei, Dan; Zhong, Meiling; Guo, Likun; Zhang, Xingdong

2017-01-01

Abstract Native tissue is naturally comprised of highly-ordered cell-matrix assemblies in a multi-hierarchical way, and the nano/submicron alignment of fibrous matrix is found to be significant in supporting cellular functionalization. In this study, a self-designed wet-spinning device appended with a rotary receiving pool was used to continuously produce shear-patterned hydrogel microfibers with aligned submicron topography. The process that the flow-induced shear force reshapes the surface of hydrogel fiber into aligned submicron topography was systematically analysed. Afterwards, the effect of fiber topography on cellular longitudinal spread and elongation was investigated by culturing rat neuron-like PC12 cells and human osteosarcoma MG63 cells with the spun hydrogel microfibers, respectively. The results suggested that the stronger shear flow force would lead to more distinct aligned submicron topography on fiber surface, which could induce cell orientation along with fiber axis and therefore form the cell-matrix dual-alignment. Finally, a multi-hierarchical tissue-like structure constructed by dual-oriented cell-matrix assemblies was fabricated based on this wet-spinning method. This work is believed to be a potentially novel biofabrication scheme for bottom-up constructing of engineered linear tissue, such as nerve bundle, cortical bone, muscle and hepatic cord. PMID:29026644

75 FR 8988 - Final Environmental Impact Statement; Yosemite Institute Environmental Education Campus; Yosemite...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-26

... environmental education program, location, or conditions at the Crane Flat campus. Necessary maintenance and... wilderness status. The existing roadbed (historic route of Glacier Point Road) would be converted to a...

Using crowdsourcing to prioritize bicycle network improvements : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-04-01

Effort to improve the bicycle route network using crowdsourced data is a powerful means : of incorporating citizens in infrastructure improvement decisions, which will improve : livability by maximizing the benefit of the bicycle infrastructure fundi...

Data Management Life Cycle, Final report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2018-03-01

Transportation inefficiencies cost money, reduce safety, increase pollution-causing emissions, and take time away from peoples lives. The solution is not always to build more roads, create parking spaces, or add more bus routes. Sometimes, the bet...

Injected polyurethane slab jacking : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-06-01

Conventional methods for raising in-place concrete slabs to align roadway sections or to counteract subsidence requires pressure-injecting grout under the slab. As other transportation organizations have had success with the URETEK Method, which util...

Pavement Edge Treatment Final Report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2018-01-01

The New York City Connected Vehicle Pilot aims to improve the safety of travelers and pedestrians in the city through the deployment of connected vehicle technologies. This objective directly aligns with the city's Vision Zero initiative, which began...

Experimental Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) from Elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) and White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to Fallow Deer (Dama dama) by Intracerebral Route: Final Report

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In this communication we report final observations on experimental transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) from elk (Cervus elaphus nelsoni) and white tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to fallow deer (Dama dama). The study was terminated 5 years after it was initiated. Thirteen fawns were i...

Routing and wavelength assignment based on normalized resource and constraints for all-optical network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Joo, Seong-Soon; Nam, Hyun-Soon; Lim, Chang-Kyu

2003-08-01

With the rapid growth of the Optical Internet, high capacity pipes is finally destined to support end-to-end IP on the WDM optical network. Newly launched 2D MEMS optical switching module in the market supports that expectations of upcoming a transparent optical cross-connect in the network have encouraged the field applicable research on establishing real all-optical transparent network. To open up a customer-driven bandwidth services, design of the optical transport network becomes more challenging task in terms of optimal network resource usage. This paper presents a practical approach to finding a route and wavelength assignment for wavelength routed all-optical network, which has λ-plane OXC switches and wavelength converters, and supports that optical paths are randomly set up and released by dynamic wavelength provisioning to create bandwidth between end users with timescales on the order of seconds or milliseconds. We suggest three constraints to make the RWA problem become more practical one on deployment for wavelength routed all-optical network in network view: limitation on maximum hop of a route within bearable optical network impairments, limitation on minimum hops to travel before converting a wavelength, and limitation on calculation time to find all routes for connections requested at once. We design the NRCD (Normalized Resource and Constraints for All-Optical Network RWA Design) algorithm for the Tera OXC: network resource for a route is calculated by the number of internal switching paths established in each OXC nodes on the route, and is normalized by ratio of number of paths established and number of paths equipped in a node. We show that it fits for the RWA algorithm of the wavelength routed all-optical network through real experiments on the distributed objects platform.

A green vehicle routing problem with customer satisfaction criteria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afshar-Bakeshloo, M.; Mehrabi, A.; Safari, H.; Maleki, M.; Jolai, F.

2016-12-01

This paper develops an MILP model, named Satisfactory-Green Vehicle Routing Problem. It consists of routing a heterogeneous fleet of vehicles in order to serve a set of customers within predefined time windows. In this model in addition to the traditional objective of the VRP, both the pollution and customers' satisfaction have been taken into account. Meanwhile, the introduced model prepares an effective dashboard for decision-makers that determines appropriate routes, the best mixed fleet, speed and idle time of vehicles. Additionally, some new factors evaluate the greening of each decision based on three criteria. This model applies piecewise linear functions (PLFs) to linearize a nonlinear fuzzy interval for incorporating customers' satisfaction into other linear objectives. We have presented a mixed integer linear programming formulation for the S-GVRP. This model enriches managerial insights by providing trade-offs between customers' satisfaction, total costs and emission levels. Finally, we have provided a numerical study for showing the applicability of the model.

Bubbling route to strange nonchaotic attractor in a nonlinear series LCR circuit with a nonsinusoidal force.

PubMed

Senthilkumar, D V; Srinivasan, K; Thamilmaran, K; Lakshmanan, M

2008-12-01

We identify an unconventional route to the creation of a strange nonchaotic attractor (SNA) in a quasiperiodically forced electronic circuit with a nonsinusoidal (square wave) force as one of the quasiperiodic forces through numerical and experimental studies. We find that bubbles appear in the strands of the quasiperiodic attractor due to the instability induced by the additional square-wave-type force. The bubbles then enlarge and get increasingly wrinkled as a function of the control parameter. Finally, the bubbles get extremely wrinkled (while the remaining parts of the strands of the torus remain largely unaffected) resulting in the creation of the SNA; we term this the bubbling route to the SNA. We characterize and confirm this creation from both experimental and numerical data using maximal Lyapunov exponents and their variance, Poincaré maps, Fourier amplitude spectra, and spectral distribution functions. We also strongly confirm the creation of a SNA via the bubbling route by the distribution of the finite-time Lyapunov exponents.

Let the pigeon drive the bus: pigeons can plan future routes in a room.

PubMed

Gibson, Brett; Wilkinson, Matthew; Kelly, Debbie

2012-05-01

The task of determining an optimal route to several locations is called the traveling salesperson problem (TSP). The TSP has been used recently to examine spatial cognition in humans and non-human animals. It remains unclear whether or not the decision process of animals other than non-human primates utilizes rigid rule-based heuristics, or whether non-human animals are able to flexibly 'plan' future routes/behavior based on their knowledge of multiple locations. We presented pigeons in a One-way and Round-Trip group with TSPs that included two or three destinations (feeders) in a laboratory environment. The pigeons departed a start location, traveled to each feeder once before returning to a final destination. Pigeons weighed the proximity of the next location heavily, but appeared to plan ahead multiple steps when the travel costs for inefficient behavior appeared to increase. The results provide clear and strong evidence that animals other than primates are capable of planning sophisticated travel routes.

Numerical Modeling of Fiber-Reinforced Metal Matrix Composite Processing by the Liquid Route: Literature Contribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lacoste, Eric; Arvieu, Corinne; Mantaux, Olivier

2018-04-01

One of the technologies used to produce metal matrix composites (MMCs) is liquid route processing. One solution is to inject a liquid metal under pressure or at constant rate through a fibrous preform. This foundry technique overcomes the problem of the wettability of ceramic fibers by liquid metal. The liquid route can also be used to produce semiproducts by coating a filament with a molten metal. These processes involve physical phenomena combined with mass and heat transfer and phase change. The phase change phenomena related to solidification and also to the melting of the metal during the process notably result in modifications to the permeability of porous media, in gaps in impregnation, in the appearance of defects (porosities), and in segregation in the final product. In this article, we provide a state-of-the-art review of numerical models and simulation developed to study these physical phenomena involved in MMC processing by the liquid route.

An adaptive large neighborhood search heuristic for Two-Echelon Vehicle Routing Problems arising in city logistics

PubMed Central

Hemmelmayr, Vera C.; Cordeau, Jean-François; Crainic, Teodor Gabriel

2012-01-01

In this paper, we propose an adaptive large neighborhood search heuristic for the Two-Echelon Vehicle Routing Problem (2E-VRP) and the Location Routing Problem (LRP). The 2E-VRP arises in two-level transportation systems such as those encountered in the context of city logistics. In such systems, freight arrives at a major terminal and is shipped through intermediate satellite facilities to the final customers. The LRP can be seen as a special case of the 2E-VRP in which vehicle routing is performed only at the second level. We have developed new neighborhood search operators by exploiting the structure of the two problem classes considered and have also adapted existing operators from the literature. The operators are used in a hierarchical scheme reflecting the multi-level nature of the problem. Computational experiments conducted on several sets of instances from the literature show that our algorithm outperforms existing solution methods for the 2E-VRP and achieves excellent results on the LRP. PMID:23483764

An adaptive large neighborhood search heuristic for Two-Echelon Vehicle Routing Problems arising in city logistics.

PubMed

Hemmelmayr, Vera C; Cordeau, Jean-François; Crainic, Teodor Gabriel

2012-12-01

In this paper, we propose an adaptive large neighborhood search heuristic for the Two-Echelon Vehicle Routing Problem (2E-VRP) and the Location Routing Problem (LRP). The 2E-VRP arises in two-level transportation systems such as those encountered in the context of city logistics. In such systems, freight arrives at a major terminal and is shipped through intermediate satellite facilities to the final customers. The LRP can be seen as a special case of the 2E-VRP in which vehicle routing is performed only at the second level. We have developed new neighborhood search operators by exploiting the structure of the two problem classes considered and have also adapted existing operators from the literature. The operators are used in a hierarchical scheme reflecting the multi-level nature of the problem. Computational experiments conducted on several sets of instances from the literature show that our algorithm outperforms existing solution methods for the 2E-VRP and achieves excellent results on the LRP.

Modeling On-Body DTN Packet Routing Delay in the Presence of Postural Disconnections.

PubMed

Quwaider, Muhannad; Taghizadeh, Mahmoud; Biswas, Subir

2011-01-01

This paper presents a stochastic modeling framework for store-and-forward packet routing in Wireless Body Area Networks ( WBAN ) with postural partitioning. A prototype WBANs has been constructed for experimentally characterizing and capturing on-body topology disconnections in the presence of ultrashort range radio links, unpredictable RF attenuation, and human postural mobility. Delay modeling techniques for evaluating single-copy on-body DTN routing protocols are then developed. End-to-end routing delay for a series of protocols including opportunistic, randomized, and two other mechanisms that capture multiscale topological localities in human postural movements have been evaluated. Performance of the analyzed protocols are then evaluated experimentally and via simulation to compare with the results obtained from the developed model. Finally, a mechanism for evaluating the topological importance of individual on-body sensor nodes is developed. It is shown that such information can be used for selectively reducing the on-body sensor-count without substantially sacrificing the packet delivery delay.

Modeling On-Body DTN Packet Routing Delay in the Presence of Postural Disconnections

PubMed Central

Quwaider, Muhannad; Taghizadeh, Mahmoud; Biswas, Subir

2014-01-01

This paper presents a stochastic modeling framework for store-and-forward packet routing in Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN) with postural partitioning. A prototype WBANs has been constructed for experimentally characterizing and capturing on-body topology disconnections in the presence of ultrashort range radio links, unpredictable RF attenuation, and human postural mobility. Delay modeling techniques for evaluating single-copy on-body DTN routing protocols are then developed. End-to-end routing delay for a series of protocols including opportunistic, randomized, and two other mechanisms that capture multiscale topological localities in human postural movements have been evaluated. Performance of the analyzed protocols are then evaluated experimentally and via simulation to compare with the results obtained from the developed model. Finally, a mechanism for evaluating the topological importance of individual on-body sensor nodes is developed. It is shown that such information can be used for selectively reducing the on-body sensor-count without substantially sacrificing the packet delivery delay. PMID:25530749

Rapid Transfer Alignment of MEMS SINS Based on Adaptive Incremental Kalman Filter.

PubMed

Chu, Hairong; Sun, Tingting; Zhang, Baiqiang; Zhang, Hongwei; Chen, Yang

2017-01-14

In airborne MEMS SINS transfer alignment, the error of MEMS IMU is highly environment-dependent and the parameters of the system model are also uncertain, which may lead to large error and bad convergence of the Kalman filter. In order to solve this problem, an improved adaptive incremental Kalman filter (AIKF) algorithm is proposed. First, the model of SINS transfer alignment is defined based on the "Velocity and Attitude" matching method. Then the detailed algorithm progress of AIKF and its recurrence formulas are presented. The performance and calculation amount of AKF and AIKF are also compared. Finally, a simulation test is designed to verify the accuracy and the rapidity of the AIKF algorithm by comparing it with KF and AKF. The results show that the AIKF algorithm has better estimation accuracy and shorter convergence time, especially for the bias of the gyroscope and the accelerometer, which can meet the accuracy and rapidity requirement of transfer alignment.

Rapid Transfer Alignment of MEMS SINS Based on Adaptive Incremental Kalman Filter

PubMed Central

Chu, Hairong; Sun, Tingting; Zhang, Baiqiang; Zhang, Hongwei; Chen, Yang

2017-01-01

In airborne MEMS SINS transfer alignment, the error of MEMS IMU is highly environment-dependent and the parameters of the system model are also uncertain, which may lead to large error and bad convergence of the Kalman filter. In order to solve this problem, an improved adaptive incremental Kalman filter (AIKF) algorithm is proposed. First, the model of SINS transfer alignment is defined based on the “Velocity and Attitude” matching method. Then the detailed algorithm progress of AIKF and its recurrence formulas are presented. The performance and calculation amount of AKF and AIKF are also compared. Finally, a simulation test is designed to verify the accuracy and the rapidity of the AIKF algorithm by comparing it with KF and AKF. The results show that the AIKF algorithm has better estimation accuracy and shorter convergence time, especially for the bias of the gyroscope and the accelerometer, which can meet the accuracy and rapidity requirement of transfer alignment. PMID:28098829

Simple and sensitive technique for alignment of the pinhole of a spatial filter of a high-energy, high-power laser system.

PubMed

Sharma, Avnish Kumar; Patidar, Rajesh Kumar; Daiya, Deepak; Joshi, Anandverdhan; Naik, Prasad Anant; Gupta, Parshotam Dass

2013-04-20

In this paper, a new method for alignment of the pinhole of a spatial filter (SF) has been proposed and demonstrated experimentally. The effect of the misalignment of the pinhole on the laser beam profiles has been calculated for circular and elliptical Gaussian laser beams. Theoretical computation has been carried out to illustrate the effect of an intensity mask, placed before the focusing lens of the SF, on the spatial beam profile after the pinhole of the SF. It is shown, both theoretically and experimentally, that a simple intensity mask, consisting of a black dot, can be used to visually align the pinhole with a high accuracy of 5% of the pinhole diameter. The accuracy may be further improved using a computer-based image processing algorithm. Finally, the proposed technique has been demonstrated to align a vacuum SF of a compact 40 J Nd:phosphate glass laser system.

Alignment of an acoustic manipulation device with cepstral analysis of electronic impedance data.

PubMed

Hughes, D A; Qiu, Y; Démoré, C; Weijer, C J; Cochran, S

2015-02-01

Acoustic particle manipulation is an emerging technology that uses ultrasonic standing waves to position objects with pressure gradients and acoustic radiation forces. To produce strong standing waves, the transducer and the reflector must be aligned properly such that they are parallel to each other. This can be a difficult process due to the need to visualise the ultrasound waves and as higher frequencies are introduced, this alignment requires higher accuracy. In this paper, we present a method for aligning acoustic resonators with cepstral analysis. This is a simple signal processing technique that requires only the electrical impedance measurement data of the resonator, which is usually recorded during the fabrication process of the device. We first introduce the mathematical basis of cepstral analysis and then demonstrate and validate it using a computer simulation of an acoustic resonator. Finally, the technique is demonstrated experimentally to create many parallel linear traps for 10 μm fluorescent beads inside an acoustic resonator. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Global Energy Challenge

ScienceCinema

Crabtree, George

2018-01-12

The expected doubling of global energy demand by 2050 challenges our traditional patterns of energy production, distribution and use.   The continued use of fossil fuels raises concerns about supply, security, environment and climate.  New routes are needed for the efficient conversion of energy from chemical fuel, sunlight, and heat to electricity or hydrogen as an energy carrier and finally to end uses like transportation, lighting, and heating. Opportunities for efficient new energy conversion routes based on nanoscale materials will be presented, with emphasis on the sustainable energy technologies they enable.

Evaluation of floating-point sum or difference of products in carry-save domain

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wahab, A.; Erdogan, S.; Premkumar, A. B.

1992-01-01

An architecture to evaluate a 24-bit floating-point sum or difference of products using modified sequential carry-save multipliers with extensive pipelining is described. The basic building block of the architecture is a carry-save multiplier with built-in mantissa alignment for the summation during the multiplication cycles. A carry-save adder, capable of mantissa alignment, correctly positions products with the current carry-save sum. Carry propagation in individual multipliers is avoided and is only required once to produce the final result.

Fabrication of high gradient insulators by stack compression

DOEpatents

Harris, John Richardson; Sanders, Dave; Hawkins, Steven Anthony; Norona, Marcelo

2014-04-29

Individual layers of a high gradient insulator (HGI) are first pre-cut to their final dimensions. The pre-cut layers are then stacked to form an assembly that is subsequently pressed into an HGI unit with the desired dimension. The individual layers are stacked, and alignment is maintained, using a sacrificial alignment tube that is removed after the stack is hot pressed. The HGI's are used as high voltage vacuum insulators in energy storage and transmission structures or devices, e.g. in particle accelerators and pulsed power systems.

The aberration characteristics in a misaligned three-mirror anastigmatic (TMA) system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Bin; Wu, Fan; Ye, Yutang

2016-09-01

To realize the efficient alignment of the TMA system, the aberrations in a misaligned TMA system had been analyzed theoretically in this paper. Firstly, based on the nodal aberration theory (NAT), the aberration types and characteristics in the misaligned TMA system had been concluded; Secondly, a simulation validation had been carried out to testify the analysis results, the simulation results validates the aberration characteristics; Finally, the alignment procedures were determined according to the aberration characteristics: adjust the axial spacing of the mirrors in terms of Z9 in the center field of TMA system first; and then, adjust the decenters and tilts of the mirrors in terms of Z5 - Z8 in the edge field of TMA system. This method is helpful for the alignment of the TMA telescope.

Alignment of the Pixel and SCT Modules for the 2004 ATLAS Combined Test Beam

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

ATLAS Collaboration; Ahmad, A.; Andreazza, A.

2008-06-02

A small set of final prototypes of the ATLAS Inner Detector silicon tracking system(Pixel Detector and SemiConductor Tracker), were used to take data during the 2004 Combined Test Beam. Data were collected from runs with beams of different flavour (electrons, pions, muons and photons) with a momentum range of 2 to 180 GeV/c. Four independent methods were used to align the silicon modules. The corrections obtained were validated using the known momenta of the beam particles and were shown to yield consistent results among the different alignment approaches. From the residual distributions, it is concluded that the precision attained inmore » the alignmentof the silicon modules is of the order of 5 mm in their most precise coordinate.« less

The anterior borders of the clavicle and the acromion are not always aligned in the intact acromioclavicular joint: a cadaveric study.

PubMed

Barth, Johannes; Boutsiadis, Achilleas; Narbona, Pablo; Lädermann, Alexandre; Arrigoni, Paolo; Adams, Christopher R; Burkhart, Stephen S; Denard, Patrick J

2017-07-01

The aim of this study was to find reliable anatomic landmarks of the normal acromioclavicular joint (ACJ) that could enable the precise evaluation of the horizontal displacement of the clavicle after dislocation. The hypothesis was that the anterior borders of the acromion and the clavicle are always aligned in intact ACJs. In 30 cadaveric specimens, the anterior and posterior borders of the ACJ's articular facets and the most prominent anterior and posterior bony landmarks of the acromion and the clavicle were identified. The anterior and posterior overhang of the acromion and the clavicle was measured in relation to the borders of the articular facets. Therefore, the possible anterior and posterior alignment of the ACJ was evaluated. Anteriorly, only 18 ACJs (60%) were aligned whereas 7 (24%) had major overhang of the acromion and 3 (10%) had major overhang of the clavicle. Similarly, 18 cases (60%) were posteriorly aligned, whereas 6 (20%) had major clavicular overhang and 4 (14%) had major overhang of the acromion. In 78% of these cases, the ACJ was aligned as well anteriorly as posteriorly (P < .001). Finally, the larger the width of the acromion (P = .032) or the clavicle (P = .049), the better the posterior joint alignment. Our hypothesis was not verified. The acromion and clavicle are not perfectly aligned in a significant number of specimens with intact ACJs (40% of cases). The most reliable landmarks remain their articular facets. Copyright © 2017 Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery Board of Trustees. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Deep Brain Stimulation for Essential Tremor: Aligning Thalamic and Posterior Subthalamic Targets in 1 Surgical Trajectory.

PubMed

Bot, Maarten; van Rootselaar, Fleur; Contarino, Maria Fiorella; Odekerken, Vincent; Dijk, Joke; de Bie, Rob; Schuurman, Richard; van den Munckhof, Pepijn

2017-12-21

Ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) deep brain stimulation (DBS) and posterior subthalamic area (PSA) DBS suppress tremor in essential tremor (ET) patients, but it is not clear which target is optimal. Aligning both targets in 1 surgical trajectory would facilitate exploring stimulation of either target in a single patient. To evaluate aligning VIM and PSA in 1 surgical trajectory for DBS in ET. Technical aspects of trajectories, intraoperative stimulation findings, final electrode placement, target used for chronic stimulation, and adverse and beneficial effects were evaluated. In 17 patients representing 33 trajectories, we successfully aligned VIM and PSA targets in 26 trajectories. Trajectory distance between targets averaged 7.2 (range 6-10) mm. In all but 4 aligned trajectories, optimal intraoperative tremor suppression was obtained in the PSA. During follow-up, active electrode contacts were located in PSA in the majority of cases. Overall, successful tremor control was achieved in 69% of patients. Stimulation-induced dysarthria or gait ataxia occurred in, respectively, 56% and 44% of patients. Neither difference in tremor suppression or side effects was noted between aligned and nonaligned leads nor between the different locations of chronic stimulation. Alignment of VIM and PSA for DBS in ET is feasible and enables intraoperative exploration of both targets in 1 trajectory. This facilitates positioning of electrode contacts in both areas, where multiple effective points of stimulation can be found. In the majority of aligned leads, optimal intraoperative and chronic stimulation were located in the PSA. Copyright © 2017 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons

78 FR 24292 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on Proposed Highway in California

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-24

... 199 corridor as part of the STAA network of truck routes. The project involves realigning curves... address provided above. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service consultation and Biological Opinion are...

