Intra-operative measurement of applied forces during anterior scoliosis correction.

PubMed

Fairhurst, H; Little, J P; Adam, C J

2016-12-01

Spinal instrumentation and fusion for the treatment of scoliosis is primarily a mechanical intervention to correct the deformity and halt further progression. While implant-related complications remain a concern, little is known about the magnitudes of the forces applied to the spine during surgery, which may affect post-surgical outcomes. In this study, the compressive forces applied to each spinal segment during anterior instrumentation were measured in a series of patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. A force transducer was designed and retrofit to a routinely used surgical tool, and compressive forces applied to each segment during surgery were measured for 15 scoliosis patients. Cobb angle correction achieved by each force was measured on intra-operative fluoroscope images. Relative changes in orientation of the screw within the vertebra were also measured to detect intra-operative screw plough. Intra-operative forces were measured for a total of 95 spinal segments. The mean applied compressive force was 540N (SD 230N, range 88N-1019N). There was a clear trend for higher forces to be applied at segments toward the apex of the scoliosis. Fluoroscopic evidence of screw plough was detected at 10 segments (10.5%). The magnitude of forces applied during anterior scoliosis correction vary over a broad range. These forces do reach magnitudes capable of causing intra-operative vertebral body screw plough. Surgeons should be aware there is a risk for tissue overload during correction, however the clinical implications of intra-operative screw plough remain unclear. The dataset presented here is valuable for providing realistic input parameters for in silico surgical simulations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Distance and Cable Length Measurement System

PubMed Central

Hernández, Sergio Elias; Acosta, Leopoldo; Toledo, Jonay

2009-01-01

A simple, economic and successful design for distance and cable length detection is presented. The measurement system is based on the continuous repetition of a pulse that endlessly travels along the distance to be detected. There is a pulse repeater at both ends of the distance or cable to be measured. The endless repetition of the pulse generates a frequency that varies almost inversely with the distance to be measured. The resolution and distance or cable length range could be adjusted by varying the repetition time delay introduced at both ends and the measurement time. With this design a distance can be measured with centimeter resolution using electronic system with microsecond resolution, simplifying classical time of flight designs which require electronics with picosecond resolution. This design was also applied to position measurement. PMID:22303169

Foot Plantar Pressure Measurement System: A Review

PubMed Central

Razak, Abdul Hadi Abdul; Zayegh, Aladin; Begg, Rezaul K.; Wahab, Yufridin

2012-01-01

Foot plantar pressure is the pressure field that acts between the foot and the support surface during everyday locomotor activities. Information derived from such pressure measures is important in gait and posture research for diagnosing lower limb problems, footwear design, sport biomechanics, injury prevention and other applications. This paper reviews foot plantar sensors characteristics as reported in the literature in addition to foot plantar pressure measurement systems applied to a variety of research problems. Strengths and limitations of current systems are discussed and a wireless foot plantar pressure system is proposed suitable for measuring high pressure distributions under the foot with high accuracy and reliability. The novel system is based on highly linear pressure sensors with no hysteresis. PMID:23012576

Advanced Active-Magnetic-Bearing Thrust-Measurement System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Imlach, Joseph; Kasarda, Mary; Blumber, Eric

2008-01-01

-magnetic-bearing force-measurement systems is to calculate levitation forces on the basis of simple proportionalities between changes in those forces and changes in feedback-controlled currents applied to levitating electromagnetic coils. In the prior systems, the effects of gap lengths on fringing magnetic fields and the concomitant effects on magnetic forces were neglected. In the present system, the control subsystems of the active magnetic bearings are coupled with a computer-based automatic calibration system running special-purpose software wherein gap-length-dependent fringing factors are applied to current and magnetic-flux-based force equations and combined with a multipoint calibration method to obtain greater accuracy.

Energy saving and recovery measures in integrated urban water systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freni, Gabriele; Sambito, Mariacrocetta

2017-11-01

The present paper describes different energy production, recovery and saving measures which can be applied in an integrated urban water system. Production measures are often based on the installation of photovoltaic systems; the recovery measures are commonly based on hydraulic turbines, exploiting the available pressure potential to produce energy; saving measures are based on substitution of old pumps with higher efficiency ones. The possibility of substituting some of the pipes of the water supply system can be also considered in a recovery scenario in order to reduce leakages and recovery part of the energy needed for water transport and treatment. The reduction of water losses can be obtained through the Active Leakage Control (ALC) strategies resulting in a reduction in energy consumption and in environmental impact. Measures were applied to a real case study to tested it the efficiency, i.e., the integrated urban water system of the Palermo metropolitan area in Sicily (Italy).

System Applies Polymer Powder To Filament Tow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baucom, Robert M.; Snoha, John J.; Marchello, Joseph M.

1993-01-01

Polymer powder applied uniformly and in continuous manner. Powder-coating system applies dry polymer powder to continuous fiber tow. Unique filament-spreading technique, combined with precise control of tension on fibers in system, ensures uniform application of polymer powder to web of spread filaments. Fiber tows impregnated with dry polymer powders ("towpregs") produced for preform-weaving and composite-material-molding applications. System and process valuable to prepreg industry, for production of flexible filament-windable tows and high-temperature polymer prepregs.

Population Health Measurement: Applying Performance Measurement Concepts in Population Health Settings

PubMed Central

Stoto, Michael A.

2014-01-01

Introduction: Whether the focus of population-health improvement efforts, the measurement of health outcomes, risk factors, and interventions to improve them are central to achieving collective impact in the population health perspective. And because of the importance of a shared measurement system, appropriate measures can help to ensure the accountability of and ultimately integrate the efforts of public health, the health care delivery sector, and other public and private entities in the community to improve population health. Yet despite its importance, population health measurement efforts in the United States are poorly developed and uncoordinated. Collaborative Measurement Development: To achieve the potential of the population health perspective, public health officials, health system leaders, and others must work together to develop sets of population health measures that are suitable for different purposes yet are harmonized so that together they can help to improve a community’s health. This begins with clearly defining the purpose of a set of measures, distinguishing between outcomes for which all share responsibility and actions to improve health for which the health care sector, public health agencies, and others should be held accountable. Framework for Population Health Measurement: Depending on the purpose of the analysis, then, measurement systems should clearly specify what to measure—in particular the population served (the denominator), what the critical health dimensions are in a measurement framework, and how the measures can be used to ensure accountability. Building on a clear understanding of the purpose and dimensions of population health that must be measured, developers can then choose specific measures using existing data or developing new data sources if necessary, with established validity, reliability, and other scientific characteristics. Rather than indiscriminately choosing among the proliferating data streams, this

20 CFR 641.700 - What performance measures/indicators apply to SCSEP grantees?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false What performance measures/indicators apply to... Accountability § 641.700 What performance measures/indicators apply to SCSEP grantees? (a) Indicators of performance. There are currently eight performance measures, of which six are core indicators and two are...

Development of adaptive control applied to chaotic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rhode, Martin Andreas

1997-12-01

Continuous-time derivative control and adaptive map-based recursive feedback control techniques are used to control chaos in a variety of systems and in situations that are of practical interest. The theoretical part of the research includes the review of fundamental concept of control theory in the context of its applications to deterministic chaotic systems, the development of a new adaptive algorithm to identify the linear system properties necessary for control, and the extension of the recursive proportional feedback control technique, RPF, to high dimensional systems. Chaos control was applied to models of a thermal pulsed combustor, electro-chemical dissolution and the hyperchaotic Rossler system. Important implications for combustion engineering were suggested by successful control of the model of the thermal pulsed combustor. The system was automatically tracked while maintaining control into regions of parameter and state space where no stable attractors exist. In a simulation of the electrochemical dissolution system, application of derivative control to stabilize a steady state, and adaptive RPF to stabilize a period one orbit, was demonstrated. The high dimensional adaptive control algorithm was applied in a simulation using the Rossler hyperchaotic system, where a period-two orbit with two unstable directions was stabilized and tracked over a wide range of a system parameter. In the experimental part, the electrochemical system was studied in parameter space, by scanning the applied potential and the frequency of the rotating copper disk. The automated control algorithm is demonstrated to be effective when applied to stabilize a period-one orbit in the experiment. We show the necessity of small random perturbations applied to the system in order to both learn the dynamics and control the system at the same time. The simultaneous learning and control capability is shown to be an important part of the active feedback control.

An interferometric strain-displacement measurement system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sharpe, William N., Jr.

1989-01-01

A system for measuring the relative in-plane displacement over a gage length as short as 100 micrometers is described. Two closely spaced indentations are placed in a reflective specimen surface with a Vickers microhardness tester. Interference fringes are generated when they are illuminated with a He-Ne laser. As the distance between the indentations expands or contracts with applied load, the fringes move. This motion is monitored with a minicomputer-controlled system using linear diode arrays as sensors. Characteristics of the system are: (1) gage length ranging from 50 to 500 micrometers, but 100 micrometers is typical; (2) least-count resolution of approximately 0.0025 micrometer; and (3) sampling rate of 13 points per second. In addition, the measurement technique is non-contacting and non-reinforcing. It is useful for strain measurements over small gage lengths and for crack opening displacement measurements near crack tips. This report is a detailed description of a new system recently installed in the Mechanisms of Materials Branch at the NASA Langley Research Center. The intent is to enable a prospective user to evaluate the applicability of the system to a particular problem and assemble one if needed.

Applying Monte-Carlo simulations to optimize an inelastic neutron scattering system for soil carbon analysis

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Computer Monte-Carlo (MC) simulations (Geant4) of neutron propagation and acquisition of gamma response from soil samples was applied to evaluate INS system performance characteristic [sensitivity, minimal detectable level (MDL)] for soil carbon measurement. The INS system model with best performanc...

Understanding Interdependencies between Heterogeneous Earth Observation Systems When Applied to Federal Objectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallo, J.; Sylak-Glassman, E.

2017-12-01

We will present a method for assessing interdependencies between heterogeneous Earth observation (EO) systems when applied to key Federal objectives. Using data from the National Earth Observation Assessment (EOA), we present a case study that examines the frequency that measurements from each of the Landsat 8 sensors are used in conjunction with heterogeneous measurements from other Earth observation sensors to develop data and information products. This EOA data allows us to map the most frequent interactions between Landsat measurements and measurements from other sensors, identify high-impact data and information products where these interdependencies occur, and identify where these combined measurements contribute most to meeting a key Federal objective within one of the 13 Societal Benefit Areas used in the EOA study. Using a value-tree framework to trace the application of data from EO systems to weighted key Federal objectives within the EOA study, we are able to estimate relative contribution of individual EO systems to meeting those objectives, as well as the interdependencies between measurements from all EO systems within the EOA study. The analysis relies on a modified Delphi method to elicit relative levels of reliance on individual measurements from EO systems, including combinations of measurements, from subject matter experts. This results in the identification of a representative portfolio of all EO systems used to meet key Federal objectives. Understanding the interdependencies among a heterogeneous set of measurements that modify the impact of any one individual measurement on meeting a key Federal objective, especially if the measurements originate from multiple agencies or state/local/tribal, international, academic, and commercial sources, can impact agency decision-making regarding mission requirements and inform understanding of user needs.

Thermodynamic Laws Applied to Economic Systems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

González, José Villacís

2009-01-01

Economic activity in its different manifestations--production, exchange, consumption and, particularly, information on quantities and prices--generates and transfers energy. As a result, we can apply to it the basic laws of thermodynamics. These laws are applicable within a system, i.e., in a country or between systems and countries. To these…

Applied use of cardiac and respiration measures: practical considerations and precautions.

PubMed

Wilson, G F

1992-11-01

Cardiac and respiratory measures can be successfully applied to "real world" environments and these measures have certain advantages over both performance and subjective measures that are typically used to monitor operator state and workload. However, because of large differences between laboratory and "real world" environments one must utilize caution in directly applying laboratory data and theories to the day-to-day world environment. While most workers are highly over-trained in their jobs, laboratory subjects are often under-trained in the cognitive tasks that are used to study cognitive activity. It is possible that a substantial portion of experimental effects reported in laboratory studies is due to learning effects. In addition, relatively small changes in cardiac and respiration measures are reported to experimental manipulations in the laboratory while a much larger range of changes are reported in "real world" environments. These differences highlight questions about laboratory/real world similarities and the need to develop a database of actual work environment data. A third area of concern is the relative lack of control over the experimental situation that is the case with most applied research. The possible confounding of changes due to cognitive and physical activity levels is a major concern and strategies for overcoming these problems are suggested. The potential for valuable contributions by cardiac and respiratory measures to applied research make overcoming these difficulties worthwhile.

Measurement Equivalence of the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System® (PROMIS®) Applied Cognition - General Concerns, Short Forms in Ethnically Diverse Groups.

PubMed

Fieo, Robert; Ocepek-Welikson, Katja; Kleinman, Marjorie; Eimicke, Joseph P; Crane, Paul K; Cella, David; Teresi, Jeanne A

2016-01-01

The goals of these analyses were to examine the psychometric properties and measurement equivalence of a self-reported cognition measure, the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System ® (PROMIS ® ) Applied Cognition - General Concerns short form. These items are also found in the PROMIS Cognitive Function (version 2) item bank. This scale consists of eight items related to subjective cognitive concerns. Differential item functioning (DIF) analyses of gender, education, race, age, and (Spanish) language were performed using an ethnically diverse sample ( n = 5,477) of individuals with cancer. This is the first analysis examining DIF in this item set across ethnic and racial groups. DIF hypotheses were derived by asking content experts to indicate whether they posited DIF for each item and to specify the direction. The principal DIF analytic model was item response theory (IRT) using the graded response model for polytomous data, with accompanying Wald tests and measures of magnitude. Sensitivity analyses were conducted using ordinal logistic regression (OLR) with a latent conditioning variable. IRT-based reliability, precision and information indices were estimated. DIF was identified consistently only for the item, brain not working as well as usual. After correction for multiple comparisons, this item showed significant DIF for both the primary and sensitivity analyses. Black respondents and Hispanics in comparison to White non-Hispanic respondents evidenced a lower conditional probability of endorsing the item, brain not working as well as usual. The same pattern was observed for the education grouping variable: as compared to those with a graduate degree, conditioning on overall level of subjective cognitive concerns, those with less than high school education also had a lower probability of endorsing this item. DIF was also observed for age for two items after correction for multiple comparisons for both the IRT and OLR-based models: "I have had

A quantitative method for measuring forces applied by nail braces.

PubMed

Erdogan, Fatma G

2011-01-01

Nail bracing is a conservative method used for ingrown nails; however, lack of objective measurements limits its use for various nails. Double-string nail braces with extra metal springs were applied to 12 patients with 21 chronic, thick, and overcurved ingrown nails. Force was measured with a force gauge meter. Treatment was stopped once patients stood on their tiptoes and walked in shoes pain free without braces. A force gauge meter was also used on a model nail to show the forces applied by various nail braces and to compare their pulling forces. After 6 to 10 months of treatment, all of the patients were pain free; 600 to 1,000 centi Newtons of force were applied to the nails. As the width of the nail increased, so did the force. Braces exert more force on larger nails, which may shorten treatment durations. By measuring forces, it may be possible to standardize force and duration of treatment according to variables such as nail thickness, nail width, angle of ingrown nail, and duration of symptoms.

Complex Permittivity of Planar Building Materials Measured With an Ultra-Wideband Free-Field Antenna Measurement System.

PubMed

Davis, Ben; Grosvenor, Chriss; Johnk, Robert; Novotny, David; Baker-Jarvis, James; Janezic, Michael

2007-01-01

Building materials are often incorporated into complex, multilayer macrostructures that are simply not amenable to measurements using coax or waveguide sample holders. In response to this, we developed an ultra-wideband (UWB) free-field measurement system. This measurement system uses a ground-plane-based system and two TEM half-horn antennas to transmit and receive the RF signal. The material samples are placed between the antennas, and reflection and transmission measurements made. Digital signal processing techniques are then applied to minimize environmental and systematic effects. The processed data are compared to a plane-wave model to extract the material properties with optimization software based on genetic algorithms.

Applied potential tomography. A new noninvasive technique for measuring gastric emptying

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

Avill, R.; Mangnall, Y.F.; Bird, N.C.

1987-04-01

Applied potential tomography is a new, noninvasive technique that yields sequential images of the resistivity of gastric contents after subjects have ingested a liquid or semisolid meal. This study validates the technique as a means of measuring gastric emptying. Experiments in vitro showed an excellent correlation between measurements of resistivity and either the square of the radius of a glass rod or the volume of water in a spherical balloon when both were placed in an oval tank containing saline. Altering the lateral position of the rod in the tank did not alter the values obtained. Images of abdominal resistivitymore » were also directly correlated with the volume of air in a gastric balloon. Profiles of gastric emptying of liquid meals obtained using applied potential tomography were very similar to those obtained using scintigraphy or dye dilution techniques, provided that acid secretion was inhibited by cimetidine. Profiles of emptying of a mashed potato meal using applied potential tomography were also very similar to those obtained by scintigraphy. Measurements of the emptying of a liquid meal from the stomach were reproducible if acid secretion was inhibited by cimetidine. Thus, applied potential tomography is an accurate and reproducible method of measuring gastric emptying of liquids and particulate food. It is inexpensive, well tolerated, easy to use, and ideally suited for multiple studies in patients, even those who are pregnant.« less

Impurity Correction Techniques Applied to Existing Doping Measurements of Impurities in Zinc

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pearce, J. V.; Sun, J. P.; Zhang, J. T.; Deng, X. L.

2017-01-01

Impurities represent the most significant source of uncertainty in most metal fixed points used for the realization of the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90). There are a number of different methods for quantifying the effect of impurities on the freezing temperature of ITS-90 fixed points, many of which rely on an accurate knowledge of the liquidus slope in the limit of low concentration. A key method of determining the liquidus slope is to measure the freezing temperature of a fixed-point material as it is progressively doped with a known amount of impurity. Recently, a series of measurements of the freezing and melting temperature of `slim' Zn fixed-point cells doped with Ag, Fe, Ni, and Pb were presented. Here, additional measurements of the Zn-X system are presented using Ga as a dopant, and the data (Zn-Ag, Zn-Fe, Zn-Ni, Zn-Pb, and Zn-Ga) have been re-analyzed to demonstrate the use of a fitting method based on Scheil solidification which is applied to both melting and freezing curves. In addition, the utility of the Sum of Individual Estimates method is explored with these systems in the context of a recently enhanced database of liquidus slopes of impurities in Zn in the limit of low concentration.

Target thrust measurement for applied-field magnetoplasmadynamic thruster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, B.; Yang, W.; Tang, H.; Li, Z.; Kitaeva, A.; Chen, Z.; Cao, J.; Herdrich, G.; Zhang, K.

2018-07-01

In this paper, we present a flat target thrust stand which is designed to measure the thrust of a steady-state applied-field magnetoplasmadynamic thruster (AF-MPDT). In our experiments we varied target-thruster distances and target size to analyze their influence on the target thrust measurement results. The obtained thrust-distance curves increase to local maximum and then decreases with the increasing distance, which means that the plume of the AF-MPDT can still accelerate outside the thruster exit. The peak positions are related to the target sizes: larger targets can make the peak positions further from the thruster and decrease the measurement errors. To further improve the reliability of measurement results, a thermal equilibrium assumption combined with Knudsen’s cosine law is adapted to analyze the error caused by the back stream of plume particles. Under the assumption, the error caused by particle backflow is no more than 3.6% and the largest difference between the measured thrust and the theoretical thrust is 14%. Moreover, it was verified that target thrust measurement can disturb the working of the AF-MPD thruster, and the influence on the thrust measurement result is no more than 1% in our experiment.

Applying Customer Dissatisfaction Measures to Schools: You Better Know What's Wrong before You Try To Fix It.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salisbury, David F.; Branson, Robert K.; Altreche, Wanda I.; Funk, Fanchon F.; Broetzmann, Scott M.

1997-01-01

Addresses the feasibility of applying customer-dissatisfaction measures to public schools. Presents a framework for a public education customer-satisfaction system, based on the author's previous experience in business and industry. A Florida survey showed that about one-third of parents and two-thirds of businesses were dissatisfied with the…

Applying Statistical Models and Parametric Distance Measures for Music Similarity Search

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lukashevich, Hanna; Dittmar, Christian; Bastuck, Christoph

Automatic deriving of similarity relations between music pieces is an inherent field of music information retrieval research. Due to the nearly unrestricted amount of musical data, the real-world similarity search algorithms have to be highly efficient and scalable. The possible solution is to represent each music excerpt with a statistical model (ex. Gaussian mixture model) and thus to reduce the computational costs by applying the parametric distance measures between the models. In this paper we discuss the combinations of applying different parametric modelling techniques and distance measures and weigh the benefits of each one against the others.

Systems and methods for measuring component matching

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Courter, Kelly J. (Inventor); Slenk, Joel E. (Inventor)

2006-01-01

Systems and methods for measuring a contour match between adjacent components are disclosed. In one embodiment, at least two pressure sensors are located between adjacent components. Each pressure sensor is adapted to obtain a pressure measurement at a location a predetermined distance away from the other pressure sensors, and to output a pressure measurement for each sensor location. An output device is adapted to receive the pressure measurements from at least two pressure sensors and display the pressure measurements. In one aspect, the pressure sensors include flexible thin film pressure sensors. In accordance with other aspects of the invention, a method is provided for measuring a contour match between two interfacing components including measuring at least one pressure applied to at least one sensor between the interfacing components.

[Cost of therapy for neurodegenerative diseases. Applying an activity-based costing system].

PubMed

Sánchez-Rebull, María-Victoria; Terceño Gómez, Antonio; Travé Bautista, Angeles

2013-01-01

To apply the activity based costing (ABC) model to calculate the cost of therapy for neurodegenerative disorders in order to improve hospital management and allocate resources more efficiently. We used the case study method in the Francolí long-term care day center. We applied all phases of an ABC system to quantify the cost of the activities developed in the center. We identified 60 activities; the information was collected in June 2009. The ABC system allowed us to calculate the average cost per patient with respect to the therapies received. The most costly and commonly applied technique was psycho-stimulation therapy. Focusing on this therapy and on others related to the admissions process could lead to significant cost savings. ABC costing is a viable method for costing activities and therapies in long-term day care centers because it can be adapted to their structure and standard practice. This type of costing allows the costs of each activity and therapy, or combination of therapies, to be determined and aids measures to improve management. Copyright © 2012 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Airborne data measurement system errors reduction through state estimation and control optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sebryakov, G. G.; Muzhichek, S. M.; Pavlov, V. I.; Ermolin, O. V.; Skrinnikov, A. A.

2018-02-01

The paper discusses the problem of airborne data measurement system errors reduction through state estimation and control optimization. The approaches are proposed based on the methods of experiment design and the theory of systems with random abrupt structure variation. The paper considers various control criteria as applied to an aircraft data measurement system. The physics of criteria is explained, the mathematical description and the sequence of steps for each criterion application is shown. The formula is given for airborne data measurement system state vector posterior estimation based for systems with structure variations.

Measurement Equivalence of the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System® (PROMIS®) Applied Cognition – General Concerns, Short Forms in Ethnically Diverse Groups

PubMed Central

Fieo, Robert; Ocepek-Welikson, Katja; Kleinman, Marjorie; Eimicke, Joseph P.; Crane, Paul K.; Cella, David; Teresi, Jeanne A.

2017-01-01

Aims The goals of these analyses were to examine the psychometric properties and measurement equivalence of a self-reported cognition measure, the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System® (PROMIS®) Applied Cognition – General Concerns short form. These items are also found in the PROMIS Cognitive Function (version 2) item bank. This scale consists of eight items related to subjective cognitive concerns. Differential item functioning (DIF) analyses of gender, education, race, age, and (Spanish) language were performed using an ethnically diverse sample (n = 5,477) of individuals with cancer. This is the first analysis examining DIF in this item set across ethnic and racial groups. Methods DIF hypotheses were derived by asking content experts to indicate whether they posited DIF for each item and to specify the direction. The principal DIF analytic model was item response theory (IRT) using the graded response model for polytomous data, with accompanying Wald tests and measures of magnitude. Sensitivity analyses were conducted using ordinal logistic regression (OLR) with a latent conditioning variable. IRT-based reliability, precision and information indices were estimated. Results DIF was identified consistently only for the item, brain not working as well as usual. After correction for multiple comparisons, this item showed significant DIF for both the primary and sensitivity analyses. Black respondents and Hispanics in comparison to White non-Hispanic respondents evidenced a lower conditional probability of endorsing the item, brain not working as well as usual. The same pattern was observed for the education grouping variable: as compared to those with a graduate degree, conditioning on overall level of subjective cognitive concerns, those with less than high school education also had a lower probability of endorsing this item. DIF was also observed for age for two items after correction for multiple comparisons for both the IRT and OLR

Multipartite entanglement in fermionic systems via a geometric measure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lari, Behzad; Durganandini, P.; Joag, Pramod S.

2010-12-01

We study multipartite entanglement in a system consisting of indistinguishable fermions. Specifically, we have proposed a geometric entanglement measure for N spin-(1)/(2) fermions distributed over 2L modes (single-particle states). The measure is defined on the 2L qubit space isomorphic to the Fock space for 2L single-particle states. This entanglement measure is defined for a given partition of 2L modes containing m⩾2 subsets. Thus this measure applies to m⩽2L partite fermionic systems where L is any finite number, giving the number of sites. The Hilbert spaces associated with these subsets may have different dimensions. Further, we have defined the local quantum operations with respect to a given partition of modes. This definition is generic and unifies different ways of dividing a fermionic system into subsystems. We have shown, using a representative case, that the geometric measure is invariant under local unitary operators corresponding to a given partition. We explicitly demonstrate the use of the measure to calculate multipartite entanglement in some correlated electron systems.

Calibration methodology for proportional counters applied to yield measurements of a neutron burst.

PubMed

Tarifeño-Saldivia, Ariel; Mayer, Roberto E; Pavez, Cristian; Soto, Leopoldo

2014-01-01

This paper introduces a methodology for the yield measurement of a neutron burst using neutron proportional counters. This methodology is to be applied when single neutron events cannot be resolved in time by nuclear standard electronics, or when a continuous current cannot be measured at the output of the counter. The methodology is based on the calibration of the counter in pulse mode, and the use of a statistical model to estimate the number of detected events from the accumulated charge resulting from the detection of the burst of neutrons. The model is developed and presented in full detail. For the measurement of fast neutron yields generated from plasma focus experiments using a moderated proportional counter, the implementation of the methodology is herein discussed. An experimental verification of the accuracy of the methodology is presented. An improvement of more than one order of magnitude in the accuracy of the detection system is obtained by using this methodology with respect to previous calibration methods.

WSN-Based Space Charge Density Measurement System

PubMed Central

Deng, Dawei; Yuan, Haiwen; Lv, Jianxun; Ju, Yong

2017-01-01

It is generally acknowledged that high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line endures the drawback of large area, because of which the utilization of cable for space charge density monitoring system is of inconvenience. Compared with the traditional communication network, wireless sensor network (WSN) shows advantages in small volume, high flexibility and strong self-organization, thereby presenting great potential in solving the problem. Additionally, WSN is more suitable for the construction of distributed space charge density monitoring system as it has longer distance and higher mobility. A distributed wireless system is designed for collecting and monitoring the space charge density under HVDC transmission lines, which has been widely applied in both Chinese state grid HVDC test base and power transmission projects. Experimental results of the measuring system demonstrated its adaptability in the complex electromagnetic environment under the transmission lines and the ability in realizing accurate, flexible, and stable demands for the measurement of space charge density. PMID:28052105

WSN-Based Space Charge Density Measurement System.

PubMed

Deng, Dawei; Yuan, Haiwen; Lv, Jianxun; Ju, Yong

2017-01-01

It is generally acknowledged that high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line endures the drawback of large area, because of which the utilization of cable for space charge density monitoring system is of inconvenience. Compared with the traditional communication network, wireless sensor network (WSN) shows advantages in small volume, high flexibility and strong self-organization, thereby presenting great potential in solving the problem. Additionally, WSN is more suitable for the construction of distributed space charge density monitoring system as it has longer distance and higher mobility. A distributed wireless system is designed for collecting and monitoring the space charge density under HVDC transmission lines, which has been widely applied in both Chinese state grid HVDC test base and power transmission projects. Experimental results of the measuring system demonstrated its adaptability in the complex electromagnetic environment under the transmission lines and the ability in realizing accurate, flexible, and stable demands for the measurement of space charge density.

Distributed optical fiber temperature sensor (DOFTS) system applied to automatic temperature alarm of coal mine and tunnel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Zaixuan; Wang, Kequan; Kim, Insoo S.; Wang, Jianfeng; Feng, Haiqi; Guo, Ning; Yu, Xiangdong; Zhou, Bangquan; Wu, Xiaobiao; Kim, Yohee

2000-05-01

The DOFTS system that has applied to temperature automatically alarm system of coal mine and tunnel has been researched. It is a real-time, on line and multi-point measurement system. The wavelength of LD is 1550 nm, on the 6 km optical fiber, 3000 points temperature signal is sampled and the spatial position is certain. Temperature measured region: -50 degree(s)C--100 degree(s)C; measured uncertain value: +/- 3 degree(s)C; temperature resolution: 0.1 degree(s)C; spatial resolution: <5 cm (optical fiber sensor probe); <8 m (spread optical fiber); measured time: <70 s. In the paper, the operated principles, underground test, test content and practical test results have been discussed.

A system of vegetation classification applied to Hawaii

Treesearch

Michael G. Buck; Timothy E. Paysen

1984-01-01

A classification system for use in describing vegetation has been developed for Hawaii. Physiognomic and taxonomic criteria are used for a hierarchical stratification of vegetation in which the system categories are Formation, Subformation, Series, Association, and Phase. The System applies to local resource management activities and serves as a framework for resource...

Applying management information systems to staffing.

PubMed

Hanson, R L

1982-10-01

A management information system (MIS) is a tool for managing resources effectively. After reviewing some concepts and principles for effective data management, Hanson clearly applies the concepts to nurse staffing systems, which manage human resources. He defines a seven-step process for establishing an MIS, from defining the management objective to implementing the system. Pointing out that an MIS need not be computerized to be effective, Hanson presents a positive perspective and clarifies some often-misconceived notions about management information systems and the paper printouts they generate. In the next issue of JONA, a second article by Hanson will take a more detailed look at the variety, use, and usefulness of staffing statistics available from an MIS for staffing. These articles are based on material in a forthcoming book, Management Systems for Nursing Service Staffing, to be published by Aspen Systems Corporation, Rockville, Maryland.

Applications of fidelity measures to complex quantum systems

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

We revisit fidelity as a measure for the stability and the complexity of the quantum motion of single-and many-body systems. Within the context of cold atoms, we present an overview of applications of two fidelities, which we call static and dynamical fidelity, respectively. The static fidelity applies to quantum problems which can be diagonalized since it is defined via the eigenfunctions. In particular, we show that the static fidelity is a highly effective practical detector of avoided crossings characterizing the complexity of the systems and their evolutions. The dynamical fidelity is defined via the time-dependent wave functions. Focusing on the quantum kicked rotor system, we highlight a few practical applications of fidelity measurements in order to better understand the large variety of dynamical regimes of this paradigm of a low-dimensional system with mixed regular–chaotic phase space. PMID:27140967

Applied Information Systems Research Program Workshop

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

The first Applied Information Systems Research Program (AISRP) Workshop provided the impetus for several groups involved in information systems to review current activities. The objectives of the workshop included: (1) to provide an open forum for interaction and discussion of information systems; (2) to promote understanding by initiating a dialogue with the intended benefactors of the program, the scientific user community, and discuss options for improving their support; (3) create an advocacy in having science users and investigators of the program meet together and establish the basis for direction and growth; and (4) support the future of the program by building collaborations and interaction to encourage an investigator working group approach for conducting the program.

The design and implementation of a windowing interface pinch force measurement system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ho, Tze-Yee; Chen, Yuanu-Joan; Chung, Chin-Teng; Hsiao, Ming-Heng

2010-02-01

This paper presents a novel windowing interface pinch force measurement system that is basically based on an USB (Universal Series Bus) microcontroller which mainly processes the sensing data from the force sensing resistance sensors mounted on five digits. It possesses several friendly functions, such as the value and curve trace of the applied force by a hand injured patient displayed in real time on a monitoring screen, consequently, not only the physician can easily evaluate the effect of hand injury rehabilitation, but also the patients get more progressive during the hand physical therapy by interacting with the screen of pinch force measurement. In order to facilitate the pinch force measurement system and make it friendly, the detail hardware design and software programming flowchart are described in this paper. Through a series of carefully and detailed experimental tests, first of all, the relationship between the applying force and the FSR sensors are measured and verified. Later, the different type of pinch force measurements are verified by the oscilloscope and compared with the corresponding values and waveform traces in the window interface display panel to obtain the consistency. Finally, a windowing interface pinch force measurement system based on the USB microcontroller is implemented and demonstrated. The experimental results show the verification and feasibility of the designed system.

Interferometric system based on swept source-optical coherence tomography scheme applied to the measurement of distances of industrial interest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morel, Eneas N.; Russo, Nélida A.; Torga, Jorge R.; Duchowicz, Ricardo

2016-01-01

We used an interferometric technique based on typical optical coherence tomography (OCT) schemes for measuring distances of industrial interest. The system employed as a light source a tunable erbium-doped fiber laser of ˜20-pm bandwidth with a tuning range between 1520 and 1570 nm. It has a sufficiently long coherence length to enable long depth range imaging. A set of fiber Bragg gratings was used as a self-calibration method, which has the advantage of being a passive system that requires no additional electronic devices. The proposed configuration and the coherence length of the laser enlarge the range of maximum distances that can be measured with the common OCT configuration, maintaining a good axial resolution. A measuring range slightly >17 cm was determined. The system performance was evaluated by studying the repeatability and axial resolution of the results when the same optical path difference was measured. Additionally, the thickness of a semitransparent medium was also measured.

Comparison of calibration and standardization approaches for fluorescence guided imaging systems to benchtop fluorescence measurements in cellular systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Litorja, Maritoni; DeRose, Paul

2018-02-01

Fluorescence measurements are a staple in biomedicine, from research and discovery to more recently, for fluorescenceguided imaging systems for diagnostics and surgery. Measurement validation for clinical imagers is a challenge as it is applied to many different optical systems and probe through matrices with different optical properties in a demanding field environment. In this paper we will present approaches to fluorescence calibration for a field system, in comparison to those used in laboratory instruments for cell measurements or benchtop fluorometers. We will present the common challenges and differences, and lessons from the standardization effort of laboratory fluorescence measurements. We will discuss the conceptually different pathways to measurement traceability, between counting moles of substance and measuring light.

Applying Simulated In Vivo Motions to Measure Human Knee and ACL Kinetics

PubMed Central

Herfat, Safa T.; Boguszewski, Daniel V.; Shearn, Jason T.

2013-01-01

Patients frequently experience anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries but current ACL reconstruction strategies do not restore the native biomechanics of the knee, which can contribute to the early onset of osteoarthritis in the long term. To design more effective treatments, investigators must first understand normal in vivo knee function for multiple activities of daily living (ADLs). While the 3D kinematics of the human knee have been measured for various ADLs, the 3D kinetics cannot be directly measured in vivo. Alternatively, the 3D kinetics of the knee and its structures can be measured in an animal model by simulating and applying subject-specific in vivo joint motions to a joint using robotics. However, a suitable biomechanical surrogate should first be established. This study was designed to apply a simulated human in vivo motion to human knees to measure the kinetics of the human knee and ACL. In pursuit of establishing a viable biomechanical surrogate, a simulated in vivo ovine motion was also applied to human knees to compare the loads produced by the human and ovine motions. The motions from the two species produced similar kinetics in the human knee and ACL. The only significant difference was the intact knee compression force produced by the two input motions. PMID:22227973

Selected KSC Applied Physics Lab Responses to Shuttle Processing Measurement Requests

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Youngquist, Robert C.

2010-01-01

The KSC Applied Physics Lab has been supporting Shuttle Ground Processing for over 20 years by solving problems brought to us by Shuttle personnel. Roughly half of the requests to our lab have been to find ways to make measurements, or to improve on an existing measurement process. This talk will briefly cover: 1) Centering the aft end of the External Tank between the Solid Rocket Boosters; 2) Positioning the GOX Vent Hood over the External Tank; 3) Remote Measurements of External Tank Damage; 4) Strain Measurement in the Orbiter Sling; and 5) Over-center Distance Measurement in an Over-center Mechanism.

A vegetation classification system applied to southern California

Treesearch

Timothy E. Paysen; Jeanine A. Derby; Hugh Black; Vernon C. Bleich; John W. Mincks

1980-01-01

A classification system for use in describing vegetation has been developed and is being applied to southern California. It is based upon a hierarchical stratification of vegetation, using physiognomic and taxonomic criteria. The system categories are Formation, Subformation. Series, Association, and Phase. Formations, Subformations, and Series have been specified for...

Measurement of complete and continuous Wigner functions for discrete atomic systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Yali; Wang, Zhihui; Zhang, Pengfei; Li, Gang; Li, Jie; Zhang, Tiancai

2018-01-01

We measure complete and continuous Wigner functions of a two-level cesium atom in both a nearly pure state and highly mixed states. We apply the method [T. Tilma et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 180401 (2016), 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.180401] of strictly constructing continuous Wigner functions for qubit or spin systems. We find that the Wigner function of all pure states of a qubit has negative regions and the negativity completely vanishes when the purity of an arbitrary mixed state is less than 2/3 . We experimentally demonstrate these findings using a single cesium atom confined in an optical dipole trap, which undergoes a nearly pure dephasing process. Our method can be applied straightforwardly to multi-atom systems for measuring the Wigner function of their collective spin state.

Thrust performance of unsteady propulsors using a novel measurement system, and corresponding wake patterns

PubMed Central

Clark, Richard P.; Smits, Alexander J.

2009-01-01

An apparatus is described for the measurement of unsteady thrust and propulsive efficiency produced by biologically inspired oscillating hydrodynamic propulsors. Force measurement is achieved using a strain-gauge-based force transducer, augmented with a lever to amplify or attenuate the applied force and control the measurement sensitivity and natural frequency of vibration. The lever can be used to tune the system to a specific application and it is shown that, using the lever, the stiffness can be made to increase more rapidly than the measurement sensitivity decreases. Efficiency is computed from measurements of the time-averaged power imparted to the fluid. The apparatus is applied to two different propulsors, demonstrating the versatility of the system; wake visualizations are examined, which provide insight into the physical mechanisms of efficient propulsion. PMID:19946574

POF-IMU sensor system: A fusion between inertial measurement units and POF sensors for low-cost and highly reliable systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leal-Junior, Arnaldo G.; Vargas-Valencia, Laura; dos Santos, Wilian M.; Schneider, Felipe B. A.; Siqueira, Adriano A. G.; Pontes, Maria José; Frizera, Anselmo

2018-07-01

This paper presents a low cost and highly reliable system for angle measurement based on a sensor fusion between inertial and fiber optic sensors. The system consists of the sensor fusion through Kalman filter of two inertial measurement units (IMUs) and an intensity variation-based polymer optical fiber (POF) curvature sensor. In addition, the IMU was applied as a reference for a compensation technique of POF curvature sensor hysteresis. The proposed system was applied on the knee angle measurement of a lower limb exoskeleton in flexion/extension cycles and in gait analysis. Results show the accuracy of the system, where the Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) between the POF-IMU sensor system and the encoder was below 4° in the worst case and about 1° in the best case. Then, the POF-IMU sensor system was evaluated as a wearable sensor for knee joint angle assessment without the exoskeleton, where its suitability for this purpose was demonstrated. The results obtained in this paper pave the way for future applications of sensor fusion between electronic and fiber optic sensors in movement analysis.

Smart measurement system for resistive (bridge) or capacitive sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Guijie; Meijer, Gerard C. M.

1998-07-01

A low-cost smart measurement system for resistive (bridge) and capacitive sensors is presented and demonstrated. The measurement system consists of three main parts: the sensor element, a universal transducer interface (UTI) and a microcontroller. The UTI is a sensor-signal-to-time converter, based on a period-modulated oscillator, which is equipped with front-ends for many types of resistive (bridge) and capacitive sensors, and which generates a microcontroller-compatible output signal. The microcontroller performs data acquisition of the output signals from the interface UTI, controls the working status of the UTI for a specified application and communicates with a personal computer. Continuous auto-calibration of the offset and the gain of the complete system is applied to eliminate many nonidealities. Experimental results show that the accuracy and resolution are 14 bits and 16 bits, respectively, for a measurement time of about 100 ms.

Automatic forest-fire measuring using ground stations and Unmanned Aerial Systems.

PubMed

Martínez-de Dios, José Ramiro; Merino, Luis; Caballero, Fernando; Ollero, Anibal

2011-01-01

This paper presents a novel system for automatic forest-fire measurement using cameras distributed at ground stations and mounted on Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). It can obtain geometrical measurements of forest fires in real-time such as the location and shape of the fire front, flame height and rate of spread, among others. Measurement of forest fires is a challenging problem that is affected by numerous potential sources of error. The proposed system addresses them by exploiting the complementarities between infrared and visual cameras located at different ground locations together with others onboard Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The system applies image processing and geo-location techniques to obtain forest-fire measurements individually from each camera and then integrates the results from all the cameras using statistical data fusion techniques. The proposed system has been extensively tested and validated in close-to-operational conditions in field fire experiments with controlled safety conditions carried out in Portugal and Spain from 2001 to 2006.

Automatic Forest-Fire Measuring Using Ground Stations and Unmanned Aerial Systems

PubMed Central

Martínez-de Dios, José Ramiro; Merino, Luis; Caballero, Fernando; Ollero, Anibal

2011-01-01

This paper presents a novel system for automatic forest-fire measurement using cameras distributed at ground stations and mounted on Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). It can obtain geometrical measurements of forest fires in real-time such as the location and shape of the fire front, flame height and rate of spread, among others. Measurement of forest fires is a challenging problem that is affected by numerous potential sources of error. The proposed system addresses them by exploiting the complementarities between infrared and visual cameras located at different ground locations together with others onboard Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The system applies image processing and geo-location techniques to obtain forest-fire measurements individually from each camera and then integrates the results from all the cameras using statistical data fusion techniques. The proposed system has been extensively tested and validated in close-to-operational conditions in field fire experiments with controlled safety conditions carried out in Portugal and Spain from 2001 to 2006. PMID:22163958

Grey signal processing and data reconstruction in the non-diffracting beam triangulation measurement system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meng, Hao; Wang, Zhongyu; Fu, Jihua

2008-12-01

The non-diffracting beam triangulation measurement system possesses the advantages of longer measurement range, higher theoretical measurement accuracy and higher resolution over the traditional laser triangulation measurement system. Unfortunately the measurement accuracy of the system is greatly degraded due to the speckle noise, the CCD photoelectric noise and the background light noise in practical applications. Hence, some effective signal processing methods must be applied to improve the measurement accuracy. In this paper a novel effective method for removing the noises in the non-diffracting beam triangulation measurement system is proposed. In the method the grey system theory is used to process and reconstruct the measurement signal. Through implementing the grey dynamic filtering based on the dynamic GM(1,1), the noises can be effectively removed from the primary measurement data and the measurement accuracy of the system can be improved as a result.

Pressure Measurement Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1990-01-01

System 8400 is an advanced system for measurement of gas and liquid pressure, along with a variety of other parameters, including voltage, frequency and digital inputs. System 8400 offers exceptionally high speed data acquisition through parallel processing, and its modular design allows expansion from a relatively inexpensive entry level system by the addition of modular Input Units that can be installed or removed in minutes. Douglas Juanarena was on the team of engineers that developed a new technology known as ESP (electronically scanned pressure). The Langley ESP measurement system was based on miniature integrated circuit pressure-sensing transducers that communicated pressure information to a minicomputer. In 1977, Juanarena formed PSI to exploit the NASA technology. In 1978 he left Langley, obtained a NASA license for the technology, introduced the first commercial product, the 780B pressure measurement system. PSI developed a pressure scanner for automation of industrial processes. Now in its second design generation, the DPT-6400 is capable of making 2,000 measurements a second and has 64 channels by addition of slave units. New system 8400 represents PSI's bid to further exploit the 600 million U.S. industrial pressure measurement market. It is geared to provide a turnkey solution to physical measurement.

Measuring the quantum geometric tensor in two-dimensional photonic and exciton-polariton systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bleu, O.; Solnyshkov, D. D.; Malpuech, G.

2018-05-01

We propose theoretically a method that allows to measure all the components of the quantum geometric tensor (the metric tensor and the Berry curvature) in a photonic system. The method is based on standard optical measurements. It applies to two-band systems, which can be mapped to a pseudospin, and to four-band systems, which can be described by two entangled pseudospins. We apply this method to several specific cases. We consider a 2D planar cavity with two polarization eigenmodes, where the pseudospin measurement can be performed via polarization-resolved photoluminescence. We also consider the s band of a staggered honeycomb lattice with polarization-degenerate modes (scalar photons), where the sublattice pseudospin can be measured by performing spatially resolved interferometric measurements. We finally consider the s band of a honeycomb lattice with polarized (spinor) photons as an example of a four-band model. We simulate realistic experimental situations in all cases. We find the photon eigenstates by solving the Schrödinger equation including pumping and finite lifetime, and then simulate the measurements to finally extract realistic mappings of the k-dependent tensor components.

The Applied Mathematics for Power Systems (AMPS)

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

Chertkov, Michael

2012-07-24

Increased deployment of new technologies, e.g., renewable generation and electric vehicles, is rapidly transforming electrical power networks by crossing previously distinct spatiotemporal scales and invalidating many traditional approaches for designing, analyzing, and operating power grids. This trend is expected to accelerate over the coming years, bringing the disruptive challenge of complexity, but also opportunities to deliver unprecedented efficiency and reliability. Our Applied Mathematics for Power Systems (AMPS) Center will discover, enable, and solve emerging mathematics challenges arising in power systems and, more generally, in complex engineered networks. We will develop foundational applied mathematics resulting in rigorous algorithms and simulation toolboxesmore » for modern and future engineered networks. The AMPS Center deconstruction/reconstruction approach 'deconstructs' complex networks into sub-problems within non-separable spatiotemporal scales, a missing step in 20th century modeling of engineered networks. These sub-problems are addressed within the appropriate AMPS foundational pillar - complex systems, control theory, and optimization theory - and merged or 'reconstructed' at their boundaries into more general mathematical descriptions of complex engineered networks where important new questions are formulated and attacked. These two steps, iterated multiple times, will bridge the growing chasm between the legacy power grid and its future as a complex engineered network.« less

System for Measuring Conditional Amplitude, Phase, or Time Distributions of Pulsating Phenomena

PubMed Central

Van Brunt, Richard J.; Cernyar, Eric W.

1992-01-01

A detailed description is given of an electronic stochastic analyzer for use with direct “real-time” measurements of the conditional distributions needed for a complete stochastic characterization of pulsating phenomena that can be represented as random point processes. The measurement system described here is designed to reveal and quantify effects of pulse-to-pulse or phase-to-phase memory propagation. The unraveling of memory effects is required so that the physical basis for observed statistical properties of pulsating phenomena can be understood. The individual unique circuit components that comprise the system and the combinations of these components for various measurements, are thoroughly documented. The system has been applied to the measurement of pulsating partial discharges generated by applying alternating or constant voltage to a discharge gap. Examples are shown of data obtained for conditional and unconditional amplitude, time interval, and phase-of-occurrence distributions of partial-discharge pulses. The results unequivocally show the existence of significant memory effects as indicated, for example, by the observations that the most probable amplitudes and phases-of-occurrence of discharge pulses depend on the amplitudes and/or phases of the preceding pulses. Sources of error and fundamental limitations of the present measurement approach are analyzed. Possible extensions of the method are also discussed. PMID:28053450

Computerized Dead-Space Volume Measurement of Face Masks Applied to Simulated Faces.

PubMed

Amirav, Israel; Luder, Anthony S; Halamish, Asaf; Marzuk, Chatib; Daitzchman, Marcelo; Newhouse, Michael T

2015-09-01

The dead-space volume (VD) of face masks for metered-dose inhaler treatments is particularly important in infants and young children with asthma, who have relatively low tidal volumes. Data about VD have been traditionally obtained from water displacement measurements, in which masks are held against a flat surface. Because, in real life, masks are placed against the face, VD is likely to differ considerably between masks depending upon their contour and fit. The aim of this study was to develop an accurate and reliable way to measure VD electronically and to apply this technique by comparing the electronic VD of commonly available face masks. Average digital faces were obtained from 3-dimensional images of 270 infants and children. Commonly used face masks (small and medium) from various manufacturers (Monaghan Medical, Pari Respiratory Equipment, Philips Respironics, and InspiRx) were scanned and digitized by means of computed tomography. Each mask was electronically applied to its respective digital face, and the VD enclosed (mL) was computerized and precisely measured. VD varied between 22.6 mL (SootherMask, InspiRx) and 43.1 mL (Vortex, Pari) for small masks and between 41.7 mL (SootherMask) and 71.5 mL (AeroChamber, Monaghan Medical) for medium masks. These values were significantly lower and less variable than measurements obtained by water displacement. Computerized techniques provide an innovative and relatively simple way of accurately measuring the VD of face masks applied to digital faces. As determined by computerized measurement using average-size virtual faces, the InspiRx masks had a significantly smaller VD for both small and medium masks compared with the other masks. This is of considerable importance with respect to aerosol dose and delivery time, particularly in young children. (ClinicalTrials.gov registration NCT01274299.). Copyright © 2015 by Daedalus Enterprises.

Development of crawler type device using new measuring system

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

Maruyama, T.; Sasaki, T.; Yagi, T.

1995-08-01

This paper reports the development and field application of a new device which examine shell to shell weld joints of RPV. In a BWR type nuclear power plant, there is narrow space around the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) because RPV is enclosed by the Reactor Shield Wall (RSW) and thermal insulations. The developed device is characterized by a new position measuring system and magnet wheels for driving. The new position measuring system uses laser beam and ultrasonic wave. The magnet wheels make the device travel freely in the narrow space between RPV and insulation. This device is tested on mock-upsmore » and applied examination of RPVs to verify field applicability.« less

An investigation into the placement of force delivery systems and the initial forces applied by clinicians during space closure.

PubMed

Nattrass, C; Ireland, A J; Sherriff, M

1997-05-01

This in vitro investigation was designed to establish not only how clinicians apply forces for space closure when using the straight wire appliance and sliding mechanics, but also to quantify the initial force levels produced. A single typodont, with residual extraction space in each quadrant, was set up to simulate space closure using sliding mechanics. On two occasions, at least 2 months apart, 18 clinicians were asked to apply three force delivery systems to the typodont, in the manner in which they would apply it in a clinical situation. The three types of force delivery system investigated were elastomeric chain, an elastomeric module on a steel ligature, and a nickel-titanium closed coil spring. A choice of spaced or unspaced elastomeric chain produced by a single manufacturer was provided. The amount of stretch which was placed on each type of system was measured and, using an Instron Universal Testing Machine, the initial force which would be generated by each force delivery system was established. Clinicians were assessed to examine their consistency in the amount of stretch which each placed on the force delivery systems, their initial force application and their ability to apply equivalent forces with the different types of force delivery system. The clinicians were found to be consistent in their method of application of the force delivery systems and, therefore, their force application, as individuals, but there was a wide range of forces applied as a group. However, most clinicians applied very different forces when using different force delivery systems. When using the module on a ligature the greatest force was applied, whilst the nickel titanium coil springs provided the least force.

The I-V Measurement System for Solar Cells Based on MCU

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fengxiang, Chen; Yu, Ai; Jiafu, Wang; Lisheng, Wang

2011-02-01

In this paper, an I-V measurement system for solar cells based on Single-chip Microcomputer (MCU) is presented. According to the test principles of solar cells, this measurement system mainly comprises of two parts—data collecting, data processing and displaying. The MCU mainly used as to acquire data, then the collecting results is sent to the computer by serial port. The I-V measurement results of our test system are shown in the human-computer interaction interface based on our hardware circuit. By comparing the test results of our I-V tester and the results of other commercial I-V tester, we found errors for most parameters are less than 5%, which shows our I-V test result is reliable. Because the MCU can be applied in many fields, this I-V measurement system offers a simple prototype for portable I-V tester for solar cells.

Three-dimensional shape measurement system applied to superficial inspection of non-metallic pipes for the hydrocarbons transport

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arciniegas, Javier R.; González, Andrés. L.; Quintero, L. A.; Contreras, Carlos R.; Meneses, Jaime E.

2014-05-01

Three-dimensional shape measurement is a subject that consistently produces high scientific interest and provides information for medical, industrial and investigative applications, among others. In this paper, it is proposed to implement a three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction system for applications in superficial inspection of non-metallic pipes for the hydrocarbons transport. The system is formed by a CCD camera, a video-projector and a laptop and it is based on fringe projection technique. System functionality is evidenced by evaluating the quality of three-dimensional reconstructions obtained, which allow observing the failures and defects on the study object surface.

Measurement and evaluation of percolation drainage systems capacity in real conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Markovic, G.; Zelenakova, M.

2017-10-01

The drainage system must ensure a safe disposal of the surface water without endangering the buildings and safety of people. Despite the common use of rainwater infiltration facilities, there is still only limited data available evaluating the long-term capacity of such systems especially for underground infiltration facilities. This study presents experimental measurements and evaluation of long-term infiltration efficiency in real conditions and emphasizes the importance of hydrogeological survey. The measurements of infiltration efficiency were applied to an existing percolation drainage system - infiltration shafts. Infiltration shafts were made in year 2007 so that its drainage operation takes more than 8 years. This study was started in 2011 and still continues and presents 5 years measurements of infiltration efficiency for this infiltration facility.

Near-infrared radiation curable multilayer coating systems and methods for applying same

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

Bowman, Mark P; Verdun, Shelley D; Post, Gordon L

2015-04-28

Multilayer coating systems, methods of applying and related substrates are disclosed. The coating system may comprise a first coating comprising a near-IR absorber, and a second coating deposited on a least a portion of the first coating. Methods of applying a multilayer coating composition to a substrate may comprise applying a first coating comprising a near-IR absorber, applying a second coating over at least a portion of the first coating and curing the coating with near infrared radiation.

A Vision for Systems Engineering Applied to Wind Energy (Presentation)

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

Felker, F.; Dykes, K.

2015-01-01

This presentation was given at the Third Wind Energy Systems Engineering Workshop on January 14, 2015. Topics covered include the importance of systems engineering, a vision for systems engineering as applied to wind energy, and application of systems engineering approaches to wind energy research and development.

FPGA-based firmware model for extended measurement systems with data quality monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wojenski, A.; Pozniak, K. T.; Mazon, D.; Chernyshova, M.

2017-08-01

Modern physics experiments requires construction of advanced, modular measurement systems for data processing and registration purposes. Components are often designed in one of the common mechanical and electrical standards, e.g. VME or uTCA. The paper is focused on measurement systems using FPGAs as data processing blocks, especially for plasma diagnostics using GEM detectors with data quality monitoring aspects. In the article is proposed standardized model of HDL FPGA firmware implementation, for use in a wide range of different measurement system. The effort was made in term of flexible implementation of data quality monitoring along with source data dynamic selection. In the paper is discussed standard measurement system model followed by detailed model of FPGA firmware for modular measurement systems. Considered are both: functional blocks and data buses. In the summary, necessary blocks and signal lines are described. Implementation of firmware following the presented rules should provide modular design, with ease of change different parts of it. The key benefit is construction of universal, modular HDL design, that can be applied in different measurement system with simple adjustments.

Transmitter Pulse Estimation and Measurements for Airborne TDEM Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vetrov, A.; Mejzr, I.

2013-12-01

The processing and interpretation of Airborne Time Domain EM data requires precise description of the transmitter parameters, including shape, amplitude and length of the transmitted pulse. There are several ways to measure pulse shape of the transmitter loop. Transmitted pulse can be recorded by a current monitor installed on the loop. The current monitor readings do not give exact image due to own time-domain physical characteristics of the current monitor. Another way is to restore the primary pulse shape from the receiver data recorded on-time, if such is possible. The receiver gives exact image of the primary field projection combined with the ground response, which can be minimized at high altitude pass, usually with a transmitter elevation higher than 1500 ft from the ground. The readings on the receiver are depending on receiver position and orientation. Modeling of airborne TDEM transmitter pulse allows us to compare estimated and measured shape of the pulse and apply required corrections. Airborne TDEM system transmitter pulse shape has been studied by authors while developing P-THEM system. The data has been gathered during in-doors and out-doors ground tests in Canada, as well as during flight tests in Canada and in India. The P-THEM system has three-axes receiver that is suspended on a tow-cable in the midpoint between the transmitter and the helicopter. The P-THEM receiver geometry does not require backing coils to dump the primary field. The system records full-wave data from the receiver and current monitor installed on the transmitter loop, including on-time and off-time data. The modeling of the transmitter pulse allowed us to define the difference between estimated and measured values. The higher accuracy pulse shape can be used for better data processing and interpretation. A developed model can be applied to similar systems and configurations.

Applying usability heuristics to radiotherapy systems.

PubMed

Chan, Alvita J; Islam, Mohammad K; Rosewall, Tara; Jaffray, David A; Easty, Anthony C; Cafazzo, Joseph A

2012-01-01

Heuristic evaluations have been used to evaluate safety of medical devices by identifying and assessing usability issues. Since radiotherapy treatment delivery systems often consist of multiple complex user-interfaces, a heuristic evaluation was conducted to assess the potential safety issues of such a system. A heuristic evaluation was conducted to evaluate the treatment delivery system at Princess Margaret Hospital (Toronto, Canada). Two independent evaluators identified usability issues with the user-interfaces and rated the severity of each issue. The evaluators identified 75 usability issues in total. Eighteen of them were rated as high severity, indicating the potential to have a major impact on patient safety. A majority of issues were found on the record and verify system, and many were associated with the patient setup process. While the hospital has processes in place to ensure patient safety, recommendations were developed to further mitigate the risks of potential consequences. Heuristic evaluation is an efficient and inexpensive method that can be successfully applied to radiotherapy delivery systems to identify usability issues and improve patient safety. Although this study was conducted only at one site, the findings may have broad implications for the design of these systems. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Measurement and Control System Based on Wireless Senor Network for Granary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Jian

A wireless measurement and control system for granary is developed for the sake of overcoming the shortcoming of the wired measurement and control system such as complex wiring and low anti-interference capacity. In this system, Zigbee technology is applied with Zigbee protocol stack development platform by TI, and wireless senor network is used to collect and control the temperature and the humidity. It is composed of the upper PC, central control node based on CC2530, sensor nodes, sensor modules and the executive device. The wireless sensor node is programmed by C language in IAR Embedded Workbench for MCS-51 Evaluation environment. The upper PC control system software is developed based on Visual C++ 6.0 platform. It is shown by experiments that data transmission in the system is accurate and reliable and the error of the temperature and humidity is below 2%, meeting the functional requirements for the granary measurement and control system.

Towards a balanced performance measurement system in a public health care organization.

PubMed

Yuen, Peter P; Ng, Artie W

2012-01-01

This article attempts to devise an integrated performance measurement framework to assess the Hong Kong Hospital Authority (HA) management system by harnessing previous performance measurement systems. An integrated evaluative framework based on the balanced score card (BSC) was developed and applied using the case study method and longitudinal data to evaluate the HA's performance management system. The authors unveil evolving HA performance indicators (P1). Despite the HA staffs explicit quality emphasis, cost control remains the primary focus in their performance measurements. RESEARCH LHNITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: Data used in this study are from secondary sources, disclosed mostly by HA staff. This study shows public sector staff often attach too much importance to cost control and easily measurable activities at the expense of quality and other less easily measurable attributes'. A balanced performance measurement system, linked to health targets, with a complementary budgeting process that supports pertinent resource allocation is yet to be implemented in Hong Kong's public hospitals.

Discrete Event Supervisory Control Applied to Propulsion Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Litt, Jonathan S.; Shah, Neerav

2005-01-01

The theory of discrete event supervisory (DES) control was applied to the optimal control of a twin-engine aircraft propulsion system and demonstrated in a simulation. The supervisory control, which is implemented as a finite-state automaton, oversees the behavior of a system and manages it in such a way that it maximizes a performance criterion, similar to a traditional optimal control problem. DES controllers can be nested such that a high-level controller supervises multiple lower level controllers. This structure can be expanded to control huge, complex systems, providing optimal performance and increasing autonomy with each additional level. The DES control strategy for propulsion systems was validated using a distributed testbed consisting of multiple computers--each representing a module of the overall propulsion system--to simulate real-time hardware-in-the-loop testing. In the first experiment, DES control was applied to the operation of a nonlinear simulation of a turbofan engine (running in closed loop using its own feedback controller) to minimize engine structural damage caused by a combination of thermal and structural loads. This enables increased on-wing time for the engine through better management of the engine-component life usage. Thus, the engine-level DES acts as a life-extending controller through its interaction with and manipulation of the engine s operation.

Applying simulation model to uniform field space charge distribution measurements by the PEA method

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

Liu, Y.; Salama, M.M.A.

1996-12-31

Signals measured under uniform fields by the Pulsed Electroacoustic (PEA) method have been processed by the deconvolution procedure to obtain space charge distributions since 1988. To simplify data processing, a direct method has been proposed recently in which the deconvolution is eliminated. However, the surface charge cannot be represented well by the method because the surface charge has a bandwidth being from zero to infinity. The bandwidth of the charge distribution must be much narrower than the bandwidths of the PEA system transfer function in order to apply the direct method properly. When surface charges can not be distinguished frommore » space charge distributions, the accuracy and the resolution of the obtained space charge distributions decrease. To overcome this difficulty a simulation model is therefore proposed. This paper shows their attempts to apply the simulation model to obtain space charge distributions under plane-plane electrode configurations. Due to the page limitation for the paper, the charge distribution originated by the simulation model is compared to that obtained by the direct method with a set of simulated signals.« less

Design and Construction of a Thermal Contact Resistance and Thermal Conductivity Measurement System

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-09-01

plate interface resistance control. Numerical heat transfer and uncertainty analyses with applied engineering judgement were extensively used to come... heat transfer issues facing the Department of Defense. 14. SUBJECT TERMS Thermal contact resistance, thermal conductivity, measurement system 15... heat transfer and uncertainty analyses with applied engineering judgement were extensively used to come up with an optimized design and construction

40 CFR 63.1083 - Does this subpart apply to my heat exchange system?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... CATEGORIES (CONTINUED) National Emission Standards for Ethylene Manufacturing Process Units: Heat Exchange Systems and Waste Operations Applicability for Heat Exchange Systems § 63.1083 Does this subpart apply to my heat exchange system? The provisions of this subpart apply to your heat exchange system if you own...