Ambient Optomechanical Alignment and Pupil Metrology for the Flight Instruments Aboard the James Webb Space Telescope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coulter, Phillip; Beaton, Alexander; Gum, Jeffrey S.; Hadjimichael, Theodore J.; Hayden, Joseph E.; Hummel, Susann; Hylan, Jason E.; Lee, David; Madison, Timothy J.; Maszkiewicz, Michael;

Centroid stabilization in alignment of FOA corner cube: designing of a matched filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Awwal, Abdul; Wilhelmsen, Karl; Roberts, Randy; Leach, Richard; Miller Kamm, Victoria; Ngo, Tony; Lowe-Webb, Roger

2015-02-01

The current automation of image-based alignment of NIF high energy laser beams is providing the capability of executing multiple target shots per day. An important aspect of performing multiple shots in a day is to reduce additional time spent aligning specific beams due to perturbations in those beam images. One such alignment is beam centration through the second and third harmonic generating crystals in the final optics assembly (FOA), which employs two retro-reflecting corner cubes to represent the beam center. The FOA houses the frequency conversion crystals for third harmonic generation as the beams enters the target chamber. Beam-to-beam variations and systematic beam changes over time in the FOA corner-cube images can lead to a reduction in accuracy as well as increased convergence durations for the template based centroid detector. This work presents a systematic approach of maintaining FOA corner cube centroid templates so that stable position estimation is applied thereby leading to fast convergence of alignment control loops. In the matched filtering approach, a template is designed based on most recent images taken in the last 60 days. The results show that new filter reduces the divergence of the position estimation of FOA images.

Graphene as transmissive electrodes and aligning layers for liquid-crystal-based electro-optic devices.

PubMed

Basu, Rajratan; Shalov, Samuel A

2017-07-01

In a conventional liquid crystal (LC) cell, polyimide layers are used to align the LC homogeneously in the cell, and transmissive indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes are used to apply the electric field to reorient the LC along the field. It is experimentally presented here that monolayer graphene films on the two glass substrates can function concurrently as the LC aligning layers and the transparent electrodes to fabricate an LC cell, without using the conventional polyimide and ITO substrates. This replacement can effectively decrease the thickness of all the alignment layers and electrodes from about 100 nm to less than 1 nm. The interaction between LC and graphene through π-π electron stacking imposes a planar alignment on the LC in the graphene-based cell-which is verified using a crossed polarized microscope. The graphene-based LC cell exhibits an excellent nematic director reorientation process from planar to homeotropic configuration through the application of an electric field-which is probed by dielectric and electro-optic measurements. Finally, it is shown that the electro-optic switching is significantly faster in the graphene-based LC cell than in a conventional ITO-polyimide LC cell.

Surface-Constrained Volumetric Brain Registration Using Harmonic Mappings

PubMed Central

Joshi, Anand A.; Shattuck, David W.; Thompson, Paul M.; Leahy, Richard M.

2015-01-01

In order to compare anatomical and functional brain imaging data across subjects, the images must first be registered to a common coordinate system in which anatomical features are aligned. Intensity-based volume registration methods can align subcortical structures well, but the variability in sulcal folding patterns typically results in misalignment of the cortical surface. Conversely, surface-based registration using sulcal features can produce excellent cortical alignment but the mapping between brains is restricted to the cortical surface. Here we describe a method for volumetric registration that also produces an accurate one-to-one point correspondence between cortical surfaces. This is achieved by first parameterizing and aligning the cortical surfaces using sulcal landmarks. We then use a constrained harmonic mapping to extend this surface correspondence to the entire cortical volume. Finally, this mapping is refined using an intensity-based warp. We demonstrate the utility of the method by applying it to T1-weighted magnetic resonance images (MRI). We evaluate the performance of our proposed method relative to existing methods that use only intensity information; for this comparison we compute the inter-subject alignment of expert-labeled sub-cortical structures after registration. PMID:18092736

Initial Alignment of Large Azimuth Misalignment Angles in SINS Based on Adaptive UPF

PubMed Central

Sun, Jin; Xu, Xiao-Su; Liu, Yi-Ting; Zhang, Tao; Li, Yao

2015-01-01

The case of large azimuth misalignment angles in a strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS) is analyzed, and a method of using the adaptive UPF for the initial alignment is proposed. The filter is based on the idea of a strong tracking filter; through the introduction of the attenuation memory factor to effectively enhance the corrections of the current information residual error on the system, it reduces the influence on the system due to the system simplification, and the uncertainty of noise statistical properties to a certain extent; meanwhile, the UPF particle degradation phenomenon is better overcome. Finally, two kinds of non-linear filters, UPF and adaptive UPF, are adopted in the initial alignment of large azimuth misalignment angles in SINS, and the filtering effects of the two kinds of nonlinear filter on the initial alignment were compared by simulation and turntable experiments. The simulation and turntable experiment results show that the speed and precision of the initial alignment using adaptive UPF for a large azimuth misalignment angle in SINS under the circumstance that the statistical properties of the system noise are certain or not have been improved to some extent. PMID:26334277

The Moral Insignificance of Self‐consciousness

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Abstract In this paper, I examine the claim that self‐consciousness is highly morally significant, such that the fact that an entity is self‐conscious generates strong moral reasons against harming or killing that entity. This claim is apparently very intuitive, but I argue it is false. I consider two ways to defend this claim: one indirect, the other direct. The best‐known arguments relevant to self‐consciousness's significance take the indirect route. I examine them and argue that (a) in various ways they depend on unwarranted assumptions about self‐consciousness's functional significance, and (b) once these assumptions are undermined, motivation for these arguments dissipates. I then consider the direct route to self‐consciousness's significance, which depends on claims that self‐consciousness has intrinsic value or final value. I argue what intrinsic or final value self‐consciousness possesses is not enough to generate strong moral reasons against harming or killing. PMID:28919670

Dealing with the white death: avalanche risk management for traffic routes.

PubMed

Rheinberger, Christoph M; Bründl, Michael; Rhyner, Jakob

2009-01-01

This article discusses mitigation strategies to protect traffic routes from snow avalanches. Up to now, mitigation of snow avalanches on many roads and railways in the Alps has relied on avalanche sheds, which require large initial investments resulting in high opportunity costs. Therefore, avalanche risk managers have increasingly adopted organizational mitigation measures such as warning systems and closure policies instead. The effectiveness of these measures is, however, greatly dependent on human decisions. In this article, we present a method for optimizing avalanche mitigation for traffic routes in terms of both their risk reduction impact and their net benefit to society. First, we introduce a generic framework for assessing avalanche risk and for quantifying the impact of mitigation. This allows for sound cost-benefit comparisons between alternative mitigation strategies. Second, we illustrate the framework with a case study from Switzerland. Our findings suggest that site-specific characteristics of avalanche paths, as well as the economic importance of a traffic route, are decisive for the choice of optimal mitigation strategies. On routes endangered by few avalanche paths with frequent avalanche occurrences, structural measures are most efficient, whereas reliance on organizational mitigation is often the most appropriate strategy on routes endangered by many paths with infrequent or fuzzy avalanche risk. Finally, keeping a traffic route open may be very important for tourism or the transport industry. Hence, local economic value may promote the use of a hybrid strategy that combines organizational and structural measures to optimize the resource allocation of avalanche risk mitigation.

FPFH-based graph matching for 3D point cloud registration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Jiapeng; Li, Chen; Tian, Lihua; Zhu, Jihua

2018-04-01

Correspondence detection is a vital step in point cloud registration and it can help getting a reliable initial alignment. In this paper, we put forward an advanced point feature-based graph matching algorithm to solve the initial alignment problem of rigid 3D point cloud registration with partial overlap. Specifically, Fast Point Feature Histograms are used to determine the initial possible correspondences firstly. Next, a new objective function is provided to make the graph matching more suitable for partially overlapping point cloud. The objective function is optimized by the simulated annealing algorithm for final group of correct correspondences. Finally, we present a novel set partitioning method which can transform the NP-hard optimization problem into a O(n3)-solvable one. Experiments on the Stanford and UWA public data sets indicates that our method can obtain better result in terms of both accuracy and time cost compared with other point cloud registration methods.

Automatic initialization for 3D bone registration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Foroughi, Pezhman; Taylor, Russell H.; Fichtinger, Gabor

2008-03-01

In image-guided bone surgery, sample points collected from the surface of the bone are registered to the preoperative CT model using well-known registration methods such as Iterative Closest Point (ICP). These techniques are generally very sensitive to the initial alignment of the datasets. Poor initialization significantly increases the chances of getting trapped local minima. In order to reduce the risk of local minima, the registration is manually initialized by locating the sample points close to the corresponding points on the CT model. In this paper, we present an automatic initialization method that aligns the sample points collected from the surface of pelvis with CT model of the pelvis. The main idea is to exploit a mean shape of pelvis created from a large number of CT scans as the prior knowledge to guide the initial alignment. The mean shape is constant for all registrations and facilitates the inclusion of application-specific information into the registration process. The CT model is first aligned with the mean shape using the bilateral symmetry of the pelvis and the similarity of multiple projections. The surface points collected using ultrasound are then aligned with the pelvis mean shape. This will, in turn, lead to initial alignment of the sample points with the CT model. The experiments using a dry pelvis and two cadavers show that the method can align the randomly dislocated datasets close enough for successful registration. The standard ICP has been used for final registration of datasets.

Synchrotron x-ray scattering measurements of bulk structural properties in superconducting (Bi,Pb){sub 2}Sr{sub 2}Ca{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 10}{endash}Ag tapes

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

Thurston, T.R.; Wildgruber, U.; Jisrawi, N.

The structural properties of superconducting (Bi,Pb){sub 2}Sr{sub 2}Ca{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 10}{endash}Ag (2223) tapes have been measured using synchrotron x-ray scattering techniques. The x-ray photon energy was tuned just below the silver {ital K} absorption edge so the penetration depth was large, which allowed the measurements to be performed in a transmission geometry without removing the silver cladding. Analysis of the peaks in 2{theta} scans indicates that residual (Bi,Pb){sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8} (2212) superconductor starting material is present in all samples studied. The amount of 2212 varied widely among the tapes, and was not homogeneous along the length of eachmore » individual tape. Residual 2212 content increased near the ends of most samples, suggesting that 2223 phase development is sensitive to whether the superconducting material is encased in silver or not. The bulk {ital c}-axis alignment was measured in {approximately}100 mono- and multifilament samples, and correlations between {ital c}-axis alignment and current carrying capacity at 77 K were found. Multifilament samples generally had better alignment than monofilament samples. The {ital c}-axis alignment along the length of the tapes was uniform, and the superconducting material within {approximately}1 {mu}m of the Ag was better textured than the bulk of the sample. Intermediate pressings were directly shown to have an adverse affect on {ital c}-axis alignment. Finally, the evolution of texture and phase development was examined in a series of samples annealed for varying times. The 2212 starting material acquired the final {ital c}-axis alignment state after brief heating times, and only after much longer heating times did the 2212 transform into the 2223 phase. These results and their implications for improving processing procedures are discussed. {copyright} {ital 1996 American Institute of Physics.}« less

Performance measures from the explorer platform berthing experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leake, Stephen

1993-01-01

The Explorer Platform is a Modular Mission Spacecraft: it has several subunits that are designed to be replaced on orbit. The Goddard Space Flight Center Robotics Lab undertook an experiment to evaluate various robotic approaches to replacing one of the units; a large (approximately 1 meter by 1 meter by 0.5 meter) power box. The hardware consists of a Robotics Research Corporation K-1607 (RRC) manipulator mounted on a large gantry robot, a Kraft handcontroller for teleoperation of RRC, a Lightweight Servicing Tool (LST) mounted on the RRC, and an Explorer Platform mockup (EP) with a removable box (MMS) that has fixtures that mate with the LST. Sensors include a wrist wrench sensor on the RRC and Capaciflectors mounted on the LST and the MMS. There are also several cameras, but no machine vision is used. The control system for the RRC is entirely written by Goddard; it consists of Ada code on three Multibus I 386/387 CPU boards doing the real-time robot control, and C on a 386 PC processing Capaciflector data. The gantry is not moved during this experiment. The task is the exchange of the MMS; it is removed and replaced. This involves four basic steps: mating the LST to the MMS, demating the MMS from the EP, mating the MMS to the EP, and demating the LST form the MMS. Each of the mating steps must be preceeded by an alignment to bring the mechanical fixtures within their capture range. Two basic approaches to alignment are explored: teleoperation with the operator viewing thru cameras, and Capaciflector based autonomy. To evaluate the two alignment approaches, several runs were run with each approach and the final pose was recorded. Comparing this to the ideal alignment pose gives accuracy and repeatability data. In addition the wrenches exerted during the mating tasks were recorded; this gives information on how the alignment step affects the mating step. There are also two approaches to mating; teleoperation, and impedance based autonomy. The wrench data taken during mating using these two approaches is used to evaluate them. Section 2 describes the alignment results, section 3 describes the mating results, and finally Section 4 gives some conclusions.

Analysis of Total Food Intake and Composition of Individual's Diet Based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 1994-96, 1998 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII) (2005, Final Report)

EPA Science Inventory

EPA released the final report, Analysis of Total Food Intake and Composition of Individual’s Diet Based on USDA’s 1994-1996, 98 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII). The consumption of food by the general population is a significant route of potential ...

77 FR 61654 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on Proposed Highway in California

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-10

...This notice announces actions taken by the FHWA and other Federal agencies that are final within the meaning of 23 U.S.C. 139(l)(1). The actions relate to the proposed State Route 11 and Otay Mesa East Land Port of Entry in the City and County of San Diego, State of California. These actions grant licenses, permits, and approvals for the project.

Identification of degradation routes of metamitron in soil microcosms using 13C-isotope labeling.

PubMed

Wang, Shizong; Miltner, Anja; Nowak, Karolina M

2017-01-01

Metamitron is one of the most commonly used herbicide in sugar beet and flower bulb cultures. Numerous laboratory and field studies on sorption and degradation of metamitron were performed. Detailed biodegradation studies in soil using 13 C-isotope labeling are still missing. Therefore, we aimed at providing a detailed turnover mass balance of 13 C 6 -metamitron in soil microcosms over 80 days. In the biotic system, metamitron mineralized rapidly, and 13 CO 2 finally constituted 60% of the initial 13 C 6 -metamitron equivalents. In abiotic control experiments CO 2 rose to only 7.4% of the initial 13 C 6 -metamitron equivalents. The 13 C label from 13 C 6 -metamitron was incorporated into microbial amino acids that were ultimately stabilized in the soil organic matter forming presumably harmless biogenic residues. Finally, 13 C label from 13 C 6 -metamitron was distributed between the 13 CO 2 and the 13 C-biogenic residues indicating nearly complete biodegradation. The parallel increase of 13 C-alanine, 13 C-glutamate and 13 CO 2 indicates that metamitron was initially biodegraded via the desamino-metamitron route suggesting its relevance in the growth metabolism. In later phases of biodegradation, the "Rhodococcus route" was indicated by the low 13 CO 2 evolution and the high relevance of the pyruvate pathway, which aims at biomolecule synthesis and seems to be related to starvation. This is a first report on the detailed degradation route of metamitron in soil. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Correction of antebrachial angulation-rotation deformities in dogs with oblique plane inclined osteotomies.

PubMed

Franklin, Samuel P; Dover, Ryan K; Andrade, Natalia; Rosselli, Desiree; M Clarke, Kevin

2017-11-01

To describe oblique plane inclined osteotomies and report preliminary data on outcomes in dogs treated for antebrachial angulation-rotation deformities. Retrospective clinical study. Six antebrachii from 5 dogs. Records of dogs with antebrachial angulation-rotation deformities treated with oblique plane inclined osteotomies were reviewed. Postoperative frontal, sagittal, and transverse plane alignments were assessed subjectively, and alignment in the frontal and sagittal planes was quantified on radiographs. Outcomes were classified based on owner's and veterinarian's evaluation as full, acceptable, and unacceptable function. Complications were classified as minor, major, or catastrophic. Limb alignment was subjectively considered excellent in 1 case, good in 3 cases, and fair in 2 cases. Osseous union was achieved in all cases (mean 10.5 weeks; range, 6-13 weeks). Outcomes were assessed by the veterinarian as return to full function in 5 cases and acceptable function in 1 case at the final in-hospital follow-up (mean 44 weeks; range, 6-124 weeks). All owners classified their dogs as returning to full function at the final phone/email interview (mean 107 weeks; range, 72-153 weeks). Implants were removed due to infection or irritation in 3/6 limbs, while the other 3 limbs had minor dermatitis secondary to postoperative external coaptation. No catastrophic complications occurred. Oblique plane inclined osteotomies led to a successful outcome in all 6 limbs, but the technique can be challenging and does not always lead to optimal alignment. Future refinement of this technique could focus on the development of patient-specific osteotomy guides to improve accuracy and precision. © 2017 The American College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Bikeability and methodological issues using the active commuting route environment scale (ACRES) in a metropolitan setting.

PubMed

Wahlgren, Lina; Schantz, Peter

2011-01-17

Route environments can positively influence people's active commuting and thereby contribute to public health. The Active Commuting Route Environment Scale (ACRES) was developed to study active commuters' perceptions of their route environments. However, bicycle commuters represent a small portion of the population in many cities and thus are difficult to study using population-based material. Therefore, the aim of this study is to expand the state of knowledge concerning the criterion-related validity of the ACRES and the representativity using an advertisement-recruited sample. Furthermore, by comparing commuting route environment profiles of inner urban and suburban areas, we provide a novel basis for understanding the relationship between environment and bikeability. Bicycle commuters from Greater Stockholm, Sweden, advertisement- (n = 1379) and street-recruited (n = 93), responded to the ACRES. Traffic planning and environmental experts from the Municipality of Stockholm (n = 24) responded to a modified version of the ACRES. The criterion-related validity assessments were based on whether or not differences between the inner urban and the suburban route environments, as indicated by the experts and by four existing objective measurements, were reflected by differences in perceptions of these environments. Comparisons of ratings between advertisement- and street-recruited participants were used for the assessments of representativity. Finally, ratings of inner urban and suburban route environments were used to evaluate commuting route environment profiles. Differences in ratings of the inner urban and suburban route environments by the advertisement-recruited participants were in accord with the existing objective measurements and corresponded reasonably well with those of the experts. Overall, there was a reasonably good correspondence between the advertisement- and street-recruited participants' ratings. Distinct differences in commuting route environment profiles were noted between the inner urban and suburban areas. Suburban route environments were rated as safer and more stimulating for bicycle-commuting than the inner urban ones. In general, the findings applied to both men and women. The overall results show: considerable criterion-related validity of the ACRES; ratings of advertisement-recruited participants mirroring those of street-recruited participants; and a higher degree of bikeability in the suburban commuting route environments than in the inner urban ones.

A Survey on an Energy-Efficient and Energy-Balanced Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks.

PubMed

Ogundile, Olayinka O; Alfa, Attahiru S

2017-05-10

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) form an important part of industrial application. There has been growing interest in the potential use of WSNs in applications such as environment monitoring, disaster management, health care monitoring, intelligence surveillance and defence reconnaissance. In these applications, the sensor nodes (SNs) are envisaged to be deployed in sizeable numbers in an outlying area, and it is quite difficult to replace these SNs after complete deployment in many scenarios. Therefore, as SNs are predominantly battery powered devices, the energy consumption of the nodes must be properly managed in order to prolong the network lifetime and functionality to a rational time. Different energy-efficient and energy-balanced routing protocols have been proposed in literature over the years. The energy-efficient routing protocols strive to increase the network lifetime by minimizing the energy consumption in each SN. On the other hand, the energy-balanced routing protocols protract the network lifetime by uniformly balancing the energy consumption among the nodes in the network. There have been various survey papers put forward by researchers to review the performance and classify the different energy-efficient routing protocols for WSNs. However, there seems to be no clear survey emphasizing the importance, concepts, and principles of load-balanced energy routing protocols for WSNs. In this paper, we provide a clear picture of both the energy-efficient and energy-balanced routing protocols for WSNs. More importantly, this paper presents an extensive survey of the different state-of-the-art energy-efficient and energy-balanced routing protocols. A taxonomy is introduced in this paper to classify the surveyed energy-efficient and energy-balanced routing protocols based on their proposed mode of communication towards the base station (BS). In addition, we classified these routing protocols based on the solution types or algorithms, and the input decision variables defined in the routing algorithm. The strengths and weaknesses of the choice of the decision variables used in the design of these energy-efficient and energy-balanced routing protocols are emphasised. Finally, we suggest possible research directions in order to optimize the energy consumption in sensor networks.

A Survey on an Energy-Efficient and Energy-Balanced Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Ogundile, Olayinka O.; Alfa, Attahiru S.