40 CFR 63.1083 - Does this subpart apply to my heat exchange system?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... CATEGORIES (CONTINUED) National Emission Standards for Ethylene Manufacturing Process Units: Heat Exchange Systems and Waste Operations Applicability for Heat Exchange Systems § 63.1083 Does this subpart apply to my heat exchange system? The provisions of this subpart apply to your heat exchange system if you own...

40 CFR 63.1083 - Does this subpart apply to my heat exchange system?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... CATEGORIES (CONTINUED) National Emission Standards for Ethylene Manufacturing Process Units: Heat Exchange Systems and Waste Operations Applicability for Heat Exchange Systems § 63.1083 Does this subpart apply to my heat exchange system? The provisions of this subpart apply to your heat exchange system if you own...

40 CFR 63.1083 - Does this subpart apply to my heat exchange system?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... CATEGORIES (CONTINUED) National Emission Standards for Ethylene Manufacturing Process Units: Heat Exchange Systems and Waste Operations Applicability for Heat Exchange Systems § 63.1083 Does this subpart apply to my heat exchange system? The provisions of this subpart apply to your heat exchange system if you own...

Non-Intrusive Measurement Techniques Applied to the Hybrid Solid Fuel Degradation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cauty, F.

2004-10-01

The knowledge of the solid fuel regression rate and the time evolution of the grain geometry are requested for hybrid motor design and control of its operating conditions. Two non-intrusive techniques (NDT) have been applied to hybrid propulsion : both are based on wave propagation, the X-rays and the ultrasounds, through the materials. X-ray techniques allow local thickness measurements (attenuated signal level) using small probes or 2D images (Real Time Radiography), with a link between the size of field of view and accuracy. Beside the safety hazards associated with the high-intensity X-ray systems, the image analysis requires the use of quite complex post-processing techniques. The ultrasound technique is more widely used in energetic material applications, including hybrid fuels. Depending upon the transducer size and the associated equipment, the application domain is large, from tiny samples to the quad-port wagon wheel grain of the 1.1 MN thrust HPDP motor. The effect of the physical quantities has to be taken into account in the wave propagation analysis. With respect to the various applications, there is no unique and perfect experimental method to measure the fuel regression rate. The best solution could be obtained by combining two techniques at the same time, each technique enhancing the quality of the global data.

Applying ergonomics to systems: some documented "lessons learned".

PubMed

Hendrick, Hal W

2008-07-01

Based on evidence accumulated during the author's 45 years of professional experience, the author presents 23 important "lessons learned" regarding applying ergonomics to systems. Documented results from reported cases or other evidence are presented to validate each of these practical learning points.

Novel system for automatic measuring diopter based on ARM circuit block

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xue, Feng; Zhong, Lei; Chen, Zhe; Xue, Deng-pan; Li, Xiang-ning

2009-07-01

Traditional commercial instruments utilized in vision screening programs cannot satisfy the request for real-time diopter measurement by far, and their success is limited by some defectiveness such as computer-attached, clumsy volume, and low accuracy of parameters measured, etc. In addition, astigmatic eyes cannot be determined in many devices. This paper proposes a new design of diopter measurement system based on SAMSUNG's ARM9 circuit block. There are several contributions in the design. The new developed system has not only the function of automatically measuring diopter, but also the advantages of the low cost, and especially the simplicity and portability. Besides, by placing point sources in three directions, the instrument can determine astigmatic eyes at the same time. Most of the details are introduced as the integrated design of measuring system, interface circuit of embedded system and so on. Through a preliminary experiment, it is proved that the system keeps good feasibility and validity. The maximum deviation of measurement result is 0.344D.The experimental results also demonstrate the system can provide the service needed for real-time applications. The instrument present here is expected to be widely applied in many fields such as the clinic and home healthcare.

Fundamental Study on Saving Energy for Electrified Railway System Applying High Temperature Superconductor Motor and Energy Storage System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konishi, Takeshi; Nakamura, Taketsune; Amemiya, Naoyuki

Induction motor instead of dc one has been applied widely for dc electric rolling stock because of the advantage of its utility and efficiency. However, further improvement of motor characteristics will be required to realize environment-friendly dc railway system in the future. It is important to study more efficient machine applying dc electric rolling stock for next generation high performance system. On the other hand, the methods to reuse regenerative energy produced by motors effectively are also important. Therefore, we carried out fundamental study on saving energy for electrified railway system. For the first step, we introduced the energy storage system applying electric double-layer capacitors (EDLC), and its control system. And then, we tried to obtain the specification of high temperature superconductor induction/synchronous motor (HTS-ISM), which performance is similar with that of the conventional induction motors. Furthermore, we tried to evaluate an electrified railway system applying energy storage system and HTS-ISM based on simulation. We succeeded in showing the effectiveness of the introductions of energy storage system and HTS-ISM in DC electrified railway system.

Procurement performance measurement system in the health care industry.

PubMed

Kumar, Arun; Ozdamar, Linet; Ng, Chai Peng

2005-01-01

The rising operating cost of providing healthcare is of concern to health care providers. As such, measurement of procurement performance will enable competitive advantage and provide a framework for continuous improvement. The objective of this paper is to develop a procurement performance measurement system. The paper reviews the existing literature in procurement performance measurement to identify the key areas of purchasing performance. By studying the three components in the supply chain collectively with the resources, procedures and output, a model is been developed. Additionally, a balanced scorecard is proposed by establishing a set of generic measures and six perspectives. A case study conducted at the Singapore Hospital applies the conceptual model to describe the purchasing department and the activities within and outside the department. The results indicate that the material management department has already made a good start in measuring the procurement process through the implementation of the balanced scorecard. There are many data that are collected but not properly collated and utilized. Areas lacking measurement include cycle time of delivery, order processing time, effectiveness, efficiency and reliability. Though a lot of hard work was involved, the advantages of establishing a measurement system outweigh the costs and efforts involved in its implementation. Results of balanced scorecard measurements provide decision-makers with critical information on efficiency and effectiveness of the purchasing department's work. The measurement model developed could be used for any hospital procurement system.

Performance Monitoring Applied to System Supervision

PubMed Central

Somon, Bertille; Campagne, Aurélie; Delorme, Arnaud; Berberian, Bruno

2017-01-01

Nowadays, automation is present in every aspect of our daily life and has some benefits. Nonetheless, empirical data suggest that traditional automation has many negative performance and safety consequences as it changed task performers into task supervisors. In this context, we propose to use recent insights into the anatomical and neurophysiological substrates of action monitoring in humans, to help further characterize performance monitoring during system supervision. Error monitoring is critical for humans to learn from the consequences of their actions. A wide variety of studies have shown that the error monitoring system is involved not only in our own errors, but also in the errors of others. We hypothesize that the neurobiological correlates of the self-performance monitoring activity can be applied to system supervision. At a larger scale, a better understanding of system supervision may allow its negative effects to be anticipated or even countered. This review is divided into three main parts. First, we assess the neurophysiological correlates of self-performance monitoring and their characteristics during error execution. Then, we extend these results to include performance monitoring and error observation of others or of systems. Finally, we provide further directions in the study of system supervision and assess the limits preventing us from studying a well-known phenomenon: the Out-Of-the-Loop (OOL) performance problem. PMID:28744209

A Method of Measuring the Costs and Benefits of Applied Research.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sprague, John W.

The Bureau of Mines studied the application of the concepts and methods of cost-benefit analysis to the problem of ranking alternative applied research projects. Procedures for measuring the different classes of project costs and benefits, both private and public, are outlined, and cost-benefit calculations are presented, based on the criteria of…

Issues to Consider When Measuring and Applying Socioeconomic Position Quantitatively in Immigrant Health Research

PubMed Central

Nielsen, Signe Smith; Hempler, Nana Folmann; Krasnik, Allan

2013-01-01

The relationship between migration and health is complex, yet, immigrant-related inequalities in health are largely influenced by socioeconomic position. Drawing upon previous findings, this paper discusses issues to consider when measuring and applying socioeconomic position in quantitative immigrant health research. When measuring socioeconomic position, it is important to be aware of four aspects: (1) there is a lack of clarity about how socioeconomic position should be measured; (2) different types of socioeconomic position may be relevant to immigrants compared with the native-born population; (3) choices of measures of socioeconomic position in quantitative analyses often rely on data availability; and (4) different measures of socioeconomic position have different effects in population groups. Therefore, caution should be used in the collection, presentation, analyses, and interpretation of data and researchers need to display their proposed conceptual models and data limitations as well as apply different approaches for analyses. PMID:24287857

Laser system for measuring small changes in plasma tracer concentrations.

PubMed

Klaesner, J W; Pou, N A; Parker, R E; Galloway, R L; Roselli, R J

1996-01-01

The authors developed a laser-diode system that can be used for on-line optical concentration measurements in physiologic systems. Previous optical systems applied to whole blood have been hampered by artifacts introduced by red blood cells (RBCs). The system introduced here uses a commercially available filter cartridge to separate RBCs from plasma before plasma concentration measurements are made at a single wavelength. The filtering characteristics of the Cellco filter cartridge (#4007-10, German-town, MD) were adequate for use in the on-line measurement system. The response time of the filter cartridge was less than 40 seconds, and the sieving characteristics of the filter for macromolecules were excellent, with filtrate-to-plasma albumin ratios of 0.98 +/- 0.11 for studies in sheep and 0.94 +/- 0.15 for studies in dogs. The 635-nm laser diode system developed was shown to be more sensitive than the spectrophotometer used in previous studies (Klaesner et al., Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 1994; 22, 660-73). The new system was used to measure the product of filtration coefficient (Kfc) and reflection coefficient for albumin (delta f) in an isolated canine lung preparation. The delta fKfc values [mL/(cmH2O.min.100 g dry lung weight)] measured with the laser diode system (0.33 +/- 0.22) compared favorably with the delta fKfc obtained using a spectrophotometer (0.27 +/- 0.20) and with the Kfc obtained using the blood-corrected gravimetric method (0.32 +/- 0.23). Thus, this new optical system was shown to accurately measure plasma concentration changes in whole blood for physiologic levels of Kfc. The same system can be used with different optical tracers and different source wavelengths to make optical plasma concentration measurements for other physiologic applications.

A Laboratory Goniometer System for Measuring Reflectance and Emittance Anisotropy

PubMed Central

Roosjen, Peter P. J.; Clevers, Jan G. P. W.; Bartholomeus, Harm M.; Schaepman, Michael E.; Schaepman-Strub, Gabriela; Jalink, Henk; van der Schoor, Rob; de Jong, Arjan

2012-01-01

In this paper, a laboratory goniometer system for performing multi-angular measurements under controlled illumination conditions is described. A commercially available robotic arm enables the acquisition of a large number of measurements over the full hemisphere within a short time span making it much faster than other goniometers. In addition, the presented set-up enables assessment of anisotropic reflectance and emittance behaviour of soils, leaves and small canopies. Mounting a spectrometer enables acquisition of either hemispherical measurements or measurements in the horizontal plane. Mounting a thermal camera allows directional observations of the thermal emittance. This paper also presents three showcases of these different measurement set-ups in order to illustrate its possibilities. Finally, suggestions for applying this instrument and for future research directions are given, including linking the measured reflectance anisotropy with physically-based anisotropy models on the one hand and combining them with field goniometry measurements for joint analysis with remote sensing data on the other hand. The speed and flexibility of the system offer a large added value to the existing pool of laboratory goniometers. PMID:23443402

A laboratory goniometer system for measuring reflectance and emittance anisotropy.

PubMed

Roosjen, Peter P J; Clevers, Jan G P W; Bartholomeus, Harm M; Schaepman, Michael E; Schaepman-Strub, Gabriela; Jalink, Henk; van der Schoor, Rob; de Jong, Arjan

2012-12-13

In this paper, a laboratory goniometer system for performing multi-angular measurements under controlled illumination conditions is described. A commercially available robotic arm enables the acquisition of a large number of measurements over the full hemisphere within a short time span making it much faster than other goniometers. In addition, the presented set-up enables assessment of anisotropic reflectance and emittance behaviour of soils, leaves and small canopies. Mounting a spectrometer enables acquisition of either hemispherical measurements or measurements in the horizontal plane. Mounting a thermal camera allows directional observations of the thermal emittance. This paper also presents three showcases of these different measurement set-ups in order to illustrate its possibilities. Finally, suggestions for applying this instrument and for future research directions are given, including linking the measured reflectance anisotropy with physically-based anisotropy models on the one hand and combining them with field goniometry measurements for joint analysis with remote sensing data on the other hand. The speed and flexibility of the system offer a large added value to the existing pool of laboratory goniometers.

A new construction of measurement system based on specialized microsystem design for laryngological application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paczesny, Daniel; Mikłaszewicz, Franciszek

2013-10-01

This article describes the design, construction and parameters of diagnostic medical system for air humidity measurement which can be proceeded in various places of human nasal cavities and also human throat. The system can measure dynamic changes of dew point temperature (absolute value of humidity) of inspired and expired air in different places of human upper airways. During regular respiration process dew point temperature is measured in nasal cavity, middle part cavity and nasopharynx. The presented system is the next step in construction of measurement system based on specialized microsystem for laryngological application. The microsystem fabricated on silicon substrate includes microheater, microthermoresistor and interdigitated electrodes. In comparison with previously built measurement system with current version some system functionalities and measurement parameters were improved. Additionally 3D printing technology was applied for rapid prototyping a measurement system housing. Presented measurement system is set of microprocessor module with signal conditioning circuits; heated measurement head based on specialized microsystem with disposable heated pipe for air sucking from various places of upper airways; power supplier and computer application for monitoring all system parameters and presenting on-line and off-line measured results. Some example results of constructed measurement system and dew point temperature measurements during respiration cycle are presented.

The measurement system of birefringence and Verdet constant of optical fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Yi; Chen, Li; Guo, Qiang; Pang, Fufei; Wen, Jianxiang; Shang, Yana; Wang, Tingyun

2013-12-01

The Faraday magneto-optical effect of optical fiber has many applications in monitoring magnetic field and electric current. When a linearly polarized light propagates in the direction of a magnetic field, the plane of polarization will rotate linearly proportional to the strength of the applied magnetic field, which following the relationship of θF =VBl. θF is the Faraday rotation angle, which is proportional to the magnetic flux density B and the Verdet constant V . However, when the optical fiber contains the effect of linear birefringence, the detection of Faraday rotation angle will depend on the line birefringence. In order to determine the Verdet constant of an optical fiber under a linear birefringence, the fiber birefringence needs to be accurately measured. In this work, a model is applied to analyze the polarization properties of an optical fiber by using the Jones matrix method. A measurement system based on the lock-in amplifier technology is designed to test the Verdet constant and the birefringence of optical fiber. The magnetic field is produced by a solenoid with a DC current. A tunable laser is intensity modulated with a motorized rotating chopper. The actuator supplies a signal as the phase-locked synchronization reference to the signal of the lock-in amplifier. The measurement accuracy is analyzed and the sensitivity of the system is optimized. In this measurement system, the Verdet constant of the SMF-28 fiber was measured to be 0.56±0.02 rad/T·m at 1550nm. This setup is well suitable for measuring the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) sensitivity for lock-in amplifier at a low magnetic field strength.

Systems Measures of Water Distribution System Resilience

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

Klise, Katherine A.; Murray, Regan; Walker, La Tonya Nicole

2015-01-01

Resilience is a concept that is being used increasingly to refer to the capacity of infrastructure systems to be prepared for and able to respond effectively and rapidly to hazardous events. In Section 2 of this report, drinking water hazards, resilience literature, and available resilience tools are presented. Broader definitions, attributes and methods for measuring resilience are presented in Section 3. In Section 4, quantitative systems performance measures for water distribution systems are presented. Finally, in Section 5, the performance measures and their relevance to measuring the resilience of water systems to hazards is discussed along with needed improvements tomore » water distribution system modeling tools.« less

Applying Model Based Systems Engineering to NASA's Space Communications Networks

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bhasin, Kul; Barnes, Patrick; Reinert, Jessica; Golden, Bert

2013-01-01

System engineering practices for complex systems and networks now require that requirement, architecture, and concept of operations product development teams, simultaneously harmonize their activities to provide timely, useful and cost-effective products. When dealing with complex systems of systems, traditional systems engineering methodology quickly falls short of achieving project objectives. This approach is encumbered by the use of a number of disparate hardware and software tools, spreadsheets and documents to grasp the concept of the network design and operation. In case of NASA's space communication networks, since the networks are geographically distributed, and so are its subject matter experts, the team is challenged to create a common language and tools to produce its products. Using Model Based Systems Engineering methods and tools allows for a unified representation of the system in a model that enables a highly related level of detail. To date, Program System Engineering (PSE) team has been able to model each network from their top-level operational activities and system functions down to the atomic level through relational modeling decomposition. These models allow for a better understanding of the relationships between NASA's stakeholders, internal organizations, and impacts to all related entities due to integration and sustainment of existing systems. Understanding the existing systems is essential to accurate and detailed study of integration options being considered. In this paper, we identify the challenges the PSE team faced in its quest to unify complex legacy space communications networks and their operational processes. We describe the initial approaches undertaken and the evolution toward model based system engineering applied to produce Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) PSE products. We will demonstrate the practice of Model Based System Engineering applied to integrating space communication networks and the summary of its

In-vivo measurement of relationship between applied current amplitude and current density magnitude from 10 mA to 110 mA.

PubMed

DeMonte, Tim P; Wang, Dinghui; Ma, Weijing; Gao, Jia-Hong; Joy, Michael L G

2009-01-01

Current density imaging (CDI) is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique used to quantitatively measure current density vectors throughout the volume of an object/subject placed in the MRI system. Electrical current pulses are applied externally to the object/subject and are synchronized with the MRI sequence. In this work, CDI is used to measure average current density magnitude in the torso region of an in-vivo piglet for applied current pulse amplitudes ranging from 10 mA to 110 mA. The relationship between applied current amplitude and current density magnitude is linear in simple electronic elements such as wires and resistors; however, this relationship may not be linear in living tissue. An understanding of this relationship is useful for research in defibrillation, human electro-muscular incapacitation (e.g. TASER(R)) and other bioelectric stimulation devices. This work will show that the current amplitude to current density magnitude relationship is slightly nonlinear in living tissue in the range of 10 mA to 110 mA.

Measurement of external forces and torques on a large pointing system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morenus, R. C.

1980-01-01

Methods of measuring external forces and torques are discussed, in general and as applied to the Large Pointing System wind tunnel tests. The LPS tests were in two phases. The first test was a preliminary test of three models representing coelostat, heliostat, and on-gimbal telescope configurations. The second test explored the coelostat configuration in more detail. The second test used a different setup for measuring external loads. Some results are given from both tests.

The Fiber Grating Sensors Applied in the Deformation Measurement of Shipborne Antenna Basement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yong; Chen, Jiahong; Zhao, Wenhua

2016-02-01

The optical fiber grating sensor is a novel fibre-optical passive device, its reflecting optical spectrum is linearly related with strain. It is broadly applied in the structural monitoring industry. Shipborne antenna basement is the basic supporting structure for the radar tracking movement. The bending deformation of the basement caused by ship attitude changing influences the antenna tracking precision, According to the structure of shipborne antenna basement, a distributed strain testing method based on the fibre grating sensor is approved to measure the bending deformation under the bending force. The strain-angle model is built. The regularity of the strain distribution is obtained. The finite element method is used to analyze the deformation of the antenna basement. The measuring experiment on the contractible basement mould is carried out to verify the availability of the method. The result of the experiment proves that the model is effective to apply in the deformation measurement. It provides an optimized method for the distribution of the fiber grating sensor in the actual measuring process.

Nonlinear model updating applied to the IMAC XXXII Round Robin benchmark system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurt, Mehmet; Moore, Keegan J.; Eriten, Melih; McFarland, D. Michael; Bergman, Lawrence A.; Vakakis, Alexander F.

2017-05-01

We consider the application of a new nonlinear model updating strategy to a computational benchmark system. The approach relies on analyzing system response time series in the frequency-energy domain by constructing both Hamiltonian and forced and damped frequency-energy plots (FEPs). The system parameters are then characterized and updated by matching the backbone branches of the FEPs with the frequency-energy wavelet transforms of experimental and/or computational time series. The main advantage of this method is that no nonlinearity model is assumed a priori, and the system model is updated solely based on simulation and/or experimental measured time series. By matching the frequency-energy plots of the benchmark system and its reduced-order model, we show that we are able to retrieve the global strongly nonlinear dynamics in the frequency and energy ranges of interest, identify bifurcations, characterize local nonlinearities, and accurately reconstruct time series. We apply the proposed methodology to a benchmark problem, which was posed to the system identification community prior to the IMAC XXXII (2014) and XXXIII (2015) Conferences as a "Round Robin Exercise on Nonlinear System Identification". We show that we are able to identify the parameters of the non-linear element in the problem with a priori knowledge about its position.

Qualitative Importance Measures of Systems Components - A New Approach and Its Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chybowski, Leszek; Gawdzińska, Katarzyna; Wiśnicki, Bogusz

2016-12-01

The paper presents an improved methodology of analysing the qualitative importance of components in the functional and reliability structures of the system. We present basic importance measures, i.e. the Birnbaum's structural measure, the order of the smallest minimal cut-set, the repetition count of an i-th event in the Fault Tree and the streams measure. A subsystem of circulation pumps and fuel heaters in the main engine fuel supply system of a container vessel illustrates the qualitative importance analysis. We constructed a functional model and a Fault Tree which we analysed using qualitative measures. Additionally, we compared the calculated measures and introduced corrected measures as a tool for improving the analysis. We proposed scaled measures and a common measure taking into account the location of the component in the reliability and functional structures. Finally, we proposed an area where the measures could be applied.

Direct measurement of a nonequilibrium system entropy using a feedback trap

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gavrilov, Momčilo; Bechhoefer, John

2017-08-01

Feedback traps are tools for trapping single charged objects in solution. They periodically measure an object's position and apply a feedback force to counteract Brownian motion. The feedback force can be calculated as a gradient of a potential function, effectively creating a "virtual potential." Its flexibility regarding the choice of form of the potential gives an opportunity to explore various fundamental questions in stochastic thermodynamics. Here, we review the theory behind feedback traps and apply it to measuring the average work required to erase a fraction of a bit of information. The results agree with predictions based on the nonequilibrium system entropy. With this example, we also show how a feedback trap can easily implement the complex erasure protocols required to reach ultimate thermodynamic limits.

Measuring and Maximising Research Impact in Applied Social Science Research Settings. Good Practice Guide

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stanwick, John; Hargreaves, Jo

2012-01-01

This guide describes the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) approach to measuring impact using examples from its own case studies, as well as showing how to maximise the impact of applied social science research. Applied social science research needs to demonstrate that it is relevant and useful both to public policy and…

Development of a wireless displacement measurement system using acceleration responses.

PubMed

Park, Jong-Woong; Sim, Sung-Han; Jung, Hyung-Jo; Spencer, Billie F

2013-07-01

Displacement measurements are useful information for various engineering applications such as structural health monitoring (SHM), earthquake engineering and system identification. Most existing displacement measurement methods are costly, labor-intensive, and have difficulties particularly when applying to full-scale civil structures because the methods require stationary reference points. Indirect estimation methods converting acceleration to displacement can be a good alternative as acceleration transducers are generally cost-effective, easy to install, and have low noise. However, the application of acceleration-based methods to full-scale civil structures such as long span bridges is challenging due to the need to install cables to connect the sensors to a base station. This article proposes a low-cost wireless displacement measurement system using acceleration. Developed with smart sensors that are low-cost, wireless, and capable of on-board computation, the wireless displacement measurement system has significant potential to impact many applications that need displacement information at multiple locations of a structure. The system implements an FIR-filter type displacement estimation algorithm that can remove low frequency drifts typically caused by numerical integration of discrete acceleration signals. To verify the accuracy and feasibility of the proposed system, laboratory tests are carried out using a shaking table and on a three storey shear building model, experimentally confirming the effectiveness of the proposed system.

Development of a Wireless Displacement Measurement System Using Acceleration Responses

PubMed Central

Park, Jong-Woong; Sim, Sung-Han; Jung, Hyung-Jo; Spencer, Billie F.

2013-01-01

Displacement measurements are useful information for various engineering applications such as structural health monitoring (SHM), earthquake engineering and system identification. Most existing displacement measurement methods are costly, labor-intensive, and have difficulties particularly when applying to full-scale civil structures because the methods require stationary reference points. Indirect estimation methods converting acceleration to displacement can be a good alternative as acceleration transducers are generally cost-effective, easy to install, and have low noise. However, the application of acceleration-based methods to full-scale civil structures such as long span bridges is challenging due to the need to install cables to connect the sensors to a base station. This article proposes a low-cost wireless displacement measurement system using acceleration. Developed with smart sensors that are low-cost, wireless, and capable of on-board computation, the wireless displacement measurement system has significant potential to impact many applications that need displacement information at multiple locations of a structure. The system implements an FIR-filter type displacement estimation algorithm that can remove low frequency drifts typically caused by numerical integration of discrete acceleration signals. To verify the accuracy and feasibility of the proposed system, laboratory tests are carried out using a shaking table and on a three storey shear building model, experimentally confirming the effectiveness of the proposed system. PMID:23881123

The Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale: A Measurement System for Global Variables in Art

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gantt, Linda M.

2009-01-01

The Formal Elements Art Therapy Scale (FEATS) is a measurement system for applying numbers to global variables in two-dimensional art (drawing and painting). While it was originally developed for use with the single-picture assessment ("Draw a person picking an apple from a tree" [PPAT]), researchers can also apply many of the 14 scales of the…

Frequency domain measurement systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Eischer, M. C.

1978-01-01

Stable frequency sources and signal processing blocks were characterized by their noise spectra, both discrete and random, in the frequency domain. Conventional measures are outlined, and systems for performing the measurements are described. Broad coverage of system configurations which were found useful is given. Their functioning and areas of application are discussed briefly. Particular attention is given to some of the potential error sources in the measurement procedures, system configurations, double-balanced-mixer-phase-detectors, and application of measuring instruments.

The Recommendations for Linear Measurement Techniques on the Measurements of Nonlinear System Parameters of a Joint.

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

Smith, Scott A; Catalfamo, Simone; Brake, Matthew R. W.

2017-01-01

In the study of the dynamics of nonlinear systems, experimental measurements often convolute the response of the nonlinearity of interest and the effects of the experimental setup. To reduce the influence of the experimental setup on the deduction of the parameters of the nonlinearity, the response of a mechanical joint is investigated under various experimental setups. These experiments first focus on quantifying how support structures and measurement techniques affect the natural frequency and damping of a linear system. The results indicate that support structures created from bungees have negligible influence on the system in terms of frequency and damping ratiomore » variations. The study then focuses on the effects of the excitation technique on the response for a linear system. The findings suggest that thinner stingers should not be used, because under the high force requirements the stinger bending modes are excited adding unwanted torsional coupling. The optimal configuration for testing the linear system is then applied to a nonlinear system in order to assess the robustness of the test configuration. Finally, recommendations are made for conducting experiments on nonlinear systems using conventional/linear testing techniques.« less

An applied study using systems engineering methods to prioritize green systems options

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

Lee, Sonya M; Macdonald, John M

2009-01-01

For many years, there have been questions about the effectiveness of applying different green solutions. If you're building a home and wish to use green technologies, where do you start? While all technologies sound promising, which will perform the best over time? All this has to be considered within the cost and schedule of the project. The amount of information available on the topic can be overwhelming. We seek to examine if Systems Engineering methods can be used to help people choose and prioritize technologies that fit within their project and budget. Several methods are used to gain perspective intomore » how to select the green technologies, such as the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Kepner-Tregoe. In our study, subjects applied these methods to analyze cost, schedule, and trade-offs. Results will document whether the experimental approach is applicable to defining system priorities for green technologies.« less

Imaging Systems for Size Measurements of Debrisat Fragments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shiotani, B.; Scruggs, T.; Toledo, R.; Fitz-Coy, N.; Liou, J. C.; Sorge, M.; Huynh, T.; Opiela, J.; Krisko, P.; Cowardin, H.

2017-01-01

The overall objective of the DebriSat project is to provide data to update existing standard spacecraft breakup models. One of the key sets of parameters used in these models is the physical dimensions of the fragments (i.e., length, average-cross sectional area, and volume). For the DebriSat project, only fragments with at least one dimension greater than 2 mm are collected and processed. Additionally, a significant portion of the fragments recovered from the impact test are needle-like and/or flat plate-like fragments where their heights are almost negligible in comparison to their other dimensions. As a result, two fragment size categories were defined: 2D objects and 3D objects. While measurement systems are commercially available, factors such as measurement rates, system adaptability, size characterization limitations and equipment costs presented significant challenges to the project and a decision was made to develop our own size characterization systems. The size characterization systems consist of two automated image systems, one referred to as the 3D imaging system and the other as the 2D imaging system. Which imaging system to use depends on the classification of the fragment being measured. Both imaging systems utilize point-and-shoot cameras for object image acquisition and create representative point clouds of the fragments. The 3D imaging system utilizes a space-carving algorithm to generate a 3D point cloud, while the 2D imaging system utilizes an edge detection algorithm to generate a 2D point cloud. From the point clouds, the three largest orthogonal dimensions are determined using a convex hull algorithm. For 3D objects, in addition to the three largest orthogonal dimensions, the volume is computed via an alpha-shape algorithm applied to the point clouds. The average cross-sectional area is also computed for 3D objects. Both imaging systems have automated size measurements (image acquisition and image processing) driven by the need to quickly

A knowledge based search tool for performance measures in health care systems.

PubMed

Beyan, Oya D; Baykal, Nazife

2012-02-01

Performance measurement is vital for improving the health care systems. However, we are still far from having accepted performance measurement models. Researchers and developers are seeking comparable performance indicators. We developed an intelligent search tool to identify appropriate measures for specific requirements by matching diverse care settings. We reviewed the literature and analyzed 229 performance measurement studies published after 2000. These studies are evaluated with an original theoretical framework and stored in the database. A semantic network is designed for representing domain knowledge and supporting reasoning. We have applied knowledge based decision support techniques to cope with uncertainty problems. As a result we designed a tool which simplifies the performance indicator search process and provides most relevant indicators by employing knowledge based systems.

In vivo measurement of human skin absorption of topically applied substances by a photoacoustic technique.

PubMed

Gutiérrez-Juárez, G; Vargas-Luna, M; Córdova, T; Varela, J B; Bernal-Alvarado, J J; Sosa, M

2002-08-01

A photoacoustic technique is used for studying topically applied substance absorption in human skin. The proposed method utilizes a double-chamber PA cell. The absorption determination was obtained through the measurement of the thermal effusivity of the binary system substance-skin. The theoretical model assumes that the effective thermal effusivity of the binary system corresponds to that of a two-phase system. Experimental applications of the method employed different substances of topical application in different parts of the body of a volunteer. The method is demonstrated to be an easily used non-invasive technique for dermatology research. The relative concentrations as a function of time of substances such as ketoconazol and sunscreen were determined by fitting a sigmoidal function to the data, while an exponential function corresponds to the best fit for the set of data for nitrofurazona, vaseline and vaporub. The time constants associated with the rates of absorption, were found to vary in the range between 10 and 58 min, depending on the substance and the part of the body.

A nonintrusive temperature measuring system for estimating deep body temperature in bed.