2017-01-01

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) form an important part of industrial application. There has been growing interest in the potential use of WSNs in applications such as environment monitoring, disaster management, health care monitoring, intelligence surveillance and defence reconnaissance. In these applications, the sensor nodes (SNs) are envisaged to be deployed in sizeable numbers in an outlying area, and it is quite difficult to replace these SNs after complete deployment in many scenarios. Therefore, as SNs are predominantly battery powered devices, the energy consumption of the nodes must be properly managed in order to prolong the network lifetime and functionality to a rational time. Different energy-efficient and energy-balanced routing protocols have been proposed in literature over the years. The energy-efficient routing protocols strive to increase the network lifetime by minimizing the energy consumption in each SN. On the other hand, the energy-balanced routing protocols protract the network lifetime by uniformly balancing the energy consumption among the nodes in the network. There have been various survey papers put forward by researchers to review the performance and classify the different energy-efficient routing protocols for WSNs. However, there seems to be no clear survey emphasizing the importance, concepts, and principles of load-balanced energy routing protocols for WSNs. In this paper, we provide a clear picture of both the energy-efficient and energy-balanced routing protocols for WSNs. More importantly, this paper presents an extensive survey of the different state-of-the-art energy-efficient and energy-balanced routing protocols. A taxonomy is introduced in this paper to classify the surveyed energy-efficient and energy-balanced routing protocols based on their proposed mode of communication towards the base station (BS). In addition, we classified these routing protocols based on the solution types or algorithms, and the input decision variables defined in the routing algorithm. The strengths and weaknesses of the choice of the decision variables used in the design of these energy-efficient and energy-balanced routing protocols are emphasised. Finally, we suggest possible research directions in order to optimize the energy consumption in sensor networks. PMID:28489054

Association of professional identity, gender, team understanding, anxiety and workplace learning alignment with burnout in junior doctors: a longitudinal cohort study

PubMed Central

Bullock, Alison; Tseng, Hsu-Min; Wells, Stephanie E

2017-01-01

Objectives To examine how burnout across medical student to junior doctor transition relates to: measures of professional identity, team understanding, anxiety, gender, age and workplace learning (assistantship) alignment to first post. Design A longitudinal 1-year cohort design. Two groups of final-year medical students: (1) those undertaking end-of-year assistantships aligned in location and specialty with their first post and (2) those undertaking assistantships non-aligned. An online questionnaire included: Professional Identity Scale, Team Understanding Scale, modified Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and modified Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. Data were collected on four occasions: (T1) prior to graduation; (T2) 1 month post-transition; (T3) 6 months post-transition and (T4) 10 months post-transition. Questionnaires were analysed individually and using linear mixed-effect models. Setting Medical schools and postgraduate training in one UK country. Participants All aligned assistantship (n=182) and non-aligned assistantship students (n=319) were contacted; n=281 (56%) responded: 68% (n=183) females, 73% (n=206) 22–30 years, 46% aligned (n=129). Completion rates: aligned 72% (93/129) and non-aligned 64% (98/152). Results Analyses of individual scales revealed that self-reported anxiety, professional identity and patient-related burnout were stable, while team understanding, personal and work-related burnout increased, all irrespective of alignment. Three linear mixed-effect models (personal, patient-related and work-related burnout as outcome measures; age and gender as confounding variables) found that males self-reported significantly lower personal, but higher patient-related burnout, than females. Age and team understanding had no effect. Anxiety was significantly positively related and professional identity was significantly negatively related to burnout. Participants experiencing non-aligned assistantships reported higher personal and work-related burnout over time. Conclusions Implications for practice include medical schools’ consideration of an end-of-year workplace alignment with first-post before graduation or an extended shadowing period immediately postgraduation. How best to support undergraduate students’ early professional identity development should be examined. Support systems should be in place across the transition for individuals with a predisposition for anxiety. PMID:29284717

Routing Protocols for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks: Taxonomy, Research Challenges, Routing Strategies and Future Directions.

PubMed

Khan, Anwar; Ali, Ihsan; Ghani, Abdullah; Khan, Nawsher; Alsaqer, Mohammed; Rahman, Atiq Ur; Mahmood, Hasan

2018-05-18

Recent research in underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) has gained the attention of researchers in academia and industry for a number of applications. They include disaster and earthquake prediction, water quality and environment monitoring, leakage and mine detection, military surveillance and underwater navigation. However, the aquatic medium is associated with a number of limitations and challenges: long multipath delay, high interference and noise, harsh environment, low bandwidth and limited battery life of the sensor nodes. These challenges demand research techniques and strategies to be overcome in an efficient and effective fashion. The design of routing protocols for UWSNs is one of the promising solutions to cope with these challenges. This paper presents a survey of the routing protocols for UWSNs. For the ease of description, the addressed routing protocols are classified into two groups: localization-based and localization-free protocols. These groups are further subdivided according to the problems they address or the major parameters they consider during routing. Unlike the existing surveys, this survey considers only the latest and state-of-the-art routing protocols. In addition, every protocol is described in terms of its routing strategy and the problem it addresses and solves. The merit(s) of each protocol is (are) highlighted along with the cost. A description of the protocols in this fashion has a number of advantages for researchers, as compared to the existing surveys. Firstly, the description of the routing strategy of each protocol makes its routing operation easily understandable. Secondly, the demerit(s) of a protocol provides (provide) insight into overcoming its flaw(s) in future investigation. This, in turn, leads to the foundation of new protocols that are more intelligent, robust and efficient with respect to the desired parameters. Thirdly, a protocol can be selected for the appropriate application based on its described merit(s). Finally, open challenges and research directions are presented for future investigation.

Routing Protocols for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks: Taxonomy, Research Challenges, Routing Strategies and Future Directions

PubMed Central

Ghani, Abdullah; Alsaqer, Mohammed; Rahman, Atiq Ur; Mahmood, Hasan

2018-01-01

Recent research in underwater wireless sensor networks (UWSNs) has gained the attention of researchers in academia and industry for a number of applications. They include disaster and earthquake prediction, water quality and environment monitoring, leakage and mine detection, military surveillance and underwater navigation. However, the aquatic medium is associated with a number of limitations and challenges: long multipath delay, high interference and noise, harsh environment, low bandwidth and limited battery life of the sensor nodes. These challenges demand research techniques and strategies to be overcome in an efficient and effective fashion. The design of routing protocols for UWSNs is one of the promising solutions to cope with these challenges. This paper presents a survey of the routing protocols for UWSNs. For the ease of description, the addressed routing protocols are classified into two groups: localization-based and localization-free protocols. These groups are further subdivided according to the problems they address or the major parameters they consider during routing. Unlike the existing surveys, this survey considers only the latest and state-of-the-art routing protocols. In addition, every protocol is described in terms of its routing strategy and the problem it addresses and solves. The merit(s) of each protocol is (are) highlighted along with the cost. A description of the protocols in this fashion has a number of advantages for researchers, as compared to the existing surveys. Firstly, the description of the routing strategy of each protocol makes its routing operation easily understandable. Secondly, the demerit(s) of a protocol provides (provide) insight into overcoming its flaw(s) in future investigation. This, in turn, leads to the foundation of new protocols that are more intelligent, robust and efficient with respect to the desired parameters. Thirdly, a protocol can be selected for the appropriate application based on its described merit(s). Finally, open challenges and research directions are presented for future investigation. PMID:29783686

SMART operational field test evaluation : customer survey report : final report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-06-01

The Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART), which provides both paratransit and fixed-route service in the Detroit metropolitan area, has engaged in a program to update its paratransit operations--which it calls Community Tra...

Incident management assistance patrols - assessment of benefits/costs, route selection, and prioritization : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-09-21

The North Carolina Department of Transportation's (NCDOTs) Incident Management Assistance Patrol (IMAP) program provides a critically important service to North Carolinas traveling public. The highly trained and well-equipped IMAP operators pro...

Route 139 rehabilitation : Pulaski Skyway contract 2 : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2017-06-01

After being outside and exposed to the elements during many years of service, concrete and the reinforcement within begins to deteriorate and corrode, which affects the performance of concrete bridge balustrades, especially those built in the 1930...

Preferential lane use for heavy trucks : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-07-01

Freight movement is vital to the state of Texas and the nation. With several major ports, through-truck routes, and distribution centers, Texas roadways carry millions of tons of freight each year. However, congestion on Texas roadways creates delay ...

Exploring bicycle route choice behavior with space syntax analysis : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-12-31

Cycling provides an environmentally friendly alternative mode of transportation. It improves : urban mobility, livability, and public health, and it also helps in reducing traffic congestion and : emissions. Cycling is gaining popularity both as a re...

77 FR 61825 - Notice of Final Federal Agency Actions on Proposed Highway in Illinois

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-11

.... 139(l)(1). The actions relate to a proposed highway project, Willow Road (FAP 305) between Illinois... in the State of Illinois: reconstruct and widen Willow Road (FAP 305) from Illinois Route 43...

Field precision machining technology of target chamber in ICF lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Yuanli; Wu, Wenkai; Shi, Sucun; Duan, Lin; Chen, Gang; Wang, Baoxu; Song, Yugang; Liu, Huilin; Zhu, Mingzhi

2016-10-01

In ICF lasers, many independent laser beams are required to be positioned on target with a very high degree of accuracy during a shot. The target chamber provides a precision platform and datum reference for final optics assembly and target collimation and location system. The target chamber consists of shell with welded flanges, reinforced concrete pedestal, and lateral support structure. The field precision machining technology of target chamber in ICF lasers have been developed based on ShenGuangIII (SGIII). The same center of the target chamber is adopted in the process of design, fabrication, and alignment. The technologies of beam collimation and datum reference transformation are developed for the fabrication, positioning and adjustment of target chamber. A supporting and rotating mechanism and a special drilling machine are developed to bore the holes of ports. An adjustment mechanism is designed to accurately position the target chamber. In order to ensure the collimation requirements of the beam leading and focusing and the target positioning, custom-machined spacers are used to accurately correct the alignment error of the ports. Finally, this paper describes the chamber center, orientation, and centering alignment error measurements of SGIII. The measurements show the field precision machining of SGIII target chamber meet its design requirement. These information can be used on similar systems.

Monitoring the effects of Birmingham Northern Beltline construction in the Little Cahaba Creek Watershed : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2016-05-01

The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) has proactively aligned new roadway development : projects with sustainable principles, including roadway stormwater runoff management. The new Birmingham : Northern Beltline (BNB), currently under con...

75 FR 4528 - Certain Magnesia Carbon Bricks From the People's Republic of China: Alignment of Final...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-28

... determination. See Certain Magnesia Carbon Bricks From the People's Republic of China: Preliminary Negative... circumstances included the Department's partial or full closure during the five-day period after the CVD...

Fabrication and characterization of biomimetic ceramic/polymer composite materials for dental restoration.

PubMed

Petrini, Morena; Ferrante, Maurizio; Su, Bo

2013-04-01

Conventional dental composites with randomly dispersed inorganic particles within a polymer matrix fail to recapitulate the aligned and anisotropic structure of the dentin and enamel. The aim of the study was to produce a biomimetic composite consisting of a ceramic preform with graded and continuously aligned open pores, infiltrated with epoxy resin. The freeze casting technique was used to obtain the hierarchically structured architecture of the ceramic preforms. Optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and differential thermal analysis and thermogravimetry (TG-DTA) were used to characterize the samples. Three point bending test and compression test were also performed. All analysis confirmed that the biomimetic composite was characterized by a multi-level hierarchical structure along the freezing direction. In the bottom layers close to the cooling plate (up to 2mm thick), a randomly packed ceramic with closed pores were formed, which resulted in incomplete infiltration with resin and resultant poor mechanical propertiesof the composite. Above 2mm, all ceramic samples showed an aligned structure with an increasing lamellae spacing (wavelength) and a decreasing wall thickness. Mechanical tests showed that the properties of the composites made from ceramic preforms above 2mm from cooling plate are similar to those of the dentin. The fabrication processing reported in this work offers a viable route for the fabrication of biomimetic composites, which could be potentially used in a range of dental restorations to compete with the current dental composites and ceramics. Copyright © 2012 Academy of Dental Materials. All rights reserved.

Chimpanzee ‘folk physics’: bringing failures into focus

PubMed Central

Seed, Amanda; Seddon, Eleanor; Greene, Bláthnaid; Call, Josep

2012-01-01

Differences between individuals are the raw material from which theories of the evolution and ontogeny of cognition are built. For example, when 4-year-old children pass a test requiring them to communicate the content of another's falsely held belief, while 3-year-olds fail, we know that something must change over the course of the third year of life. In the search for what develops or evolves, the typical route is to probe the extents and limits of successful individuals' ability. Another is to focus on those that failed, and find out what difference or lack prevented them from passing the task. Recent research in developmental psychology has harnessed individual differences to illuminate the cognitive mechanisms that emerge to enable success. We apply this approach to explaining some of the failures made by chimpanzees when using tools to solve problems. Twelve of 16 chimpanzees failed to discriminate between a complete and a broken tool when, after being set down, the ends of the broken one were aligned in front of them. There was a correlation between performance on this aligned task and another in which after being set down, the centre of both tools was covered, suggesting that the limiting factor was not the representation of connection, but memory or attention. Some chimpanzees that passed the aligned task passed a task in which the location of the broken tool was never visible but had to be inferred. PMID:22927573

Using Grey Wolf Algorithm to Solve the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Korayem, L.; Khorsid, M.; Kassem, S. S.

2015-05-01

The capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP) is a class of the vehicle routing problems (VRPs). In CVRP a set of identical vehicles having fixed capacities are required to fulfill customers' demands for a single commodity. The main objective is to minimize the total cost or distance traveled by the vehicles while satisfying a number of constraints, such as: the capacity constraint of each vehicle, logical flow constraints, etc. One of the methods employed in solving the CVRP is the cluster-first route-second method. It is a technique based on grouping of customers into a number of clusters, where each cluster is served by one vehicle. Once clusters are formed, a route determining the best sequence to visit customers is established within each cluster. The recently bio-inspired grey wolf optimizer (GWO), introduced in 2014, has proven to be efficient in solving unconstrained, as well as, constrained optimization problems. In the current research, our main contributions are: combining GWO with the traditional K-means clustering algorithm to generate the ‘K-GWO’ algorithm, deriving a capacitated version of the K-GWO algorithm by incorporating a capacity constraint into the aforementioned algorithm, and finally, developing 2 new clustering heuristics. The resulting algorithm is used in the clustering phase of the cluster-first route-second method to solve the CVR problem. The algorithm is tested on a number of benchmark problems with encouraging results.

Automated assembly of camera modules using active alignment with up to six degrees of freedom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bräuniger, K.; Stickler, D.; Winters, D.; Volmer, C.; Jahn, M.; Krey, S.

2014-03-01

With the upcoming Ultra High Definition (UHD) cameras, the accurate alignment of optical systems with respect to the UHD image sensor becomes increasingly important. Even with a perfect objective lens, the image quality will deteriorate when it is poorly aligned to the sensor. For evaluating the imaging quality the Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) is used as the most accepted test. In the first part it is described how the alignment errors that lead to a low imaging quality can be measured. Collimators with crosshair at defined field positions or a test chart are used as object generators for infinite-finite or respectively finite-finite conjugation. The process how to align the image sensor accurately to the optical system will be described. The focus position, shift, tilt and rotation of the image sensor are automatically corrected to obtain an optimized MTF for all field positions including the center. The software algorithm to grab images, calculate the MTF and adjust the image sensor in six degrees of freedom within less than 30 seconds per UHD camera module is described. The resulting accuracy of the image sensor rotation is better than 2 arcmin and the accuracy position alignment in x,y,z is better 2 μm. Finally, the process of gluing and UV-curing is described and how it is managed in the integrated process.

Precise 3D Lug Pose Detection Sensor for Automatic Robot Welding Using a Structured-Light Vision System

PubMed Central

Park, Jae Byung; Lee, Seung Hun; Lee, Il Jae

2009-01-01

In this study, we propose a precise 3D lug pose detection sensor for automatic robot welding of a lug to a huge steel plate used in shipbuilding, where the lug is a handle to carry the huge steel plate. The proposed sensor consists of a camera and four laser line diodes, and its design parameters are determined by analyzing its detectable range and resolution. For the lug pose acquisition, four laser lines are projected on both lug and plate, and the projected lines are detected by the camera. For robust detection of the projected lines against the illumination change, the vertical threshold, thinning, Hough transform and separated Hough transform algorithms are successively applied to the camera image. The lug pose acquisition is carried out by two stages: the top view alignment and the side view alignment. The top view alignment is to detect the coarse lug pose relatively far from the lug, and the side view alignment is to detect the fine lug pose close to the lug. After the top view alignment, the robot is controlled to move close to the side of the lug for the side view alignment. By this way, the precise 3D lug pose can be obtained. Finally, experiments with the sensor prototype are carried out to verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed sensor. PMID:22400007

James Webb Space Telescope: Frequently Asked Questions for Scientists and Engineers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gardner, Jonathan P.

2008-01-01

JWST will be tested incrementally during its construction, starting with individual mirrors and instruments (including cameras and spectrometers) and building up to the full observatory. JWST's mirrors and the telescope structure are first each tested individually, including optical testing of the mirrors and alignment testing of the structure inside a cold thermal-vacuum chamber. The mirrors are then installed on the telescope structure in a clean room at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). In parallel to the telescope assembly and alignment, the instruments are being built and tested, again first individually, and then as part of an integrated instrument assembly. The integrated instrument assembly will be tested in a thermal-vacuum chamber at GSFC using an optical simulator of the telescope. This testing makes sure the instruments are properly aligned relative to each other and also provides an independent check of the individual tests. After both the telescope and the integrated instrument module are successfully assembled, the integrated instrument module will be installed onto the telescope, and the combined system will be sent to Johnson Space Flight Center (JSC) where it will be optically tested in one of the JSC chambers. The process includes testing the 18 primary mirror segments acting as a single primary mirror, and testing the end-to-end system. The final system test will assure that the combined telescope and instruments are focused and aligned properly, and that the alignment, once in space, will be within the range of the actively controlled optics. In general, the individual optical tests of instruments and mirrors are the most accurate. The final system tests provide a cost-effective check that no major problem has occurred during assembly. In addition, independent optical checks of earlier tests will be made as the full system is assembled, providing confidence that there are no major problems.

Understanding congested travel in urban areas

PubMed Central

Çolak, Serdar; Lima, Antonio; González, Marta C.

2016-01-01

Rapid urbanization and increasing demand for transportation burdens urban road infrastructures. The interplay of number of vehicles and available road capacity on their routes determines the level of congestion. Although approaches to modify demand and capacity exist, the possible limits of congestion alleviation by only modifying route choices have not been systematically studied. Here we couple the road networks of five diverse cities with the travel demand profiles in the morning peak hour obtained from billions of mobile phone traces to comprehensively analyse urban traffic. We present that a dimensionless ratio of the road supply to the travel demand explains the percentage of time lost in congestion. Finally, we examine congestion relief under a centralized routing scheme with varying levels of awareness of social good and quantify the benefits to show that moderate levels are enough to achieve significant collective travel time savings. PMID:26978719

Understanding congested travel in urban areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Çolak, Serdar; Lima, Antonio; González, Marta C.

2016-03-01

Rapid urbanization and increasing demand for transportation burdens urban road infrastructures. The interplay of number of vehicles and available road capacity on their routes determines the level of congestion. Although approaches to modify demand and capacity exist, the possible limits of congestion alleviation by only modifying route choices have not been systematically studied. Here we couple the road networks of five diverse cities with the travel demand profiles in the morning peak hour obtained from billions of mobile phone traces to comprehensively analyse urban traffic. We present that a dimensionless ratio of the road supply to the travel demand explains the percentage of time lost in congestion. Finally, we examine congestion relief under a centralized routing scheme with varying levels of awareness of social good and quantify the benefits to show that moderate levels are enough to achieve significant collective travel time savings.

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

Kassen, Aaron G.; White, Emma M. H.; Tang, Wei

We present economic uncertainty in the rare earth (RE) permanent magnet marketplace, as well as in an expanding electric drive vehicle market that favors permanent magnet alternating current synchronous drive motors, motivated renewed research in RE-free permanent magnets like “alnico,” an Al-Ni-Co-Fe alloy. Thus, high-pressure, gas-atomized isotropic type-8H pre-alloyed alnico powder was compression molded with a clean burn-out binder to near-final shape and sintered to density >99% of cast alnico 8 (full density of 7.3 g/cm 3). To produce aligned sintered alnico magnets for improved energy product and magnetic remanence, uniaxial stress was attempted to promote controlled grain growth, avoidingmore » directional solidification that provides alignment in alnico 9. Lastly, successful development of solid-state powder processing may enable anisotropically aligned alnico magnets with enhanced energy density to be mass-produced.« less

Do singing-ground surveys reflect american woodcock abundance in the western Great Lakes region?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Matthew R. Nelson,; Andersen, David E.

2013-01-01

The Singing-ground Survey (SGS) is the primary monitoring tool used to assess population status and trends of American woodcock (Scolopax minor). Like most broad-scale surveys, the SGS cannot be directly validated because there are no independent estimates of abundance of displaying male American woodcock at an appropriate spatial scale. Furthermore, because locations of individual SGS routes have generally remained stationary since the SGS was standardized in 1968, it is not known whether routes adequately represent the landscapes they were intended to represent. To indirectly validate the SGS, we evaluated whether 1) counts of displaying male American woodcock on SGS routes related to land-cover types known to be related to American woodcock abundance, 2) changes in counts of displaying male American woodcock through time were related to changes in land cover along SGS routes, and 3) land-cover type composition along SGS routes was similar to land-cover type composition of the surrounding landscape. In Wisconsin and Minnesota, USA, counts along SGS routes reflected known American woodcock-habitat relations. Increases in the number of woodcock heard along SGS routes over a 13-year period in Wisconsin were related to increasing amounts of early successional forest, decreasing amounts of mature forest, and increasing dispersion and interspersion of cover types. Finally, the cover types most strongly associated with American woodcock abundance were represented along SGS routes in proportion to their composition of the broader landscape. Taken together, these results suggest that in the western Great Lakes region, the SGS likely provides a reliable tool for monitoring relative abundance and population trends of breeding, male American woodcock.

L-GRAAL: Lagrangian graphlet-based network aligner.

PubMed

Malod-Dognin, Noël; Pržulj, Nataša

2015-07-01

Discovering and understanding patterns in networks of protein-protein interactions (PPIs) is a central problem in systems biology. Alignments between these networks aid functional understanding as they uncover important information, such as evolutionary conserved pathways, protein complexes and functional orthologs. A few methods have been proposed for global PPI network alignments, but because of NP-completeness of underlying sub-graph isomorphism problem, producing topologically and biologically accurate alignments remains a challenge. We introduce a novel global network alignment tool, Lagrangian GRAphlet-based ALigner (L-GRAAL), which directly optimizes both the protein and the interaction functional conservations, using a novel alignment search heuristic based on integer programming and Lagrangian relaxation. We compare L-GRAAL with the state-of-the-art network aligners on the largest available PPI networks from BioGRID and observe that L-GRAAL uncovers the largest common sub-graphs between the networks, as measured by edge-correctness and symmetric sub-structures scores, which allow transferring more functional information across networks. We assess the biological quality of the protein mappings using the semantic similarity of their Gene Ontology annotations and observe that L-GRAAL best uncovers functionally conserved proteins. Furthermore, we introduce for the first time a measure of the semantic similarity of the mapped interactions and show that L-GRAAL also uncovers best functionally conserved interactions. In addition, we illustrate on the PPI networks of baker's yeast and human the ability of L-GRAAL to predict new PPIs. Finally, L-GRAAL's results are the first to show that topological information is more important than sequence information for uncovering functionally conserved interactions. L-GRAAL is coded in C++. Software is available at: http://bio-nets.doc.ic.ac.uk/L-GRAAL/. n.malod-dognin@imperial.ac.uk Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

A survey and evaluations of histogram-based statistics in alignment-free sequence comparison.