PubMed

Sim, S Y; Lee, W K; Baek, H J; Park, K S

2012-01-01

Deep body temperature is an important indicator that reflects human being's overall physiological states. Existing deep body temperature monitoring systems are too invasive to apply to awake patients for a long time. Therefore, we proposed a nonintrusive deep body temperature measuring system. To estimate deep body temperature nonintrusively, a dual-heat-flux probe and double-sensor probes were embedded in a neck pillow. When a patient uses the neck pillow to rest, the deep body temperature can be assessed using one of the thermometer probes embedded in the neck pillow. We could estimate deep body temperature in 3 different sleep positions. Also, to reduce the initial response time of dual-heat-flux thermometer which measures body temperature in supine position, we employed the curve-fitting method to one subject. And thereby, we could obtain the deep body temperature in a minute. This result shows the possibility that the system can be used as practical temperature monitoring system with appropriate curve-fitting model. In the next study, we would try to establish a general fitting model that can be applied to all of the subjects. In addition, we are planning to extract meaningful health information such as sleep structure analysis from deep body temperature data which are acquired from this system.

Complex, Dynamic Systems: A New Transdisciplinary Theme for Applied Linguistics?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larsen-Freeman, Diane

2012-01-01

In this plenary address, I suggest that Complexity Theory has the potential to contribute a transdisciplinary theme to applied linguistics. Transdisciplinary themes supersede disciplines and spur new kinds of creative activity (Halliday 2001 [1990]). Investigating complex systems requires researchers to pay attention to system dynamics. Since…

Applying Early Systems Engineering: Injecting Knowledge into the Capability Development Process

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-01

involves early use of systems engi- neering and technical analyses to supplement the existing operational analysis techniques currently used in...complexity, and costs of systems now being developed require tight coupling between operational requirements stated in the CDD, system requirements...Fleischer » Keywords: Capability Development, Competitive Prototyping, Knowledge Points, Early Systems Engineering Applying Early Systems

Restoration of acidic mine spoils with sewage sludge: II measurement of solids applied

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

Stucky, D.J.; Zoeller, A.L.

1980-01-01

Sewage sludge was incorporated in acidic strip mine spoils at rates equivalent to 0, 224, 336, and 448 dry metric tons (dmt)/ha and placed in pots in a greenhouse. Spoil parameters were determined 48 hours after sludge incorporation, Time Planting (P), and five months after orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata L.) was planted, Time Harvest (H), in the pots. Parameters measured were: pH, organic matter content (OM), cation exchange capacity (CEC), electrical conductivity (EC) and yield. Values for each parameter were significantly different at the two sampling times. Correlation coefficient values were calculated for all parameters versus rates of applied sewage sludgemore » and all parameters versus each other. Multiple regressions were performed, stepwise, for all parameters versus rates of applied sewage sludge. Equations to predict amounts of sewage sludge incorporated in spoils were derived for individual and multiple parameters. Generally, measurements made at Time P achieved the highest correlation coefficient and multiple correlation coefficient values; therefore, the authors concluded data from Time P had the greatest predictability value. The most important value measured to predict rate of applied sewage sludge was pH and some additional accuracy was obtained by including CEC in equation. This experiment indicated that soil properties can be used to estimate amounts of sewage sludge solids required to reclaim acidic mine spoils and to estimate quantities incorporated.« less

Mobile system for on-road measurements of air pollutants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Katulski, Ryszard J.; Namieśnik, Jacek; Sadowski, Jarosław; Stefański, Jacek; Szymańska, Krystyna; Wardencki, Waldemar

2010-04-01

The paper presents a prototype of a mobile monitoring system for measuring the levels of the main traffic air pollutants (C6H6, NO2, NOx, CO, and CO2,) in cities. The novelty of the proposed system lies in the fact that it can be utilized to monitor emissions from urban traffic along roads and areas where traditional monitoring stations cannot be placed. In the proposed system, the monitoring device can be mounted on any moving vehicle (such as a car, bus, or truck) rather than be attached to a dedicated van, as most systems of this kind found in literature are. Analyzers used in this system are small portable structures that contain an electronic instrument to measure, record, and transmit relevant data on concentrations of the pollutants to a website. The model outcome for carbon monoxide obtained in functional tests in real conditions is also presented here. Data on temporal changes of carbon monoxide concentration are compared against meteorological parameters and speed of the vehicle. Spatial interpolation techniques are applied to obtain a nonplanar visualization of carbon monoxide and benzene concentrations in the main arteries of a city.

Mobile system for on-road measurements of air pollutants.

PubMed

Katulski, Ryszard J; Namieśnik, Jacek; Sadowski, Jarosław; Stefański, Jacek; Szymańska, Krystyna; Wardencki, Waldemar

2010-04-01

The paper presents a prototype of a mobile monitoring system for measuring the levels of the main traffic air pollutants (C(6)H(6), NO(2), NO(x), CO, and CO(2),) in cities. The novelty of the proposed system lies in the fact that it can be utilized to monitor emissions from urban traffic along roads and areas where traditional monitoring stations cannot be placed. In the proposed system, the monitoring device can be mounted on any moving vehicle (such as a car, bus, or truck) rather than be attached to a dedicated van, as most systems of this kind found in literature are. Analyzers used in this system are small portable structures that contain an electronic instrument to measure, record, and transmit relevant data on concentrations of the pollutants to a website. The model outcome for carbon monoxide obtained in functional tests in real conditions is also presented here. Data on temporal changes of carbon monoxide concentration are compared against meteorological parameters and speed of the vehicle. Spatial interpolation techniques are applied to obtain a nonplanar visualization of carbon monoxide and benzene concentrations in the main arteries of a city.

Minimal Distance to Approximating Noncontextual System as a Measure of Contextuality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kujala, Janne V.

2017-07-01

Let random vectors Rc={Rpc:p\\in Pc} represent joint measurements of certain subsets Pc\\subset P of properties p\\in P in different contexts c\\in C. Such a system is traditionally called noncontextual if there exists a jointly distributed set {Qp:p\\in P} of random variables such that Rc has the same distribution as {Qp:p\\in Pc} for all c\\in C. A trivial necessary condition for noncontextuality and a precondition for many measures of contextuality is that the system is consistently connected, i.e., all Rpc,Rp^{c^' }},\\dots measuring the same property p\\in P have the same distribution. The contextuality-by-default (CbD) approach allows defining more general measures of contextuality that apply to inconsistently connected systems as well, but at the price of a higher computational cost. In this paper we propose a novel measure of contextuality that shares the generality of the CbD approach and the computational benefits of the previously proposed negative probability (NP) approach. The present approach differs from CbD in that instead of considering all possible joints of the double-indexed random variables Rpc, it considers all possible approximating single-indexed systems {Qp:p\\in P}. The degree of contextuality is defined based on the minimum possible probabilistic distance of the actual measurements Rc from {Qp:p\\in Pc}. We show that this measure, called the optimal approximation (OA) measure, agrees with a certain measure of contextuality of the CbD approach for all systems where each property enters in exactly two contexts. The OA measure can be calculated far more efficiently than the CbD measure and even more efficiently than the NP measure for sufficiently large systems. We also define a variant, the OA-NP measure of contextuality that agrees with the NP measure for consistently connected (non-signaling) systems while extending it to inconsistently connected systems.

[Microinjection Monitoring System Design Applied to MRI Scanning].

PubMed

Xu, Yongfeng

2017-09-30

A microinjection monitoring system applied to the MRI scanning was introduced. The micro camera probe was used to stretch into the main magnet for real-time video injection monitoring of injection tube terminal. The programming based on LabVIEW was created to analysis and process the real-time video information. The feedback signal was used for intelligent controlling of the modified injection pump. The real-time monitoring system can make the best use of injection under the condition that the injection device was away from the sample which inside the magnetic room and unvisible. 9.4 T MRI scanning experiment showed that the system in ultra-high field can work stability and doesn't affect the MRI scans.

Tribological systems as applied to aircraft engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buckley, D. H.

1985-01-01

Tribological systems as applied to aircraft are reviewed. The importance of understanding the fundamental concepts involved in such systems is discussed. Basic properties of materials which can be related to adhesion, friction and wear are presented and correlated with tribology. Surface processes including deposition and treatment are addressed in relation to their present and future application to aircraft components such as bearings, gears and seals. Lubrication of components with both liquids and solids is discussed. Advances in both new liquid molecular structures and additives for those structures are reviewed and related to the needs of advanced engines. Solids and polymer composites are suggested for increasing use and ceramic coatings containing fluoride compounds are offered for the extreme temperatures encountered in such components as advanced bearings and seals.

Tailored Excitation for Multivariable Stability-Margin Measurement Applied to the X-31A Nonlinear Simulation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bosworth, John T.; Burken, John J.

1997-01-01

Safety and productivity of the initial flight test phase of a new vehicle have been enhanced by developing the ability to measure the stability margins of the combined control system and vehicle in flight. One shortcoming of performing this analysis is the long duration of the excitation signal required to provide results over a wide frequency range. For flight regimes such as high angle of attack or hypersonic flight, the ability to maintain flight condition for this time duration is difficult. Significantly reducing the required duration of the excitation input is possible by tailoring the input to excite only the frequency range where the lowest stability margin is expected. For a multiple-input/multiple-output system, the inputs can be simultaneously applied to the control effectors by creating each excitation input with a unique set of frequency components. Chirp-Z transformation algorithms can be used to match the analysis of the results to the specific frequencies used in the excitation input. This report discusses the application of a tailored excitation input to a high-fidelity X-31A linear model and nonlinear simulation. Depending on the frequency range, the results indicate the potential to significantly reduce the time required for stability measurement.

30 CFR 260.111 - What conditions apply to the bidding systems that MMS uses?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What conditions apply to the bidding systems... INTERIOR OFFSHORE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF OIL AND GAS LEASING Bidding Systems General Provisions § 260.111 What conditions apply to the bidding systems that MMS uses? (a) For each of the bidding systems in...

Comparison of full-field interferometric measurement techniques applied to small vibration amplitudes determination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Styk, Adam

2014-07-01

Classical time-averaging and stroboscopic interferometry are widely used for MEMS/MOEMS dynamic behavior investigations. Unfortunately both methods require an amplitude magnitude of at least 0.19λ to be able to detect resonant frequency of the object. Moreover the precision of measurement is limited. That puts strong constrains on the type of element to be tested. In this paper the comparison of two methods of microobject vibration measurements that overcome aforementioned problems are presented. Both methods maintain high speed measurement time and extend the range of amplitudes to be measured (below 0.19λ), moreover can be easily applied to MEMS/MOEMS dynamic parameters measurements.

Applications of ASFCM(Assessment System of Flood Control Measurement) in Typhoon Committee Members

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, C.

2013-12-01

Due to extreme weather environment such as global warming and greenhouse effect, the risks of having flood damage has been increased with larger scale of flood damages. Therefore, it became necessary to consider modifying climate change, flood damage and its scale to the previous dimension measurement evaluation system. In this regard, it is needed to establish a comprehensive and integrated system to evaluate the most optimized measures for flood control through eliminating uncertainties of socio-economic impacts. Assessment System of Structural Flood Control Measures (ASFCM) was developed for determining investment priorities of the flood control measures and establishing the social infrastructure projects. ASFCM consists of three modules: 1) the initial setup and inputs module, 2) the flood and damage estimation module, and 3) the socio-economic analysis module. First, we have to construct the D/B for flood damage estimation, which is the initial and input data about the estimation unit, property, historical flood damages, and applied area's topographic & hydrological data. After that, it is important to classify local characteristic for constructing flood damage data. Five local characteristics (big city, medium size city, small city, farming area, and mountain area) are classified by criterion of application (population density). Next step is the floodplain simulation with HEC-RAS which is selected to simulate inundation. Through inputting the D/B and damage estimation, it is able to estimate the total damage (only direct damage) that is the amount of cost to recover the socio-economic activities back to the safe level before flood did occur. The last module suggests the economic analysis index (B/C ratio) with Multidimensional Flood Damage Analysis. Consequently, ASFCM suggests the reference index in constructing flood control measures and planning non-structural systems to reduce water-related damage. It is possible to encourage flood control planners and

On-road particle number measurements using a portable emission measurement system (PEMS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallus, Jens; Kirchner, Ulf; Vogt, Rainer; Börensen, Christoph; Benter, Thorsten

2016-01-01

In this study the on-road particle number (PN) performance of a Euro-5 direct-injection (DI) gasoline passenger car was investigated. PN emissions were measured using the prototype of a portable emission measurement system (PEMS). PN PEMS correlations with chassis dynamometer tests show a good agreement with a chassis dynamometer set-up down to emissions in the range of 1·1010 #/km. Parallel on-line soot measurements by a photo acoustic soot sensor (PASS) were applied as independent measurement technique and indicate a good on-road performance for the PN-PEMS. PN-to-soot ratios were 1.3·1012 #/mg, which was comparable for both test cell and on-road measurements. During on-road trips different driving styles as well as different road types were investigated. Comparisons to the world harmonized light-duty test cycle (WLTC) 5.3 and to European field operational test (euroFOT) data indicate the PEMS trips to be representative for normal driving. Driving situations in varying traffic seem to be a major contributor to a high test-to-test variability of PN emissions. However, there is a trend to increasing PN emissions with more severe driving styles. A cold start effect is clearly visible for PN, especially at low ambient temperatures down to 8 °C.

Wolf Attack Probability: A Theoretical Security Measure in Biometric Authentication Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Une, Masashi; Otsuka, Akira; Imai, Hideki

This paper will propose a wolf attack probability (WAP) as a new measure for evaluating security of biometric authentication systems. The wolf attack is an attempt to impersonate a victim by feeding “wolves” into the system to be attacked. The “wolf” means an input value which can be falsely accepted as a match with multiple templates. WAP is defined as a maximum success probability of the wolf attack with one wolf sample. In this paper, we give a rigorous definition of the new security measure which gives strength estimation of an individual biometric authentication system against impersonation attacks. We show that if one reestimates using our WAP measure, a typical fingerprint algorithm turns out to be much weaker than theoretically estimated by Ratha et al. Moreover, we apply the wolf attack to a finger-vein-pattern based algorithm. Surprisingly, we show that there exists an extremely strong wolf which falsely matches all templates for any threshold value.

Advantages of High Tolerance Measurements in Fusion Environments Applying Photogrammetry

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

T. Dodson, R. Ellis, C. Priniski, S. Raftopoulos, D. Stevens, M. Viola

2009-02-04

Photogrammetry, a state-of-the-art technique of metrology employing digital photographs as the vehicle for measurement, has been investigated in the fusion environment. Benefits of this high tolerance methodology include relatively easy deployment for multiple point measurements and deformation/distortion studies. Depending on the equipment used, photogrammetric systems can reach tolerances of 25 microns (0.001 in) to 100 microns (0.004 in) on a 3-meter object. During the fabrication and assembly of the National Compact Stellarator Experiment (NCSX) the primary measurement systems deployed were CAD coordinate-based computer metrology equipment and supporting algorithms such as both interferometer-aided (IFM) and absolute distance measurementbased (ADM) laser trackers,more » as well as portable Coordinate Measurement Machine (CMM) arms. Photogrammetry was employed at NCSX as a quick and easy tool to monitor coil distortions incurred during welding operations of the machine assembly process and as a way to reduce assembly downtime for metrology processes.« less

Time stress measurement device: system design and synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harchani, Noursaied; Jimenez, Fernando; Al-Mohammed, Mohammed; Esteve, Daniel; Courvoisier, M.

2000-04-01

System design methodology becomes a strategic activity in the industrial competition. Obtaining substantial reduction of time to market for complex and reliable products is one of the priorities for the manufacturers. Top down design, automated generation of architecture, co-design, virtual prototyping, etc. are already identified as research topics which have to be privileged. To be efficient, each theoretical contribution must be inserted in a global procedure of project management where complementary elements such as marketing, technico-economic survey, road-mapping, internal know-how,.. must be considered. In this context, this paper will present a design methodology starting from the requirement statement until the technical realization of the product, and applied to the design of a Time Stress Measurement Device for the observation of aeronautical mechanical systems.

A Parkinson's disease measurement system using laser lines and a CMOS image sensor.

PubMed

Chang, Rong-Seng; Chiu, Jen-Hwey; Chen, Fang-Pey; Chen, Jyh-Cheng; Yang, Jen-Lin

2011-01-01

This paper presents a non-invasive, non-contact system for the measurement of the arterial dorsum manus vibration waveforms of Parkinson disease patients. The laser line method is applied to detect the dorsum manus vibration in rest and postural situations. The proposed measurement system mainly consists of a laser diode and a low cost complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor. Laser line and centroid methods are combined with the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) in this study. The shape and frequency and relative frequency of the dorsum manus vibration waveforms can be detected rapidly using our Parkinson's disease measurement system. A laser line near the wrist joint is used as the testing line. The experimental results show an obvious increase in the amplitude and frequency of dorsum manus variation in the measured region in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, indicating the obvious effects of the disease. Both in postural and rest state measurements, as the patient disease age increases the vibration frequency increases. The measurement system is well suited for evaluating and pre-diagnosing early stage Parkinson's disease.

Research and application of measuring system for disconnector for surge arresters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ziyu; Luo, Xiaoyong

2017-10-01

This paper analyzes the current situation of the use of the disconnector for the arrester, and introduces the common faults and their causes. Based on the Labview programming environment, a low cost and convenient measurement system is developed to solve the problem of test trigger and waveform acquisition, which is aimed at the lack of electrical detection methods for small manufacturing enterprises in China. Finally, the system is applied to the actual production, and the performance of product are improved.

Multi-point laser coherent detection system and its application on vibration measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Y.; Yang, C.; Xu, Y. J.; Liu, H.; Yan, K.; Guo, M.

2015-05-01

Laser Doppler vibrometry (LDV) is a well-known interferometric technique to measure the motions, vibrations and mode shapes of machine components and structures. The drawback of commercial LDV is that it can only offer a pointwise measurement. In order to build up a vibrometric image, a scanning device is normally adopted to scan the laser point in two spatial axes. These scanning laser Doppler vibrometers (SLDV) assume that the measurement conditions remain invariant while multiple and identical, sequential measurements are performed. This assumption makes SLDVs impractical to do measurement on transient events. In this paper, we introduce a new multiple-point laser coherent detection system based on spatial-encoding technology and fiber configuration. A simultaneous vibration measurement on multiple points is realized using a single photodetector. A prototype16-point laser coherent detection system is built and it is applied to measure the vibration of various objects, such as body of a car or a motorcycle when engine is on and under shock tests. The results show the prospect of multi-point laser coherent detection system in the area of nondestructive test and precise dynamic measurement.

Diagnostic layer integration in FPGA-based pipeline measurement systems for HEP experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pozniak, Krzysztof T.

2007-08-01

Integrated triggering and data acquisition systems for high energy physics experiments may be considered as fast, multichannel, synchronous, distributed, pipeline measurement systems. A considerable extension of functional, technological and monitoring demands, which has recently been imposed on them, forced a common usage of large field-programmable gate array (FPGA), digital signal processing-enhanced matrices and fast optical transmission for their realization. This paper discusses modelling, design, realization and testing of pipeline measurement systems. A distribution of synchronous data stream flows is considered in the network. A general functional structure of a single network node is presented. A suggested, novel block structure of the node model facilitates full implementation in the FPGA chip, circuit standardization and parametrization, as well as integration of functional and diagnostic layers. A general method for pipeline system design was derived. This method is based on a unified model of the synchronous data network node. A few examples of practically realized, FPGA-based, pipeline measurement systems were presented. The described systems were applied in ZEUS and CMS.

Measurement system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Turner, J. W. (Inventor)

1973-01-01

A measurement system is described for providing an indication of a varying physical quantity represented by or converted to a variable frequency signal. Timing pulses are obtained marking the duration of a fixed number, or set, of cycles of the sampled signal and these timing pulses are employed to control the period of counting of cycles of a higher fixed and known frequency source. The counts of cycles obtained from the fixed frequency source provide a precise measurement of the average frequency of each set of cycles sampled, and thus successive discrete values of the quantity being measured. The frequency of the known frequency source is made such that each measurement is presented as a direct digital representation of the quantity measured.

Electrical system for measurement of breakdown voltage of vacuum and gas-filled tubes using a dynamic method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pejović, Milić M.; Milosavljević, Čedomir S.; Pejović, Momčilo M.

2003-06-01

This article describes an electrical system aimed at measuring and data acquisition of breakdown voltages of vacuum and gas-filled tubes. The measurements were performed using a nitrogen-filled tube at 4 mbar pressure. Based on the measured breakdown voltage data as a function of the applied voltage increase rate, a static breakdown voltage is estimated for the applied voltage gradient ranging from 0.1 to 1 V s-1 and from 1 to 10 V s-1. The histograms of breakdown voltages versus applied voltage increase rates from 0.1 and 0.5 V s-1 are approximated by the probability density functions using a fitting procedure.

Probabilistic Analysis Techniques Applied to Complex Spacecraft Power System Modeling

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hojnicki, Jeffrey S.; Rusick, Jeffrey J.

2005-01-01

Electric power system performance predictions are critical to spacecraft, such as the International Space Station (ISS), to ensure that sufficient power is available to support all the spacecraft s power needs. In the case of the ISS power system, analyses to date have been deterministic, meaning that each analysis produces a single-valued result for power capability because of the complexity and large size of the model. As a result, the deterministic ISS analyses did not account for the sensitivity of the power capability to uncertainties in model input variables. Over the last 10 years, the NASA Glenn Research Center has developed advanced, computationally fast, probabilistic analysis techniques and successfully applied them to large (thousands of nodes) complex structural analysis models. These same techniques were recently applied to large, complex ISS power system models. This new application enables probabilistic power analyses that account for input uncertainties and produce results that include variations caused by these uncertainties. Specifically, N&R Engineering, under contract to NASA, integrated these advanced probabilistic techniques with Glenn s internationally recognized ISS power system model, System Power Analysis for Capability Evaluation (SPACE).

Measurements of evoked electroencephalograph by transcranial magnetic stimulation applied to motor cortex and posterior parietal cortex

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iwahashi, Masakuni; Koyama, Yohei; Hyodo, Akira; Hayami, Takehito; Ueno, Shoogo; Iramina, Keiji

2009-04-01

To investigate the functional connectivity, the evoked potentials by stimulating at the motor cortex, the posterior parietal cortex, and the cerebellum by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) were measured. It is difficult to measure the evoked electroencephalograph (EEG) by the magnetic stimulation because of the large artifact induced by the magnetic pulse. We used an EEG measurement system with sample-and-hold circuit and an independent component analysis to eliminate the electromagnetic interaction emitted from TMS. It was possible to measure EEG signals from all electrodes over the head within 10 ms after applying the TMS. When the motor area was stimulated by TMS, the spread of evoked electrical activity to the contralateral hemisphere was observed at 20 ms after stimulation. However, when the posterior parietal cortex was stimulated, the evoked electrical activity to the contralateral hemisphere was not observed. When the cerebellum was stimulated, the cortical activity propagated from the stimulated point to the frontal area and the contralateral hemisphere at around 20 ms after stimulation. These results suggest that the motor area has a strong interhemispheric connection and the posterior parietal cortex has no interhemispheric connection.

Applying systems engineering methodologies to the micro- and nanoscale realm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garrison Darrin, M. Ann

2012-06-01

Micro scale and nano scale technology developments have the potential to revolutionize smart and small systems. The application of systems engineering methodologies that integrate standalone, small-scale technologies and interface them with macro technologies to build useful systems is critical to realizing the potential of these technologies. This paper covers the expanding knowledge base on systems engineering principles for micro and nano technology integration starting with a discussion of the drivers for applying a systems approach. Technology development on the micro and nano scale has transition from laboratory curiosity to the realization of products in the health, automotive, aerospace, communication, and numerous other arenas. This paper focuses on the maturity (or lack thereof) of the field of nanosystems which is emerging in a third generation having transitioned from completing active structures to creating systems. The emphasis of applying a systems approach focuses on successful technology development based on the lack of maturity of current nano scale systems. Therefore the discussion includes details relating to enabling roles such as product systems engineering and technology development. Classical roles such as acquisition systems engineering are not covered. The results are also targeted towards small-scale technology developers who need to take into account systems engineering processes such as requirements definition, verification, and validation interface management and risk management in the concept phase of technology development to maximize the likelihood of success, cost effective micro and nano technology to increase the capability of emerging deployed systems and long-term growth and profits.

Applying Toyota production system techniques for medication delivery: improving hospital safety and efficiency.

PubMed

Newell, Terry L; Steinmetz-Malato, Laura L; Van Dyke, Deborah L

2011-01-01

The inpatient medication delivery system used at a large regional acute care hospital in the Midwest had become antiquated and inefficient. The existing 24-hr medication cart-fill exchange process with delivery to the patients' bedside did not always provide ordered medications to the nursing units when they were needed. In 2007 the principles of the Toyota Production System (TPS) were applied to the system. Project objectives were to improve medication safety and reduce the time needed for nurses to retrieve patient medications. A multidisciplinary team was formed that included representatives from nursing, pharmacy, informatics, quality, and various operational support departments. Team members were educated and trained in the tools and techniques of TPS, and then designed and implemented a new pull system benchmarking the TPS Ideal State model. The newly installed process, providing just-in-time medication availability, has measurably improved delivery processes as well as patient safety and satisfaction. Other positive outcomes have included improved nursing satisfaction, reduced nursing wait time for delivered medications, and improved efficiency in the pharmacy. After a successful pilot on two nursing units, the system is being extended to the rest of the hospital. © 2010 National Association for Healthcare Quality.

The 1 MV multi-element AMS system for biomedical applications at the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klein, Matthias; Vaes, W. H. J.; Fabriek, B.; Sandman, H.; Mous, D. J. W.; Gottdang, A.

2013-01-01

The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) has installed a compact 1 MV multi-element AMS system manufactured by High Voltage Engineering Europa B.V., The Netherlands. TNO performs clinical research programs for pharmaceutical and innovative foods industry to obtain early pharmacokinetic data and to provide anti-osteoporotic efficacy data of new treatments. The AMS system will analyze carbon, iodine and calcium samples for this purpose. The first measurements on blank samples indicate background levels in the low 10-12 for calcium and iodine, making the system well suited for these biomedical applications. Carbon blanks have been measured at low 10-16. For unattended, around-the-clock analysis, the system features the 200 sample version of the SO110 hybrid ion source and user friendly control software.

A Generalized Spatial Measure for Resilience of Microbial Systems

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

Renslow, Ryan S.; Lindemann, Stephen R.; Song, Hyun-Seob

2016-04-07

The emergent property of resilience is the ability of a system to return to an original state after a disturbance. Resilience may be used as an early warning system for significant or irreversible community transition, i.e., a community with diminishing or low resilience may be close to catastrophic shift in function or an irreversible collapse. Typically, resilience is quantified using recovery time, which may be difficult or impossible to directly measure in microbial systems. A recent study in the literature showed that under certain conditions, a set of spatial-based metrics termed recovery length, can be correlated to recovery time, andmore » thus may be a reasonable alternative measure of resilience. As a limitation, however, this spatial metric of resilience is useful only for step-change perturbations. Building upon the concept of recovery length, we propose a more general form of the spatial metric of resilience that can be applied to any shape of perturbation profiles (i.e., a sharp or smooth gradient). We termed this new spatial measure “perturbation-adjusted spatial metric of resilience” (PASMORE). We demonstrate the applicability of the proposed metric using a mathematical model of a microbial mat. PASMORE can help identify when a system, such as a microbial community, is on the verge of collapse or nearing an irreversible transition across a tipping point.« less

Bluetooth-based distributed measurement system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Baoping; Chen, Zhuo; Wei, Yuguo; Qin, Xiaofeng

2007-07-01

A novel distributed wireless measurement system, which is consisted of a base station, wireless intelligent sensors and relay nodes etc, is established by combining of Bluetooth-based wireless transmission, virtual instrument, intelligent sensor, and network. The intelligent sensors mounted on the equipments to be measured acquire various parameters and the Bluetooth relay nodes get the acquired data modulated and sent to the base station, where data analysis and processing are done so that the operational condition of the equipment can be evaluated. The establishment of the distributed measurement system is discussed with a measurement flow chart for the distributed measurement system based on Bluetooth technology, and the advantages and disadvantages of the system are analyzed at the end of the paper and the measurement system has successfully been used in Daqing oilfield, China for measurement of parameters, such as temperature, flow rate and oil pressure at an electromotor-pump unit.

Analysis of measurement system as the mechatronics system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giniotis, V.; Grattan, K. T. V.; Rybokas, M.; Bručas, D.

2010-07-01

The paper deals with the mechatronic arrangement for angle measuring system application. The objects to be measured are the circular raster scales, rotary encoders and coded scales. The task of the measuring system is to determine the bias of angle measuring standard as the circular scale and to use the results for the error correction and accuracy improvement of metal cutting machines, coordinate measuring machines, robots, etc. The technical solutions are given with the application of active materials for smart piezoactuators implemented into the several positions of angular measuring equipment. Mechatronic measuring system is analysed as complex integrated system and some of its elements can be used as separate units. All these functional elements are described and commented in the paper with the diagrams and graphs of errors and examples of microdisplacement devices using the mechatronic elements.

Online devices and measuring systems for the automatic control of newspaper printing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marszalec, Elzbieta A.; Heikkila, Ismo; Juhola, Helene; Lehtonen, Tapio

1999-09-01

The paper reviews the state-of-the-art color measuring systems used for the control of newspaper printing. The printing process requirements are specified and different off-line and on-line color quality control systems, commercially available and under development, are evaluated. Recent market trends in newspaper printing are discussed based on the survey. The study was made on information derived from: conference proceedings (TAGA, IARIGAI, SPIE and IS&T), journals (American Printer, Applied Optics), discussions with experts (GMI, QTI, HONEYWELL, TOBIAS, GretagMacbeth), IFRA Expo'98/Quality Measuring Technologies, commercial brochures, and the Internet. On the background of this review, three different measuring principles, currently, under investigation at VTT Information Technology, are described and their applicability to newspaper printing is evaluated.

Measurement of gadolinium retention: current status and review from an applied radiation physics perspective.

PubMed

Gräfe, James L; McNeill, Fiona E

2018-06-28

This article briefly reviews the main measurement techniques for the non-invasive detection of residual gadolinium (Gd) in those exposed to gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs). Approach and Main results: The current status of in vivo Gd measurement is discussed and is put into the context of concerns within the radiology community. The main techniques are based on applied atomic/nuclear medicine utilizing the characteristic atomic and nuclear spectroscopic signature of Gd. The main emission energies are in the 40-200 keV region and require spectroscopic detectors with good energy resolution. The two main techniques, prompt gamma neutron activation analysis and x-ray fluorescence, provide adequate detection limits for in vivo measurement, whilst delivering a low effective radiation dose on the order of a few µSv. Gadolinium is being detected in measureable quantities in people with healthy renal function who have received FDA approved GBCAs. The applied atomic/nuclear medicine techniques discussed in this review will be useful in determining the significance of this retention, and will help on advising future administration protocols.

Method and system for measurement of mechanical properties of molecules and cells

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fredberg, Jeffrey J. (Inventor); Butler, James P. (Inventor); Ingber, Donald E. (Inventor); Wang, Ning (Inventor)

1996-01-01

Mechanical stresses and deformations are applied directly to cell surface receptors or molecules and measured using a system including a magnetic twisting device in combination with ferromagnetic microbeads coated with ligands for integrins or any other surface receptors. The system can be used diagnostically to characterize cells and molecules and to determine the effect of transformation and compounds, including drugs, on the cells and molecules. The system can also be used to induce cells to grow or alter production of molecules by the cells.

Recent results of nonlinear estimators applied to hereditary systems.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schiess, J. R.; Roland, V. R.; Wells, W. R.

1972-01-01

An application of the extended Kalman filter to delayed systems to estimate the state and time delay is presented. Two nonlinear estimators are discussed and the results compared with those of the Kalman filter. For all the filters considered, the hereditary system was treated with the delay in the pure form and by using Pade approximations of the delay. A summary of the convergence properties of the filters studied is given. The results indicate that the linear filter applied to the delayed system performs inadequately while the nonlinear filters provide reasonable estimates of both the state and the parameters.

Meta-learning framework applied in bioinformatics inference system design.

PubMed

Arredondo, Tomás; Ormazábal, Wladimir

2015-01-01

This paper describes a meta-learner inference system development framework which is applied and tested in the implementation of bioinformatic inference systems. These inference systems are used for the systematic classification of the best candidates for inclusion in bacterial metabolic pathway maps. This meta-learner-based approach utilises a workflow where the user provides feedback with final classification decisions which are stored in conjunction with analysed genetic sequences for periodic inference system training. The inference systems were trained and tested with three different data sets related to the bacterial degradation of aromatic compounds. The analysis of the meta-learner-based framework involved contrasting several different optimisation methods with various different parameters. The obtained inference systems were also contrasted with other standard classification methods with accurate prediction capabilities observed.

Electrochemical thermodynamic measurement system

DOEpatents

Reynier, Yvan [Meylan, FR; Yazami, Rachid [Los Angeles, CA; Fultz, Brent T [Pasadena, CA

2009-09-29

The present invention provides systems and methods for accurately characterizing thermodynamic and materials properties of electrodes and electrochemical energy storage and conversion systems. Systems and methods of the present invention are configured for simultaneously collecting a suite of measurements characterizing a plurality of interconnected electrochemical and thermodynamic parameters relating to the electrode reaction state of advancement, voltage and temperature. Enhanced sensitivity provided by the present methods and systems combined with measurement conditions that reflect thermodynamically stabilized electrode conditions allow very accurate measurement of thermodynamic parameters, including state functions such as the Gibbs free energy, enthalpy and entropy of electrode/electrochemical cell reactions, that enable prediction of important performance attributes of electrode materials and electrochemical systems, such as the energy, power density, current rate and the cycle life of an electrochemical cell.

Ocular bioavailability and systemic loss of topically applied ophthalmic drugs.

PubMed

Patton, T F; Francoeur, M

1978-02-01

We used 20-day-old rabbits as a model to show that the ocular bioavailability of topically applied pilocarpine nitrate increased as the instilled volume of the drug was decreased. Decreasing the instilled volume from 25 to 5 microliter permitted a dosage reduction of greater than 2.5 times without sacrificing overall drug concentrations in the eye. Since only a small fraction of topically applied doses to the eye actually reached the interior of the eye, the remainder of the dose was lost and available for systemic absorption. The reduction in dosage permitted by this approach resulted in less drug appearing in the general circulation, as shown by comparative plasma level-time profiles. The advantages of reducing drop size are improved ocular bioavailability permitting the use of smaller doses; and less systemic drug loss, thus reducing the potential for systemic side effects. These advantages could be especially significant in the pediatric and geriatric age groups.

Density-functional theory applied to d- and f-electron systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Xueyuan

Density functional theory (DFT) has been applied to study the electronic and geometric structures of prototype d- and f-electron systems. For the d-electron system, all electron DFT with gradient corrections to the exchange and correlation functionals has been used to investigate the properties of small neutral and cationic vanadium clusters. Results are in good agreement with available experimental and other theoretical data. For the f-electron system, a hybrid DFT, namely, B3LYP (Becke's 3-parameter hybrid functional using the correlation functional of Lee, Yang and Parr) with relativistic effective core potentials and cluster models has been applied to investigate the nature of chemical bonding of both the bulk and the surfaces of plutonium monoxide and dioxide. Using periodic models, the electronic and geometric structures of PuO2 and its (110) surface, as well as water adsorption on this surface have also been investigated using DFT in both local density approximation (LDA) and generalized gradient approximation (GGA) formalisms.

Applied patent RFID systems for building reacting HEPA air ventilation system in hospital operation rooms.

PubMed

Lin, Jesun; Pai, Jar-Yuan; Chen, Chih-Cheng

2012-12-01

RFID technology, an automatic identification and data capture technology to provide identification, tracing, security and so on, was widely applied to healthcare industry in these years. Employing HEPA ventilation system in hospital is a way to ensure healthful indoor air quality to protect patients and healthcare workers against hospital-acquired infections. However, the system consumes lots of electricity which cost a lot. This study aims to apply the RFID technology to offer a unique medical staff and patient identification, and reacting HEPA air ventilation system in order to reduce the cost, save energy and prevent the prevalence of hospital-acquired infection. The system, reacting HEPA air ventilation system, contains RFID tags (for medical staffs and patients), sensor, and reacting system which receives the information regarding the number of medical staff and the status of the surgery, and controls the air volume of the HEPA air ventilation system accordingly. A pilot program was carried out in a unit of operation rooms of a medical center with 1,500 beds located in central Taiwan from Jan to Aug 2010. The results found the air ventilation system was able to function much more efficiently with less energy consumed. Furthermore, the indoor air quality could still keep qualified and hospital-acquired infection or other occupational diseases could be prevented.

A new microscope optics for laser dark-field illumination applied to high precision two dimensional measurement of specimen displacement.

PubMed

Noda, Naoki; Kamimura, Shinji

2008-02-01

With conventional light microscopy, precision in the measurement of the displacement of a specimen depends on the signal-to-noise ratio when we measure the light intensity of magnified images. This implies that, for the improvement of precision, getting brighter images and reducing background light noise are both inevitably required. For this purpose, we developed a new optics for laser dark-field illumination. For the microscopy, we used a laser beam and a pair of axicons (conical lenses) to get an optimal condition for dark-field observations. The optics was applied to measuring two dimensional microbead displacements with subnanometer precision. The bandwidth of our detection system overall was 10 kHz. Over most of this bandwidth, the observed noise level was as small as 0.1 nm/radicalHz.

Unsteady pressure measurement instrumentation using anodized-aluminium PSP applied in a transonic wind tunnel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mérienne, Marie-Claire; LeSant, Yves; Ancelle, Jacques; Soulevant, Didier

2004-12-01

The objective of this work is to demonstrate the feasibility of pressure measurement instrumentation using anodized-aluminium pressure-sensitive paint (or AA-PSP) for application in unsteady flows. An anodized procedure was applied to an aluminium tape that can be easily placed on a model even when it is mounted in a wind tunnel. The response time of the PSP coating is assessed using a calibration rig that generates fast pressure steps or sinusoidal pressure fluctuations up to 1 kHz. A pointwise measurement system made with a Cassegrain telescope and a photomultiplier tube was designed to collect the PSP luminescence. The spot displacement on the model surface was carried out by using a 3D moving bench. A camera is used to identify the spot position according to the model geometry. An application in a wind tunnel was performed on a forced shock wave oscillation test, generating amplitude variations up to 25 kPa. The calibration problem due to non-uniformity of the anodized properties did not allow quantitative data processing of pressure levels. Nevertheless frequency analysis demonstrates that the coating is able to follow the pressure fluctuations, as shown by comparison with standard pressure transducers.

Discrete filtering techniques applied to sequential GPS range measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vangraas, Frank

1987-01-01

The basic navigation solution is described for position and velocity based on range and delta range (Doppler) measurements from NAVSTAR Global Positioning System satellites. The application of discrete filtering techniques is examined to reduce the white noise distortions on the sequential range measurements. A second order (position and velocity states) Kalman filter is implemented to obtain smoothed estimates of range by filtering the dynamics of the signal from each satellite separately. Test results using a simulated GPS receiver show a steady-state noise reduction, the input noise variance divided by the output noise variance, of a factor of four. Recommendations for further noise reduction based on higher order Kalman filters or additional delta range measurements are included.

System for corrosion monitoring in pipeline applying fuzzy logic mathematics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzyakov, O. N.; Kolosova, A. L.; Andreeva, M. A.

2018-05-01

A list of factors influencing corrosion rate on the external side of underground pipeline is determined. Principles of constructing a corrosion monitoring system are described; the system performance algorithm and program are elaborated. A comparative analysis of methods for calculating corrosion rate is undertaken. Fuzzy logic mathematics is applied to reduce calculations while considering a wider range of corrosion factors.

Flight control system design factors for applying automated testing techniques

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sitz, Joel R.; Vernon, Todd H.

1990-01-01

Automated validation of flight-critical embedded systems is being done at ARC Dryden Flight Research Facility. The automated testing techniques are being used to perform closed-loop validation of man-rated flight control systems. The principal design features and operational experiences of the X-29 forward-swept-wing aircraft and F-18 High Alpha Research Vehicle (HARV) automated test systems are discussed. Operationally applying automated testing techniques has accentuated flight control system features that either help or hinder the application of these techniques. The paper also discusses flight control system features which foster the use of automated testing techniques.

Ozone measurement systems improvements studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thomas, R. W.; Guard, K.; Holland, A. C.; Spurling, J. F.

1974-01-01

Results are summarized of an initial study of techniques for measuring atmospheric ozone, carried out as the first phase of a program to improve ozone measurement techniques. The study concentrated on two measurement systems, the electro chemical cell (ECC) ozonesonde and the Dobson ozone spectrophotometer, and consisted of two tasks. The first task consisted of error modeling and system error analysis of the two measurement systems. Under the second task a Monte-Carlo model of the Dobson ozone measurement technique was developed and programmed for computer operation.

Challenges of developing an electro-optical system for measuring man's operational envelope

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woolford, B.

1985-01-01

In designing work stations and restraint systems, and in planning tasks to be performed in space, a knowledge of the capabilities of the operator is essential. Answers to such questions as whether a specific control or work surface can be reached from a given restraint and how much force can be applied are of particular interest. A computer-aided design system has been developed for designing and evaluating work stations, etc., and the Anthropometric Measurement Laboratory (AML) has been charged with obtaining the data to be used in design and modeling. Traditional methods of measuring reach and force are very labor intensive and require bulky equipment. The AML has developed a series of electro-optical devices for collecting reach data easily, in computer readable form, with portable systems. The systems developed, their use, and data collected with them are described.

3D shape measurement system developed on mobile platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Zhoujie; Chang, Meng; Shi, Bowen; Zhang, Qican

2017-02-01

Three-dimensional (3-D) shape measurement technology based on structured light has become one hot research field inspired by the increasing requirements. Many methods have been implemented and applied in the industry applications, but most of their equipments are large and complex, cannot be portable. Meanwhile, the popularity of the smart mobile terminals, such as smart phones, provides a platform for the miniaturization and portability of this technology. The measurement system based on phase-shift algorithm and Gray-code pattern under the Android platform on a mobile phone is mainly studied and developed, and it has been encapsulated into a mobile phone application in order to reconstruct 3-D shape data in the employed smart phone easily and quickly. The experimental results of two measured object are given in this paper and demonstrate the application we developed in the mobile platform is effective.

Applied Nonlinear Dynamics and Stochastic Systems Near The Millenium. Proceedings

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

Kadtke, J.B.; Bulsara, A.

These proceedings represent papers presented at the Applied Nonlinear Dynamics and Stochastic Systems conference held in San Diego, California in July 1997. The conference emphasized the applications of nonlinear dynamical systems theory in fields as diverse as neuroscience and biomedical engineering, fluid dynamics, chaos control, nonlinear signal/image processing, stochastic resonance, devices and nonlinear dynamics in socio{minus}economic systems. There were 56 papers presented at the conference and 5 have been abstracted for the Energy Science and Technology database.(AIP)

Multiple-frequency continuous wave ultrasonic system for accurate distance measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, C. F.; Young, M. S.; Li, Y. C.

1999-02-01

A highly accurate multiple-frequency continuous wave ultrasonic range-measuring system for use in air is described. The proposed system uses a method heretofore applied to radio frequency distance measurement but not to air-based ultrasonic systems. The method presented here is based upon the comparative phase shifts generated by three continuous ultrasonic waves of different but closely spaced frequencies. In the test embodiment to confirm concept feasibility, two low cost 40 kHz ultrasonic transducers are set face to face and used to transmit and receive ultrasound. Individual frequencies are transmitted serially, each generating its own phase shift. For any given frequency, the transmitter/receiver distance modulates the phase shift between the transmitted and received signals. Comparison of the phase shifts allows a highly accurate evaluation of target distance. A single-chip microcomputer-based multiple-frequency continuous wave generator and phase detector was designed to record and compute the phase shift information and the resulting distance, which is then sent to either a LCD or a PC. The PC is necessary only for calibration of the system, which can be run independently after calibration. Experiments were conducted to test the performance of the whole system. Experimentally, ranging accuracy was found to be within ±0.05 mm, with a range of over 1.5 m. The main advantages of this ultrasonic range measurement system are high resolution, low cost, narrow bandwidth requirements, and ease of implementation.

Detection of correct and incorrect measurements in real-time continuous glucose monitoring systems by applying a postprocessing support vector machine.

PubMed

Leal, Yenny; Gonzalez-Abril, Luis; Lorencio, Carol; Bondia, Jorge; Vehi, Josep

2013-07-01

Support vector machines (SVMs) are an attractive option for detecting correct and incorrect measurements in real-time continuous glucose monitoring systems (RTCGMSs), because their learning mechanism can introduce a postprocessing strategy for imbalanced datasets. The proposed SVM considers the geometric mean to obtain a more balanced performance between sensitivity and specificity. To test this approach, 23 critically ill patients receiving insulin therapy were monitored over 72 h using an RTCGMS, and a dataset of 537 samples, classified according to International Standards Organization (ISO) criteria (372 correct and 165 incorrect measurements), was obtained. The results obtained were promising for patients with septic shock or with sepsis, for which the proposed system can be considered as reliable. However, this approach cannot be considered suitable for patients without sepsis.

The Positioning Accuracy of BAUV Using Fusion of Data from USBL System and Movement Parameters Measurements

PubMed Central

Krzysztof, Naus; Aleksander, Nowak

2016-01-01

The article presents a study of the accuracy of estimating the position coordinates of BAUV (Biomimetic Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) by the extended Kalman filter (EKF) method. The fusion of movement parameters measurements and position coordinates fixes was applied. The movement parameters measurements are carried out by on-board navigation devices, while the position coordinates fixes are done by the USBL (Ultra Short Base Line) system. The problem of underwater positioning and the conceptual design of the BAUV navigation system constructed at the Naval Academy (Polish Naval Academy—PNA) are presented in the first part of the paper. The second part consists of description of the evaluation results of positioning accuracy, the genesis of the problem of selecting method for underwater positioning, and the mathematical description of the method of estimating the position coordinates using the EKF method by the fusion of measurements with on-board navigation and measurements obtained with the USBL system. The main part contains a description of experimental research. It consists of a simulation program of navigational parameter measurements carried out during the BAUV passage along the test section. Next, the article covers the determination of position coordinates on the basis of simulated parameters, using EKF and DR methods and the USBL system, which are then subjected to a comparative analysis of accuracy. The final part contains systemic conclusions justifying the desirability of applying the proposed fusion method of navigation parameters for the BAUV positioning. PMID:27537884

The Positioning Accuracy of BAUV Using Fusion of Data from USBL System and Movement Parameters Measurements.

PubMed

Krzysztof, Naus; Aleksander, Nowak

2016-08-15

The article presents a study of the accuracy of estimating the position coordinates of BAUV (Biomimetic Autonomous Underwater Vehicle) by the extended Kalman filter (EKF) method. The fusion of movement parameters measurements and position coordinates fixes was applied. The movement parameters measurements are carried out by on-board navigation devices, while the position coordinates fixes are done by the USBL (Ultra Short Base Line) system. The problem of underwater positioning and the conceptual design of the BAUV navigation system constructed at the Naval Academy (Polish Naval Academy-PNA) are presented in the first part of the paper. The second part consists of description of the evaluation results of positioning accuracy, the genesis of the problem of selecting method for underwater positioning, and the mathematical description of the method of estimating the position coordinates using the EKF method by the fusion of measurements with on-board navigation and measurements obtained with the USBL system. The main part contains a description of experimental research. It consists of a simulation program of navigational parameter measurements carried out during the BAUV passage along the test section. Next, the article covers the determination of position coordinates on the basis of simulated parameters, using EKF and DR methods and the USBL system, which are then subjected to a comparative analysis of accuracy. The final part contains systemic conclusions justifying the desirability of applying the proposed fusion method of navigation parameters for the BAUV positioning.

Applying a Qualitative Modeling Shell to Process Diagnosis: The Caster System.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-03-01

Process Diagnosis: The Caster System by Timothy F. Thompson and William J. Clancey Department of Computer Science Stanford University Stanford, CA 94303...MODELING SHELL TO PROCESS DIAGNOSIS: THE CASTER SYSTEM 12 PERSONAL AUTHOR(S) TIMOTHY F. THOMPSON. WESTINGHOUSE R&D CENTER, WILLIAM CLANCEY, STANFORD...editions are obsolete. Applying a Qualitative Modeling Shell to Process Diagnosis: The Caster System by Timothy F. Thompson, Westinghouse R&D Center

Free-form surface measuring method based on optical theodolite measuring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Caili

2012-10-01

The measurement for single-point coordinate, length and large-dimension curved surface in industrial measurement can be achieved through forward intersection measurement by the theodolite measuring system composed of several optical theodolites and one computer. The measuring principle of flexible large-dimension three-coordinate measuring system made up of multiple (above two) optical theodolites and composition and functions of the system have been introduced in this paper. Especially for measurement of curved surface, 3D measured data of spatial free-form surface is acquired through the theodolite measuring system and the CAD model is formed through surface fitting to directly generate CAM processing data.

Precision and accuracy of 3D lower extremity residua measurement systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Commean, Paul K.; Smith, Kirk E.; Vannier, Michael W.; Hildebolt, Charles F.; Pilgram, Thomas K.

1996-04-01

Accurate and reproducible geometric measurement of lower extremity residua is required for custom prosthetic socket design. We compared spiral x-ray computed tomography (SXCT) and 3D optical surface scanning (OSS) with caliper measurements and evaluated the precision and accuracy of each system. Spiral volumetric CT scanned surface and subsurface information was used to make external and internal measurements, and finite element models (FEMs). SXCT and OSS were used to measure lower limb residuum geometry of 13 below knee (BK) adult amputees. Six markers were placed on each subject's BK residuum and corresponding plaster casts and distance measurements were taken to determine precision and accuracy for each system. Solid models were created from spiral CT scan data sets with the prosthesis in situ under different loads using p-version finite element analysis (FEA). Tissue properties of the residuum were estimated iteratively and compared with values taken from the biomechanics literature. The OSS and SXCT measurements were precise within 1% in vivo and 0.5% on plaster casts, and accuracy was within 3.5% in vivo and 1% on plaster casts compared with caliper measures. Three-dimensional optical surface and SXCT imaging systems are feasible for capturing the comprehensive 3D surface geometry of BK residua, and provide distance measurements statistically equivalent to calipers. In addition, SXCT can readily distinguish internal soft tissue and bony structure of the residuum. FEM can be applied to determine tissue material properties interactively using inverse methods.

Applying Neural Networks in Optical Communication Systems: Possible Pitfalls

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eriksson, Tobias A.; Bulow, Henning; Leven, Andreas

2017-12-01

We investigate the risk of overestimating the performance gain when applying neural network based receivers in systems with pseudo random bit sequences or with limited memory depths, resulting in repeated short patterns. We show that with such sequences, a large artificial gain can be obtained which comes from pattern prediction rather than predicting or compensating the studied channel/phenomena.

Electroencephalography leads placed by nontechnologists using a template system produce signals equal in quality to technologist-applied, collodion disk leads.

PubMed

Kolls, Brad J; Olson, Daiwai M; Gallentine, William B; Skeen, Mark B; Skidmore, Christopher T; Sinha, Saurabh R

2012-02-01

The purpose of this study was to compare the quality of the electroencephalographic (EEG) data obtained with a BraiNet template in a practical use setting, to that obtained with standard 10/20 spaced, technologist-applied, collodion-based disk leads. Pairs of 8-hour blocks of EEG data were prospectively collected from 32 patients with a Glasgow coma score of ≤9 and clinical concern for underlying nonconvulsive status epilepticus over a 6-month period in the Neurocritical Care Unit at the Duke University Medical Center. The studies were initiated with the BraiNet template system applied by critical care nurse practitioners or physicians, followed by standard, collodion leads applied by registered technologists using the 10/20 system of placement. Impedances were measured at the beginning and end of each block recorded and variance in impedance, mean impedance, and the largest differences in impedances found within a given lead set were compared. Physicians experienced in reading EEG performed a masked review of the EEG segments obtained to assess the subjective quality of the recordings obtained with the templates. We found no clinically significant differences in the impedance measures. There was a 3-hour reduction in the time required to initiate EEG recording using the templates (P < 0.001). There was no difference in the overall subjective quality distributions for template-applied versus technologist-applied EEG leads. The templates were also found to be well accepted by the primary users in the intensive care unit. The findings suggest that the EEG data obtained with this approach are comparable with that obtained by registered technologist-applied leads and represents a possible solution to the growing clinical need for continuous EEG recording availability in the critical care setting.

Measurement uncertainty analysis techniques applied to PV performance measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wells, C.

1992-10-01

The purpose of this presentation is to provide a brief introduction to measurement uncertainty analysis, outline how it is done, and illustrate uncertainty analysis with examples drawn from the PV field, with particular emphasis toward its use in PV performance measurements. The uncertainty information we know and state concerning a PV performance measurement or a module test result determines, to a significant extent, the value and quality of that result. What is measurement uncertainty analysis? It is an outgrowth of what has commonly been called error analysis. But uncertainty analysis, a more recent development, gives greater insight into measurement processes and tests, experiments, or calibration results. Uncertainty analysis gives us an estimate of the interval about a measured value or an experiment's final result within which we believe the true value of that quantity will lie. Why should we take the time to perform an uncertainty analysis? A rigorous measurement uncertainty analysis: Increases the credibility and value of research results; allows comparisons of results from different labs; helps improve experiment design and identifies where changes are needed to achieve stated objectives (through use of the pre-test analysis); plays a significant role in validating measurements and experimental results, and in demonstrating (through the post-test analysis) that valid data have been acquired; reduces the risk of making erroneous decisions; demonstrates quality assurance and quality control measures have been accomplished; define Valid Data as data having known and documented paths of: Origin, including theory; measurements; traceability to measurement standards; computations; uncertainty analysis of results.

Current measuring system

DOEpatents

Dahl, David A.; Appelhans, Anthony D.; Olson, John E.

1997-01-01

A current measuring system comprising a current measuring device having a first electrode at ground potential, and a second electrode; a current source having an offset potential of at least three hundred volts, the current source having an output electrode; and a capacitor having a first electrode electrically connected to the output electrode of the current source and having a second electrode electrically connected to the second electrode of the current measuring device.

Data-driven sensitivity inference for Thomson scattering electron density measurement systems.

PubMed

Fujii, Keisuke; Yamada, Ichihiro; Hasuo, Masahiro

2017-01-01

We developed a method to infer the calibration parameters of multichannel measurement systems, such as channel variations of sensitivity and noise amplitude, from experimental data. We regard such uncertainties of the calibration parameters as dependent noise. The statistical properties of the dependent noise and that of the latent functions were modeled and implemented in the Gaussian process kernel. Based on their statistical difference, both parameters were inferred from the data. We applied this method to the electron density measurement system by Thomson scattering for the Large Helical Device plasma, which is equipped with 141 spatial channels. Based on the 210 sets of experimental data, we evaluated the correction factor of the sensitivity and noise amplitude for each channel. The correction factor varies by ≈10%, and the random noise amplitude is ≈2%, i.e., the measurement accuracy increases by a factor of 5 after this sensitivity correction. The certainty improvement in the spatial derivative inference was demonstrated.

Simulation of n-qubit quantum systems. V. Quantum measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radtke, T.; Fritzsche, S.

2010-02-01

The FEYNMAN program has been developed during the last years to support case studies on the dynamics and entanglement of n-qubit quantum registers. Apart from basic transformations and (gate) operations, it currently supports a good number of separability criteria and entanglement measures, quantum channels as well as the parametrizations of various frequently applied objects in quantum information theory, such as (pure and mixed) quantum states, hermitian and unitary matrices or classical probability distributions. With the present update of the FEYNMAN program, we provide a simple access to (the simulation of) quantum measurements. This includes not only the widely-applied projective measurements upon the eigenspaces of some given operator but also single-qubit measurements in various pre- and user-defined bases as well as the support for two-qubit Bell measurements. In addition, we help perform generalized and POVM measurements. Knowing the importance of measurements for many quantum information protocols, e.g., one-way computing, we hope that this update makes the FEYNMAN code an attractive and versatile tool for both, research and education. New version program summaryProgram title: FEYNMAN Catalogue identifier: ADWE_v5_0 Program summary URL:http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/summaries/ADWE_v5_0.html Program obtainable from: CPC Program Library, Queen's University, Belfast, N. Ireland Licensing provisions: Standard CPC licence, http://cpc.cs.qub.ac.uk/licence/licence.html No. of lines in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 27 210 No. of bytes in distributed program, including test data, etc.: 1 960 471 Distribution format: tar.gz Programming language: Maple 12 Computer: Any computer with Maple software installed Operating system: Any system that supports Maple; the program has been tested under Microsoft Windows XP and Linux Classification: 4.15 Catalogue identifier of previous version: ADWE_v4_0 Journal reference of previous version: Comput. Phys. Commun

Using LDR as Sensing Element for an External Fuzzy Controller Applied in Photovoltaic Pumping Systems with Variable-Speed Drives

PubMed Central

Maranhão, Geraldo Neves De A.; Brito, Alaan Ubaiara; Leal, Anderson Marques; Fonseca, Jéssica Kelly Silva; Macêdo, Wilson Negrão

2015-01-01

In the present paper, a fuzzy controller applied to a Variable-Speed Drive (VSD) for use in Photovoltaic Pumping Systems (PVPS) is proposed. The fuzzy logic system (FLS) used is embedded in a microcontroller and corresponds to a proportional-derivative controller. A Light-Dependent Resistor (LDR) is used to measure, approximately, the irradiance incident on the PV array. Experimental tests are executed using an Arduino board. The experimental results show that the fuzzy controller is capable of operating the system continuously throughout the day and controlling the direct current (DC) voltage level in the VSD with a good performance. PMID:26402688

Using LDR as Sensing Element for an External Fuzzy Controller Applied in Photovoltaic Pumping Systems with Variable-Speed Drives.

PubMed

Maranhão, Geraldo Neves De A; Brito, Alaan Ubaiara; Leal, Anderson Marques; Fonseca, Jéssica Kelly Silva; Macêdo, Wilson Negrão

2015-09-22

In the present paper, a fuzzy controller applied to a Variable-Speed Drive (VSD) for use in Photovoltaic Pumping Systems (PVPS) is proposed. The fuzzy logic system (FLS) used is embedded in a microcontroller and corresponds to a proportional-derivative controller. A Light-Dependent Resistor (LDR) is used to measure, approximately, the irradiance incident on the PV array. Experimental tests are executed using an Arduino board. The experimental results show that the fuzzy controller is capable of operating the system continuously throughout the day and controlling the direct current (DC) voltage level in the VSD with a good performance.

MTL distributed magnet measurement system

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

Nogiec, J.M.; Craker, P.A.; Garbarini, J.P.

1993-04-01

The Magnet Test Laboratory (MTL) at the Superconducting Super collider Laboratory will be required to precisely and reliably measure properties of magnets in a production environment. The extensive testing of the superconducting magnets comprises several types of measurements whose main purpose is to evaluate some basic parameters characterizing magnetic, mechanic and cryogenic properties of magnets. The measurement process will produce a significant amount of data which will be subjected to complex analysis. Such massive measurements require a careful design of both the hardware and software of computer systems, having in mind a reliable, maximally automated system. In order to fulfillmore » this requirement a dedicated Distributed Magnet Measurement System (DMMS) is being developed.« less

Achilles tendon reflex measuring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szebeszczyk, Janina; Straszecka, Joanna

1995-06-01

The examination of Achilles tendon reflex is widely used as a simple, noninvasive clinical test in diagnosis and pharmacological therapy monitoring in such diseases as: hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, diabetic neuropathy, the lower limbs obstructive angiopathies and intermittent claudication. Presented Achilles tendon reflect measuring system is based on the piezoresistive sensor connected with the cylinder-piston system. To determinate the moment of Achilles tendon stimulation a detecting circuit was used. The outputs of the measuring system are connected to the PC-based data acquisition board. Experimental results showed that the measurement accuracy and repeatability is good enough for diagnostics and therapy monitoring purposes. A user friendly, easy-to-operate measurement system fulfills all the requirements related to recording, presentation and storing of the patients' reflexograms.

Current measuring system

DOEpatents

Dahl, D.A.; Appelhans, A.D.; Olson, J.E.

1997-09-09

A current measuring system is disclosed comprising a current measuring device having a first electrode at ground potential, and a second electrode; a current source having an offset potential of at least three hundred volts, the current source having an output electrode; and a capacitor having a first electrode electrically connected to the output electrode of the current source and having a second electrode electrically connected to the second electrode of the current measuring device. 4 figs.

Application of eye movement measuring system OBER 2 to medicine and technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ober, Jozef; Hajda, Janusz; Loska, Jacek; Jamicki, Michal

1997-08-01

The OBER 2 is an infrared light eye movement measuring system and it works with IBM PC compatible computers. As one of the safest systems for measuring of eye movement it uses a very short period of infrared light flashing time (80 microsecond for each measure point). System has an advanced analog-digital controller, which includes background suppression and prediction mechanisms guaranteeing elimination of slow changes and fluctuations of external illumination frequency up to 100 Hz, with effectiveness better than 40 dB. Setting from PC the active measure axis, sampling rate (25 - 4000 Hz) and making start and stop the measure, make it possible to control the outside environment in real-time. By proper controlling of gain it is possible to get high time and position resolution of 0.5 minute of arc even for big amplitude of eye movement (plus or minus 20 degree of visual angle). The whole communication system can also be driven directly by eye movement in real time. The possibility of automatic selection of the most essential elements of eye movement, individual for each person and those that take place for each person in determined situations of life independently from personal features, is a key to practical application. Hence one of conducted research topic is a personal identification based on personal features. Another task is a research project of falling asleep detection, which can be applied to warn the drivers before falling asleep while driving. This measuring system with a proper expert system can also be used to detect a dyslexia and other disabilities of the optic system.

A Method for Determining Pseudo-measurement State Values for Topology Observability of State Estimation in Power Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Urano, Shoichi; Mori, Hiroyuki

This paper proposes a new technique for determining of state values in power systems. Recently, it is useful for carrying out state estimation with data of PMU (Phasor Measurement Unit). The authors have developed a method for determining state values with artificial neural network (ANN) considering topology observability in power systems. ANN has advantage to approximate nonlinear functions with high precision. The method evaluates pseudo-measurement state values of the data which are lost in power systems. The method is successfully applied to the IEEE 14-bus system.

A development of two-dimensional birefringence distribution measurement system with a sampling rate of 1.3 MHz

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Onuma, Takashi; Otani, Yukitoshi

2014-03-01

A two-dimensional birefringence distribution measurement system with a sampling rate of 1.3 MHz is proposed. A polarization image sensor is developed as core device of the system. It is composed of a pixelated polarizer array made from photonic crystal and a parallel read out circuit with a multi-channel analog to digital converter specialized for two-dimensional polarization detection. By applying phase shifting algorism with circularly-polarized incident light, birefringence phase difference and azimuthal angle can be measured. The performance of the system is demonstrated experimentally by measuring actual birefringence distribution and polarization device such as Babinet-Soleil compensator.