PubMed

Luczak, Brian B; James, Benjamin T; Girgis, Hani Z

2017-12-06

Since the dawn of the bioinformatics field, sequence alignment scores have been the main method for comparing sequences. However, alignment algorithms are quadratic, requiring long execution time. As alternatives, scientists have developed tens of alignment-free statistics for measuring the similarity between two sequences. We surveyed tens of alignment-free k-mer statistics. Additionally, we evaluated 33 statistics and multiplicative combinations between the statistics and/or their squares. These statistics are calculated on two k-mer histograms representing two sequences. Our evaluations using global alignment scores revealed that the majority of the statistics are sensitive and capable of finding similar sequences to a query sequence. Therefore, any of these statistics can filter out dissimilar sequences quickly. Further, we observed that multiplicative combinations of the statistics are highly correlated with the identity score. Furthermore, combinations involving sequence length difference or Earth Mover's distance, which takes the length difference into account, are always among the highest correlated paired statistics with identity scores. Similarly, paired statistics including length difference or Earth Mover's distance are among the best performers in finding the K-closest sequences. Interestingly, similar performance can be obtained using histograms of shorter words, resulting in reducing the memory requirement and increasing the speed remarkably. Moreover, we found that simple single statistics are sufficient for processing next-generation sequencing reads and for applications relying on local alignment. Finally, we measured the time requirement of each statistic. The survey and the evaluations will help scientists with identifying efficient alternatives to the costly alignment algorithm, saving thousands of computational hours. The source code of the benchmarking tool is available as Supplementary Materials. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Communication: Three-fold covariance imaging of laser-induced Coulomb explosions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pickering, James D.; Amini, Kasra; Brouard, Mark; Burt, Michael; Bush, Ian J.; Christensen, Lauge; Lauer, Alexandra; Nielsen, Jens H.; Slater, Craig S.; Stapelfeldt, Henrik

2016-04-01

We apply a three-fold covariance imaging method to analyse previously acquired data [C. S. Slater et al., Phys. Rev. A 89, 011401(R) (2014)] on the femtosecond laser-induced Coulomb explosion of spatially pre-aligned 3,5-dibromo-3',5'-difluoro-4'-cyanobiphenyl molecules. The data were acquired using the "Pixel Imaging Mass Spectrometry" camera. We show how three-fold covariance imaging of ionic photofragment recoil trajectories can be used to provide new information about the parent ion's molecular structure prior to its Coulomb explosion. In particular, we show how the analysis may be used to obtain information about molecular conformation and provide an alternative route for enantiomer determination.

Mn-silicide nanostructures aligned on massively parallel silicon nano-ribbons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Padova, Paola; Ottaviani, Carlo; Ronci, Fabio; Colonna, Stefano; Olivieri, Bruno; Quaresima, Claudio; Cricenti, Antonio; Dávila, Maria E.; Hennies, Franz; Pietzsch, Annette; Shariati, Nina; Le Lay, Guy

2013-01-01

The growth of Mn nanostructures on a 1D grating of silicon nano-ribbons is investigated at atomic scale by means of scanning tunneling microscopy, low energy electron diffraction and core level photoelectron spectroscopy. The grating of silicon nano-ribbons represents an atomic scale template that can be used in a surface-driven route to control the combination of Si with Mn in the development of novel materials for spintronics devices. The Mn atoms show a preferential adsorption site on silicon atoms, forming one-dimensional nanostructures. They are parallel oriented with respect to the surface Si array, which probably predetermines the diffusion pathways of the Mn atoms during the process of nanostructure formation.

Automatic Data Traffic Control on DSM Architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frumkin, Michael; Jin, Hao-Qiang; Yan, Jerry; Kwak, Dochan (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

We study data traffic on distributed shared memory machines and conclude that data placement and grouping improve performance of scientific codes. We present several methods which user can employ to improve data traffic in his code. We report on implementation of a tool which detects the code fragments causing data congestions and advises user on improvements of data routing in these fragments. The capabilities of the tool include deduction of data alignment and affinity from the source code; detection of the code constructs having abnormally high cache or TLB misses; generation of data placement constructs. We demonstrate the capabilities of the tool on experiments with NAS parallel benchmarks and with a simple computational fluid dynamics application ARC3D.

Mn-silicide nanostructures aligned on massively parallel silicon nano-ribbons.

PubMed

De Padova, Paola; Ottaviani, Carlo; Ronci, Fabio; Colonna, Stefano; Olivieri, Bruno; Quaresima, Claudio; Cricenti, Antonio; Dávila, Maria E; Hennies, Franz; Pietzsch, Annette; Shariati, Nina; Le Lay, Guy

2013-01-09

The growth of Mn nanostructures on a 1D grating of silicon nano-ribbons is investigated at atomic scale by means of scanning tunneling microscopy, low energy electron diffraction and core level photoelectron spectroscopy. The grating of silicon nano-ribbons represents an atomic scale template that can be used in a surface-driven route to control the combination of Si with Mn in the development of novel materials for spintronics devices. The Mn atoms show a preferential adsorption site on silicon atoms, forming one-dimensional nanostructures. They are parallel oriented with respect to the surface Si array, which probably predetermines the diffusion pathways of the Mn atoms during the process of nanostructure formation.

78 FR 17350 - Certain Frozen Fish Fillets From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Final Results of Antidumping...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-21

...The Department of Commerce (``the Department'') published the Preliminary Results of the eighth administrative review and aligned new shipper reviews on certain frozen fish fillets from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (``Vietnam'') on September 12, 2012.\\1\\ We gave interested parties an opportunity to comment on the Preliminary Results. Based upon our analysis of the comments and information received, we made changes to the margin calculations for these final results. The final dumping margins are listed below in the ``Final Results of the Administrative Reviews'' section of this notice. The period of review (``POR'') is August 1, 2010, through July 31, 2011. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Low track height standard-cells enable high-placement density and low-BEOL cost (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Debacker, Peter; Matti, Luca; Sherazi, Syed M. Y.; Baert, Rogier; Gerousis, Vassilios; Nauts, Claire; Raghavan, Praveen; Ryckaert, Julien; Kim, Ryoung-Han; Verkest, Diederik

2017-04-01

Making standards cells smaller by lowering the cell height from 7.5 tracks to 6 tracks for the same set of ground rules is an efficient way to reduce area for high density digital IP blocks without increasing wafer cost. Denser cells however also imply a higher pin density and possible more routing congestion because of that. In Place and Route phase, this limits the cell density (a.k.a. utilization) that can be reached without design rule violations. This study shows that 6-track cells (192nm high) and smart routing results in up to 60% lower area than 7.5-track cells in N5 technology. Standard cells have been created for 7.5T and 6T cells in N5 technology (poly pitch 42nm, metal pitch 32nm). The cells use a first horizontal routing layer (Mint) and vertical M1 for 1D intra-cell routing as much as possible. Place and route was performed on an opencores LDPC decoder. Various cell architectures and place and route optimizations are used to scale down the cell area and improve density. Most are not process optimizations, but optimized cell architectures and routing methods: • Open M1: M1 is removed as much as possible. This allows the router to use M1 for inter-cell routing in dense areas. • Routing in Mint: With open M1 the router can also use Mint to extend pins to access nearby free M1 tracks in congested areas. • Outbound rail: The 7.5T cells have inbound VDD/VSS rails in Mint for easy supply tapping. Moving the Mint rail outbound and shared between cells is required to enable lower track height cells. • Vertical Power distribution network (PDN): in 6T cells too many horizontal tracks would be consumed by the wide M2 rail. Mint is used instead combined with a vertical PDN in M1. • Self-Aligned Gate Contact allows to contact the gate on top of active fins. Any Mint track then can contact a gate, reducing cell area considerably. • Partially landing Mint Via trench: In 6T cells, a continuous Via trench underneath the Mint rail is used. This via partially lands on M0A to relax tip-to-tip requirements. • Relaxed M2 pitch: When pin access is handled in Mint and M1, this allows for a relaxed M2 pitch (48nm) with cheaper double patterning. To avoid horizontal routing layer congestion with the smaller cells, the 6T cells depend on the vertical PDN and open M1 to improve routability and pin access. Already in 7.5T cells, open M1 and vertical PDN help to improve routable utilization from 50% with closed M1 to 85% maximum. Moving to 6T cells, the combination of reduced cell area and high 85% utilization of result in a 60% area reduction vs the original 7.5T cells. We have shown that combining 6-track cells and smart routing results in up to 60% lower area than 7.5-track cells in N5 technology. Open M1 and vertical PDN are main area boosters for any cell architecture, boosting utilization from 50% to 85% already for the 7.5T cells.

Wavelength routing beyond the standard graph coloring approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blankenhorn, Thomas

2004-04-01

When lightpaths are routed in the planning stage of transparent optical networks, the textbook approach is to use algorithms that try to minimize the overall number of wavelengths used in the . We demonstrate that this method cannot be expected to minimize actual costs when the marginal cost of instlling more wavelengths is a declining function of the number of wavelengths already installed, as is frequently the case. We further demonstrate how cost optimization can theoretically be improved with algorithms based on Prim"s algorithm. Finally, we test this theory with simulaion on a series of actual network topologies, which confirm the theoretical analysis.

Approximate static condensation algorithm for solving multi-material diffusion problems on meshes non-aligned with material interfaces

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

Kikinzon, Evgeny; Kuznetsov, Yuri; Lipnikov, Konstatin

In this study, we describe a new algorithm for solving multi-material diffusion problem when material interfaces are not aligned with the mesh. In this case interface reconstruction methods are used to construct approximate representation of interfaces between materials. They produce so-called multi-material cells, in which materials are represented by material polygons that contain only one material. The reconstructed interface is not continuous between cells. Finally, we suggest the new method for solving multi-material diffusion problems on such meshes and compare its performance with known homogenization methods.

Approximate static condensation algorithm for solving multi-material diffusion problems on meshes non-aligned with material interfaces

DOE PAGES

Kikinzon, Evgeny; Kuznetsov, Yuri; Lipnikov, Konstatin; ...

2017-07-08

In this study, we describe a new algorithm for solving multi-material diffusion problem when material interfaces are not aligned with the mesh. In this case interface reconstruction methods are used to construct approximate representation of interfaces between materials. They produce so-called multi-material cells, in which materials are represented by material polygons that contain only one material. The reconstructed interface is not continuous between cells. Finally, we suggest the new method for solving multi-material diffusion problems on such meshes and compare its performance with known homogenization methods.

Use of Deo's classification system on rock : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1983-01-01

A shale from a construction site on Route 23 in Wise County, Virginia, was classified using Deo's classification system, and the usefulness of the classification system was evaluated. In addition, rock that had previously been used in the development...

Ohio Route 50 joint sealant experiment.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-03-01

This is the third and Final Report for a research project that entailed the construction and evaluation to date of a stretch of a four-lane highway near Athens, Ohio. The main purpose of this project has been to evaluate concrete pavement performance...

39 CFR 3050.24 - Documentation supporting estimates of costs avoided by worksharing and other mail characteristics...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Computer Reader finalization costs, cost per image, and Remote Bar Code Sorter leakage; (8) Percentage of... processing units costs for Carrier Route, High Density, and Saturation mail; (j) Mail processing unit costs...

39 CFR 3050.24 - Documentation supporting estimates of costs avoided by worksharing and other mail characteristics...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... Computer Reader finalization costs, cost per image, and Remote Bar Code Sorter leakage; (8) Percentage of... processing units costs for Carrier Route, High Density, and Saturation mail; (j) Mail processing unit costs...

39 CFR 3050.24 - Documentation supporting estimates of costs avoided by worksharing and other mail characteristics...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... Computer Reader finalization costs, cost per image, and Remote Bar Code Sorter leakage; (8) Percentage of... processing units costs for Carrier Route, High Density, and Saturation mail; (j) Mail processing unit costs...

39 CFR 3050.24 - Documentation supporting estimates of costs avoided by worksharing and other mail characteristics...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... Computer Reader finalization costs, cost per image, and Remote Bar Code Sorter leakage; (8) Percentage of... processing units costs for Carrier Route, High Density, and Saturation mail; (j) Mail processing unit costs...

39 CFR 3050.24 - Documentation supporting estimates of costs avoided by worksharing and other mail characteristics...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... Computer Reader finalization costs, cost per image, and Remote Bar Code Sorter leakage; (8) Percentage of... processing units costs for Carrier Route, High Density, and Saturation mail; (j) Mail processing unit costs...

Study Of The Feasibility And Design Configuration For In-Vehicle Route Guidance, Volume II: Final Report

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2000-03-01

Procurement of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) projects using Federal-aid funds can present challenges that are not typically observed in traditional transportation projects. Many roadway improvement projects involve the two-step "Design-Bid-...

Simulation analysis of route diversion strategies for freeway incident management : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-02-01

The purpose of this project was to investigate whether simulation models could : be used as decision aids for defining traffic diversion strategies for effective : incident management. A methodology was developed for using such a model to : determine...

Magnetospheric space plasma investigations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Comfort, Richard H.; Horwitz, James L.

1996-01-01

The discussion in this final report is limited to a summary of important accomplishments. These accomplishments include the generalized semikinetic (GSK) model, O(+) outflows in the F-region ionosphere, field-aligned flows and trapped ion distributions, ULF wave ray-tracing, and plasmasphere-ionosphere coupling.

Enabling the Future Force: The Use of Regional Alignment, Mission Command and Cultural Competence to Create an Operationally Adaptive Army

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-22

Associate Director of the Intercultural Communication Institute, explained that the degree of inter-cultural competence depends on the acquired degree of the...defined to explain the role of culture, cultural competence, and inter- cultural communications . Finally, the United States’ Operation Blacklist and...competence, and inter-cultural communications . Finally, the United States’ Operation Blacklist and Strategic Hamlet Plans of the Japanese Occupation

3D patterned substrates for bioartificial blood vessels - The effect of hydrogels on aligned cells on a biomaterial surface.

PubMed

Zhao, Xinxin; Irvine, Scott Alexander; Agrawal, Animesh; Cao, Ye; Lim, Pei Qi; Tan, Si Ying; Venkatraman, Subbu S

2015-10-01

The optimal bio-artificial blood vessel construct is one that has a compliant tubular core with circumferentially aligned smooth muscle cells (SMCs). Obtaining this well-aligned pattern of SMCs on a scaffold is highly beneficial as this cellular orientation preserves the SMC contractile phenotype. We used 3D patterning to create channels on a polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold; SMCs were then found to be aligned within the microchannels. To preserve this alignment, and to provide a protective coating that could further incorporate cells, we evaluated the use of two hydrogels, one based on poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) and the other based on gelatin. Hydrogels were either physically coated on the PCL surfaces or covalently linked via suitable surface modification of PCL. For covalent immobilization of PEGDA hydrogel, alkene groups were introduced on PCL, while for gelatin covalent linkage, serum proteins were introduced. It is, however, crucial that the hydrogel coating does not disrupt the cellular patterning and distribution. We show in this work that both the process of coating as well as the nature of the coating are critical to preservation of the aligned SMCs. The covalent coating methods involving the crosslinking of hydrogels with the surface of PCL films promoted hydrogel retention time on the film as compared with physical deposition. Furthermore, subsequent hydrogel degradation is affected by the components of the cell culture medium, hinting at a possible route to in vivo biodegradation. Surface features control cellular orientation and subsequently influence their functionality, a useful effect for cellularized biomedical devices. Such devices also can benefit from protective and cell friendly hydrogel coatings. However, literature is lacking on the fate of cells that have endured hydrogel coating whilst orientated on a biomaterial surface. In particular, elucidation of the cells ability to remain adherent and orientated post hydrogel addition. Coating requires two procedures that may be deleterious to the orientated cells: the surface pretreatment for gel binding and the hydrogel crosslinking reaction. We compare transglutaminase gelatin crosslinking and UV initiated PEGDA crosslinking, coated onto smooth muscle cells orientated on patterned PCL surfaces. This original study will be of considerable use to the wider biomaterials community. Copyright © 2015 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Multiple sequence alignment using multi-objective based bacterial foraging optimization algorithm.

PubMed

Rani, R Ranjani; Ramyachitra, D

2016-12-01

Multiple sequence alignment (MSA) is a widespread approach in computational biology and bioinformatics. MSA deals with how the sequences of nucleotides and amino acids are sequenced with possible alignment and minimum number of gaps between them, which directs to the functional, evolutionary and structural relationships among the sequences. Still the computation of MSA is a challenging task to provide an efficient accuracy and statistically significant results of alignments. In this work, the Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm was employed to align the biological sequences which resulted in a non-dominated optimal solution. It employs Multi-objective, such as: Maximization of Similarity, Non-gap percentage, Conserved blocks and Minimization of gap penalty. BAliBASE 3.0 benchmark database was utilized to examine the proposed algorithm against other methods In this paper, two algorithms have been proposed: Hybrid Genetic Algorithm with Artificial Bee Colony (GA-ABC) and Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm. It was found that Hybrid Genetic Algorithm with Artificial Bee Colony performed better than the existing optimization algorithms. But still the conserved blocks were not obtained using GA-ABC. Then BFO was used for the alignment and the conserved blocks were obtained. The proposed Multi-Objective Bacterial Foraging Optimization Algorithm (MO-BFO) was compared with widely used MSA methods Clustal Omega, Kalign, MUSCLE, MAFFT, Genetic Algorithm (GA), Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), Artificial Bee Colony (ABC), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Hybrid Genetic Algorithm with Artificial Bee Colony (GA-ABC). The final results show that the proposed MO-BFO algorithm yields better alignment than most widely used methods. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

AlignMiner: a Web-based tool for detection of divergent regions in multiple sequence alignments of conserved sequences

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Multiple sequence alignments are used to study gene or protein function, phylogenetic relations, genome evolution hypotheses and even gene polymorphisms. Virtually without exception, all available tools focus on conserved segments or residues. Small divergent regions, however, are biologically important for specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction, genotyping, molecular markers and preparation of specific antibodies, and yet have received little attention. As a consequence, they must be selected empirically by the researcher. AlignMiner has been developed to fill this gap in bioinformatic analyses. Results AlignMiner is a Web-based application for detection of conserved and divergent regions in alignments of conserved sequences, focusing particularly on divergence. It accepts alignments (protein or nucleic acid) obtained using any of a variety of algorithms, which does not appear to have a significant impact on the final results. AlignMiner uses different scoring methods for assessing conserved/divergent regions, Entropy being the method that provides the highest number of regions with the greatest length, and Weighted being the most restrictive. Conserved/divergent regions can be generated either with respect to the consensus sequence or to one master sequence. The resulting data are presented in a graphical interface developed in AJAX, which provides remarkable user interaction capabilities. Users do not need to wait until execution is complete and can.even inspect their results on a different computer. Data can be downloaded onto a user disk, in standard formats. In silico and experimental proof-of-concept cases have shown that AlignMiner can be successfully used to designing specific polymerase chain reaction primers as well as potential epitopes for antibodies. Primer design is assisted by a module that deploys several oligonucleotide parameters for designing primers "on the fly". Conclusions AlignMiner can be used to reliably detect divergent regions via several scoring methods that provide different levels of selectivity. Its predictions have been verified by experimental means. Hence, it is expected that its usage will save researchers' time and ensure an objective selection of the best-possible divergent region when closely related sequences are analysed. AlignMiner is freely available at http://www.scbi.uma.es/alignminer. PMID:20525162

Flexible Multiferroic Bulk Heterojunction with Giant Magnetoelectric Coupling via van der Waals Epitaxy

DOE PAGES

Amrillah, Tahta; Bitla, Yugandhar; Shin, Kwangwoo; ...

2017-05-22

Magnetoelectric nanocomposites have been a topic of intense research due to their profound potential in the applications of electronic devices based on spintronic technology. Nevertheless, in spite of significant progress made in the growth of high-quality nanocomposite thin films, the substrate clamping effect still remains a major hurdle in realizing the ultimate magnetoelectric coupling. To overcome this obstacle, an alternative strategy of fabricating a self-assembled ferroelectric–ferrimagnetic bulk heterojunction on a flexible muscovite via van der Waals epitaxy is adopted. In this paper, we investigated the magnetoelectric coupling in a self-assembled BiFeO 3 (BFO)–CoFe 2O 4 (CFO) bulk heterojunction epitaxially grownmore » on a flexible muscovite substrate. The obtained heterojunction is composed of vertically aligned multiferroic BFO nanopillars embedded in a ferrimagnetic CFO matrix. Moreover, due to the weak interaction between the flexible substrate and bulk heterojunction, the interface is incoherent and, hence, the substrate clamping effect is greatly reduced. The phase-field simulation model also complements our results. The magnetic and electrical characterizations highlight the improvement in magnetoelectric coupling of the BFO–CFO bulk heterojunction. A magnetoelectric coupling coefficient of 74 mV/cm·Oe of this bulk heterojunction is larger than the magnetoelectric coefficient reported earlier on flexible substrates. Finally and therefore, this study delivers a viable route of fabricating a remarkable magnetoelectric heterojunction and yet flexible electronic devices that are robust against extreme conditions with optimized performance.« less

Regionalized and vectorial charges transferring of Cd1-xZnxS twin nanocrystal homojunctions for visible-light driven photocatalytic applications.

PubMed

Dong, Wanyue; Liu, Yutang; Zeng, Guangming; Zhang, Shuqu; Cai, Tao; Yuan, Jili; Chen, Hui; Gao, Jing; Liu, Chengbin

2018-05-15

In photocatalyst designing, quick recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pairs in the bulk or on the surface of semiconductors is a major limiting factor in achieving high photocatalytic efficiency, which is one of the most knotty scientific issues. For this purpose, a series of Cd 1-x Zn x S twin nanocrystal (NC) zinc blende/wurtzite (ZB/WZ) homojunctions photocatalysts were synthesized by a facile solvothermal route and innovatively employed in photocatalytic degradation. In sample Cd 0.6 Zn 0.4 S, ZB and WZ phases have the largest distribution and closest interconnection at atomic level. The type-II staggered band alignment formed between two phases made photo-generated electrons and holes spatially separated to ZB (away from twin plane) and WZ (to twin plane) regions, and the ordered arrangement of redox reaction's active sites was then realized inside a single semiconductor. Finally, photocatalytic activities of the samples were evaluated by degradation of methylene blue (MB) upon visible light irradiation. The optimal Cd 0.6 Zn 0.4 S NCs without any co-catalyst loading showed high photocatalytic activity with degradation efficiency of 95% in 80 min and performed excellent photostability. Furthermore, photocatalytic degradation and electron transfer mechanisms in Cd 0.6 Zn 0.4 S twin NCs are studied particularly. Inner twin structure homojunction has provided a new insight into the crystalline phase engineering. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Flexible Multiferroic Bulk Heterojunction with Giant Magnetoelectric Coupling via van der Waals Epitaxy

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

Amrillah, Tahta; Bitla, Yugandhar; Shin, Kwangwoo

Magnetoelectric nanocomposites have been a topic of intense research due to their profound potential in the applications of electronic devices based on spintronic technology. Nevertheless, in spite of significant progress made in the growth of high-quality nanocomposite thin films, the substrate clamping effect still remains a major hurdle in realizing the ultimate magnetoelectric coupling. To overcome this obstacle, an alternative strategy of fabricating a self-assembled ferroelectric–ferrimagnetic bulk heterojunction on a flexible muscovite via van der Waals epitaxy is adopted. In this paper, we investigated the magnetoelectric coupling in a self-assembled BiFeO 3 (BFO)–CoFe 2O 4 (CFO) bulk heterojunction epitaxially grownmore » on a flexible muscovite substrate. The obtained heterojunction is composed of vertically aligned multiferroic BFO nanopillars embedded in a ferrimagnetic CFO matrix. Moreover, due to the weak interaction between the flexible substrate and bulk heterojunction, the interface is incoherent and, hence, the substrate clamping effect is greatly reduced. The phase-field simulation model also complements our results. The magnetic and electrical characterizations highlight the improvement in magnetoelectric coupling of the BFO–CFO bulk heterojunction. A magnetoelectric coupling coefficient of 74 mV/cm·Oe of this bulk heterojunction is larger than the magnetoelectric coefficient reported earlier on flexible substrates. Finally and therefore, this study delivers a viable route of fabricating a remarkable magnetoelectric heterojunction and yet flexible electronic devices that are robust against extreme conditions with optimized performance.« less

Methodology of mixed load customized bus lines and adjustment based on time windows

PubMed Central

Song, Rui

2018-01-01

Custom bus routes need to be optimized to meet the needs of a customized bus for personalized trips of different passengers. This paper introduced a customized bus routing problem in which trips for each depot are given, and each bus stop has a fixed time window within which trips should be completed. Treating a trip as a virtual stop was the first consideration in solving the school bus routing problem (SBRP). Then, the mixed load custom bus routing model was established with a time window that satisfies its requirement and the result were solved by Cplex software. Finally, a simple network diagram with three depots, four pickup stops, and five delivery stops was structured to verify the correctness of the model, and based on the actual example, the result is that all the buses ran 124.42 kilometers, the sum of kilometers was 10.35 kilometers less than before. The paths and departure times of the different busses that were provided by the model were evaluated to meet the needs of the given conditions, thus providing valuable information for actual work. PMID:29320505

Next-Generation WDM Network Design and Routing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsang, Danny H. K.; Bensaou, Brahim

2003-08-01

Call for Papers The Editors of JON are soliciting papers on WDM Network Design and Routing. The aim in this focus issue is to publish original research on topics including - but not limited to - the following: - WDM network architectures and protocols - GMPLS network architectures - Wavelength converter placement in WDM networks - Routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) in WDM networks - Protection and restoration strategies and algorithms in WDM networks - Traffic grooming in WDM networks - Dynamic routing strategies and algorithms - Optical Burst Switching - Support of Multicast - Protection and restoration in WDM networks - Performance analysis and optimization in WDM networks Manuscript Submission To submit to this special issue, follow the normal procedure for submission to JON, indicating "WDM Network Design" in the "Comments" field of the online submission form. For all other questions relating to this focus issue, please send an e-mail to jon@osa.org, subject line "WDM Network Design." Additional information can be found on the JON website: http://www.osa-jon.org/submission/. Schedule Paper Submission Deadline: November 1, 2003 Notification to Authors: January 15, 2004 Final Manuscripts to Publisher: February 15, 2004 Publication of Focus Issue: February/March 2004

Next-Generation WDM Network Design and Routing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsang, Danny H. K.; Bensaou, Brahim

2003-10-01

Call for Papers The Editors of JON are soliciting papers on WDM Network Design and Routing. The aim in this focus issue is to publish original research on topics including - but not limited to - the following: - WDM network architectures and protocols - GMPLS network architectures - Wavelength converter placement in WDM networks - Routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) in WDM networks - Protection and restoration strategies and algorithms in WDM networks - Traffic grooming in WDM networks - Dynamic routing strategies and algorithms - Optical burst switching - Support of multicast - Protection and restoration in WDM networks - Performance analysis and optimization in WDM networks Manuscript Submission To submit to this special issue, follow the normal procedure for submission to JON, indicating "WDM Network Design" in the "Comments" field of the online submission form. For all other questions relating to this focus issue, please send an e-mail to jon@osa.org, subject line "WDM Network Design." Additional information can be found on the JON website: http://www.osa-jon.org/submission/. Schedule - Paper Submission Deadline: November 1, 2003 - Notification to Authors: January 15, 2004 - Final Manuscripts to Publisher: February 15, 2004 - Publication of Focus Issue: February/March 2004

Next-Generation WDM Network Design and Routing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsang, Danny H. K.; Bensaou, Brahim

2003-09-01

Call for Papers The Editors of JON are soliciting papers on WDM Network Design and Routing. The aim in this focus issue is to publish original research on topics including - but not limited to - the following: - WDM network architectures and protocols - GMPLS network architectures - Wavelength converter placement in WDM networks - Routing and wavelength assignment (RWA) in WDM networks - Protection and restoration strategies and algorithms in WDM networks - Traffic grooming in WDM networks - Dynamic routing strategies and algorithms - Optical burst switching - Support of multicast - Protection and restoration in WDM networks - Performance analysis and optimization in WDM networks Manuscript Submission To submit to this special issue, follow the normal procedure for submission to JON, indicating "WDM Network Design" in the "Comments" field of the online submission form. For all other questions relating to this focus issue, please send an e-mail to jon@osa.org, subject line "WDM Network Design." Additional information can be found on the JON website: http://www.osa-jon.org/submission/. Schedule - Paper Submission Deadline: November 1, 2003 - Notification to Authors: January 15, 2004 - Final Manuscripts to Publisher: February 15, 2004 - Publication of Focus Issue: February/March 2004

A multipath routing protocol based on clustering and ant colony optimization for wireless sensor networks.

PubMed

Yang, Jing; Xu, Mai; Zhao, Wei; Xu, Baoguo

2010-01-01

For monitoring burst events in a kind of reactive wireless sensor networks (WSNs), a multipath routing protocol (MRP) based on dynamic clustering and ant colony optimization (ACO) is proposed. Such an approach can maximize the network lifetime and reduce the energy consumption. An important attribute of WSNs is their limited power supply, and therefore some metrics (such as energy consumption of communication among nodes, residual energy, path length) were considered as very important criteria while designing routing in the MRP. Firstly, a cluster head (CH) is selected among nodes located in the event area according to some parameters, such as residual energy. Secondly, an improved ACO algorithm is applied in the search for multiple paths between the CH and sink node. Finally, the CH dynamically chooses a route to transmit data with a probability that depends on many path metrics, such as energy consumption. The simulation results show that MRP can prolong the network lifetime, as well as balance of energy consumption among nodes and reduce the average energy consumption effectively.

Municipal solid waste transportation optimisation with vehicle routing approach: case study of Pontianak City, West Kalimantan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kamal, M. A.; Youlla, D.

2018-03-01

Municipal solid waste (MSW) transportation in Pontianak City becomes an issue that need to be tackled by the relevant agencies. The MSW transportation service in Pontianak City currently requires very high resources especially in vehicle usage. Increasing the number of fleets has not been able to increase service levels while garbage volume is growing every year along with population growth. In this research, vehicle routing optimization approach was used to find optimal and efficient routes of vehicle cost in transporting garbage from several Temporary Garbage Dump (TGD) to Final Garbage Dump (FGD). One of the problems of MSW transportation is that there is a TGD which exceed the the vehicle capacity and must be visited more than once. The optimal computation results suggest that the municipal authorities only use 3 vehicles from 5 vehicles provided with the total minimum cost of IDR. 778,870. The computation time to search optimal route and minimal cost is very time consuming. This problem is influenced by the number of constraints and decision variables that have are integer value.

The origins of scientific psychology in Japan.

PubMed

Takasuna, Miki

2006-01-01

The origins of scientific psychology in Japan arrived primarily through six routes. First, psychology was imported through translations by Amane Nishi, which resulted in the coining of words such as "psychology," "subject," and "object." Second, psychology arrived in the form of education that was directed by American Christian missionaries. The third route brought psychology through lectures presented at universities (e.g., Masakazu Toyama began lecturing at the University of Tokyo in 1877). The fourth route relates to teacher education: Shuji Izawa and Hideo Takamine introduced psychology as part of the first curriculum at Tokyo Higher Normal School in 1879. The fifth route was created by Japanese philosophers who studied abroad, such as Tetsujiro Inouye. Finally, the sixth and most important avenue involved the introduction of experimental psychology, as well as a formal educational curriculum for psychologists (e.g., Yujiro Motora was the first Japanese to introduce experimental psychology to Japan, where he trained many students). Consequently, the establishment of scientific psychology in Japan was primarily owed to the Japanese scholars who studied abroad in the U.S. and Germany.

Multifunctional cell-culture platform for aligned cell sheet monitoring, transfer printing, and therapy.

PubMed

Kim, Seok Joo; Cho, Hye Rim; Cho, Kyoung Won; Qiao, Shutao; Rhim, Jung Soo; Soh, Min; Kim, Taeho; Choi, Moon Kee; Choi, Changsoon; Park, Inhyuk; Hwang, Nathaniel S; Hyeon, Taeghwan; Choi, Seung Hong; Lu, Nanshu; Kim, Dae-Hyeong

2015-03-24

While several functional platforms for cell culturing have been proposed for cell sheet engineering, a soft integrated system enabling in vitro physiological monitoring of aligned cells prior to their in vivo applications in tissue regeneration has not been reported. Here, we present a multifunctional, soft cell-culture platform equipped with ultrathin stretchable nanomembrane sensors and graphene-nanoribbon cell aligners, whose system modulus is matched with target tissues. This multifunctional platform is capable of aligning plated cells and in situ monitoring of cellular physiological characteristics during proliferation and differentiation. In addition, it is successfully applied as an in vitro muscle-on-a-chip testing platform. Finally, a simple but high-yield transfer printing mechanism is proposed to deliver cell sheets for scaffold-free, localized cell therapy in vivo. The muscle-mimicking stiffness of the platform allows the high-yield transfer printing of multiple cell sheets and results in successful therapies in diseased animal models. Expansion of current results to stem cells will provide unique opportunities for emerging classes of tissue engineering and cell therapy technologies.

A portable foot-parameter-extracting system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, MingKai; Liang, Jin; Li, Wenpan; Liu, Shifan

2016-03-01

In order to solve the problem of automatic foot measurement in garment customization, a new automatic footparameter- extracting system based on stereo vision, photogrammetry and heterodyne multiple frequency phase shift technology is proposed and implemented. The key technologies applied in the system are studied, including calibration of projector, alignment of point clouds, and foot measurement. Firstly, a new projector calibration algorithm based on plane model has been put forward to get the initial calibration parameters and a feature point detection scheme of calibration board image is developed. Then, an almost perfect match of two clouds is achieved by performing a first alignment using the Sampled Consensus - Initial Alignment algorithm (SAC-IA) and refining the alignment using the Iterative Closest Point algorithm (ICP). Finally, the approaches used for foot-parameterextracting and the system scheme are presented in detail. Experimental results show that the RMS error of the calibration result is 0.03 pixel and the foot parameter extracting experiment shows the feasibility of the extracting algorithm. Compared with the traditional measurement method, the system can be more portable, accurate and robust.

Ultrasonic alignment of microparticles in nozzle-like geometries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Whittaker, Molly A.; Dauson, Erin R.; Parra-Raad, Jaime; Heard, Robert A.; Oppenheim, Irving J.

2018-03-01

Additive manufacturing (3-D printing) is presently limited by the mechanical properties of the materials, such as polymer resins, that are otherwise efficient and economical for part-forming. Reinforcing the resin with microscale fibers and/or particles would be an effective mechanism to achieve desired mechanical properties such as strength and ductility. Our work combines standing wave ultrasonics and microfluidics to align microparticles in devices that can act as print nozzles, based in part on our prior work with cell sorting. In this paper three different approaches are presented illustrating different engineering tradeoffs, and demonstrating laboratory results of particle alignment. First acoustic resonators are discussed, in which the ultrasonic standing waves result mostly from the mechanical properties of the microfluidic structure, excited by a piezoceramic transducer. Next non-resonant microfluidic structures are discussed, in which ultrasonic standing waves are produced directly by symmetrical transducer deployment. Finally, devices that combine nozzle-like structures, which themselves are suitable acoustic resonators, subjected to symmetrical ultrasonic excitation are presented. We will show that all three configurations will align microparticles, and discuss the tradeoffs among them for subsequent configuration of a print nozzle.

Prediction of β-turns in proteins from multiple alignment using neural network

PubMed Central

Kaur, Harpreet; Raghava, Gajendra Pal Singh

2003-01-01

A neural network-based method has been developed for the prediction of β-turns in proteins by using multiple sequence alignment. Two feed-forward back-propagation networks with a single hidden layer are used where the first-sequence structure network is trained with the multiple sequence alignment in the form of PSI-BLAST–generated position-specific scoring matrices. The initial predictions from the first network and PSIPRED-predicted secondary structure are used as input to the second structure-structure network to refine the predictions obtained from the first net. A significant improvement in prediction accuracy has been achieved by using evolutionary information contained in the multiple sequence alignment. The final network yields an overall prediction accuracy of 75.5% when tested by sevenfold cross-validation on a set of 426 nonhomologous protein chains. The corresponding Qpred, Qobs, and Matthews correlation coefficient values are 49.8%, 72.3%, and 0.43, respectively, and are the best among all the previously published β-turn prediction methods. The Web server BetaTPred2 (http://www.imtech.res.in/raghava/betatpred2/) has been developed based on this approach. PMID:12592033

Mechanisms of Carrier Transport Induced by a Microswimmer Bath

DOE PAGES

Kaiser, Andreas; Sokolov, Andrey; Aranson, Igor S.; ...

2014-10-20

Recently, it was found that a wedgelike microparticle (referred to as ”carrier”) which is only allowed to translate but not to rotate exhibits a directed translational motion along the wedge cusp if it is exposed to a bath of microswimmers. Here we model this effect in detail by resolving the microswimmers explicitly using interaction models with different degrees of mutual alignment. Using computer simulations we study the impact of these interactions on the transport efficiency of V-shaped carrier. We show that the transport mechanisms itself strongly depends on the degree of alignment embodied in the modelling of the individual swimmermore » dynamics. For weak alignment, optimal carrier transport occurs in the turbulent microswimmer state and is induced by swirl depletion inside the carrier. For strong aligning interactions, optimal transport occurs already in the dilute regime and is mediated by a polar cloud of swimmers in the carrier wake pushing the wedge-particle forward. Finally, we also demonstrate that the optimal shape of the carrier leading to maximal transport speed depends on the kind of interaction model used.« less

A Comparison of Reimbursement Recommendations by European HTA Agencies: Is There Opportunity for Further Alignment?

PubMed Central

Allen, Nicola; Liberti, Lawrence; Walker, Stuart R.; Salek, Sam

2017-01-01

Introduction: In Europe and beyond, the rising costs of healthcare and limited healthcare resources have resulted in the implementation of health technology assessment (HTA) to inform health policy and reimbursement decision-making. European legislation has provided a harmonized route for the regulatory process with the European Medicines Agency, but reimbursement decision-making still remains the responsibility of each country. There is a recognized need to move toward a more objective and collaborative reimbursement environment for new medicines in Europe. Therefore, the aim of this study was to objectively assess and compare the national reimbursement recommendations of 9 European jurisdictions following European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommendation for centralized marketing authorization. Methods: Using publicly available data and newly developed classification tools, this study appraised 9 European reimbursement systems by assessing HTA processes and the relationship between the regulatory, HTA and decision-making organizations. Each national HTA agency was classified according to two novel taxonomies. The System taxonomy, focuses on the position of the HTA agency within the national reimbursement system according to the relationship between the regulator, the HTA-performing agency, and the reimbursement decision-making coverage body. The HTA Process taxonomy distinguishes between the individual HTA agency's approach to economic and therapeutic evaluation and the inclusion of an independent appraisal step. The taxonomic groups were subsequently compared with national HTA recommendations. Results: This study identified European national reimbursement recommendations for 102 new active substances (NASs) approved by the EMA from 2008 to 2012. These reimbursement recommendations were compared using a novel classification tool and identified alignment between the organizational structure of reimbursement systems (System taxonomy) and HTA recommendations. However, there was less alignment between the HTA processes and recommendations. Conclusions: In order to move forward to a more harmonized HTA environment within Europe, it is first necessary to understand the variation in HTA practices within Europe. This study has identified alignment between HTA recommendations and the System taxonomy and one of the major implications of this study is that such alignment could support a more collaborative HTA environment in Europe. PMID:28713265

A Comparison of Reimbursement Recommendations by European HTA Agencies: Is There Opportunity for Further Alignment?

PubMed

Allen, Nicola; Liberti, Lawrence; Walker, Stuart R; Salek, Sam

2017-01-01

Introduction: In Europe and beyond, the rising costs of healthcare and limited healthcare resources have resulted in the implementation of health technology assessment (HTA) to inform health policy and reimbursement decision-making. European legislation has provided a harmonized route for the regulatory process with the European Medicines Agency, but reimbursement decision-making still remains the responsibility of each country. There is a recognized need to move toward a more objective and collaborative reimbursement environment for new medicines in Europe. Therefore, the aim of this study was to objectively assess and compare the national reimbursement recommendations of 9 European jurisdictions following European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommendation for centralized marketing authorization. Methods: Using publicly available data and newly developed classification tools, this study appraised 9 European reimbursement systems by assessing HTA processes and the relationship between the regulatory, HTA and decision-making organizations. Each national HTA agency was classified according to two novel taxonomies. The System taxonomy, focuses on the position of the HTA agency within the national reimbursement system according to the relationship between the regulator, the HTA-performing agency, and the reimbursement decision-making coverage body. The HTA Process taxonomy distinguishes between the individual HTA agency's approach to economic and therapeutic evaluation and the inclusion of an independent appraisal step. The taxonomic groups were subsequently compared with national HTA recommendations. Results: This study identified European national reimbursement recommendations for 102 new active substances (NASs) approved by the EMA from 2008 to 2012. These reimbursement recommendations were compared using a novel classification tool and identified alignment between the organizational structure of reimbursement systems (System taxonomy) and HTA recommendations. However, there was less alignment between the HTA processes and recommendations. Conclusions: In order to move forward to a more harmonized HTA environment within Europe, it is first necessary to understand the variation in HTA practices within Europe. This study has identified alignment between HTA recommendations and the System taxonomy and one of the major implications of this study is that such alignment could support a more collaborative HTA environment in Europe.

An Enhanced Backbone-Assisted Reliable Framework for Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Tufail, Ali; Khayam, Syed Ali; Raza, Muhammad Taqi; Ali, Amna; Kim, Ki-Hyung

2010-01-01

An extremely reliable source to sink communication is required for most of the contemporary WSN applications especially pertaining to military, healthcare and disaster-recovery. However, due to their intrinsic energy, bandwidth and computational constraints, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) encounter several challenges in reliable source to sink communication. In this paper, we present a novel reliable topology that uses reliable hotlines between sensor gateways to boost the reliability of end-to-end transmissions. This reliable and efficient routing alternative reduces the number of average hops from source to the sink. We prove, with the help of analytical evaluation, that communication using hotlines is considerably more reliable than traditional WSN routing. We use reliability theory to analyze the cost and benefit of adding gateway nodes to a backbone-assisted WSN. However, in hotline assisted routing some scenarios where source and the sink are just a couple of hops away might bring more latency, therefore, we present a Signature Based Routing (SBR) scheme. SBR enables the gateways to make intelligent routing decisions, based upon the derived signature, hence providing lesser end-to-end delay between source to the sink communication. Finally, we evaluate our proposed hotline based topology with the help of a simulation tool and show that the proposed topology provides manifold increase in end-to-end reliability. PMID:22294890

Neighboring and connectivity-aware routing in VANETs.

PubMed

Ghafoor, Huma; Koo, Insoo; Gohar, Nasir-ud-Din

2014-01-01

A novel position-based routing protocol anchor-based connectivity-aware routing (ACAR) for vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs) is proposed in this paper to ensure connectivity of routes with more successfully delivered packets. Both buses and cars are considered as vehicular nodes running in both clockwise and anticlockwise directions in a city scenario. Both directions are taken into account for faster communication. ACAR is a hybrid protocol, using both the greedy forwarding approach and the store-carry-and-forward approach to minimize the packet drop rate on the basis of certain assumptions. Our solution to situations that occur when the network is sparse and when any (source or intermediate) node has left its initial position makes this protocol different from those existing in the literature. We consider only vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication in which both the source and destination nodes are moving vehicles. Also, no road-side units are considered. Finally, we compare our protocol with A-STAR (a plausible connectivity-aware routing protocol for city environments), and simulation results in NS-2 show improvement in the number of packets delivered to the destination using fewer hops. Also, we show that ACAR has more successfully-delivered long-distance packets with reasonable packet delay than A-STAR.

Towards seasonal Arctic shipping route predictions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melia, N.; Haines, K.; Hawkins, E.; Day, J. J.