"Calibration" system for spectral measurements and its experimental results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruchkouskaya, Sviatlana I.; Katkovsky, Leonid V.; Belyaev, Boris I.; Malyshev, Vladislav B.

2017-04-01

"Calibration" system has been developed at A. N. Sevchenko Research Institute of Applied Physical Problems of the Belarusian State University. It was designed for measuring the characteristics of spectral reflectance of all types of natural surfaces (test sites) in ground conditions or on board of aircraft carriers and has the following components: - Photospectroradiometr (PhSR) of high resolution with a range of 400-900 nm, equipped with a digital time-lapse video system; - Two-channel modular spectroradiometer (TMS) with a range of 400-900 nm, designed for simultaneous measurements of reflected light brightness of the underlying surface and the incident radiation from the upper hemisphere; - Two portable spectroradiometers (PSR-700 and PSR-1300) with a spectral range 800-1500 nm; 1200-2500 nm; - Scanning solar spectropolarimeter (SSP-600) with a range of 350-950 nm for measurements of direct sunlight and scattered by the atmosphere at different angles; "Calibration" system provides spectral resolution of 5.2 nm in a range of 400-900 nm, 10 nm in a range of 800-1500 nm and 15 nm in a range of 1200-2500 nm. Measurements of the optical characteristics of solar radiation (for determining parameters of the atmosphere) and that of underlying surface are synchronous. There is also a set of special nozzles for measurements of spectral brightness coefficients, polarization characteristics and spectral albedo. Spectra and images are geotagged to the navigation data (time, GPS). For the measurements of spectral reflection dependencies within "Monitoring-SG" framework expeditions to the Kuril Islands, Kursk aerospace test site and Kamchatka Peninsula were conducted in 2015 and 2016. The spectra of different underlying surfaces have been obtained: soils, plants and water objects, sedimentary and volcanic rocks. These surveys are a valuable material for further researches and selection of test facilities for flight calibration of space imaging systems. Information obtained

Applying MDA to SDR for Space to Model Real-time Issues

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Blaser, Tammy M.

2007-01-01

NASA space communications systems have the challenge of designing SDRs with highly-constrained Size, Weight and Power (SWaP) resources. A study is being conducted to assess the effectiveness of applying the MDA Platform-Independent Model (PIM) and one or more Platform-Specific Models (PSM) specifically to address NASA space domain real-time issues. This paper will summarize our experiences with applying MDA to SDR for Space to model real-time issues. Real-time issues to be examined, measured, and analyzed are: meeting waveform timing requirements and efficiently applying Real-time Operating System (RTOS) scheduling algorithms, applying safety control measures, and SWaP verification. Real-time waveform algorithms benchmarked with the worst case environment conditions under the heaviest workload will drive the SDR for Space real-time PSM design.

Applied Nuclear Accountability Systems: A Case Study in the System Architecture and Development of NuMAC

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

Campbell, Andrea Beth

2004-07-01

This is a case study of the NuMAC nuclear accountability system developed at a private fuel fabrication facility. This paper investigates nuclear material accountability and safeguards by researching expert knowledge applied in the system design and development. Presented is a system developed to detect and deter the theft of weapons grade nuclear material. Examined is the system architecture that includes: issues for the design and development of the system; stakeholder issues; how the system was built and evolved; software design, database design, and development tool considerations; security and computing ethics. (author)

Applied Information Systems Research Program (AISRP) Workshop 3 meeting proceedings

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

The third Workshop of the Applied Laboratory Systems Research Program (AISRP) met at the Univeristy of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in August of 1993. The presentations were organized into four sessions: Artificial Intelligence Techniques; Scientific Visualization; Data Management and Archiving; and Research and Technology.

A Foot-Arch Parameter Measurement System Using a RGB-D Camera.

PubMed

Chun, Sungkuk; Kong, Sejin; Mun, Kyung-Ryoul; Kim, Jinwook

2017-08-04

The conventional method of measuring foot-arch parameters is highly dependent on the measurer's skill level, so accurate measurements are difficult to obtain. To solve this problem, we propose an autonomous geometric foot-arch analysis platform that is capable of capturing the sole of the foot and yields three foot-arch parameters: arch index (AI), arch width (AW) and arch height (AH). The proposed system captures 3D geometric and color data on the plantar surface of the foot in a static standing pose using a commercial RGB-D camera. It detects the region of the foot surface in contact with the footplate by applying the clustering and Markov random field (MRF)-based image segmentation methods. The system computes the foot-arch parameters by analyzing the 2/3D shape of the contact region. Validation experiments were carried out to assess the accuracy and repeatability of the system. The average errors for AI, AW, and AH estimation on 99 data collected from 11 subjects during 3 days were -0.17%, 0.95 mm, and 0.52 mm, respectively. Reliability and statistical analysis on the estimated foot-arch parameters, the robustness to the change of weights used in the MRF, the processing time were also performed to show the feasibility of the system.

Acoustic Doppler discharge-measurement system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Simpson, Michael R.; Oltmann, Richard N.; ,

1990-01-01

A discharge-measurement system that uses a vessel-mounted acoustic Doppler current profiler has been developed and tested by the U.S. Geological Survey. Discharge measurements using the system require a fraction of the time needed for conventional current-meter discharge measurements and do not require shore-based navigational aids or tag lines for positioning the vessel.

Magnetic Levitation Force Measurement System at Any Low Temperatures From 20 K To 300 K

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Celik, Sukru; Guner, S. Baris; Coskun, Elvan

2015-03-01

Most of the magnetic levitation force measurements in previous studies were performed at liquid nitrogen temperatures. For the levitation force of MgB2 and iron based superconducting samples, magnetic levitation force measurement system is needed. In this study, magnetic levitation force measurement system was designed. In this system, beside vertical force versus vertical motion, lateral and vertical force versus lateral motion measurements, the vertical force versus temperature at the fixed distance between permanent magnet PM - superconducting sample SS and the vertical force versus time measurements were performed at any temperatures from 20 K to 300 K. Thanks to these measurements, the temperature dependence, time dependence, and the distance (magnetic field) and temperature dependences of SS can be investigated. On the other hand, the magnetic stiffness MS measurements can be performed in this system. Using the measurement of MS at different temperature in the range, MS dependence on temperature can be investigated. These measurements at any temperatures in the range help to the superconductivity properties to be characterized. This work was supported by TUBTAK-the Scientific and technological research council of Turkey under project of MFAG - 110T622. This system was applied to the Turkish patent institute with the Application Number of 2013/13638 on 22/11/2013.

A FPGA-based Measurement System for Nonvolatile Semiconductor Memory Characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bu, Jiankang; White, Marvin

2002-03-01

Low voltage, long retention, high density SONOS nonvolatile semiconductor memory (NVSM) devices are ideally suited for PCMCIA, FLASH and 'smart' cards. The SONOS memory transistor requires characterization with an accurate, rapid measurement system with minimum disturbance to the device. The FPGA-based measurement system includes three parts: 1) a pattern generator implemented with XILINX FPGAs and corresponding software, 2) a high-speed, constant-current, threshold voltage detection circuit, 3) and a data evaluation program, implemented with a LABVIEW program. Fig. 1 shows the general block diagram of the FPGA-based measurement system. The function generator is designed and simulated with XILINX Foundation Software. Under the control of the specific erase/write/read pulses, the analog detect circuit applies operational modes to the SONOS device under test (DUT) and determines the change of the memory-state of the SONOS nonvolatile memory transistor. The TEK460 digitizes the analog threshold voltage output and sends to the PC computer. The data is filtered and averaged with a LABVIEWTM program running on the PC computer and displayed on the monitor in real time. We have implemented the pattern generator with XILINX FPGAs. Fig. 2 shows the block diagram of the pattern generator. We realized the logic control by a method of state machine design. Fig. 3 shows a small part of the state machine. The flexibility of the FPGAs enhances the capabilities of this system and allows measurement variations without hardware changes. The characterization of the nonvolatile memory transistor device under test (DUT), as function of programming voltage and time, is achieved by a high-speed, constant-current threshold voltage detection circuit. The analog detection circuit incorporating fast analog switches controlled digitally with the FPGAs. The schematic circuit diagram is shown in Fig. 4. The various operational modes for the DUT are realized with control signals applied to the

Squid-based CW NMR system for measuring the magnetization of helium-3 films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

White, Kevin Spencer

This thesis describes the design and construction of a SQUID-based CW NMR system together with its application in a study of the two dimensional magnetism of 3He. 3He provides an exemplary system for the study of two-dimensional magnetism. Two-dimensional 3He films of varying coverages may be formed by plating 3He on relatively uniform two-dimensional substrates, such as GTA Grafoil and ZYX graphite substrates. At coverages above approximately 20 atoms/nm. 2 on these substrates, the second layer of 3He exhibits a strong ferromagnetic ordering tendency. The ferromagnetic ordering presents as a rapid onset of measured magnetization that becomes independent of the applied magnetic field as film temperatures approach 1 mK. Very low applied magnetic fields are used to probe the ferromagnetic ordering in order to minimize masking of the measured magnetization and to stay within the available bandwidth of the SQUID. Commensurate with the ferromagnetic ordering, the NMR linewidth increases dramatically at these coverages and temperatures. An increasing linewidth equates to a short decay time with respect to pulsed NMR probing of the two-dimensional 3He magnetization. The decay times at these coverages and temperatures become so short that they fall below the minimum recovery time necessary for a SQUID-based pulsed NMR system to recover from the relatively large tipping pulse and acquire meaningful data. To address this problem, we have designed a SQUID-based CW NMR system to leverage as much of an already-existing pulsed NMR system as possible but allow accurate measurement of the rapid onset of ferromagnetic ordering of the 3He films below the approximate 1 mK temperature limit of the pulsed NMR system.

Design and implementation of a versatile and variable-frequency piezoelectric coefficient measurement system.

PubMed

Wu, J S; Huang, Y K; Wu, F L; Lin, D Y

2012-08-01

We present a simple but versatile piezoelectric coefficient measurement system, which can measure the longitudinal and transverse piezoelectric coefficients in the pressing and bending modes, respectively, at different applied forces and a wide range of frequencies. The functionality of this measurement system has been demonstrated on three samples, including a PbZr(0.52)Ti(0.48)O(3) (PZT) piezoelectric ceramic bulk, a ZnO thin film, and a laminated piezoelectric film sensor. The static longitudinal piezoelectric coefficients of the PZT bulk and the ZnO film are estimated to be around 210 and 8.1 pC/N, respectively. The static transverse piezoelectric coefficients of the ZnO film and the piezoelectric film sensor are determined to be, respectively, -0.284 and -0.031 C/m(2).

Entropy Measurement for Biometric Verification Systems.

PubMed

Lim, Meng-Hui; Yuen, Pong C

2016-05-01

Biometric verification systems are designed to accept multiple similar biometric measurements per user due to inherent intrauser variations in the biometric data. This is important to preserve reasonable acceptance rate of genuine queries and the overall feasibility of the recognition system. However, such acceptance of multiple similar measurements decreases the imposter's difficulty of obtaining a system-acceptable measurement, thus resulting in a degraded security level. This deteriorated security needs to be measurable to provide truthful security assurance to the users. Entropy is a standard measure of security. However, the entropy formula is applicable only when there is a single acceptable possibility. In this paper, we develop an entropy-measuring model for biometric systems that accepts multiple similar measurements per user. Based on the idea of guessing entropy, the proposed model quantifies biometric system security in terms of adversarial guessing effort for two practical attacks. Excellent agreement between analytic and experimental simulation-based measurement results on a synthetic and a benchmark face dataset justify the correctness of our model and thus the feasibility of the proposed entropy-measuring approach.

Systemic toxicity of dermally applied crude oils in rats

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

Feuston, M.H.; Mackerer, C.R.; Schreiner, C.A.

1997-12-31

Two crude oils, differing in viscosity (V) and nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) content, were evaluated for systemic toxicity, In the Crude I (low V, low N, low S) study, the material was applied to the clipped backs of rats at dose levels of 0, 30, 125, and 500 mg/kg. In the Crude II (high V, high N, moderate S) study, the oil was applied similarly at the same dose levels. The crude oils were applied for 13 wk, 5 d/wk. Exposure sites were not occluded. Mean body weight gain (wk 1-14) was significantly reduced in male rats exposed tomore » Crude II; body weight gain of all other animals was not adversely affected by treatment. An increase in absolute (A) and relative (R) liver weights and a decrease in A and R thymus weights were observed in male and female rats exposed to Crude II at 500 mg/kg; only liver weights (A and R) were adversely affected in male and female rats exposed to Crude I. In general, there was no consistent pattern of toxicity for serum chemistry endpoints; however, more parameters were adversely affected in Crude II-exposed female rats than in the other exposed groups. A consistent pattern of toxicity for hematology endpoints was observed among male rats exposed to Crude I and male and female rats exposed to Crude II. Parameters affected included: Crudes I and II, red blood cell count, hemoglobin, and hematocrit, Crude II, platelet count. Microscopic evaluation of tissues revealed the following treatment-related findings: Crude I, treated skin, thymus, and thyroid; Crude II, bone marrow, treated skin, thymus, and thyroid. The LOEL (lowest observable effect level) for skin irritation and systemic toxicity (based on marginal effects on the thyroid) for both crude oils was 30 mg/kg; effects were more numerous and more pronounced in animals exposed to Crude II. Systemic effects are probably related to concentrations of polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC) found in crude oil.« less

A shielded measurement system for irradiated nuclear fuel measurements

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

Mosby, W.R.; Aumeier, S.E.; Klann, R.T.

1999-07-01

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is driving a transition toward dry storage of irradiated nuclear fuel (INF), toward characterization of INF for final disposition, and toward resumption of measurement-based material control and accountability (MC and A) efforts for INF. For these reasons, the ability to efficiently acquire radiological measurements of INF in a dry environment is important. The DOE has recently developed a guidance document proposing MC and A requirements for INF. The intent of this document is to encourage the direct measurement of INF on inventory within DOE. The guidance document reinforces and clarifies existing material safeguards requirementsmore » as they pertain to INF. Validation of nuclear material contents of non-self-protecting INF must be accomplished by direct measurement, application of validated burnup codes using qualified initial fissile content, burnup data, and age or by other valid means. The fuel units must remain intact with readable identification numbers. INF may be subject to periodic inventories with visual item accountability checks. Quantitative measurements may provide greater assurance of the integrity of INF inventories at a lower cost and with less personnel exposure than visual item accountability checks. Currently, several different approaches are used to measure the radiological attributes of INF. Although these systems are useful for a wide variety of applications, there is currently no relatively inexpensive measurement system that is readily deployable for INF measurements for materials located in dry storage. The authors present the conceptual design of a shielded measurement system (SMS) that could be used for this purpose. The SMS consists of a shielded enclosure designed to house a collection of measurement systems to allow measurements on spent fuel outside of a hot cell. The phase 1 SMS will contain {sup 3}He detectors and ionization chambers to allow for gross neutron and gamma-ray measurements. The

Establishment of one-axis vibration test system for measurement of biodynamic response of human hand-arm system.

PubMed

Shibata, Nobuyuki; Hosoya, Naoki; Maeda, Setsuo

2008-12-01

Prolonged exposure to hand-arm vibration (HAV) due to use of hand-held power tools leads to an increased occurrence of symptoms of disorders in the vascular, neurological, and osteo-articular systems of the upper limbs called hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). Biodynamic responses of the hand-arm system to vibration can be suggestive parameters that give us better assessment of exposure to HAV and fundamental data for design of low-vibration-exposure power tools. Recently, a single axis hand-arm vibration system has been installed in the Japan National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The aims of this study were to obtain the fundamental dynamic characteristics of an instrumented handle and to validate the performance and measurement accuracy of the system applied to dynamic response measurement. A pseudo-random vibration signal with a frequency range of 5-1,250 Hz and a power spectrum density of 1.0 (m/s2)2/Hz was used in this study. First the dynamic response of the instrumented handle without any weight was measured. After this measurement, the dynamic response measurement of the handle with weights mounted on the handle was performed. The apparent mass of a weight itself was obtained by using the mass cancellation method. The mass of the measuring cap on the instrumented handle was well compensated by using the mass cancellation method. Based on the 10% error tolerance, this handle can reliably measure the dynamic response represented by an apparent mass with a minimum weight of 2.0 g in a frequency range of 10.0 to 1,000 Hz. A marked increase in the AM magnitude of the weights of 15 g and 20 g in frequency ranges greater than 800 Hz is attributed not to the fundamental resonance frequency of the handle with weights, but to the fixation of the weight to the measuring cap. In this aspect, the peak of the AM magnitude can be reduced and hence should not be an obstacle to the biodynamic response measurement of the human hand-arm system. On the

Solving large scale unit dilemma in electricity system by applying commutative law

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Legino, Supriadi; Arianto, Rakhmat

2018-03-01

The conventional system, pooling resources with large centralized power plant interconnected as a network. provides a lot of advantages compare to the isolated one include optimizing efficiency and reliability. However, such a large plant need a huge capital. In addition, more problems emerged to hinder the construction of big power plant as well as its associated transmission lines. By applying commutative law of math, ab = ba, for all a,b €-R, the problem associated with conventional system as depicted above, can be reduced. The idea of having small unit but many power plants, namely “Listrik Kerakyatan,” abbreviated as LK provides both social and environmental benefit that could be capitalized by using proper assumption. This study compares the cost and benefit of LK to those of conventional system, using simulation method to prove that LK offers alternative solution to answer many problems associated with the large system. Commutative Law of Algebra can be used as a simple mathematical model to analyze whether the LK system as an eco-friendly distributed generation can be applied to solve various problems associated with a large scale conventional system. The result of simulation shows that LK provides more value if its plants operate in less than 11 hours as peaker power plant or load follower power plant to improve load curve balance of the power system. The result of simulation indicates that the investment cost of LK plant should be optimized in order to minimize the plant investment cost. This study indicates that the benefit of economies of scale principle does not always apply to every condition, particularly if the portion of intangible cost and benefit is relatively high.

Design of measuring system for wire diameter based on sub-pixel edge detection algorithm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Yudong; Zhou, Wang

2016-09-01

Light projection method is often used in measuring system for wire diameter, which is relatively simpler structure and lower cost, and the measuring accuracy is limited by the pixel size of CCD. Using a CCD with small pixel size can improve the measuring accuracy, but will increase the cost and difficulty of making. In this paper, through the comparative analysis of a variety of sub-pixel edge detection algorithms, polynomial fitting method is applied for data processing in measuring system for wire diameter, to improve the measuring accuracy and enhance the ability of anti-noise. In the design of system structure, light projection method with orthogonal structure is used for the detection optical part, which can effectively reduce the error caused by line jitter in the measuring process. For the electrical part, ARM Cortex-M4 microprocessor is used as the core of the circuit module, which can not only drive double channel linear CCD but also complete the sampling, processing and storage of the CCD video signal. In addition, ARM microprocessor can complete the high speed operation of the whole measuring system for wire diameter in the case of no additional chip. The experimental results show that sub-pixel edge detection algorithm based on polynomial fitting can make up for the lack of single pixel size and improve the precision of measuring system for wire diameter significantly, without increasing hardware complexity of the entire system.

Effect of mild pressure applied by the ultrasound transducer on fetal cephalic measurements at 20-24 weeks' gestation.

PubMed

Kliper, Yael; Ben-Ami, Moshe; Perlitz, Yuri

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of mild pressure applied on the abdominal wall by the ultrasound transducer on fetal cephalic indices. We examined by ultrasound 60 fetuses of healthy women, at 20-24 weeks of pregnancy, during routine prenatal evaluation. For every fetus biparietal diameter and head circumference were measured, with and without applying mild pressure by the ultrasound transducer. The weight and gestational age (GA) were calculated. The pressure applied by the transducer had a significant effect on the cephalic indices and on the weight and GA evaluations (p < 0.001). Fetal positioning significantly affected the impact that applied pressure had on head circumference and on the weight evaluation derived from it (p < 0.05). Applied pressure by an abdominal ultrasound probe affects cephalic indices and the derived weight and GA estimations. This may lead to incorrect diagnoses or hide pathological findings. The effect of applied pressure depends on fetal positioning. The examiner must be aware of this effect when evaluating the results of the measurements.

A novel image-based BRDF measurement system and its application to human skin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bintz, Jeffrey R.; Mendenhall, Michael J.; Marciniak, Michael A.; Butler, Samuel D.; Lloyd, James Tommy

2016-09-01

Human skin detection is an important first step in search and rescue (SAR) scenarios. Previous research performed human skin detection through an application specific camera system that ex- ploits the spectral properties of human skin at two visible and two near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths. The current theory assumes human skin is diffuse; however, it is observed that human skin exhibits specular and diffuse reflectance properties. This paper presents a novel image-based bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) measurement system, and applies it to the collection of human skin BRDF. The system uses a grid projecting laser and a novel signal processing chain to extract the surface normal from each grid location. Human skin BRDF measurements are shown for a variety of melanin content and hair coverage at the four spectral channels needed for human skin detection. The NIR results represent a novel contribution to the existing body of human skin BRDF measurements.

Airborne Atmospheric Aerosol Measurement System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahn, K.; Park, Y.; Eun, H.; Lee, H.

2015-12-01

It is important to understand the atmospheric aerosols compositions and size distributions since they greatly affect the environment and human health. Particles in the convection layer have been a great concern in global climate changes. To understand these characteristics satellite, aircraft, and radio sonde measurement methods have usually been used. An aircraft aerosol sampling using a filter and/or impactor was the method commonly used (Jay, 2003). However, the flight speed particle sampling had some technical limitations (Hermann, 2001). Moreover, the flight legal limit, altitude, prohibited airspace, flight time, and cost was another demerit. To overcome some of these restrictions, Tethered Balloon Package System (T.B.P.S.) and Recoverable Sonde System(R.S.S.) were developed with a very light optical particle counter (OPC), impactor, and condensation particle counter (CPC). Not only does it collect and measure atmospheric aerosols depending on altitudes, but it also monitors the atmospheric conditions, temperature, humidity, wind velocity, pressure, GPS data, during the measurement (Eun, 2013). In this research, atmospheric aerosol measurement using T.B.P.S. in Ansan area is performed and the measurement results will be presented. The system can also be mounted to an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and create an aerial particle concentration map. Finally, we will present measurement data using Tethered Balloon Package System (T.B.P.S.) and R.S.S (Recoverable Sonde System).

Infrasonic interferometry applied to synthetic and measured data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fricke, Julius T.; Evers, Läslo G.; Ruigrok, Elmer; Wapenaar, Kees; Simons, Dick G.

2013-04-01

The estimation of the traveltime of infrasound through the atmosphere is interesting for several applications. For example, it could be used to determine temperature and wind of the atmosphere, since the traveltime depends on these atmospheric conditions (Haney, 2009). In this work the traveltime is estimated with infrasonic interferometry. In other words, we calculate the crosscorrelations of data of spatially distributed receivers. With this method the traveltime between two receivers is determined without the need for ground truth events. In a first step, we crosscorrelate synthetic data, which are generated by a raytracing model. This model takes into account the traveltime along the rays, the attenuation of the different atmospheric layers, the spreading of the rays and the influence of caustics. In these numerical experiments we show that it is possible to determine the traveltime through infrasonic interferometry. We present the results of infrasonic interferometry applied to measured data. Microbaroms are used in the crosscorrelation approach. Microbaroms are caused by ocean waves and are measured by the 'Large Aperture Infrasound Array' (LAIA). LAIA is being installed by the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) in the framework of the radio-astronomical 'Low Frequency Array' (LOFAR) initiative. LAIA consists currently of around twenty receivers (microbarometers) with an aperture of around 100 km, allowing for several inter-station distances. Here, we show the results of crosscorrelations as a function of receivers distance, to assess the signal coherency. This research is made possible by the support of the 'Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research' (NWO). Haney, M., 2009. Infrasonic ambient noise interferometry from correlations of microbaroms, Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L19808

Experimental findings on the underwater measurements uncertainty of speed of sound and the alignment system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, T. Q.; Alvarenga, A. V.; Oliveira, D. P.; Mayworm, R. C.; Souza, R. M.; Costa-Félix, R. P. B.

2016-07-01

Speed of sound is an important quantity to characterize reference materials for ultrasonic applications, for instance. The alignment between the transducer and the test body is an key activity in order to perform reliable and consistent measurement. The aim of this work is to evaluate the influence of the alignment system to the expanded uncertainty of such measurement. A stainless steel cylinder was previously calibrated on an out of water system typically used for calibration of non-destructive blocks. Afterwards, the cylinder was calibrated underwater with two distinct alignment system: fixed and mobile. The values were statistically compared to the out-of-water measurement, considered the golden standard for such application. For both alignment systems, the normalized error was less than 0.8, leading to conclude that the both measurement system (under and out-of-water) do not diverge significantly. The gold standard uncertainty was 2.7 m-s-1, whilst the fixed underwater system resulted in 13 m-s-1, and the mobile alignment system achieved 6.6 m-s-1. After the validation of the underwater system for speed of sound measurement, it will be applied to certify Encapsulated Tissue Mimicking Material as a reference material for biotechnology application.

Mass properties measurement system: Dynamics and statics measurements

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Doty, Keith L.

1993-01-01

This report presents and interprets experimental data obtained from the Mass Properties Measurement System (MPMS). Statics measurements yield the center-of-gravity of an unknown mass and dynamics measurements yield its inertia matrix. Observations of the MPMS performance has lead us to specific design criteria and an understanding of MPMS limitations.

21 CFR 876.1620 - Urodynamics measurement system.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... of the muscles associated with urination. The device system may include transducers, electronic... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Urodynamics measurement system. 876.1620 Section... measurement system. (a) Identification. A urodynamics measurement system is a device used to measure volume...

21 CFR 876.1620 - Urodynamics measurement system.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... of the muscles associated with urination. The device system may include transducers, electronic... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Urodynamics measurement system. 876.1620 Section... measurement system. (a) Identification. A urodynamics measurement system is a device used to measure volume...

21 CFR 876.1620 - Urodynamics measurement system.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... of the muscles associated with urination. The device system may include transducers, electronic... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Urodynamics measurement system. 876.1620 Section... measurement system. (a) Identification. A urodynamics measurement system is a device used to measure volume...

21 CFR 876.1620 - Urodynamics measurement system.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... of the muscles associated with urination. The device system may include transducers, electronic... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Urodynamics measurement system. 876.1620 Section... measurement system. (a) Identification. A urodynamics measurement system is a device used to measure volume...

Safety Analysis and Protection Measures of the Control System of the Pulsed High Magnetic Field Facility in WHMFC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, J. T.; Han, X. T.; Xie, J. F.; Yao, L.; Huang, L. T.; Li, L.

2013-03-01

A Pulsed High Magnetic Field Facility (PHMFF) has been established in Wuhan National High Magnetic Field Center (WHMFC) and various protection measures are applied in its control system. In order to improve the reliability and robustness of the control system, the safety analysis of the PHMFF is carried out based on Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) technique. The function and realization of 5 protection systems, which include sequence experiment operation system, safety assistant system, emergency stop system, fault detecting and processing system and accident isolating protection system, are given. The tests and operation indicate that these measures improve the safety of the facility and ensure the safety of people.

Anechoic Chamber test of the Electromagnetic Measurement System ground test unit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevenson, L. E.; Scott, L. D.; Oakes, E. T.

1987-04-01

The Electromagnetic Measurement System (EMMS) will acquire data on electromagnetic (EM) environments at key weapon locations on various aircraft certified for nuclear weapons. The high-frequency ground unit of the EMMS consists of an instrumented B61 bomb case that will measure (with current probes) the localized current density resulting from an applied EM field. For this portion of the EMMS, the first system test was performed in the Anechoic Chamber Facility at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The EMMS pod was subjected to EM radiation at microwave frequencies of 1, 3, and 10 GHz. At each frequency, the EMMS pod was rotated at many positions relative to the microwave source so that the individual current probes were exposed to a direct line-of-sight illumination. The variations between the measured and calculated electric fields for the current probes with direct illumination by the EM source are within a few db. The results obtained from the anechoic test were better than expected and verify that the high frequency ground portion of the EMMS will accurately measure the EM environments for which it was designed.

The Art World's Concept of Negative Space Applied to System Safety Management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodin, James Ronald (Ronnie)

2005-01-01

Tools from several different disciplines can improve system safety management. This paper relates the Art World with our system safety world, showing useful art schools of thought applied to system safety management, developing an art theory-system safety bridge. This bridge is then used to demonstrate relations with risk management, the legal system, personnel management and basic management (establishing priorities). One goal of this presentation/paper is simply to be a fun diversion from the many technical topics presented during the conference.

Sensorimotor System Measurement Techniques

PubMed Central

Riemann, Bryan L.; Myers, Joseph B.; Lephart, Scott M.

2002-01-01

Objective: To provide an overview of currently available sensorimotor assessment techniques. Data Sources: We drew information from an extensive review of the scientific literature conducted in the areas of proprioception, neuromuscular control, and motor control measurement. Literature searches were conducted using MEDLINE for the years 1965 to 1999 with the key words proprioception, somatosensory evoked potentials, nerve conduction testing, electromyography, muscle dynamometry, isometric, isokinetic, kinetic, kinematic, posture, equilibrium, balance, stiffness, neuromuscular, sensorimotor, and measurement. Additional sources were collected using the reference lists of identified articles. Data Synthesis: Sensorimotor measurement techniques are discussed with reference to the underlying physiologic mechanisms, influential factors and locations of the variable within the system, clinical research questions, limitations of the measurement technique, and directions for future research. Conclusions/Recommendations: The complex interactions and relationships among the individual components of the sensorimotor system make measuring and analyzing specific characteristics and functions difficult. Additionally, the specific assessment techniques used to measure a variable can influence attained results. Optimizing the application of sensorimotor research to clinical settings can, therefore, be best accomplished through the use of common nomenclature to describe underlying physiologic mechanisms and specific measurement techniques. PMID:16558672

Measured Performance of a Varied Airflow Small-Diameter Duct System

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

Poerschke, Andrew

2017-03-01

This study tests the performance of a variable airflow small-diameter duct heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in a new construction unoccupied low-load test house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The duct system was installed entirely in conditioned space and was operated from the winter through summer seasons. Measurements were collected on the in-room temperatures and energy consumed by the air handler and heat pump unit. Operation modes with three different volumes of airflow were compared to determine the ideal airflow scenario that maximizes room-to-room thermal uniformity while minimizing fan energy consumption. Black felt infrared imagery was used as a measuremore » of diffuser throw and in-room air mixing. Measured results indicate the small-diameter, high velocity airflow system can provide comfort under some conditions. Solar heat gains resulted in southern rooms drifting beyond acceptable temperature limits. Insufficient airflow to some bedrooms also resulted in periods of potential discomfort. Homebuilders or HVAC contractors can use these results to assess whether this space conditioning strategy is an attractive alternative to a traditional duct system. The team performed a cost analysis of two duct system configurations: (1) a conventional diameter and velocity duct system, and (2) the small-diameter duct system. This work applies to both new and retrofit homes that have achieved a low heating and cooling density either by energy conservation or by operation in a mild climate with few heating or cooling degree days. Guidance is provided on cost trade-offs between the conventional duct system and the small-diameter duct system.« less

Measured Performance of a Varied Airflow Small-Diameter Duct System

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

Poerschke, Andrew

This study tests the performance of a variable airflow small-diameter duct heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system in a new construction unoccupied low-load test house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The duct system was installed entirely in conditioned space and was operated from the winter through summer seasons. Measurements were collected on the in-room temperatures and energy consumed by the air handler and heat pump unit. Operation modes with three different volumes of airflow were compared to determine the ideal airflow scenario that maximizes room-to-room thermal uniformity while minimizing fan energy consumption. Black felt infrared imagery was used as a measuremore » of diffuser throw and in-room air mixing. Measured results indicate the small-diameter, high velocity airflow system can provide comfort under some conditions. Solar heat gains resulted in southern rooms drifting beyond acceptable temperature limits. Insufficient airflow to some bedrooms also resulted in periods of potential discomfort. Homebuilders or HVAC contractors can use these results to assess whether this space conditioning strategy is an attractive alternative to a traditional duct system. The team performed a cost analysis of two duct system configurations: (1) a conventional diameter and velocity duct system, and (2) the small-diameter duct system. This work applies to both new and retrofit homes that have achieved a low heating and cooling density either by energy conservation or by operation in a mild climate with few heating or cooling degree days. Guidance is provided on cost trade-offs between the conventional duct system and the small-diameter duct system.« less

Measuring Information Glut: Applying Systems Thinking to the Problem of E-mail Overload

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

consciousness because they consume so much of our productive time and energy. Herbert A. Simon, notable cognitive psychologist, states that “what...systems are the underlying mechanisms behind such things as Amazon’s product reviews and Xbox Live’s Achievements.128 With reputation systems...CIO) of the United States, believes that in comparison to the private industry the U.S. has achieved little in terms of productivity improvements

First results of electron temperature measurements by the use of multi-pass Thomson scattering system in GAMMA 10

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

Yoshikawa, M., E-mail: yosikawa@prc.tsukuba.ac.jp; Nagasu, K.; Shimamura, Y.