2017-08-01

The continuing decline in Arctic sea-ice will likely lead to increased human activity and opportunities for shipping in the region, suggesting that seasonal predictions of route openings will become ever more important. Here we present results from a set of ‘perfect model’ experiments to assess the predictability characteristics of the opening of Arctic sea routes. We find skilful predictions of the upcoming summer shipping season can be made from as early as January, although typically forecasts show lower skill before a May ‘predictability barrier’. We demonstrate that in forecasts started from January, predictions of route opening date are twice as uncertain as predicting the closing date and that the Arctic shipping season is becoming longer due to climate change, with later closing dates mostly responsible. We find that predictive skill is state dependent with predictions for high or low ice years exhibiting greater skill than medium ice years. Forecasting the fastest open water route through the Arctic is accurate to within 200 km when predicted from July, a six-fold increase in accuracy compared to forecasts initialised from the previous November, which are typically no better than climatology. Finally we find that initialisation of accurate summer sea-ice thickness information is crucial to obtain skilful forecasts, further motivating investment into sea-ice thickness observations, climate models, and assimilation systems.

Time-Extended Policies in Mult-Agent Reinforcement Learning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tumer, Kagan; Agogino, Adrian K.

2004-01-01

Reinforcement learning methods perform well in many domains where a single agent needs to take a sequence of actions to perform a task. These methods use sequences of single-time-step rewards to create a policy that tries to maximize a time-extended utility, which is a (possibly discounted) sum of these rewards. In this paper we build on our previous work showing how these methods can be extended to a multi-agent environment where each agent creates its own policy that works towards maximizing a time-extended global utility over all agents actions. We show improved methods for creating time-extended utilities for the agents that are both "aligned" with the global utility and "learnable." We then show how to crate single-time-step rewards while avoiding the pi fall of having rewards aligned with the global reward leading to utilities not aligned with the global utility. Finally, we apply these reward functions to the multi-agent Gridworld problem. We explicitly quantify a utility's learnability and alignment, and show that reinforcement learning agents using the prescribed reward functions successfully tradeoff learnability and alignment. As a result they outperform both global (e.g., team games ) and local (e.g., "perfectly learnable" ) reinforcement learning solutions by as much as an order of magnitude.

Scanning laser reflection tool for alignment and period measurement of critical-angle transmission gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Jungki; Heilmann, Ralf K.; Bruccoleri, Alexander R.; Hertz, Edward; Schatternburg, Mark L.

2017-08-01

We report progress toward developing a scanning laser reflection (LR) tool for alignment and period measurement of critical-angle transmission (CAT) gratings. It operates on a similar measurement principle as a tool built in 1994 which characterized period variations of grating facets for the Chandra X-ray Observatory. A specularly reflected beam and a first-order diffracted beam were used to record local period variations, surface slope variations, and grating line orientation. In this work, a normal-incidence beam was added to measure slope variations (instead of the angled-incidence beam). Since normal incidence reflection is not coupled with surface height change, it enables measurement of slope variations more accurately and, along with the angled-incidence beam, helps to reconstruct the surface figure (or tilt) map. The measurement capability of in-grating period variations was demonstrated by measuring test reflection grating (RG) samples that show only intrinsic period variations of the interference lithography process. Experimental demonstration for angular alignment of CAT gratings is also presented along with a custom-designed grating alignment assembly (GAA) testbed. All three angles were aligned to satisfy requirements for the proposed Arcus mission. The final measurement of roll misalignment agrees with the roll measurements performed at the PANTER x-ray test facility.

A parallel approach of COFFEE objective function to multiple sequence alignment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zafalon, G. F. D.; Visotaky, J. M. V.; Amorim, A. R.; Valêncio, C. R.; Neves, L. A.; de Souza, R. C. G.; Machado, J. M.

2015-09-01

The computational tools to assist genomic analyzes show even more necessary due to fast increasing of data amount available. With high computational costs of deterministic algorithms for sequence alignments, many works concentrate their efforts in the development of heuristic approaches to multiple sequence alignments. However, the selection of an approach, which offers solutions with good biological significance and feasible execution time, is a great challenge. Thus, this work aims to show the parallelization of the processing steps of MSA-GA tool using multithread paradigm in the execution of COFFEE objective function. The standard objective function implemented in the tool is the Weighted Sum of Pairs (WSP), which produces some distortions in the final alignments when sequences sets with low similarity are aligned. Then, in studies previously performed we implemented the COFFEE objective function in the tool to smooth these distortions. Although the nature of COFFEE objective function implies in the increasing of execution time, this approach presents points, which can be executed in parallel. With the improvements implemented in this work, we can verify the execution time of new approach is 24% faster than the sequential approach with COFFEE. Moreover, the COFFEE multithreaded approach is more efficient than WSP, because besides it is slightly fast, its biological results are better.

HIGHLY FLEXIBLE SYNTHETIC ROUTES TO FUNCTIONALIZED PHOSPHOLANES FROM CARBOHYDRATES. (R826120)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

Ohio Route 50 Joint Sealant Experiment.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-04-01

This is the third and Final Report for a research project that entailed the construction and evaluation to date of a stretch of a four-lane highway near Athens, Ohio. The main purpose of this project had been to evaluate concrete pavement in connecti...

Site specific wave parameters for Texas coastal bridges : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-04-01

There are about 20 coastal bridges located in hurricane evacuation routes in the State of Texas that are : vulnerable to hurricane surge and wave action. Damage to these bridges could hamper emergency response : and other services, and also cause tre...

Relationship of employee attitudes and supervisor-controller ratio to en route operational error rates : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-05-01

An operational error (OE) results when an air traffic control specialist (ATCS) fails to maintain appropriate separation between aircraft, obstacles, etc. Recent research on OEs has focused on situational and individual characteristics (Center for Na...

21 CFR 314.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... studies (including proposals for such studies), assay validation data, final release testing on the last... route of administration; (4) Make a comparative efficacy claim naming another drug product; (5... based on at least one adequate and well-controlled clinical study. FDA means the Food and Drug...

21 CFR 314.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... studies (including proposals for such studies), assay validation data, final release testing on the last... route of administration; (4) Make a comparative efficacy claim naming another drug product; (5... based on at least one adequate and well-controlled clinical study. FDA means the Food and Drug...

21 CFR 314.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... studies (including proposals for such studies), assay validation data, final release testing on the last... route of administration; (4) Make a comparative efficacy claim naming another drug product; (5... based on at least one adequate and well-controlled clinical study. FDA means the Food and Drug...

21 CFR 314.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... studies (including proposals for such studies), assay validation data, final release testing on the last... route of administration; (4) Make a comparative efficacy claim naming another drug product; (5... based on at least one adequate and well-controlled clinical study. FDA means the Food and Drug...

21 CFR 314.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... studies (including proposals for such studies), assay validation data, final release testing on the last... route of administration; (4) Make a comparative efficacy claim naming another drug product; (5... based on at least one adequate and well-controlled clinical study. FDA means the Food and Drug...

Development and presentation of a roadway and roadside design course : final report, December 2009.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-12-01

The overall goal of this course is to provide training in the elements of geometric highway : design. Specific course objectives are: : To review the geometry of horizontal and vertical alignment including simple circular : curves, compound curve...

Final report of the FY 2007 State Grant Template Measures (SGTM) reporting workgroup

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

In 2006, OMB examined several major EPA categorical state grant programs and concluded that the Agency needed to improve the alignment of state grants to the Agency’s strategic mission, and that grants be accompanied by performance measures.

Direct Final Rule for Control of Air Pollution From Aircraft and Aircraft Engines; Emission Standards and Test Procedures

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This rule will adopt the current voluntary NOx and CO emissions standards of the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), bringing the United States aircraft standards into alignment with the international standards.

Spin-polarized current injection induced magnetic reconstruction at oxide interface

DOE PAGES

Fang, F.; Yin, Y. W.; Li, Qi; ...

2017-01-04

Electrical manipulation of magnetism presents a promising way towards using the spin degree of freedom in very fast, low-power electronic devices. Though there has been tremendous progress in electrical control of magnetic properties using ferromagnetic (FM) nanostructures, an opportunity of manipulating antiferromagnetic (AFM) states should offer another route for creating a broad range of new enabling technologies. Here we selectively probe the interface magnetization of SrTiO 3/La 0.5Ca 0.5MnO 3/La 0.7Sr 0.3MnO 3 heterojunctions and discover a new spin-polarized current injection induced interface magnetoelectric (ME) effect. The accumulation of majority spins at the interface causes a sudden, reversible transition ofmore » the spin alignment of interfacial Mn ions from AFM to FM exchange-coupled, while the injection of minority electron spins alters the interface magnetization from C-type to A-type AFM state. In contrast, the bulk magnetization remains unchanged. We attribute the current-induced interface ME effect to modulations of the strong double-exchange interaction between conducting electron spins and local magnetic moments. As a result, the effect is robust and may serve as a viable route for electronic and spintronic applications.« less

Interaction rules underlying group decisions in homing pigeons

PubMed Central

Pettit, Benjamin; Perna, Andrea; Biro, Dora; Sumpter, David J. T.

2013-01-01

Travelling in groups gives animals opportunities to share route information by following cues from each other's movement. The outcome of group navigation will depend on how individuals respond to each other within a flock, school, swarm or herd. Despite the abundance of modelling studies, only recently have researchers developed techniques to determine the interaction rules among real animals. Here, we use high-resolution GPS (global positioning system) tracking to study these interactions in pairs of pigeons flying home from a familiar site. Momentary changes in velocity indicate alignment with the neighbour's direction, as well as attraction or avoidance depending on distance. Responses were stronger when the neighbour was in front. From the flocking behaviour, we develop a model to predict features of group navigation. Specifically, we show that the interactions between pigeons stabilize a side-by-side configuration, promoting bidirectional information transfer and reducing the risk of separation. However, if one bird gets in front it will lead directional choices. Our model further predicts, and observations confirm, that a faster bird (as measured from solo flights) will fly slightly in front and thus dominate the choice of homing route. Our results explain how group decisions emerge from individual differences in homing flight behaviour. PMID:24068173

Spin-polarized current injection induced magnetic reconstruction at oxide interface

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fang, F.; Yin, Y. W.; Li, Qi; Lüpke, G.

2017-01-01

Electrical manipulation of magnetism presents a promising way towards using the spin degree of freedom in very fast, low-power electronic devices. Though there has been tremendous progress in electrical control of magnetic properties using ferromagnetic (FM) nanostructures, an opportunity of manipulating antiferromagnetic (AFM) states should offer another route for creating a broad range of new enabling technologies. Here we selectively probe the interface magnetization of SrTiO3/La0.5Ca0.5MnO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 heterojunctions and discover a new spin-polarized current injection induced interface magnetoelectric (ME) effect. The accumulation of majority spins at the interface causes a sudden, reversible transition of the spin alignment of interfacial Mn ions from AFM to FM exchange-coupled, while the injection of minority electron spins alters the interface magnetization from C-type to A-type AFM state. In contrast, the bulk magnetization remains unchanged. We attribute the current-induced interface ME effect to modulations of the strong double-exchange interaction between conducting electron spins and local magnetic moments. The effect is robust and may serve as a viable route for electronic and spintronic applications.

Biomimetic Nanofibrillation in Two-Component Biopolymer Blends with Structural Analogs to Spider Silk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Lan; Xu, Huan; Li, Liang-Bin; Hsiao, Benjamin S.; Zhong, Gan-Ji; Li, Zhong-Ming

2016-10-01

Despite the enormous potential in bioinspired fabrication of high-strength structure by mimicking the spinning process of spider silk, currently accessible routes (e.g., microfluidic and electrospinning approaches) still have substantial function gaps in providing precision control over the nanofibrillar superstructure, crystalline morphology or molecular orientation. Here the concept of biomimetic nanofibrillation, by copying the spiders’ spinning principles, was conceived to build silk-mimicking hierarchies in two-phase biodegradable blends, strategically involving the stepwise integration of elongational shear and high-pressure shear. Phase separation confined on nanoscale, together with deformation of discrete phases and pre-alignment of polymer chains, was triggered in the elongational shear, conferring the readiness for direct nanofibrillation in the latter shearing stage. The orderly aligned nanofibrils, featuring an ultralow diameter of around 100 nm and the “rigid-soft” system crosslinked by nanocrystal domains like silk protein dopes, were secreted by fine nanochannels. The incorporation of multiscale silk-mimicking structures afforded exceptional combination of strength, ductility and toughness for the nanofibrillar polymer composites. The proposed spider spinning-mimicking strategy, offering the biomimetic function integration unattainable with current approaches, may prompt materials scientists to pursue biopolymer mimics of silk with high performance yet light weight.

Biomimetic Nanofibrillation in Two-Component Biopolymer Blends with Structural Analogs to Spider Silk.

PubMed

Xie, Lan; Xu, Huan; Li, Liang-Bin; Hsiao, Benjamin S; Zhong, Gan-Ji; Li, Zhong-Ming

2016-10-03

Despite the enormous potential in bioinspired fabrication of high-strength structure by mimicking the spinning process of spider silk, currently accessible routes (e.g., microfluidic and electrospinning approaches) still have substantial function gaps in providing precision control over the nanofibrillar superstructure, crystalline morphology or molecular orientation. Here the concept of biomimetic nanofibrillation, by copying the spiders' spinning principles, was conceived to build silk-mimicking hierarchies in two-phase biodegradable blends, strategically involving the stepwise integration of elongational shear and high-pressure shear. Phase separation confined on nanoscale, together with deformation of discrete phases and pre-alignment of polymer chains, was triggered in the elongational shear, conferring the readiness for direct nanofibrillation in the latter shearing stage. The orderly aligned nanofibrils, featuring an ultralow diameter of around 100 nm and the "rigid-soft" system crosslinked by nanocrystal domains like silk protein dopes, were secreted by fine nanochannels. The incorporation of multiscale silk-mimicking structures afforded exceptional combination of strength, ductility and toughness for the nanofibrillar polymer composites. The proposed spider spinning-mimicking strategy, offering the biomimetic function integration unattainable with current approaches, may prompt materials scientists to pursue biopolymer mimics of silk with high performance yet light weight.

Pseudocapacitive and hierarchically ordered porous electrode materials supercapacitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saruhan, B.; Gönüllü, Y.; Arndt, B.

2013-05-01

Commercially available double layer capacitors store energy in an electrostatic field. This forms in the form of a double layer by charged particles arranged on two electrodes consisting mostly of active carbon. Such double layer capacitors exhibit a low energy density, so that components with large capacity according to large electrode areas are required. Our research focuses on the development of new electrode materials to realize the production of electrical energy storage systems with high energy density and high power density. Metal oxide based electrodes increase the energy density and the capacitance by addition of pseudo capacitance to the static capacitance present by the double layer super-capacitor electrodes. The so-called hybrid asymmetric cell capacitors combine both types of energy storage in a single component. In this work, the production routes followed in our laboratories for synthesis of nano-porous and aligned metal oxide electrodes using the electrochemical and sputter deposition as well as anodization methods will be described. Our characterisation studies concentrate on electrodes having redox metal-oxides (e.g. MnOx and WOx) and hierarchically aligned nano-porous Li-doped TiO2-NTs. The material specific and electrochemical properties achieved with these electrodes will be presented.

Elongational Flow Assists with the Assembly of Protein Nanofibrils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mittal, Nitesh; Kamada, Ayaka; Lendel, Christofer; Lundell, Fredrik; Soderberg, Daniel

2016-11-01

Controlling the aggregation process of protein-based macromolecular structures in a confined environment using small-scale flow devices and understanding their assembly mechanisms is essential to develop bio-based materials. Whey protein, a protein mixture with β-lactoglobulin as main component, is able to self-assemble into amyloid-like protein nanofibers which are stabilized by hydrogen bonds. The conditions at which the fibrillation process occurs can affect the properties and morphology of the fibrils. Here, we show that the morphology of protein nanofibers greatly affects their assembly. We used elongational flow based double flow-focusing device for this study. In-situ behavior of the straight and flexible fibrils in the flow channel is determined using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) technique. Our process combines hydrodynamic alignment with dispersion to gel-transition that produces homogeneous and smooth fibers. Moreover, successful alignment before gelation demands a proper separation of the time-scales involved, which we tried to identify in the current study. The presented approach combining small scale flow devices with in-situ synchrotron X-ray studies and protein engineering is a promising route to design high performance protein-based materials with controlled physical and chemical properties. We acknowledge the support from Wallenberg Wood Science Center.

Influence of Different Defects in Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes on TiO2 Nanoparticle Formation through Atomic Layer Deposition.

PubMed

Acauan, Luiz; Dias, Anna C; Pereira, Marcelo B; Horowitz, Flavio; Bergmann, Carlos P

2016-06-29

The chemical inertness of carbon nanotubes (CNT) requires some degree of "defect engineering" for controlled deposition of metal oxides through atomic layer deposition (ALD). The type, quantity, and distribution of such defects rules the deposition rate and defines the growth behavior. In this work, we employed ALD to grow titanium oxide (TiO2) on vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNT). The effects of nitrogen doping and oxygen plasma pretreatment of the CNT on the morphology and total amount of TiO2 were systematically studied using transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. The induced chemical changes for each functionalization route were identified by X-ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopies. The TiO2 mass fraction deposited with the same number of cycles for the pristine CNT, nitrogen-doped CNT, and plasma-treated CNT were 8, 47, and 80%, respectively. We demonstrate that TiO2 nucleation is dependent mainly on surface incorporation of heteroatoms and their distribution rather than structural defects that govern the growth behavior. Therefore, selecting the best way to functionalize CNT will allow us to tailor TiO2 distribution and hence fabricate complex heterostructures.

Biomimetic Nanofibrillation in Two-Component Biopolymer Blends with Structural Analogs to Spider Silk

PubMed Central

Xie, Lan; Xu, Huan; Li, Liang-Bin; Hsiao, Benjamin S.; Zhong, Gan-Ji; Li, Zhong-Ming

2016-01-01

Despite the enormous potential in bioinspired fabrication of high-strength structure by mimicking the spinning process of spider silk, currently accessible routes (e.g., microfluidic and electrospinning approaches) still have substantial function gaps in providing precision control over the nanofibrillar superstructure, crystalline morphology or molecular orientation. Here the concept of biomimetic nanofibrillation, by copying the spiders’ spinning principles, was conceived to build silk-mimicking hierarchies in two-phase biodegradable blends, strategically involving the stepwise integration of elongational shear and high-pressure shear. Phase separation confined on nanoscale, together with deformation of discrete phases and pre-alignment of polymer chains, was triggered in the elongational shear, conferring the readiness for direct nanofibrillation in the latter shearing stage. The orderly aligned nanofibrils, featuring an ultralow diameter of around 100 nm and the “rigid−soft” system crosslinked by nanocrystal domains like silk protein dopes, were secreted by fine nanochannels. The incorporation of multiscale silk-mimicking structures afforded exceptional combination of strength, ductility and toughness for the nanofibrillar polymer composites. The proposed spider spinning-mimicking strategy, offering the biomimetic function integration unattainable with current approaches, may prompt materials scientists to pursue biopolymer mimics of silk with high performance yet light weight. PMID:27694989

Synthesis of flower-like Boehmite (γ-AlOOH) via a one-step ionic liquid-assisted hydrothermal route

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

Tang, Zhe, E-mail: tangzhe1983@163.com; Liang, Jilei, E-mail: liangjilei_httplan@126.com; Li, Xuehui, E-mail: lxhhmx@163.com

A simple and novel synthesis process, one-step ionic liquid-assisted hydrothermal synthesis route, has been developed in the work to synthesize Bohemithe (γ-AlOOH) with flower-like structure. The samples were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Ionic liquid [Omim]{sup +}Cl{sup −}, as a template, plays an important role in the morphology and pore structure of the products due to its strong interactions with reaction particles. With the increase in the dosage of ionic liquid [Omim]{sup +}Cl{sup −}, the morphology of the γ-AlOOH was changed from initial bundles of nanosheets (without ionic liquid) intomore » final well-developed monodispersed 3D flower-like architectures ([Omim]{sup +}Cl{sup −}=72 mmol). The pore structure was also altered gradually from initial disordered slit-like pore into final relatively ordered ink-bottle pore. Furthermore, the proposed formation mechanism and other influencing factors such as reaction temperature and urea on formation and morphology of the γ-AlOOH have also been investigated. - Graphical abstract: The flower-like γ-AlOOH architectures composed by nanosheets with narrow size distribution (1.6–2.2 μm) and uniform pore size (6.92 nm) have been synthesized via a one-step ionic liquid-assisted hydrothermal route. - Highlights: • The γ-AlOOH microflowers were synthesized via an ionic liquid-assisted hydrothermal route. • Ionic liquid plays an important role on the morphology and porous structure of the products. • Ionic liquid can be easily removed from the products and reused in recycling experiments. • A “aggregation–recrystallization–Ostwald Ripening“formation mechanism may occur.« less

Theoretical calculations of rotationally inelastic collisions of He with NaK(A (1)Σ(+)): Transfer of population, orientation, and alignment.

PubMed

Malenda, R F; Price, T J; Stevens, J; Uppalapati, S L; Fragale, A; Weiser, P M; Kuczala, A; Talbi, D; Hickman, A P

2015-06-14

We have performed extensive calculations to investigate thermal energy, rotationally inelastic collisions of NaK (A(1)Σ(+)) with He. We determined a potential energy surface using a multi-reference configuration interaction wave function as implemented by the GAMESS electronic structure code, and we have performed coupled channel scattering calculations using the Arthurs and Dalgarno formalism. We also calculate the Grawert coefficients B(λ)(j, j') for each j → j' transition. These coefficients are used to determine the probability that orientation and alignment are preserved in collisions taking place in a cell environment. The calculations include all rotational levels with j or j' between 0 and 50, and total (translational and rotational) energies in the range 0.0002-0.0025 a.u. (∼44-550 cm(-1)). The calculated cross sections for transitions with even values of Δj tend to be larger than those for transitions with odd Δj, in agreement with the recent experiments of Wolfe et al. (J. Chem. Phys. 134, 174301 (2011)). The calculations of the energy dependence of the cross sections and the calculations of the fraction of orientation and alignment preserved in collisions also exhibit distinctly different behaviors for odd and even values of Δj. The calculations also indicate that the average fraction of orientation or alignment preserved in a transition becomes larger as j increases. We interpret this behavior using the semiclassical model of Derouard, which also leads to a simple way of visualizing the distribution of the angles between the initial and final angular momentum vectors j and j'. Finally, we compare the exact quantum results for j → j' transitions with results based on the simpler, energy sudden approximation. That approximation is shown to be quite accurate.

Prognostic factors of arthroscopic pull-out repair for a posterior root tear of the medial meniscus.

PubMed

Moon, Hong-Kyo; Koh, Yong-Gon; Kim, Yong-Chan; Park, Young-Sik; Jo, Seung-Bae; Kwon, Sae-Kwang

2012-05-01

Repair of a posterior root tear of the medial meniscus (MRT) decreases peak contact pressure by restoring hoop tension and is expected to prevent progression to osteoarthritis. The purposes of this study were (1) to report the clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results of arthroscopic pull-out repair of the MRT and (2) to identify prognostic factors of poor outcome. Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Fifty-one patients (47 women, 4 men) who underwent arthroscopic pull-out repair of the MRT by a single surgeon were enrolled. Mean follow-up after surgery was 33 months (range, 24-44 months). To identify factors affecting final outcome, patient-specific factors, such as gender, age, body mass index, meniscus extrusion, extrusion increase, subchondral edema, degree of varus alignment (<5° or >5°), and cartilage status in the medial compartment (Outerbridge grade 1 or 2 lesion vs grade 3 or 4 lesion), were investigated. Final clinical outcomes were determined using a visual analog scale (VAS) for pain and patient satisfaction scores, American Knee Society (AKS) scores, and Lysholm scores, and MRI outcomes were determined by evaluating meniscus extrusion and articular cartilage status. Multiple regression analysis was performed to identify variables that independently affected clinical and MRI-determined outcomes. All clinical outcome measures significantly improved after surgery. Patients with Outerbridge grade 3 or 4 chondral lesions had poorer results than those with grade 1 or 2 lesions in terms of AKS function and Lysholm scores. Patients with varus alignment of >5° had poorer results than those with varus alignment of <5° in terms of VAS satisfaction, AKS function, and Lysholm scores. Mean meniscus extrusion increased from 3.6 mm preoperatively to 5.0 mm postoperatively. Chondral lesions progressed in 3 (9.7%) of 31 patients. Preoperative meniscus extrusion was found to be positively correlated with final extrusion. At a mean follow-up of 33 months after pull-out repair, extrusion of the meniscus was found to have progressed. Nevertheless, this technique provided patients with a clinical benefit. Outerbridge grade 3 or 4 chondral lesions and varus alignment of >5° were found to independently predict an inferior clinical outcome.

Early Failures Benefit Subsequent Task Performance.

PubMed

Igata, Hideyoshi; Sasaki, Takuya; Ikegaya, Yuji

2016-02-17

Animals navigate using cognitive maps. However, how they adaptively exploit these maps in changing environments is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the problem-solving behaviors of mice in a complicated maze in which multiple routes with different intersections were available (Test 1). Although all mice eventually settled on the shortest route, mice that initially exhibited more trial-and-error exploration solved the maze more rapidly. We then introduced one or two barriers that obstructed learned routes such that mice had to establish novel roundabout detours (Tests 2/3). Solutions varied among mice but were predictable based on individual early trial-and-error patterns observed in Test 1: mice that had initially explored more extensively found better solutions. Finally, when the barriers were removed (Test 4), all mice reverted to the best solution after active exploration. Thus, early active exploration helps mice to develop optimal strategies.

Complex deformation routes for direct recycling aluminium alloy scrap via industrial hot extrusion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paraskevas, Dimos; Kellens, Karel; Kampen, Carlos; Mohammadi, Amirahmad; Duflou, Joost R.

2018-05-01

This paper presents the final results of an industrial project, aiming for direct hot extrusion of wrought aluminium alloy scrap at an industrial scale. Two types of complex deformation/extrusion routes were tested for the production of the same profile, starting from AA6060 scrap in form of machining chips. More specifically scrap-based billets were extruded through: a 2-porthole and a 4-porthole die-set, modified for enhanced scrap consolidation and grain refinement. For comparison reasons, cast billets of the same alloy were extruded through the modified 2-porthole die set. The tensile testing results as well as microstructural investigations show that the 4-porthole extrusion route further improves scrap consolidation compared to the 2-porthole die output. The successful implementation of solid state recycling, directly at industrial level, indicates the technological readiness level of this research.

Pressure-induced polymerization of acetylene: Structure-directed stereoselectivity and a possible route to graphane

DOE PAGES

Sun, Jiangman; Dong, Xiao; Wang, Yajie; ...

2017-05-02

Geometric isomerism in polyacetylene is a basic concept in chemistry textbooks. Polymerization to cis-isomer is kinetically preferred at low temperature, not only in the classic catalytic reaction in solution but also, unexpectedly, in the crystalline phase when it is driven by external pressure without a catalyst. Until now, no perfect reaction route has been proposed for this pressure-induced polymerization. Using in situ neutron diffraction and meta-dynamic simulation, we discovered that under high pressure, acetylene molecules react along a specific crystallographic direction that is perpendicular to those previously proposed. Moreover, following this route produces a pure cis-isomer and more surprisingly, predictsmore » that graphane is the final product. Experimentally, polycyclic polymers with a layered structure were identified in the recovered product by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and neutron pair distribution functions, which indicates the possibility of synthesizing graphane under high pressure.« less

A Novel Discrete Differential Evolution Algorithm for the Vehicle Routing Problem in B2C E-Commerce

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xia, Chao; Sheng, Ying; Jiang, Zhong-Zhong; Tan, Chunqiao; Huang, Min; He, Yuanjian

2015-12-01

In this paper, a novel discrete differential evolution (DDE) algorithm is proposed to solve the vehicle routing problems (VRP) in B2C e-commerce, in which VRP is modeled by the incomplete graph based on the actual urban road system. First, a variant of classical VRP is described and a mathematical programming model for the variant is given. Second, the DDE is presented, where individuals are represented as the sequential encoding scheme, and a novel reparation operator is employed to repair the infeasible solutions. Furthermore, a FLOYD operator for dealing with the shortest route is embedded in the proposed DDE. Finally, an extensive computational study is carried out in comparison with the predatory search algorithm and genetic algorithm, and the results show that the proposed DDE is an effective algorithm for VRP in B2C e-commerce.

Transferring vertically aligned carbon nanotubes onto a polymeric substrate using a hot embossing technique for microfluidic applications.

PubMed

Mathur, A; Roy, S S; McLaughlin, J A

2010-07-06

We explored the hot embossing method for transferring vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into microfluidic channels, fabricated on poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA). Patterned and unpatterned CNTs were synthesized by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition on silicon to work as a stamp. For hot embossing, 115 degrees C and 1 kN force for 2 min were found to be the most suitable parameters for the complete transfer of aligned CNTs on the PMMA microchannel. Raman and SEM studies were used to analyse the microstructure of CNTs before and after hot embossing. The PMMA microparticles with dimensions (approx. 10 microm in diameter) similar to red blood cells were successfully filtered using laminar flow through these microfluidic channels. Finally, a microfluidic-based point-of-care device for blood filtration and detection of bio-molecules is drawn schematically.

Transferring vertically aligned carbon nanotubes onto a polymeric substrate using a hot embossing technique for microfluidic applications

PubMed Central

Mathur, A.; Roy, S. S.; McLaughlin, J. A.

2010-01-01

We explored the hot embossing method for transferring vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into microfluidic channels, fabricated on poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA). Patterned and unpatterned CNTs were synthesized by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapour deposition on silicon to work as a stamp. For hot embossing, 115°C and 1 kN force for 2 min were found to be the most suitable parameters for the complete transfer of aligned CNTs on the PMMA microchannel. Raman and SEM studies were used to analyse the microstructure of CNTs before and after hot embossing. The PMMA microparticles with dimensions (approx. 10 µm in diameter) similar to red blood cells were successfully filtered using laminar flow through these microfluidic channels. Finally, a microfluidic-based point-of-care device for blood filtration and detection of bio-molecules is drawn schematically. PMID:20147316

High power density capacitor and method of fabrication

DOEpatents

Tuncer, Enis

2012-11-20

A ductile preform for making a drawn capacitor includes a plurality of electrically insulating, ductile insulator plates and a plurality of electrically conductive, ductile capacitor plates. Each insulator plate is stacked vertically on a respective capacitor plate and each capacitor plate is stacked on a corresponding insulator plate in alignment with only one edge so that other edges are not in alignment and so that each insulator plate extends beyond the other edges. One or more electrically insulating, ductile spacers are disposed in horizontal alignment with each capacitor plate along the other edges and the pattern is repeated so that alternating capacitor plates are stacked on alternating opposite edges of the insulator plates. A final insulator plate is positioned at an extremity of the preform. The preform may then be drawn to fuse the components and decrease the dimensions of the preform that are perpendicular to the direction of the draw.

Constraints on axion inflation from the weak gravity conjecture

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

Rudelius, Tom

2015-09-08

We derive constraints facing models of axion inflation based on decay constant alignment from a string-theoretic and quantum gravitational perspective. In particular, we investigate the prospects for alignment and ‘anti-alignment’ of C{sub 4} axion decay constants in type IIB string theory, deriving a strict no-go result in the latter case. We discuss the relationship of axion decay constants to the weak gravity conjecture and demonstrate agreement between our string-theoretic constraints and those coming from the ‘generalized’ weak gravity conjecture. Finally, we consider a particular model of decay constant alignment in which the potential of C{sub 4} axions in type IIBmore » compactifications on a Calabi-Yau three-fold is dominated by contributions from D7-branes, pointing out that this model evades some of the challenges derived earlier in our paper but is highly constrained by other geometric considerations.« less

Centroid Detector Assembly for the AXAF-I Alignment Test System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Glenn, Paul

1995-01-01

The High Resolution Mirror Assembly (HRMA) of the Advanced X-ray Astrophysics Facility (imaging) (AXAF-I) consists of four nested paraboloids and four nested hyperboloids, all of meter-class size, and all of which are to be assembled and aligned in a special 15 meter tower at Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, NY. The goals of the alignment are (1) to make the images of the four telescopes coincident; (2) to remove coma from each image individually; and (3) to control and determine the final position of the composite focus. This will be accomplished by the HRMA Aligment Test System (HATS) which is essentially a scanning Hartmann test system. The scanning laser source and the focal plane of the HATS are part of the Centroid Detector Assembly (CDA) which also includes processing electronics and software. In this paper we discuss the design and the measured performance of the CDA.

Usefulness of the "grand-piano sign" for determining femoral rotational alignment in total knee arthroplasty.

PubMed

Ohmori, Takaaki; Kabata, Tamon; Kajino, Yoshitomo; Taga, Tadashi; Inoue, Daisuke; Yamamoto, Takashi; Takagi, Tomoharu; Yoshitani, Junya; Ueno, Takuro; Tsuchiya, Hiroyuki

2018-01-01

The "grand-piano sign" is a well-known indicator of proper rotational femoral alignment. We investigated changes in the shape of the femoral anterior cutting plane by changing the rotational alignment, anterior portion depth, and cutting plane flexion angle. We simulated various cutting planes after cutting the anterior portion of the femur next to the distal femoral osteotomy in 50 patients with varus knee and also a femoral anterior osteotomy with four degree (S group) and seven degree (T group) flexion angles regarding the mechanical axis. We defined the final cutting plane as the farthest position that we could reach without making a notch and the precutting plane as two millimeters anterior from the final cutting plane. The simulated resection plane was rotated to produce external and internal rotation angles of 0°, three degrees, and five degrees relative to the surgical transepicondylar axis (SEA). We investigated medial and lateral portions of the femoral anterior cutting plane length ratio (M/L). When we cut parallel to SEA, M/L was 0.67±0.09 and 0.62±0.12 in the T and S groups, respectively. M/L was approximately 0.8 and 0.5 with five degree internal and external rotations, respectively (P<0.01). On comparing final cutting and precutting planes, there were no significant differences in M/L without five degree external rotation in the T group and no significant difference in any case in the S group (P>0.01). The ideal M/L of the femoral anterior cutting plane was 0.62-0.67. M/L did not change with a precutting plane in almost all rotational patterns. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Colour contribution to children's wayfinding in school environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Helvacıoǧlu, Elif; Olguntürk, Nilgün

2011-03-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the contribution of colour to children's wayfinding ability in school environments and to examine the differences between colours in terms of their remembrance and usability in route learning process. The experiment was conducted with three different sample groups for each of three experiment sets differentiated by their colour arrangement. The participants totalled 100 primary school children aged seven and eight years old. The study was conducted in four phases. In the first phase, the participants were tested for familiarity with the experiment site and also for colour vision deficiencies by using Ishihara's tests for colour-blindness. In the second phase, they were escorted on the experiment route by the tester one by one, from one starting point to one end point and were asked to lead the tester to the end point by the same route. In the third phase, they were asked to describe verbally the route. In the final phase, they were asked to remember the specific colours at their correct locations. It was found that colour has a significant effect on children's wayfinding performances in school environments. However, there were no differences between different colours in terms of their remembrances in route finding tasks. In addition, the correct identifications of specific colours and landmarks were dependent on their specific locations. Contrary to the literature, gender differences were not found to be significant in the accuracy of route learning performances.

GuiTope: an application for mapping random-sequence peptides to protein sequences.

PubMed

Halperin, Rebecca F; Stafford, Phillip; Emery, Jack S; Navalkar, Krupa Arun; Johnston, Stephen Albert

2012-01-03

Random-sequence peptide libraries are a commonly used tool to identify novel ligands for binding antibodies, other proteins, and small molecules. It is often of interest to compare the selected peptide sequences to the natural protein binding partners to infer the exact binding site or the importance of particular residues. The ability to search a set of sequences for similarity to a set of peptides may sometimes enable the prediction of an antibody epitope or a novel binding partner. We have developed a software application designed specifically for this task. GuiTope provides a graphical user interface for aligning peptide sequences to protein sequences. All alignment parameters are accessible to the user including the ability to specify the amino acid frequency in the peptide library; these frequencies often differ significantly from those assumed by popular alignment programs. It also includes a novel feature to align di-peptide inversions, which we have found improves the accuracy of antibody epitope prediction from peptide microarray data and shows utility in analyzing phage display datasets. Finally, GuiTope can randomly select peptides from a given library to estimate a null distribution of scores and calculate statistical significance. GuiTope provides a convenient method for comparing selected peptide sequences to protein sequences, including flexible alignment parameters, novel alignment features, ability to search a database, and statistical significance of results. The software is available as an executable (for PC) at http://www.immunosignature.com/software and ongoing updates and source code will be available at sourceforge.net.

Dielectrophoretic alignment of metal and metal oxide nanowires and nanotubes: a universal set of parameters for bridging prepatterned microelectrodes.

PubMed

Maijenburg, A W; Maas, M G; Rodijk, E J B; Ahmed, W; Kooij, E S; Carlen, E T; Blank, D H A; ten Elshof, J E

2011-03-15

Nanowires and nanotubes were synthesized from metals and metal oxides using templated cathodic electrodeposition. With templated electrodeposition, small structures are electrodeposited using a template that is the inverse of the final desired shape. Dielectrophoresis was used for the alignment of the as-formed nanowires and nanotubes between prepatterned electrodes. For reproducible nanowire alignment, a universal set of dielectrophoresis parameters to align any arbitrary nanowire material was determined. The parameters include peak-to-peak potential and frequency, thickness of the silicon oxide layer, grounding of the silicon substrate, and nature of the solvent medium used. It involves applying a field with a frequency >10(5) Hz, an insulating silicon oxide layer with a thickness of 2.5 μm or more, grounding of the underlying silicon substrate, and the use of a solvent medium with a low dielectric constant. In our experiments, we obtained good results by using a peak-to-peak potential of 2.1 V at a frequency of 1.2 × 10(5) Hz. Furthermore, an indirect alignment technique is proposed that prevents short circuiting of nanowires after contacting both electrodes. After alignment, a considerably lower resistivity was found for ZnO nanowires made by templated electrodeposition (2.2-3.4 × 10(-3) Ωm) compared to ZnO nanorods synthesized by electrodeposition (10 Ωm) or molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) (500 Ωm). Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Bikeability and methodological issues using the active commuting route environment scale (ACRES) in a metropolitan setting

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Route environments can positively influence people's active commuting and thereby contribute to public health. The Active Commuting Route Environment Scale (ACRES) was developed to study active commuters' perceptions of their route environments. However, bicycle commuters represent a small portion of the population in many cities and thus are difficult to study using population-based material. Therefore, the aim of this study is to expand the state of knowledge concerning the criterion-related validity of the ACRES and the representativity using an advertisement-recruited sample. Furthermore, by comparing commuting route environment profiles of inner urban and suburban areas, we provide a novel basis for understanding the relationship between environment and bikeability. Methods Bicycle commuters from Greater Stockholm, Sweden, advertisement- (n = 1379) and street-recruited (n = 93), responded to the ACRES. Traffic planning and environmental experts from the Municipality of Stockholm (n = 24) responded to a modified version of the ACRES. The criterion-related validity assessments were based on whether or not differences between the inner urban and the suburban route environments, as indicated by the experts and by four existing objective measurements, were reflected by differences in perceptions of these environments. Comparisons of ratings between advertisement- and street-recruited participants were used for the assessments of representativity. Finally, ratings of inner urban and suburban route environments were used to evaluate commuting route environment profiles. Results Differences in ratings of the inner urban and suburban route environments by the advertisement-recruited participants were in accord with the existing objective measurements and corresponded reasonably well with those of the experts. Overall, there was a reasonably good correspondence between the advertisement- and street-recruited participants' ratings. Distinct differences in commuting route environment profiles were noted between the inner urban and suburban areas. Suburban route environments were rated as safer and more stimulating for bicycle-commuting than the inner urban ones. In general, the findings applied to both men and women. Conclusions The overall results show: considerable criterion-related validity of the ACRES; ratings of advertisement-recruited participants mirroring those of street-recruited participants; and a higher degree of bikeability in the suburban commuting route environments than in the inner urban ones. PMID:21241470

Association of professional identity, gender, team understanding, anxiety and workplace learning alignment with burnout in junior doctors: a longitudinal cohort study.

PubMed

Monrouxe, Lynn V; Bullock, Alison; Tseng, Hsu-Min; Wells, Stephanie E

2017-12-27

To examine how burnout across medical student to junior doctor transition relates to: measures of professional identity, team understanding, anxiety, gender, age and workplace learning (assistantship) alignment to first post. A longitudinal 1-year cohort design. Two groups of final-year medical students: (1) those undertaking end-of-year assistantships aligned in location and specialty with their first post and (2) those undertaking assistantships non-aligned. An online questionnaire included: Professional Identity Scale, Team Understanding Scale, modified Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale and modified Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. Data were collected on four occasions: (T1) prior to graduation; (T2) 1 month post-transition; (T3) 6 months post-transition and (T4) 10 months post-transition. Questionnaires were analysed individually and using linear mixed-effect models. Medical schools and postgraduate training in one UK country. All aligned assistantship (n=182) and non-aligned assistantship students (n=319) were contacted; n=281 (56%) responded: 68% (n=183) females, 73% (n=206) 22-30 years, 46% aligned (n=129). Completion rates: aligned 72% (93/129) and non-aligned 64% (98/152). Analyses of individual scales revealed that self-reported anxiety, professional identity and patient-related burnout were stable, while team understanding, personal and work-related burnout increased, all irrespective of alignment. Three linear mixed-effect models (personal, patient-related and work-related burnout as outcome measures; age and gender as confounding variables) found that males self-reported significantly lower personal, but higher patient-related burnout, than females. Age and team understanding had no effect. Anxiety was significantly positively related and professional identity was significantly negatively related to burnout. Participants experiencing non-aligned assistantships reported higher personal and work-related burnout over time. Implications for practice include medical schools' consideration of an end-of-year workplace alignment with first-post before graduation or an extended shadowing period immediately postgraduation. How best to support undergraduate students' early professional identity development should be examined. Support systems should be in place across the transition for individuals with a predisposition for anxiety. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Torsional stress impedance and magneto-impedance in (Co0.95Fe0.05)72.5 Si12.5B15 amorphous wire with helical induced anisotropy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanco, J. M.; Zhukov, A. P.; González, J.

1999-12-01

The magneto-impedance effect icons/Journals/Common/Delta" ALT="Delta" ALIGN="TOP"/> Z/ZH = [Z(H)-Z(Hmax)]/Z(Hmax) has been measured in (Fe0.95Co0.05)72.5B15Si12.5 wire under torsion stress, icons/Journals/Common/xi" ALT="xi" ALIGN="TOP"/> (torsion angle per unit length) with axial magnetic field (H) as parameter. Without stress (icons/Journals/Common/Delta" ALT="Delta" ALIGN="TOP"/> Z/Z)H(H) dependence has a non-monotonous shape with first an increase of total impedance Z and then a decrease, i.e. shows a maximum at certain axial magnetic field Hm. It was found that the torsion stress dependence of electrical impedance (torsion impedance), (icons/Journals/Common/Delta" ALT="Delta" ALIGN="TOP"/> Z/Z)icons/Journals/Common/xi" ALT="xi" ALIGN="MIDDLE"/> = [Z(icons/Journals/Common/xi" ALT="xi" ALIGN="TOP"/>)-Z(icons/Journals/Common/xi" ALT="xi" ALIGN="TOP"/>max)]/Z(icons/Journals/Common/xi" ALT="xi" ALIGN="TOP"/>max), has asymmetric character with a clear maximum at torsion angle, icons/Journals/Common/xi" ALT="xi" ALIGN="TOP"/> around 7icons/Journals/Common/pi" ALT="pi" ALIGN="TOP"/> rad m-1 in as-cast wire, while (icons/Journals/Common/Delta" ALT="Delta" ALIGN="TOP"/> Z/Z)icons/Journals/Common/xi" ALT="xi" ALIGN="MIDDLE"/> reaches a maximum around 170%. Thermal treatments under torsion stress (without and with a previous annealing stage) develop a helical anisotropy on the amorphous wire, which drastically modifies the (icons/Journals/Common/Delta" ALT="Delta" ALIGN="TOP"/> Z/Z)icons/Journals/Common/xi" ALT="xi" ALIGN="MIDDLE"/> response. Such treatments were carried out by using current annealing which resulted in a drastic increase of the maximum (icons/Journals/Common/Delta" ALT="Delta" ALIGN="TOP"/> Z/Z)icons/Journals/Common/xi" ALT="xi" ALIGN="MIDDLE"/> up to 225%, and a change of torsion dependence of icons/Journals/Common/Delta" ALT="Delta" ALIGN="TOP"/> Z/Z with a tendency to a finally symmetric dependence of (icons/Journals/Common/Delta" ALT="Delta" ALIGN="TOP"/> Z/Z)icons/Journals/Common/xi" ALT="xi" ALIGN="MIDDLE"/>(icons/Journals/Common/xi" ALT="xi" ALIGN="TOP"/>). The maximum (icons/Journals/Common/Delta" ALT="Delta" ALIGN="TOP"/> Z/Z)icons/Journals/Common/xi" ALT="xi" ALIGN="MIDDLE"/> ratio, (icons/Journals/Common/Delta" ALT="Delta" ALIGN="TOP"/> Z/Z)icons/Journals/Common/xi" ALT="xi" ALIGN="TOP"/> m, was obtained under torsion stress of icons/Journals/Common/xi" ALT="xi" ALIGN="TOP"/> = 20icons/Journals/Common/pi" ALT="pi" ALIGN="TOP"/> rad m-1 (in a torsion annealed sample) and = 11 rad m-1 (with pre-annealing and torsion annealing). Observed dependences were explained taking into account the frozen-in magneto-elastic anisotropy owing to the internal stress distribution during the fabrication process, the helical anisotropies induced by the torsion strain and that developed by thermal treatment under torsion stress (torsion annealing). The differences in the shape and intensity of the maximum ( Z/Z) m between the torsion annealed and pre-annealed and torsion annealed samples should be ascribed to the visco-elastic character of the helical anisotropy induced by torsion stress.