2014-11-15

A multi-pass Thomson scattering (TS) has the advantage of enhancing scattered signals. We constructed a multi-pass TS system for a polarisation-based system and an image relaying system modelled on the GAMMA 10 TS system. We undertook Raman scattering experiments both for the multi-pass setting and for checking the optical components. Moreover, we applied the system to the electron temperature measurements in the GAMMA 10 plasma for the first time. The integrated scattering signal was magnified by approximately three times by using the multi-pass TS system with four passes. The electron temperature measurement accuracy is improved by using this multi-pass system.

First results of electron temperature measurements by the use of multi-pass Thomson scattering system in GAMMA 10.

PubMed

Yoshikawa, M; Yasuhara, R; Nagasu, K; Shimamura, Y; Shima, Y; Kohagura, J; Sakamoto, M; Nakashima, Y; Imai, T; Ichimura, M; Yamada, I; Funaba, H; Kawahata, K; Minami, T

2014-11-01

A multi-pass Thomson scattering (TS) has the advantage of enhancing scattered signals. We constructed a multi-pass TS system for a polarisation-based system and an image relaying system modelled on the GAMMA 10 TS system. We undertook Raman scattering experiments both for the multi-pass setting and for checking the optical components. Moreover, we applied the system to the electron temperature measurements in the GAMMA 10 plasma for the first time. The integrated scattering signal was magnified by approximately three times by using the multi-pass TS system with four passes. The electron temperature measurement accuracy is improved by using this multi-pass system.

Endovascular blood flow measurement system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khe, A. K.; Cherevko, A. A.; Chupakhin, A. P.; Krivoshapkin, A. L.; Orlov, K. Yu

2016-06-01

In this paper an endovascular measurement system used for intraoperative cerebral blood flow monitoring is described. The system is based on a Volcano ComboMap Pressure and Flow System extended with analogue-to-digital converter and PC laptop. A series of measurements performed in patients with cerebrovascular pathologies allows us to introduce “velocity-pressure” and “flow rate-energy flow rate” diagrams as important characteristics of the blood flow. The measurement system presented here can be used as an additional instrument in neurosurgery for assessment and monitoring of the operation procedure. Clinical data obtained with the system are used for construction of mathematical models and patient-specific simulations. The monitoring of the blood flow parameters during endovascular interventions was approved by the Ethics Committee at the Meshalkin Novosibirsk Research Institute of Circulation Pathology and included in certain surgical protocols for pre-, intra- and postoperative examinations.

Design of Astrometric Mission (JASMINE) by Applying Model Driven System Engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamada, Y.; Miyashita, H.; Nakamura, H.; Suenaga, K.; Kamiyoshi, S.; Tsuiki, A.

2010-12-01

We are planning space astrometric satellite mission named JASMINE. The target accuracy of parallaxes in JASMINE observation is 10 micro arc second, which corresponds to 1 nm scale on the focal plane. It is very hard to measure the 1 nm scale deformation of focal plane. Eventually, we need to add the deformation to the observation equations when estimating stellar astrometric parameters, which requires considering many factors such as instrument models and observation data analysis. In this situation, because the observation equations become more complex, we may reduce the stability of the hardware, nevertheless, we require more samplings due to the lack of rigidity of each estimation. This mission imposes a number of trades-offs in the engineering choices and then decide the optimal design from a number of candidates. In order to efficiently support such decisions, we apply Model Driven Systems Engineering (MDSE), which improves the efficiency of the engineering by revealing and formalizing requirements, specifications, and designs to find a good balance among various trade-offs.

Self-Evaluation of PANDA-FBG Based Sensing System for Dynamic Distributed Strain and Temperature Measurement.

PubMed

Zhu, Mengshi; Murayama, Hideaki; Wada, Daichi

2017-10-12

A novel method is introduced in this work for effectively evaluating the performance of the PANDA type polarization-maintaining fiber Bragg grating (PANDA-FBG) distributed dynamic strain and temperature sensing system. Conventionally, the errors during the measurement are unknown or evaluated by using other sensors such as strain gauge and thermocouples. This will make the sensing system complicated and decrease the efficiency since more than one kind of sensor is applied for the same measurand. In this study, we used the approximately constant ratio of primary errors in strain and temperature measurement and realized the self-evaluation of the sensing system, which can significantly enhance the applicability, as well as the reliability in strategy making.

Enhancing implementation science by applying best principles of systems science.

PubMed

Northridge, Mary E; Metcalf, Sara S

2016-10-04

Implementation science holds promise for better ensuring that research is translated into evidence-based policy and practice, but interventions often fail or even worsen the problems they are intended to solve due to a lack of understanding of real world structures and dynamic complexity. While systems science alone cannot possibly solve the major challenges in public health, systems-based approaches may contribute to changing the language and methods for conceptualising and acting within complex systems. The overarching goal of this paper is to improve the modelling used in dissemination and implementation research by applying best principles of systems science. Best principles, as distinct from the more customary term 'best practices', are used to underscore the need to extract the core issues from the context in which they are embedded in order to better ensure that they are transferable across settings. Toward meaningfully grappling with the complex and challenging problems faced in adopting and integrating evidence-based health interventions and changing practice patterns within specific settings, we propose and illustrate four best principles derived from our systems science experience: (1) model the problem, not the system; (2) pay attention to what is important, not just what is quantifiable; (3) leverage the utility of models as boundary objects; and (4) adopt a portfolio approach to model building. To improve our mental models of the real world, system scientists have created methodologies such as system dynamics, agent-based modelling, geographic information science and social network simulation. To understand dynamic complexity, we need the ability to simulate. Otherwise, our understanding will be limited. The practice of dynamic systems modelling, as discussed herein, is the art and science of linking system structure to behaviour for the purpose of changing structure to improve behaviour. A useful computer model creates a knowledge repository and a

A novel system applying the 2-deoxyglucose method to fish for characterization of environmental neurotoxins.

PubMed

Choich, J A; Sass, J B; Silbergeld, E K

2002-01-01

Methods of identifying and preventing ecotoxicity related to environmental stressors on wildlife species are underdeveloped. To detect sublethal effects, we have devised a neurochemical method of evaluating environmental neurotoxins by a measuring changes in regional neural activity in the central nervous system of fish. Our system is a unique adaptation of the 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) method originally developed by L. Sokoloff in 1977, which is based on the direct relationship between glucose metabolism and neural functioning at the regional level. We applied these concepts to test the assumption that changes in neural activity as a result of chemical exposure would produce measurable effects on the amount of [(14)C]2-DG accumulated regionally in the brain of Tilapia nilatica. For purposes of this study, we utilized the excitotoxin N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) to characterize the response of the central nervous system. Regional accumulation of [(14)C]2-DG was visualized by autoradiography and digital image processing. Observable increases in regional [(14) C] 2-DG uptake were evident in all NMDA-treated groups as compared to controls. Specific areas of increased [(14)C] 2-DG uptake included the telencephalon, optic tectum, and regions of the cerebellum, all areas in which high concentrations of NMDA-subtype glutamate receptors have been found in Tilapia monsanbica. These results are consistent with the known neural excitatory action of NMDA.

Pilot self-coding applied in optical OFDM systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Changping; Yi, Ying; Lee, Kyesan

2015-04-01

This paper studies the frequency offset correction technique which can be applied in optical OFDM systems. Through theoretical analysis and computer simulations, we can observe that our proposed scheme named pilot self-coding (PSC) has a distinct influence for rectifying the frequency offset, which could mitigate the OFDM performance deterioration because of inter-carrier interference and common phase error. The main approach is to assign a pilot subcarrier before data subcarriers and copy this subcarrier sequence to the symmetric side. The simulation results verify that our proposed PSC is indeed effective against the high degree of frequency offset.

k-filtering applied to Cluster density measurements in the Solar Wind: Early findings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeska, Lauren; Roberts, Owen; Li, Xing

2014-05-01

Studies of solar wind turbulence indicate that a large proportion of the energy is Alfvénic (incompressible) at inertial scales. The properties of the turbulence found in the dissipation range are still under debate ~ while it is widely believed that kinetic Alfvén waves form the dominant component, the constituents of the remaining compressible turbulence are disputed. Using k-filtering, the power can be measured without assuming the validity of Taylor's hypothesis, and its distribution in (ω, k)-space can be determined to assist the identification of weak turbulence components. This technique is applied to Cluster electron density measurements and compared to the power in |B(t)|. As the direct electron density measurements from the WHISPER instrument have a low cadency of only 2.2s, proxy data derived from the spacecraft potential, measured every 0.2s by the EFW instrument, are used to extend this study to ion scales.

Custom modular electromagnetic induction system for shallow electrical conductivity measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mester, Achim; Zimmermann, Egon; Tan, Xihe; von Hebel, Christian; van der Kruk, Jan; van Waasen, Stefan

2017-04-01

Electromagnetic induction (EMI) is a contactless measurement method that offers fast and easy investigations of the shallow electrical conductivity, e.g. on the field-scale. Available frequency domain EMI systems offer multiple fixed transmitter-receiver (Tx-Rx) pairs with Tx-Rx separations between 0.3 and 4.0 m and investigation depths of up to six meters. Here, we present our custom EMI system that consists of modular sensor units that can either be transmitters or receivers, and a backpack containing the data acquisition system. The prototype system is optimized for frequencies between 5 and 30 kHz and Tx-Rx separations between 0.4 and 2.0 m. Each Tx and Rx signal is digitized separately and stored on a notebook computer. The soil conductivity information is determined after the measurements with advanced digital processing of the data using optimized correction and calibration procedures. The system stores the raw data throughout the entire procedure, which offers many advantages: (1) comprehensive accuracy and error analysis as well as the reproducibility of corrections and calibration procedures; (2) easy customizability of the number of Tx-/Rx-units and their arrangement and frequencies; (3) signals from simultaneously working transmitters can be separated within the received data using orthogonal signals, resulting in additional Tx-Rx pairs and maximized soil information; and (4) later improvements in the post-processing algorithms can be applied to old data sets. Exemplary, here we present an innovative setup with two transmitters and five receivers using orthogonal signals yielding ten Tx-Rx pairs. Note that orthogonal signals enable for redundant Tx-Rx pairs that are useful for verification of the transmitter signals and for data stacking. In contrast to commercial systems, only adjustments in the post-processing were necessary to realize such measurement configurations with flexibly combined Tx and Rx modules. The presented system reaches an accuracy of

Radiation beam calorimetric power measurement system

DOEpatents

Baker, John; Collins, Leland F.; Kuklo, Thomas C.; Micali, James V.

1992-01-01

A radiation beam calorimetric power measurement system for measuring the average power of a beam such as a laser beam, including a calorimeter configured to operate over a wide range of coolant flow rates and being cooled by continuously flowing coolant for absorbing light from a laser beam to convert the laser beam energy into heat. The system further includes a flow meter for measuring the coolant flow in the calorimeter and a pair of thermistors for measuring the temperature difference between the coolant inputs and outputs to the calorimeter. The system also includes a microprocessor for processing the measured coolant flow rate and the measured temperature difference to determine the average power of the laser beam.

Evaluation of applied public health emergency system at Prince Mohammed International Airport in Almedinah during Hajj season 2014: a qualitative case study.

PubMed

Gosadi, Ibrahim M; BinSaeed, Abdulaziz; Al-Hazmi, Ali M; Fadl, Amin A; Alharbi, Khalid H; Swarelzahab, Mazin M

2015-09-12

During the Hajj season 2014, several public health measures were applied by the Ministry of Health at Prince Mohammed International Airport in Almedinah. However, several operational defects affected the provision of preventive health services for passengers and airport workers. This study aims to evaluate the applied public health emergency system at the airport, detect any potential gaps and to provide appropriate operational solutions. This is a qualitative case study conducted at Prince Mohammed International Airport in Almedinah during the 2014 Hajj season, September 2014. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews, focus groups and policy document reviews. Interviews were conducted with the 14 individuals of the airport's decision makers and relevant health practitioners. Data were recorded via taking notes during interviews and data coding was performed to produce the main themes and subthemes of the study. The main findings of the study revealed three main defects affecting the applied public health emergency system at the airport. The main themes were mainly related to shortage in logistics related to public health emergency systems, shortage in proper documentation of policies and lack of documented protocols of communications among airport stakeholders. The study highlighted the main factors hindering the application of public health emergency measures at the airport. A Public Health Emergency Contingency Plan was proposed as a method to regulate the process of providing logistics for public health preventive services, the method of producing documented policies and methods of producing Memoranda of Understandings as communication regulators.

System for measuring oxygen consumption rates of mammalian cells in static culture under hypoxic conditions.

PubMed

Kagawa, Yuki; Miyahara, Hirotaka; Ota, Yuri; Tsuneda, Satoshi

2016-01-01

Estimating the oxygen consumption rates (OCRs) of mammalian cells in hypoxic environments is essential for designing and developing a three-dimensional (3-D) cell culture system. However, OCR measurements under hypoxic conditions are infrequently reported in the literature. Here, we developed a system for measuring OCRs at low oxygen levels. The system injects nitrogen gas into the environment and measures the oxygen concentration by an optical oxygen microsensor that consumes no oxygen. The developed system was applied to HepG2 cells in static culture. Specifically, we measured the spatial profiles of the local dissolved oxygen concentration in the medium, then estimated the OCRs of the cells. The OCRs, and also the pericellular oxygen concentrations, decreased nonlinearly as the oxygen partial pressure in the environment decreased from 19% to 1%. The OCRs also depended on the culture period and the matrix used for coating the dish surface. Using this system, we can precisely estimate the OCRs of various cell types under environments that mimic 3-D culture conditions, contributing crucial data for an efficient 3-D culture system design. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Challenges and strategies in applying performance measurement to federal public health programs.

PubMed

DeGroff, Amy; Schooley, Michael; Chapel, Thomas; Poister, Theodore H

2010-11-01

Performance measurement is widely accepted in public health as an important management tool supporting program improvement and accountability. However, several challenges impede developing and implementing performance measurement systems at the federal level, including the complexity of public health problems that reflect multiple determinants and involve outcomes that may take years to achieve, the decentralized and networked nature of public health program implementation, and the lack of reliable and consistent data sources and other issues related to measurement. All three of these challenges hinder the ability to attribute program results to specific public health program efforts. The purpose of this paper is to explore these issues in detail and offer potential solutions that support the development of robust and practical performance measures to meet the needs for program improvement and accountability. Adapting performance measurement to public health programs is both an evolving science and art. Through the strategies presented here, appropriate systems can be developed and monitored to support the production of meaningful data that will inform effective decision making at multiple levels. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Fully automated laser ray tracing system to measure changes in the crystalline lens GRIN profile.

PubMed

Qiu, Chen; Maceo Heilman, Bianca; Kaipio, Jari; Donaldson, Paul; Vaghefi, Ehsan

2017-11-01

Measuring the lens gradient refractive index (GRIN) accurately and reliably has proven an extremely challenging technical problem. A fully automated laser ray tracing (LRT) system was built to address this issue. The LRT system captures images of multiple laser projections before and after traversing through an ex vivo lens. These LRT images, combined with accurate measurements of the lens geometry, are used to calculate the lens GRIN profile. Mathematically, this is an ill-conditioned problem; hence, it is essential to apply biologically relevant constraints to produce a feasible solution. The lens GRIN measurements were compared with previously published data. Our GRIN retrieval algorithm produces fast and accurate measurements of the lens GRIN profile. Experiments to study the optics of physiologically perturbed lenses are the future direction of this research.

Fully automated laser ray tracing system to measure changes in the crystalline lens GRIN profile

PubMed Central

Qiu, Chen; Maceo Heilman, Bianca; Kaipio, Jari; Donaldson, Paul; Vaghefi, Ehsan

2017-01-01

Measuring the lens gradient refractive index (GRIN) accurately and reliably has proven an extremely challenging technical problem. A fully automated laser ray tracing (LRT) system was built to address this issue. The LRT system captures images of multiple laser projections before and after traversing through an ex vivo lens. These LRT images, combined with accurate measurements of the lens geometry, are used to calculate the lens GRIN profile. Mathematically, this is an ill-conditioned problem; hence, it is essential to apply biologically relevant constraints to produce a feasible solution. The lens GRIN measurements were compared with previously published data. Our GRIN retrieval algorithm produces fast and accurate measurements of the lens GRIN profile. Experiments to study the optics of physiologically perturbed lenses are the future direction of this research. PMID:29188093

Development and modification of a device for three-dimensional measurement of orthodontic force system: The V-bend system re-visited.

PubMed

Lai, WeiJen; Midorikawa, Yoshiyuki; Kanno, Zuisei; Takemura, Hiroshi; Suga, Kazuhiro; Soga, Kohei; Ono, Takashi; Uo, Motohiro

2016-12-01

We developed a device to evaluate the orthodontic force applied by systems requiring high operability. A life-sized, two-tooth model was designed, and the measurements were performed using a custom-made jointed attachment, referred to as an "action stick", to allow clearance for the oversized six-axis sensors. This tooth-sensor apparatus was accurately calibrated, and the error was limited. Vector analysis and rotating coordinate transformation were required to derive the force and moment at the tooth from the sensor readings. The device was then used to obtain measurements of the force and moment generated by the V-bend system. Our device was effective, providing results that were consistent with those of previous studies. This measurement device can be manufactured with force sensors of any size, and it can also be expanded to models with any number of teeth.

An Evaluative Measure for Outputs in Student-Run Public Relations Firms and Applied Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deemer, Rebecca A.

2012-01-01

A valid, reliable survey instrument was created to be used by public relations student-run firms and other applied public relations courses to gauge client satisfaction. A series of focus groups and pilot tests were conducted to ascertain themes, refine questions, and then to refine the entire instrument. Six constructs to be measured, including…

In vivo investigation of a new 109Cd γ-ray induced K-XRF bone lead measurement system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nie, Huiling; Chettle, David; Luo, Liqiang; O'Meara, Joanne

2006-01-01

A new 109Cd γ-ray induced K-XRF bone lead measurement system using an array of four detectors has been developed. Previous results from Monte Carlo (MC) simulations and experiments with phantoms predicted that it would be about three times more sensitive than the conventional system, albeit using a more active source. A dosimetry study has been performed for this system and it demonstrated that the dose delivered to the measured individuals is acceptable even for 5-year-old children. Approval to apply this system to human studies has been received from the Research Ethics Board. In this study, 20 adult volunteers, 10 male, 10 female, were recruited to have their tibia measured with both the conventional system and the new system. The result confirmed the improvement predicted by the MC simulations and the in vitro measurements. Two other interesting points were discovered from the data. One is that the data from the new system showed a significant positive correlation between age and tibia lead concentration, while the data from the conventional system do not. The other is that 85% of the tibia lead concentrations were under the minimum detection limit when measured by the conventional system, and the proportion reduced to 50% when measured by the new system.

Computing and Systems Applied in Support of Coordinated Energy, Environmental, and Climate Planning

EPA Science Inventory

This talk focuses on how Dr. Loughlin is applying Computing and Systems models, tools and methods to more fully understand the linkages among energy systems, environmental quality, and climate change. Dr. Loughlin will highlight recent and ongoing research activities, including: ...

Higher Signal-to-Noise Measurements of Alpha-element Abundances in the M31 System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Escala, Ivanna; Kirby, Evan N.

2018-06-01

The stellar halo and tidal streams of M31 provide an essential counterpoint to the same structures around the Milky Way (MW). While measurements of [Fe/H] and [$\\alpha$/Fe] have been made in the MW, little is known about the detailed chemical abundances of the M31 system. To make progress with existing telescopes, we expand upon the technique first presented by Kirby et al., applying spectral synthesis to medium-resolution spectroscopy at lower spectral resolution (R $\\sim$ 1800) across an optical range (4100~\\AA \\ $<$ $\\lambda$ $<$ 9100~\\AA) that extends down the blue. We have obtained deep spectra of red giants in the tidal streams, smooth halo, and disk of M31 using the DEIMOS 600ZD grating, resulting in higher signal-to-noise per spectral resolution element (S/N $\\sim$ 30 \\AA$^{-1}$). By applying our technique to red giant stars in MW globular clusters with higher-resolution ($R$ $\\sim$ 6000) spectra in the blue (4100 - 6300 \\AA), we demonstrate that our technique reproduces previous measurements derived from the red side of the optical (6300 - 9100 \\AA). For the first time, we present measurements of [Fe/H] and [$\\alpha$/Fe] of sufficient quality and sample size to construct quantitative models of galactic chemical evolution in the M31 system.

A Hydrostatic Bearing Test System for Measuring Bearing Load Using Magnetic-Fluid Lubricants.

PubMed

Weng, Huei Chu; Chen, Lu-Yu

2016-05-01

This paper conducts a study on the design of a hydrostatic bearing test system. It involves the determination of viscous properties of magnetic-fluid lubricants. The load of a hydrostatic thrust bearing using a water-based magnetite nanofluid of varying volume flow rate is measured under an applied external induction field via the test system. Results reveal that the presence of nanoparticles in a carrier liquid would cause an enhanced bearing load. Such an effect could be further magnified by increasing the lubricant volume flow rate or the external induction field strength.

Acoustic containerless experiment system: A non-contact surface tension measurement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Elleman, D. D.; Wang, T. G.; Barmatz, M.

1988-01-01

The Acoustic Containerless Experiment System (ACES) was flown on STS 41-B in February 1984 and was scheduled to be reflown in 1986. The primary experiment that was to be conducted with the ACES module was the containerless melting and processing of a fluoride glass sample. A second experiment that was to be conducted was the verification of a non-contact surface tension measurement technique using the molten glass sample. The ACES module consisted of a three-axis acoustic positioning module that was inside an electric furnace capable of heating the system above the melting temperature of the sample. The acoustic module is able to hold the sample with acoustic forces in the center of the chamber and, in addition, has the capability of applying a modulating force on the sample along one axis of the chamber so that the molten sample or liquid drop could be driven into one of its normal oscillation modes. The acoustic module could also be adjusted so that it could place a torque on the molten drop and cause the drop to rotate. In the ACES, a modulating frequency was applied to the drop and swept through a range of frequencies that would include the n = 2 mode. A maximum amplitude of the drop oscillation would indicate when resonance was reached and from that data the surface tension could be calculated. For large viscosity samples, a second technique for measuring surface tension was developed. The results of the ACES experiment and some of the problems encountered during the actual flight of the experiment will be discussed.

Development of a real-time radon monitoring system for simultaneous measurements in multiple sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamamoto, S.; Yamasoto, K.; Iida, T.

1999-12-01

A real-time radon monitoring system that can simultaneously measure radon concentrations in multiple sites was developed and tested. The system consists of maximum of four radon detectors, optical fiber cables and a data acquisition personal computer. The radon detector uses a plastic scintillation counter that collects radon daughters in the chamber electrostatically. The applied voltage on the photocathode for the photomultiplier tube (PMT) acts as an electrode for radon daughters. The thickness of the plastic scintillator was thin, 50 /spl mu/m, so as to minimize the background counts due to the environmental gamma rays or beta particles. The energy discriminated signals from the radon detectors are fed to the data acquisition personal computer via optical fiber cables. The system made it possible to measure the radon concentrations in multiple sites simultaneously.

Direct measurement of the Einstein relation in a macroscopic, non-equilibrium system of chaotic surface waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Welch, Kyle; Liebman-Pelaez, Alexander; Corwin, Eric

Equilibrium statistical mechanics is traditionally limited to thermal systems. Can it be applied to athermal, non-equilibrium systems that nonetheless satisfy the basic criteria of steady-state chaos and isotropy? We answer this question using a macroscopic system of chaotic surface waves which is, by all measures, non-equilibrium. The waves are generated in a dish of water that is vertically oscillated above a critical amplitude. We have constructed a rheometer that actively measures the drag imparted by the waves on a buoyant particle, a quantity entirely divorced in origin from the drag imparted by the fluid in which the particle floats. We also perform a separate, passive measurement, extracting a diffusion constant and effective temperature. Having directly measured all three properties (temperature, diffusion constant, and drag coefficient) we go on to show that our macroscopic, non-equilibrium case is wholly consistent with the Einstein relation, a classic result for equilibrium thermal systems.

34 CFR 462.2 - What regulations apply?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 34 Education 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false What regulations apply? 462.2 Section 462.2 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued) OFFICE OF VOCATIONAL AND ADULT EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION MEASURING EDUCATIONAL GAIN IN THE NATIONAL REPORTING SYSTEM FOR ADULT EDUCATION...

34 CFR 462.2 - What regulations apply?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 34 Education 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What regulations apply? 462.2 Section 462.2 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education (Continued) OFFICE OF VOCATIONAL AND ADULT EDUCATION, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION MEASURING EDUCATIONAL GAIN IN THE NATIONAL REPORTING SYSTEM FOR ADULT EDUCATION...

AERIAL MEASURING SYSTEM IN JAPAN

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

Lyons, Craig; Colton, David

2012-01-01

The U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Agency’s Aerial Measuring System deployed personnel and equipment to partner with the U.S. Air Force in Japan to conduct multiple aerial radiological surveys. These were the first and most comprehensive sources of actionable information for U.S. interests in Japan and provided early confirmation to the government of Japan as to the extent of the release from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Generation Station. Many challenges were overcome quickly during the first 48 hours; including installation and operation of Aerial Measuring System equipment on multiple U.S. Air Force Japan aircraft, flying over difficultmore » terrain, and flying with talented pilots who were unfamiliar with the Aerial Measuring System flight patterns. These all combined to make for a dynamic and non-textbook situation. In addition, the data challenges of the multiple and on-going releases, and integration with the Japanese government to provide valid aerial radiological survey products that both military and civilian customers could use to make informed decisions, was extremely complicated. The Aerial Measuring System Fukushima response provided insight in addressing these challenges and gave way to an opportunity for the expansion of the Aerial Measuring System’s mission beyond the borders of the US.« less

Nonintrusive biosignal measurement system in a vehicle.

PubMed

Lee, Haet Bit; Choi, Jong Min; Kim, Jung Soo; Kim, Yun Seong; Baek, Hyun Jae; Ryu, Myung Suk; Sohn, Ryang Hee; Park, Kwang Suk

2007-01-01

Measurement of driver's state is important in both daily healthcare and prevention of car accidents. Existing measurement methods, however, are too complex and uncomfortable to measure for everyday. A nonintrusive biosignal monitoring system is demanded for increasing the accessibility. In this paper, we proposed a nonintrusive measurement system integrated in a vehicle for recording electrocardiographic (ECG) signals and tested the performance of the system. The system consists of dry electrodes attached to the steering wheel and a wireless communication module using a Bluetooth device. ECG signals measured by our system were compared with those by a conventional system employing wet electrodes during real city road driving. Various parameters used for HRV analysis in time and frequency domain showed no significant differences between the two simultaneously measured ECG signals. The result implies the possibility that developed system could have a potential to monitor health information in a vehicle instead of commercial equipments.

LQG control of a deformable mirror adaptive optics system with time-delayed measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, David J.

1991-12-01

This thesis proposes a linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) control law for a ground-based deformable mirror adaptive optics system. The incoming image wavefront is distorted, primarily in phase, due to the turbulent effects of the earth's atmosphere. The adaptive optics system attempts to compensate for the distortion with a deformable mirror. A Hartman wavefront sensor measures the degree of distortion in the image wavefront. The measurements are input to a Kalman filter which estimates the system states. The state estimates are processed by a linear quadratic regulator which generates the appropriate control voltages to apply to the deformable mirror actuators. The dynamics model for the atmospheric phase distortion consists of 14 Zernike coefficient states; each modeled as a first-order linear time-invariant shaping filter driven by zero-mean white Gaussian noise. The dynamics of the deformable mirror are also model as 14 Zernike coefficients with first-order deterministic dynamics. A significant reduction in total wavefront phase distortion is achieved in the presence of time-delayed measurements. Wavefront sensor sampling rate is the major factor limiting system performance. The Multimode Simulation for Optimal Filter Evaluation (MSOFE) software is the performance evaluation tool of choice for this research.

Design of distributed FBG vibration measuring system based on Fabry-Perot tunable filter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Cheng; Miao, Changyun; Li, Hongqiang; Gao, Hua; Gan, Jingmeng

2011-11-01

A distributed optical fiber grating wavelength interrogator based on fiber Fabry Perot tunable filter(FFP-TF) was proposed, which could measure dynamic strain or vibration of multi-sensing fiber gratings in one optical fiber by time division way. The wavelength demodulated mathematical model was built, the formulas of system output voltage and sensitivity were deduced and the method of finding static operating point was determined. The wavelength drifting characteristic of FFP-TF was discussed when the center wavelength of FFP-TF was set on the static operating point. A wavelength locking method was proposed by introducing a high-frequency driving voltage signal. A demodulated system was established based on Labview and its demodulated wavelength dynamic range is 290pm in theory. In experiment, by digital filtering applied to the system output data, 100Hz and 250Hz vibration signals were measured. The experiment results proved the feasibility of the demodulated method.

Attofarad resolution potentiostat for electrochemical measurements on nanoscale biomolecular interfacial systems.

PubMed

Carminati, Marco; Ferrari, Giorgio; Sampietro, Marco

2009-12-01

We present an instrument that enables electrochemical measurements (cyclic voltammetry, impedance tracking, and impedance spectroscopy) on submicrometric samples. The system features a frequency range from dc to 1 MHz and a current resolution of 10 fA for a measurement time of 1 s, giving a sensitivity of few attofarads in terms of measurable capacitance with an applied voltage of only 100 mV. These performances are obtained using a low-noise wide-bandwidth integrator/differentiator stage to sense the input current and a modular approach to minimize the effect of input stray capacitances. A digitally implemented lock-in filter optimally extracts the impedance of the sample, providing time tracking and spectroscopy operating modes. This computer-based and flexible instrument is well suited for characterizing and tracking the electrical properties of biomolecules kept in the physiological solution down to the nanoscale.