Intermodal Freight Plan: The Goods Movement Element of the DVRPC Year 2020 Plan

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-06-01

The focus of this plan is the twenty-three significant intermodal facilities in the Delaware Valley region where freight is exchanged between modes of transport en route to its final destination. A catalogue of these facilities and their supporting n...

Evaluation of recycled hot mix asphalt concrete on Route 220 : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1985-01-01

This report describes the performance of an approximately 8-mi section of roadway on which the rod two layers of asphalt concrete were milled, recycled through a conventional asphalt batch plant, and relaid. The recycled mix consisted of about 40% re...

Evaluation of retroreflective durability of raised pavement markers : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1975-08-01

The Louisiana Department of Highways began using reflectorized raised pavement markers on a large scale basis in 1967 when such markers were placed on the Mississippi River Bridge along Route I-10 at Baton Rouge. The Department has engaged in a consi...

An investigation of operational procedures for highway advisory radio systems : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1995-09-01

A key objective of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) is to provide travelers with accurate, real-time information, helping them make better decisions about when to travel, what mode to use, and what route to take. An interface is necessary to ...

Tort reform and "smart" highways : are liability concerns impeding the development of cost-effective intelligent vehicle-highway systems? : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1994-01-01

Highly automated vehicles and highways--which permit higher travel speeds, narrower lanes, smaller headways between vehicles, and optimized routing (collectively called intelligent vehicle-highway systems or IVHS)-- have been generally conceded to be...

Oregon regional intelligent transportation systems (ITS) integration program. Final phase III report, transit tracker information displays

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-11-14

Transit Tracker uses global positioning system (GPS) technology to track how far a bus is along its scheduled route. This document presents the evaluation strategies and objectives, the data collection methodologies, and the results of the evaluation...

The EmX Franklin Corridor BRT project evaluation : final report, April 2009.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-04-01

Lane Transit District began BRT service on its Franklin Corridor EmX in January 14, 2007. The four mile long route connects downtown Eugene and downtown Springfield, the two main hubs for LTDs system. The corridor, which has the greatest ridership...

Horizontal alignment of 5' -> 3' intergene distance segment tropy with respect to the gene as the conserved basis for DNA transcription.

PubMed

Sarin, Hemant

2017-03-01

To study the conserved basis for gene expression in comparative cell types at opposite ends of the cell pressuromodulation spectrum, the lymphatic endothelial cell and the blood microvascular capillary endothelial cell. The mechanism for gene expression is studied in terms of the 5' -> 3' direction paired point tropy quotients ( prpT Q s) and the final 5' -> 3' direction episodic sub-episode block sums split-integrated weighted average-averaged gene overexpression tropy quotient ( esebssiwaagoT Q ). The final 5' -> 3' esebssiwaagoT Q classifies an lymphatic endothelial cell overexpressed gene as a supra-pressuromodulated gene ( esebssiwaagoT Q ≥ 0.25 < 0.75) every time and classifies a blood microvascular capillary endothelial cell overexpressed gene every time as an infra-pressuromodulated gene ( esebssiwaagoT Q < 0.25) (100% sensitivity; 100% specificity). Horizontal alignment of 5' -> 3' intergene distance segment tropy wrt the gene is the basis for DNA transcription in the pressuromodulated state.

Growth of vertically aligned nanowires in metal-oxide nanocomposites: kinetic Monte-Carlo modeling versus experiments.

PubMed

Hennes, M; Schuler, V; Weng, X; Buchwald, J; Demaille, D; Zheng, Y; Vidal, F

2018-04-26

We employ kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations to study the growth process of metal-oxide nanocomposites obtained via sequential pulsed laser deposition. Using Ni-SrTiO3 (Ni-STO) as a model system, we reduce the complexity of the computational problem by choosing a coarse-grained approach mapping Sr, Ti and O atoms onto a single effective STO pseudo-atom species. With this ansatz, we scrutinize the kinetics of the sequential synthesis process, governed by alternating deposition and relaxation steps, and analyze the self-organization propensity of Ni atoms into straight vertically aligned nanowires embedded in the surrounding STO matrix. We finally compare the predictions of our binary toy model with experiments and demonstrate that our computational approach captures fundamental aspects of self-assembled nanowire synthesis. Despite its simplicity, our modeling strategy successfully describes the impact of relevant parameters like the concentration or laser frequency on the final nanoarchitecture of metal-oxide thin films grown via pulsed laser deposition.

A new method for recognizing quadric surfaces from range data and its application to telerobotics and automation, final phase

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mielke, Roland; Dcunha, Ivan; Alvertos, Nicolas

1994-01-01

In the final phase of the proposed research a complete top to down three dimensional object recognition scheme has been proposed. The various three dimensional objects included spheres, cones, cylinders, ellipsoids, paraboloids, and hyperboloids. Utilizing a newly developed blob determination technique, a given range scene with several non-cluttered quadric surfaces is segmented. Next, using the earlier (phase 1) developed alignment scheme, each of the segmented objects are then aligned in a desired coordinate system. For each of the quadric surfaces based upon their intersections with certain pre-determined planes, a set of distinct features (curves) are obtained. A database with entities such as the equations of the planes and angular bounds of these planes has been created for each of the quadric surfaces. Real range data of spheres, cones, cylinders, and parallelpipeds have been utilized for the recognition process. The developed algorithm gave excellent results for the real data as well as for several sets of simulated range data.

Minimization of municipal solid waste transportation route in West Jakarta using Tabu Search method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chaerul, M.; Mulananda, A. M.

2018-04-01

Indonesia still adopts the concept of collect-haul-dispose for municipal solid waste handling and it leads to the queue of the waste trucks at final disposal site (TPA). The study aims to minimize the total distance of waste transportation system by applying a Transshipment model. In this case, analogous of transshipment point is a compaction facility (SPA). Small capacity of trucks collects the waste from waste temporary collection points (TPS) to the compaction facility which located near the waste generator. After compacted, the waste is transported using big capacity of trucks to the final disposal site which is located far away from city. Problem related with the waste transportation can be solved using Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP). In this study, the shortest distance of route from truck pool to TPS, TPS to SPA, and SPA to TPA was determined by using meta-heuristic methods, namely Tabu Search 2 Phases. TPS studied is the container type with total 43 units throughout the West Jakarta City with 38 units of Armroll truck with capacity of 10 m3 each. The result determines the assignment of each truck from the pool to the selected TPS, SPA and TPA with the total minimum distance of 2,675.3 KM. The minimum distance causing the total cost for waste transportation to be spent by the government also becomes minimal.

Incorporating evolution of transcription factor binding sites into annotated alignments.

PubMed

Bais, Abha S; Grossmann, Stefen; Vingron, Martin

2007-08-01

Identifying transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) is essential to elucidate putative regulatory mechanisms. A common strategy is to combine cross-species conservation with single sequence TFBS annotation to yield "conserved TFBSs". Most current methods in this field adopt a multi-step approach that segregates the two aspects. Again, it is widely accepted that the evolutionary dynamics of binding sites differ from those of the surrounding sequence. Hence, it is desirable to have an approach that explicitly takes this factor into account. Although a plethora of approaches have been proposed for the prediction of conserved TFBSs, very few explicitly model TFBS evolutionary properties, while additionally being multi-step. Recently, we introduced a novel approach to simultaneously align and annotate conserved TFBSs in a pair of sequences. Building upon the standard Smith-Waterman algorithm for local alignments, SimAnn introduces additional states for profiles to output extended alignments or annotated alignments. That is, alignments with parts annotated as gaplessly aligned TFBSs (pair-profile hits)are generated. Moreover,the pair- profile related parameters are derived in a sound statistical framework. In this article, we extend this approach to explicitly incorporate evolution of binding sites in the SimAnn framework. We demonstrate the extension in the theoretical derivations through two position-specific evolutionary models, previously used for modelling TFBS evolution. In a simulated setting, we provide a proof of concept that the approach works given the underlying assumptions,as compared to the original work. Finally, using a real dataset of experimentally verified binding sites in human-mouse sequence pairs,we compare the new approach (eSimAnn) to an existing multi-step tool that also considers TFBS evolution. Although it is widely accepted that binding sites evolve differently from the surrounding sequences, most comparative TFBS identification methods do not explicitly consider this.Additionally, prediction of conserved binding sites is carried out in a multi-step approach that segregates alignment from TFBS annotation. In this paper, we demonstrate how the simultaneous alignment and annotation approach of SimAnn can be further extended to incorporate TFBS evolutionary relationships. We study how alignments and binding site predictions interplay at varying evolutionary distances and for various profile qualities.

PASS2: an automated database of protein alignments organised as structural superfamilies.

PubMed

Bhaduri, Anirban; Pugalenthi, Ganesan; Sowdhamini, Ramanathan

2004-04-02

The functional selection and three-dimensional structural constraints of proteins in nature often relates to the retention of significant sequence similarity between proteins of similar fold and function despite poor sequence identity. Organization of structure-based sequence alignments for distantly related proteins, provides a map of the conserved and critical regions of the protein universe that is useful for the analysis of folding principles, for the evolutionary unification of protein families and for maximizing the information return from experimental structure determination. The Protein Alignment organised as Structural Superfamily (PASS2) database represents continuously updated, structural alignments for evolutionary related, sequentially distant proteins. An automated and updated version of PASS2 is, in direct correspondence with SCOP 1.63, consisting of sequences having identity below 40% among themselves. Protein domains have been grouped into 628 multi-member superfamilies and 566 single member superfamilies. Structure-based sequence alignments for the superfamilies have been obtained using COMPARER, while initial equivalencies have been derived from a preliminary superposition using LSQMAN or STAMP 4.0. The final sequence alignments have been annotated for structural features using JOY4.0. The database is supplemented with sequence relatives belonging to different genomes, conserved spatially interacting and structural motifs, probabilistic hidden markov models of superfamilies based on the alignments and useful links to other databases. Probabilistic models and sensitive position specific profiles obtained from reliable superfamily alignments aid annotation of remote homologues and are useful tools in structural and functional genomics. PASS2 presents the phylogeny of its members both based on sequence and structural dissimilarities. Clustering of members allows us to understand diversification of the family members. The search engine has been improved for simpler browsing of the database. The database resolves alignments among the structural domains consisting of evolutionarily diverged set of sequences. Availability of reliable sequence alignments of distantly related proteins despite poor sequence identity and single-member superfamilies permit better sampling of structures in libraries for fold recognition of new sequences and for the understanding of protein structure-function relationships of individual superfamilies. PASS2 is accessible at http://www.ncbs.res.in/~faculty/mini/campass/pass2.html

Growth of biaxially textured template layers using ion beam assisted deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Seh-Jin

A two-step IBAD (ion beam assisted deposition) method is investigated, and compared to the conventional IBAD methods. The two step method uses surface energy anisotropy to achieve uniaxial texture and ion beam irradiation for biaxial texture. The biaxial texture was achieved by selective surface etching and enhanced by grain overgrowth. In this method, biaxial texture alignment is performed on a (001) uniaxially textured buffer layer. The material selected for achieving uniaxial texture, YBCO (YBa2Cu3O7-x), has strong surface energy anisotropy. YBCO is chemically susceptible to the reaction with the adjacent layer. Yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) was used to prevent the reaction between YBCO and the substrates (polycrystalline Ni alloy [Hastelloy] and amorphous SiNx/Si). A SrTiO3 layer was deposited on the uniaxially textured YBCO layer to retard stoichiometry change with subsequent processing. STO is well lattice matched with YBCO. A top layer of Ni was then deposited. The Ni layer was used for studying the effect of grain overgrowth. The obtained uniaxial Ni films were used for subsequent ion beam processing. Ar ion beam irradiation onto the uniaxially textured Ni film was used to study the effect of selective grain etching in achieving in-plane aligned Ni grains. Additional Ni deposition induces the overgrowth of the in-plane aligned Ni grains and, finally, the overall in-plane alignment. The in-plane alignment is examined with XRD phi scan. The effect of surface polarity of insulating oxide substrates on the epitaxial growth behavior was investigated. The lattice strain energy was the most important factor for determining the orientation of Ni films on a non-polar surface. However, for a polar surface, the surface energy plays an important role in determining the final orientation of the Ni films based on the experimental and theoretical results. Y2O3 growth behavior was also studied. The lattice strain energy is the most important factor for Y2O3 growth on single crystalline substrates. The surface energy anisotropy is the most important factor for the growth on amorphous substrates. The XRD phi scan study shows that Ar ion beam irradiation with favorable angle of incidence enhances the in-plane alignment of Y2O3 films grown on randomly oriented substrates due to the ion channeling.

Tolerability of continuous subcutaneous octreotide used in combination with other drugs.

PubMed

Mercadante, S

1995-01-01

Continuous subcutaneous infusion of octreotide combined with other drugs has proved to be useful in some circumstances in palliative care setting when theoral route is no longer available. Forty-four patients were administered octreotide alone or in combination with other drugs in the same syringe driver for symptom control in advanced cancer patients. Good tolerability and compatibility were observed without visual drug precipitation for a period of 48 hours at room temperature, the standard clinical situation in patients' homes. Such a combination of drugs administered by the subcutaneous route makes possible the adequate control of symptoms in the final days of life.

New conceptual design of portable bamboo bridge for emergency purposes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Musthaffa, A. A.; Nor, N. M.; Yusof, M. A.; Yuhazri, M. Y.

2018-02-01

Portable bridges serve as routes for troops during the military operations and the disaster relief operation. Nowadays, bamboo has been regarded as one of the alternative construction materials for building and bridge structures. This paper presents the conceptual design of the portable bridge. Several types of portable bridges and bamboo bridges are reviewed in the current work. The characteristics, capability and method of construction of each bridge are discussed. Finally, the conceptual of the portable bamboo bridge for emergency purposes is presented. The idea of producing portable bridge is proposed in the current work as it is crucial for providing route for communities affected by natural disasters.

Automatic detection of left and right ventricles from CTA enables efficient alignment of anatomy with myocardial perfusion data.

PubMed

Piccinelli, Marina; Faber, Tracy L; Arepalli, Chesnal D; Appia, Vikram; Vinten-Johansen, Jakob; Schmarkey, Susan L; Folks, Russell D; Garcia, Ernest V; Yezzi, Anthony

2014-02-01

Accurate alignment between cardiac CT angiographic studies (CTA) and nuclear perfusion images is crucial for improved diagnosis of coronary artery disease. This study evaluated in an animal model the accuracy of a CTA fully automated biventricular segmentation algorithm, a necessary step for automatic and thus efficient PET/CT alignment. Twelve pigs with acute infarcts were imaged using Rb-82 PET and 64-slice CTA. Post-mortem myocardium mass measurements were obtained. Endocardial and epicardial myocardial boundaries were manually and automatically detected on the CTA and both segmentations used to perform PET/CT alignment. To assess the segmentation performance, image-based myocardial masses were compared to experimental data; the hand-traced profiles were used as a reference standard to assess the global and slice-by-slice robustness of the automated algorithm in extracting myocardium, LV, and RV. Mean distances between the automated and the manual 3D segmented surfaces were computed. Finally, differences in rotations and translations between the manual and automatic surfaces were estimated post-PET/CT alignment. The largest, smallest, and median distances between interactive and automatic surfaces averaged 1.2 ± 2.1, 0.2 ± 1.6, and 0.7 ± 1.9 mm. The average angular and translational differences in CT/PET alignments were 0.4°, -0.6°, and -2.3° about x, y, and z axes, and 1.8, -2.1, and 2.0 mm in x, y, and z directions. Our automatic myocardial boundary detection algorithm creates surfaces from CTA that are similar in accuracy and provide similar alignments with PET as those obtained from interactive tracing. Specific difficulties in a reliable segmentation of the apex and base regions will require further improvements in the automated technique.

Aligned interactions in cosmic rays

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

Kempa, J., E-mail: kempa@pw.plock.pl

2015-12-15

The first clean Centauro was found in cosmic rays years many ago at Mt Chacaltaya experiment. Since that time, many people have tried to find this type of interaction, both in cosmic rays and at accelerators. But no one has found a clean cases of this type of interaction.It happened finally in the last exposure of emulsion at Mt Chacaltaya where the second clean Centauro has been found. The experimental data for both the Centauros and STRANA will be presented and discussed in this paper. We also present our comments to the intriguing question of the existence of a typemore » of nuclear interactions at high energy with alignment.« less

Aviation spatial orientation in relationship to head position, altitude interpretation, and control.

PubMed

Smith, D R; Cacioppo, A J; Hinman, G E

1997-06-01

Recently, a visually driven neck reflex was identified as causing head tilt toward the horizon during VMC flight. If this is the case, then pilots orient about a fixed rather than moving horizon, implying current attitude instruments inaccurately present spatial information. The purpose of this study was to determine if the opto-kinetic cervical neck reflex has an effect dependent on passive (autopilot) or active control of the aircraft. Further, findings could help determine if the opto-kinetic cervical reflex is characteristic of other flight crewmembers. There were 16 military pilots who flew two 13-min VMC low-level routes in a large dome flight simulator. Head position in relation to aircraft bank angle was recorded by a head tracker device. During one low-level route, the pilot had a supervisory role as the autopilot flew the aircraft (passive). The other route was flow manually by the pilot (active). Pilots consistently tilted the head to maintain alignment with the horizon. Similar head tilt angles were found in both the active and passive flight phases. However, head tilt had a faster onset rate in the passive condition. Results indicate the opto-kinetic cervical reflex affects pilots while actively flying or in a supervisory role as the autopilot flies. The consistent head tilt angles in both conditions should be considered in attitude indicator, HUD, and HMD designs. Further, results seem to indicate that non-pilot flight crewmembers are affected by the opto-kinetic cervical reflex which should be considered in spatial disorientation and airsickness discussions.

Band alignment and interfacial chemical structure of the HfLaO/InGaZnO4 heterojunction investigated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Ling-Xuan; Wu, Ze-Han; Zhang, Yi-Yu; Liu, Yuan; Song, Jia-Qi; Liu, Xing-Zhao; Li, Yan-Rong

2017-04-01

Amorphous InGaZnO4 thin film transistors (a-IGZO TFTs) with HfLaO gate dielectrics have been widely demonstrated to possess extremely excellent electrical characteristics, and thus show great potential for applications in various next-generation electronic products. Nevertheless, the in-depth understanding of HfLaO/IGZO interfacial features is still lacking, which makes further device optimization lack clear guidance. In this work, the band alignment and interfacial chemical structure of a sputtering-prepared HfLaO/IGZO heterojunction was investigated through x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The valence and conduction band offsets (ΔE v and ΔE c) at the interface were determined to be 0.57 eV and 1.48 eV, respectively. The relatively large ΔE v is mainly attributed to the formation of the interfacial layer (IL) and thus the upward band bending from IGZO to the surface of HfLaO. Furthermore, it was found that the oxygen vacancies on the surface of IGZO were significantly suppressed upon the deposition of HfLaO, which not only explained the previously reported ultrahigh performance of a-IGZO/HfLaO TFTs to some extent, but also additionally validated the formation of the IL. Our findings have successfully revealed the importance of ILs in modifying the band alignment and interfacial trap states of HfLaO/IGZO heterojunctions, thus suggesting a potential route to further optimizing a-IGZO/HfLaO TFTs so as to satisfy the requirements of next-generation technologies.

Plastic masters-rigid templates for soft lithography.

PubMed

Desai, Salil P; Freeman, Dennis M; Voldman, Joel

2009-06-07

We demonstrate a simple process for the fabrication of rigid plastic master molds for soft lithography directly from (poly)dimethysiloxane devices. Plastics masters (PMs) provide a cost-effective alternative to silicon-based masters and can be easily replicated without the need for cleanroom facilities. We have successfully demonstrated the use of plastics micromolding to generate both single and dual-layer plastic structures, and have characterized the fidelity of the molding process. Using the PM fabrication technique, world-to-chip connections can be integrated directly into the master enabling devices with robust, well-aligned fluidic ports directly after molding. PMs provide an easy technique for the fabrication of microfluidic devices and a simple route for the scaling-up of fabrication of robust masters for soft lithography.

Epitaxial nanowire formation in metamorphic GaAs/GaPAs short-period superlattices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Nan; Ahrenkiel, S. Phillip

2017-07-01

Metamorphic growth presents routes to novel nanomaterials with unique properties that may be suitable for a range of applications. We discuss self-assembled, epitaxial nanowires formed during metalorganic chemical vapor deposition of metamorphic GaAs/GaPAs short-period superlattices. The heterostructures incorporate strain-engineered GaPAs compositional grades on 6°-<111>B miscut GaAs substrates. Lateral diffusion within the SPS into vertically aligned, three-dimensional columns results in nanowires extending along <110>A directions with a lateral period of 70-90 nm. The microstructure is probed by transmission electron microscopy to confirm the presence of coherent GaAs nanowires within GaPAs barriers. The compositional profile is inferred from analysis of {200} dark-field image contrast and <210> lattice images.

Sensors and signal processing for high accuracy passenger counting : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-03-05

It is imperative for a transit system to track statistics about their ridership in order to plan bus routes. There exists a wide variety of methods for obtaining these statistics that range from relying on the driver to count people to utilizing came...

Development, deployment, and evaluation of a remote monitoring system and a virtual weigh station : final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-11-01

In order to extend commercial vehicle enforcement coverage to routes that are not monitored by fixed weigh stations, Kentucky has developed and implemented a Remote Monitoring System (RMS) and a Virtual Weight Station (VWS). The RMS captures images o...