Three-Dimensional Measurement Applied in Design Eye Point of Aircraft Cockpits.

PubMed

Wang, Yanyan; Guo, Xiaochao; Liu, Qingfeng; Xiao, Huajun; Bai, Yu

2018-04-01

Inappropriate design eye point (DEP) will lead to nonstandard sitting postures, including nonneutral head positions and other uncomfortable sitting postures, which are high risk factors for neck pain in fighter pilots exposed to high G forces. Therefore, application of a 3D measurement method to collect data regarding eye position while in the cruising sitting posture in the aircraft cockpit to guide the design eye point has been proposed. A total of 304 male fixed wing aircraft pilots were divided into two groups. Subgroup A (N = 48) were studied to define the cruising posture during flight. Subgroup B (N = 256) were studied with Romer 3D measurement equipment to locate the cruising eye position of the pilots in a simulated cockpit. The 3D data were compared to DEP data in the current standard cockpit. According to 3D measurement, the vertical distance from the cruising eye point to the neutral seat reference point was 759 mm, which is 36 mm lower than that of the Chinese standard DEP and also lower than the U.S. military standard. The horizontal distance was 131 mm, which is 24 mm shorter than that of the Chinese standard. The current DEP data cannot fulfill the needs of fighter pilots and should be amended according to the results of the 3D measurement so that pilots can acquire the optimal cruising posture in flight. This new method has the value of practical application to investigate cockpit ergonomics and the measurement data can guide DEP design.Wang Y, Guo X, Liu Q, Xiao H, Bai Y. Three-dimensional measurement applied in design eye point of aircraft cockpits. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2018; 89(4):371-376.

Microscopic optical path length difference and polarization measurement system for cell analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Satake, H.; Ikeda, K.; Kowa, H.; Hoshiba, T.; Watanabe, E.

2018-03-01

In recent years, noninvasive, nonstaining, and nondestructive quantitative cell measurement techniques have become increasingly important in the medical field. These cell measurement techniques enable the quantitative analysis of living cells, and are therefore applied to various cell identification processes, such as those determining the passage number limit during cell culturing in regenerative medicine. To enable cell measurement, we developed a quantitative microscopic phase imaging system based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer that measures the optical path length difference distribution without phase unwrapping using optical phase locking. The applicability of our phase imaging system was demonstrated by successful identification of breast cancer cells amongst normal cells. However, the cell identification method using this phase imaging system exhibited a false identification rate of approximately 7%. In this study, we implemented a polarimetric imaging system by introducing a polarimetric module to one arm of the Mach-Zehnder interferometer of our conventional phase imaging system. This module was comprised of a quarter wave plate and a rotational polarizer on the illumination side of the sample, and a linear polarizer on the optical detector side. In addition, we developed correction methods for the measurement errors of the optical path length and birefringence phase differences that arose through the influence of elements other than cells, such as the Petri dish. As the Petri dish holding the fluid specimens was transparent, it did not affect the amplitude information; however, the optical path length and birefringence phase differences were affected. Therefore, we proposed correction of the optical path length and birefringence phase for the influence of elements other than cells, as a prerequisite for obtaining highly precise phase and polarimetric images.

Simultaneous Optical and Meteor Head Echo Measurements Using the Middle Atmosphere Alomar Radar System (MAARSY)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cooke, W. J.; Brown, P. G.; Stober, G.; Schult, C.; Krzeminski, Z.; Chau, J. L.

2017-01-01

We describe a two year campaign of simultaneous automated meteor optical and head echo radar measurements conducted with the Middle Atmosphere Alomar Radar System (MAARSY). This campaign was established with the following goals: Compare trajectories as measured by MAARSY and the two optical stations for a range of meteoroid masses. Compare photometric and dynamic mass measured optically with radar-derived masses (inter-calibration of mass scales). Use the best observed simultaneous events to fuse all metric, photometric and ionization estimates together and apply different ablation models to self-consistently model these highest quality events.

Miniaturization of flight deflection measurement system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fodale, Robert (Inventor); Hampton, Herbert R. (Inventor)

1990-01-01

A flight deflection measurement system is disclosed including a hybrid microchip of a receiver/decoder. The hybrid microchip decoder is mounted piggy back on the miniaturized receiver and forms an integral unit therewith. The flight deflection measurement system employing the miniaturized receiver/decoder can be used in a wind tunnel. In particular, the miniaturized receiver/decoder can be employed in a spin measurement system due to its small size and can retain already established control surface actuation functions.

Effect of applied magnetic nozzle on an MPD Thruster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ando, Akira; Izawa, Yuki; Okawa, Kohei; Hashima, Yoko; Watanabe, Hiroshi; Tanaka, Nozomi

2012-10-01

Electric propulsion systems are suitable for long-term mission in space due to its higher specific impulse. An Magneto-Plasma-Dynamic Thruster (MPDT) is one of the promising thrusters of high power electric propulsion systems. It has been reported that the thrust performance of an MPDT can be improved by applying an axial magnetic field on it. In order to investigate the effect of applied field on an MPDT, we have investigated plume plasma parameters and thrust performance in an applied field MPDT. Different types of divergent magnetic nozzle were applied to an MPDT, and thrust was measured using a pendulum type thrust target. Experiments were performed with hydrogen, helium, and argon as propellant gas. Thrust increased with a discharge current up to 6kA and applied magnetic field up to 0.4T. Maximum thrust of 7N was obtained when the peak position of the applied magnetic field was set upstream of the muzzle of the MPDT. The highest thrust performance was obtained with hydrogen gas with divergent magnetic nozzle applied to the MPDT.

Target-based calibration method for multifields of view measurement using multiple stereo digital image correlation systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Shuai; Yu, Shanshan; Huang, Zheng; Song, Shoutan; Shao, Xinxing; Kang, Xin; He, Xiaoyuan

2017-12-01

Multiple digital image correlation (DIC) systems can enlarge the measurement field without losing effective resolution in the area of interest (AOI). However, the results calculated in substereo DIC systems are located in its local coordinate system in most cases. To stitch the data obtained by each individual system, a data merging algorithm is presented in this paper for global measurement of multiple stereo DIC systems. A set of encoded targets is employed to assist the extrinsic calibration, of which the three-dimensional (3-D) coordinates are reconstructed via digital close range photogrammetry. Combining the 3-D targets with precalibrated intrinsic parameters of all cameras, the extrinsic calibration is significantly simplified. After calculating in substereo DIC systems, all data can be merged into a universal coordinate system based on the extrinsic calibration. Four stereo DIC systems are applied to a four point bending experiment of a steel reinforced concrete beam structure. Results demonstrate high accuracy for the displacement data merging in the overlapping field of views (FOVs) and show feasibility for the distributed FOVs measurement.

Advanced optical blade tip clearance measurement system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ford, M. J.; Honeycutt, R. E.; Nordlund, R. E.; Robinson, W. W.

1978-01-01

An advanced electro-optical system was developed to measure single blade tip clearances and average blade tip clearances between a rotor and its gas path seal in an operating gas turbine engine. This system is applicable to fan, compressor, and turbine blade tip clearance measurement requirements, and the system probe is particularly suitable for operation in the extreme turbine environment. A study of optical properties of blade tips was conducted to establish measurement system application limitations. A series of laboratory tests was conducted to determine the measurement system's operational performance characteristics and to demonstrate system capability under simulated operating gas turbine environmental conditions. Operational and environmental performance test data are presented.

Magnetic-Field-Response Measurement-Acquisition System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woodward, Stanley E.; Shams, Qamar A.; Fox, Robert L.; Taylor, Bryant D.

2006-01-01

A measurement-acquisition system uses magnetic fields to power sensors and to acquire measurements from sensors. The system alleviates many shortcomings of traditional measurement-acquisition systems, which include a finite number of measurement channels, weight penalty associated with wires, use limited to a single type of measurement, wire degradation due to wear or chemical decay, and the logistics needed to add new sensors. Eliminating wiring for acquiring measurements can alleviate potential hazards associated with wires, such as damaged wires becoming ignition sources due to arcing. The sensors are designed as electrically passive inductive-capacitive or passive inductive-capacitive-resistive circuits that produce magnetic-field-responses. One or more electrical parameters (inductance, capacitance, and resistance) of each sensor can be variable and corresponds to a measured physical state of interest. The magnetic-field- response attributes (frequency, amplitude, and bandwidth) of the inductor correspond to the states of physical properties for which each sensor measures. For each sensor, the measurement-acquisition system produces a series of increasing magnetic-field harmonics within a frequency range dedicated to that sensor. For each harmonic, an antenna electrically coupled to an oscillating current (the frequency of which is that of the harmonic) produces an oscillating magnetic field. Faraday induction via the harmonic magnetic fields produces an electromotive force and therefore a current in the sensor. Once electrically active, the sensor produces its own harmonic magnetic field as the inductor stores and releases magnetic energy. The antenna of the measurement- acquisition system is switched from a transmitting to a receiving mode to acquire the magnetic-field response of the sensor. The rectified amplitude of the received response is compared to previous responses to prior transmitted harmonics, to ascertain if the measurement system has detected a

A TDR-Based Soil Moisture Monitoring System with Simultaneous Measurement of Soil Temperature and Electrical Conductivity

PubMed Central

Skierucha, Wojciech; Wilczek, Andrzej; Szypłowska, Agnieszka; Sławiński, Cezary; Lamorski, Krzysztof

2012-01-01

Elements of design and a field application of a TDR-based soil moisture and electrical conductivity monitoring system are described with detailed presentation of the time delay units with a resolution of 10 ps. Other issues discussed include the temperature correction of the applied time delay units, battery supply characteristics and the measurement results from one of the installed ground measurement stations in the Polesie National Park in Poland. PMID:23202009

Rotor component displacement measurement system

DOEpatents

Mercer, Gary D.; Li, Ming C.; Baum, Charles R.

2003-05-27

A measuring system for measuring axial displacement of a tube relative to an axially stationary component in a rotating rotor assembly includes at least one displacement sensor adapted to be located normal to a longitudinal axis of the tube; an insulated cable system adapted for passage through the rotor assembly; a rotatable proximitor module located axially beyond the rotor assembly to which the cables are connected; and a telemetry system operatively connected to the proximitor module for sampling signals from the proximitor module and forwarding data to a ground station.

Causality analysis in business performance measurement system using system dynamics methodology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yusof, Zainuridah; Yusoff, Wan Fadzilah Wan; Maarof, Faridah

2014-07-01

One of the main components of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) that differentiates it from any other performance measurement system (PMS) is the Strategy Map with its unidirectional causality feature. Despite its apparent popularity, criticisms on the causality have been rigorously discussed by earlier researchers. In seeking empirical evidence of causality, propositions based on the service profit chain theory were developed and tested using the econometrics analysis, Granger causality test on the 45 data points. However, the insufficiency of well-established causality models was found as only 40% of the causal linkages were supported by the data. Expert knowledge was suggested to be used in the situations of insufficiency of historical data. The Delphi method was selected and conducted in obtaining the consensus of the causality existence among the 15 selected expert persons by utilizing 3 rounds of questionnaires. Study revealed that only 20% of the propositions were not supported. The existences of bidirectional causality which demonstrate significant dynamic environmental complexity through interaction among measures were obtained from both methods. With that, a computer modeling and simulation using System Dynamics (SD) methodology was develop as an experimental platform to identify how policies impacting the business performance in such environments. The reproduction, sensitivity and extreme condition tests were conducted onto developed SD model to ensure their capability in mimic the reality, robustness and validity for causality analysis platform. This study applied a theoretical service management model within the BSC domain to a practical situation using SD methodology where very limited work has been done.

A novel variable baseline visibility detection system and its measurement method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Meng; Jiang, Li-hui; Xiong, Xing-long; Zhang, Guizhong; Yao, JianQuan

2017-10-01

As an important meteorological observation instrument, the visibility meter can ensure the safety of traffic operation. However, due to the optical system contamination as well as sample error, the accuracy and stability of the equipment are difficult to meet the requirement in the low-visibility environment. To settle this matter, a novel measurement equipment was designed based upon multiple baseline, which essentially acts as an atmospheric transmission meter with movable optical receiver, applying weighted least square method to process signal. Theoretical analysis and experiments in real atmosphere environment support this technique.

The Automated Root Exudate System (ARES): a method to apply solutes at regular intervals to soils in the field.

PubMed

Lopez-Sangil, Luis; George, Charles; Medina-Barcenas, Eduardo; Birkett, Ali J; Baxendale, Catherine; Bréchet, Laëtitia M; Estradera-Gumbau, Eduard; Sayer, Emma J

2017-09-01

Root exudation is a key component of nutrient and carbon dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems. Exudation rates vary widely by plant species and environmental conditions, but our understanding of how root exudates affect soil functioning is incomplete, in part because there are few viable methods to manipulate root exudates in situ . To address this, we devised the Automated Root Exudate System (ARES), which simulates increased root exudation by applying small amounts of labile solutes at regular intervals in the field.The ARES is a gravity-fed drip irrigation system comprising a reservoir bottle connected via a timer to a micro-hose irrigation grid covering c . 1 m 2 ; 24 drip-tips are inserted into the soil to 4-cm depth to apply solutions into the rooting zone. We installed two ARES subplots within existing litter removal and control plots in a temperate deciduous woodland. We applied either an artificial root exudate solution (RE) or a procedural control solution (CP) to each subplot for 1 min day -1 during two growing seasons. To investigate the influence of root exudation on soil carbon dynamics, we measured soil respiration monthly and soil microbial biomass at the end of each growing season.The ARES applied the solutions at a rate of c . 2 L m -2  week -1 without significantly increasing soil water content. The application of RE solution had a clear effect on soil carbon dynamics, but the response varied by litter treatment. Across two growing seasons, soil respiration was 25% higher in RE compared to CP subplots in the litter removal treatment, but not in the control plots. By contrast, we observed a significant increase in microbial biomass carbon (33%) and nitrogen (26%) in RE subplots in the control litter treatment.The ARES is an effective, low-cost method to apply experimental solutions directly into the rooting zone in the field. The installation of the systems entails minimal disturbance to the soil and little maintenance is required. Although

An automated inner dimensional measurement system based on a laser displacement sensor for long-stepped pipes.

PubMed

Zhang, Fumin; Qu, Xinghua; Ouyang, Jianfei

2012-01-01

A novel measurement prototype based on a mobile vehicle that carries a laser scanning sensor is proposed. The prototype is intended for the automated measurement of the interior 3D geometry of large-diameter long-stepped pipes. The laser displacement sensor, which has a small measurement range, is mounted on an extended arm of known length. It is scanned to improve the measurement accuracy for large-sized pipes. A fixing mechanism based on two sections is designed to ensure that the stepped pipe is concentric with the axis of rotation of the system. Data are acquired in a cylindrical coordinate system and fitted in a circle to determine diameter. Systematic errors covering arm length, tilt, and offset errors are analyzed and calibrated. The proposed system is applied to sample parts and the results are discussed to verify its effectiveness. This technique measures a diameter of 600 mm with an uncertainty of 0.02 mm at a 95% confidence probability. A repeatability test is performed to examine precision, which is 1.1 μm. A laser tracker is used to verify the measurement accuracy of the system, which is evaluated as 9 μm within a diameter of 600 mm.

Strain measurement using a Brillouin optical time domain reflectometer for development of aircraft structure health monitoring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shimizu, Takayuki; Yari, Takashi; Nagai, Kanehiro; Takeda, Nobuo

2001-07-01

We conducted theoretical and experimental approaches for applying Brillouin optical time domain reflectometer (BOTDR) to aircraft and spacecraft structure health monitoring system. Firstly, distributed strain was measured by BOTDR under 3-point bending test and a spatial resolution was enhanced up to 0.5m using Brillouin spectrum analysis and processing though the device used in this experiment had a spatial resolution of 2m normally. Secondly, dynamic strain measurement was executed under cyclic loading conditions. Brillouin spectrum measured under dynamic conditions is equivalent to superposed spectrum using many spectra measured under static loading conditions. As the measured spectrum was decomposed into many spectra in static loading state, the strain amplitude and its ratio could be estimated. Thirdly, strain and temperature could be measured independently using combined system of BOTDR and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). Additionally, the application of BOTDR sensing system was shown for a prototype carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) liquid hydrogen (LH2) tank under cryogenic condition.

Applied Technology Proficiency of High School Students in Applied and Traditional Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Field, Dennis W.

2003-01-01

This investigation compares applied technology skill levels of high school students enrolled in various applied and comparable traditional courses, particularly Principles of Technology and physics courses respectively. Outcomes from ACT's Applied Technology Work Keys[R] assessment test were used as a measure of applied technology skill levels.…

3D printed miniaturized spectral system for tissue fluorescence lifetime measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Luwei; Mahmoud, Mohamad; Fahs, Mehdi; Liu, Rui; Lo, Joe F.

2016-04-01

Various types of collagens, e.g. type I and III, represent the main load-bearing components in biological tissues. Their composition changes during processes like wound healing and fibrosis. Collagens exhibit autofluorescence when excited by ultra-violet light, distinguishable by their unique fluorescent lifetimes across a range of emission wavelengths. Therefore, we designed a miniaturized spectral-lifetime detection system for collagens as a non-invasive probe for monitoring tissue in wound healing and scarring applications. A sine modulated LED illumination was applied to enable frequency domain (FD) fluorescence lifetime measurements under different wavelengths bands, separated via a series of longpass dichroics at 387nm, 409nm and 435nm. To achieve the minute scale of optomechanics, we employed a stereolithography based 3D printer with <50 μm resolution to create a custom designed optical mount in a hand-held form factor. We examined the characteristics of the 3D printed optical system with finite element modeling to simulate the effect of thermal (LED) and mechanical (handling) strain on the optical system. Using this device, the phase shift and demodulation of collagen types were measured, where the separate spectral bands enhanced the differentiation of their lifetimes.

Versatile all-digital time interval measuring system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vyhlidal, David; Cech, Miroslav

2011-06-01

This paper describes a design and performance of a versatile all-digital time interval measuring system. The measurement method is based on an interpolation principle. In this principle the time interval is first roughly digitized by a coarse counter driven by a high stability reference clock and the fractions between the clock periods are measured by two Time-to-Digital Converter chips TDC-GPX manufactured by Acam messelectronic. Control circuits allow programmable customization of the system to satisfy many applications such as laser range finding, event counting, or time-of-flight measurements in various physics experiments. The system has two reference clocks inputs and two independent channels for measuring start and stop events. Only one 40 MHz reference is required for the measurement. The second reference can be, for example, 1 PPS (Pulse per Second) signal from a GPS (Global Positioning System) to time tag events. Time intervals are measured using the highest resolution mode of the TDC-GPX chips. The resolution of each chip is software programmable and is PLL (Phase Locked Loop) stabilized against temperature and voltage variations. The system can achieve a timing resolution better than 15 ps rms with up to 90 kHz repetition rate. The time interval measurement range is from 0 ps up to 1 second. The power consumption of the whole system is 18 W including an embedded computer board and an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen. The embedded computer controls the whole system, collects and evaluates measurement data and with the display provides a user interface. The system is implemented using commercially available components.

Design and Development of a Real-Time Model Attitude Measurement System for Hypersonic Facilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Thomas W.; Lunsford, Charles B.

2005-01-01

A series of wind tunnel tests have been conducted to evaluate a multi-camera videogrammetric system designed to measure model attitude in hypersonic facilities. The technique utilizes processed video data and applies photogrammetric principles for point tracking to compute model position including pitch, roll and yaw variables. A discussion of the constraints encountered during the design, development, and testing process, including lighting, vibration, operational range and optical access is included. Initial measurement results from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) 31-Inch Mach 10 tunnel are presented.

Design and Development of a Real-Time Model Attitude Measurement System for Hypersonic Facilities

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Thomas W.; Lunsford, Charles B.

2004-01-01

A series of wind tunnel tests have been conducted to evaluate a multi-camera videogrammetric system designed to measure model attitude in hypersonic facilities. The technique utilizes processed video data and applies photogrammetric principles for point tracking to compute model position including pitch, roll and yaw variables. A discussion of the constraints encountered during the design, development, and testing process, including lighting, vibration, operational range and optical access is included. Initial measurement results from the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) 31-Inch Mach 10 tunnel are presented.

Fiber optic light-scattering measurement system for evaluation of embryo viability: model experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Itoh, Harumi; Arai, Tsunenori; Kikuchi, Makoto

1996-05-01

We evaluated the particle density detectability and particle size detectivity of our fiber-optic light-scattering measurement system. In order to prevent the multiple pregnancy on current in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer, we have aimed to develop a new quantitative and non- invasive method to select a single viable human embryo. We employed the measurement of mitochondria localization in an embryo, which may have the correlation with development ability. We applied the angular distribution measurement of the light-scattering intensity from the embryo to obtain the information originated from the mitochondria. The latex spheres with a diameter of 1.0 micrometers were used to simulate the scattering intensity of the mitochondria. The measurement probes of our system consisted of two fibers for illumination and sensing. They were arranged at a right angle to a microscope optical axis to measure the angular distribution of the light-scattering intensity. We observed that the light-scattering intensity increased monotonically in the range from 106 to 1010 particles per ml. Since the mitochondria density in a human embryo corresponded to 2.5 X 107 per ml in the measurement chamber, we may measure the mitochondria density in the human embryo. The angular dependence of light-scattering intensity changed with the sphere diameters. This result showed the possibility of the selective measurement of the mitochondria density in the embryo in spite of the presence of the other cell organelle. We think that our light-scattering measurement system might be applicable to the evaluation method for the embryo viability.

External pressure measurement system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandler, Jon K.; Fowler, Don P.

Hydraulic systems comprise an important part of jet aircraft and their pressure needs must be checked constantly. Tests of the prototype external pressure measurement system show that it is possible to accurately convert the small expansion of tubing with pressure into a direct pressure reading without inserting a pressure gage into the piping system. The tool described in the paper is a clamp-on displacement transducer that can read pressure directly in PSI from 0 to 5000. Some limitations concerning temperature and accuracy should be remedied by additional design work. The system promises to streamline troubleshooting of all types of piping systems.

Temperature measurement systems in wearable electronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walczak, S.; Gołebiowski, J.

2014-08-01

The aim of this paper is to present the concept of temperature measurement system, adapted to wearable electronics applications. Temperature is one of the most commonly monitored factor in smart textiles, especially in sportswear, medical and rescue products. Depending on the application, measured temperature could be used as an initial value of alert, heating, lifesaving or analysis system. The concept of the temperature measurement multi-point system, which consists of flexible screen-printed resistive sensors, placed on the T-shirt connected with the central unit and the power supply is elaborated in the paper.

High order statistical signatures from source-driven measurements of subcritical fissile systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mattingly, John Kelly

1998-11-01

This research focuses on the development and application of high order statistical analyses applied to measurements performed with subcritical fissile systems driven by an introduced neutron source. The signatures presented are derived from counting statistics of the introduced source and radiation detectors that observe the response of the fissile system. It is demonstrated that successively higher order counting statistics possess progressively higher sensitivity to reactivity. Consequently, these signatures are more sensitive to changes in the composition, fissile mass, and configuration of the fissile assembly. Furthermore, it is shown that these techniques are capable of distinguishing the response of the fissile system to the introduced source from its response to any internal or inherent sources. This ability combined with the enhanced sensitivity of higher order signatures indicates that these techniques will be of significant utility in a variety of applications. Potential applications include enhanced radiation signature identification of weapons components for nuclear disarmament and safeguards applications and augmented nondestructive analysis of spent nuclear fuel. In general, these techniques expand present capabilities in the analysis of subcritical measurements.

Applying reliability analysis to design electric power systems for More-electric aircraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Baozhu

The More-Electric Aircraft (MEA) is a type of aircraft that replaces conventional hydraulic and pneumatic systems with electrically powered components. These changes have significantly challenged the aircraft electric power system design. This thesis investigates how reliability analysis can be applied to automatically generate system topologies for the MEA electric power system. We first use a traditional method of reliability block diagrams to analyze the reliability level on different system topologies. We next propose a new methodology in which system topologies, constrained by a set reliability level, are automatically generated. The path-set method is used for analysis. Finally, we interface these sets of system topologies with control synthesis tools to automatically create correct-by-construction control logic for the electric power system.

Hyperspectral imaging applied to complex particulate solids systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonifazi, Giuseppe; Serranti, Silvia

2008-04-01

HyperSpectral Imaging (HSI) is based on the utilization of an integrated hardware and software (HW&SW) platform embedding conventional imaging and spectroscopy to attain both spatial and spectral information from an object. Although HSI was originally developed for remote sensing, it has recently emerged as a powerful process analytical tool, for non-destructive analysis, in many research and industrial sectors. The possibility to apply on-line HSI based techniques in order to identify and quantify specific particulate solid systems characteristics is presented and critically evaluated. The originally developed HSI based logics can be profitably applied in order to develop fast, reliable and lowcost strategies for: i) quality control of particulate products that must comply with specific chemical, physical and biological constraints, ii) performance evaluation of manufacturing strategies related to processing chains and/or realtime tuning of operative variables and iii) classification-sorting actions addressed to recognize and separate different particulate solid products. Case studies, related to recent advances in the application of HSI to different industrial sectors, as agriculture, food, pharmaceuticals, solid waste handling and recycling, etc. and addressed to specific goals as contaminant detection, defect identification, constituent analysis and quality evaluation are described, according to authors' originally developed application.

A Measurement and Power Line Communication System Design for Renewable Smart Grids

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kabalci, E.; Kabalci, Y.

2013-10-01

The data communication over the electric power lines can be managed easily and economically since the grid connections are already spread around all over the world. This paper investigates the applicability of Power Line Communication (PLC) in an energy generation system that is based on photovoltaic (PV) panels with the modeling study in Matlab/Simulink. The Simulink model covers the designed PV panels, boost converter with Perturb and Observe (P&O) control algorithm, full bridge inverter, and the binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modem that is utilized to transfer the measured data over the power lines. This study proposes a novel method to use the electrical power lines not only for carrying the line voltage but also to transmit the measurements of the renewable energy generation plants. Hence, it is aimed at minimizing the additional monitoring costs such as SCADA, Ethernet-based or GSM based systems by using the proposed technique. Although this study is performed with solar power plants, the proposed model can be applied to other renewable generation systems. Consequently, the usage of the proposed technique instead of SCADA or Ethernet-based systems eliminates additional monitoring costs.

First measurement of electron temperature from signal ratios in a double-pass Thomson scattering system.

PubMed

Tojo, H; Ejiri, A; Hiratsuka, J; Yamaguchi, T; Takase, Y; Itami, K; Hatae, T

2012-02-01

This paper presents an experimental demonstration to determine electron temperature (T(e)) with unknown spectral sensitivity (transmissivity) in a Thomson scattering system. In this method, a double-pass scattering configuration is used and the scattered lights from each pass (with different scattering angles) are measured separately. T(e) can be determined from the ratio of the signal intensities without knowing a real chromatic dependence in the sensitivity. Note that the wavelength range for each spectral channel must be known. This method was applied to the TST-2 Thomson scattering system. As a result, T(e) measured from the ratio (T(e,r)) and T(e) measured from a standard method (T(e,s)) showed a good agreement with <∣T(e,r) - T(e,s)∣∕T(e,s)> = 7.3%.

Redundant and fault-tolerant algorithms for real-time measurement and control systems for weapon equipment.

PubMed

Li, Dan; Hu, Xiaoguang

2017-03-01

Because of the high availability requirements from weapon equipment, an in-depth study has been conducted on the real-time fault-tolerance of the widely applied Compact PCI (CPCI) bus measurement and control system. A redundancy design method that uses heartbeat detection to connect the primary and alternate devices has been developed. To address the low successful execution rate and relatively large waste of time slices in the primary version of the task software, an improved algorithm for real-time fault-tolerant scheduling is proposed based on the Basic Checking available time Elimination idle time (BCE) algorithm, applying a single-neuron self-adaptive proportion sum differential (PSD) controller. The experimental validation results indicate that this system has excellent redundancy and fault-tolerance, and the newly developed method can effectively improve the system availability. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Blade Vibration Measurement System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Platt, Michael J.

2014-01-01

The Phase I project successfully demonstrated that an advanced noncontacting stress measurement system (NSMS) could improve classification of blade vibration response in terms of mistuning and closely spaced modes. The Phase II work confirmed the microwave sensor design process, modified the sensor so it is compatible as an upgrade to existing NSMS, and improved and finalized the NSMS software. The result will be stand-alone radar/tip timing radar signal conditioning for current conventional NSMS users (as an upgrade) and new users. The hybrid system will use frequency data and relative mode vibration levels from the radar sensor to provide substantially superior capabilities over current blade-vibration measurement technology. This frequency data, coupled with a reduced number of tip timing probes, will result in a system capable of detecting complex blade vibrations that would confound traditional NSMS systems. The hardware and software package was validated on a compressor rig at Mechanical Solutions, Inc. (MSI). Finally, the hybrid radar/tip timing NSMS software package and associated sensor hardware will be installed for use in the NASA Glenn spin pit test facility.

Pitfalls and Security Measures for the Mobile EMR System in Medical Facilities.

PubMed

Yeo, Kiho; Lee, Keehyuck; Kim, Jong-Min; Kim, Tae-Hun; Choi, Yong-Hoon; Jeong, Woo-Jin; Hwang, Hee; Baek, Rong Min; Yoo, Sooyoung

2012-06-01

The goal of this paper is to examine the security measures that should be reviewed by medical facilities that are trying to implement mobile Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems designed for hospitals. The study of the security requirements for a mobile EMR system is divided into legal considerations and sectional security investigations. Legal considerations were examined with regard to remote medical services, patients' personal information and EMR, medical devices, the establishment of mobile systems, and mobile applications. For the 4 sectional security investigations, the mobile security level SL-3 from the Smartphone Security Standards of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) was used. From a compliance perspective, legal considerations for various laws and guidelines of mobile EMR were executed according to the model of the legal considerations. To correspond to the SL-3, separation of DMZ and wireless network is needed. Mobile access servers must be located in only the smartphone DMZ. Furthermore, security measures like 24-hour security control, WIPS, VPN, MDM, and ISMS for each section are needed to establish a secure mobile EMR system. This paper suggested a direction for applying regulatory measures to strengthen the security of a mobile EMR system in accordance with the standard security requirements presented by the Smartphone Security Guideline of the NIS. A future study on the materialization of these suggestions after their application at actual medical facilities can be used as an illustrative case to determine the degree to which theory and reality correspond with one another.

The conductivity measurements applied for the evaluation of controlled release of chlorhexidine from thermosensitive N-isopropylacrylamide derivative microgels.

PubMed

Musiał, Witold; Kokol, Vanja; Voncina, Bojana

2009-01-01

The aim of the work was the evaluation of the conductivity changes in aqueous environment, consisting of chlorhexidine, and N-isopropylacrylamide derivative microgel, during increasing the temperature between 25 degrees C and 42 degrees C, as a prerequisite to develop the this microgel for controlled release of chlorhexidine, when alterations in temperature are involved. Conductivity of studied systems underwent specific alterations, when temperature increased. For the system with polymer PNM I the values of conductivity were in the range 104,47 microS/cm - 134,70 microS/ cm, for temperature range 25 degrees C and 42 degrees C. In the case of PNM II - CX system, respective values reached 91,75 microS/cm - 135,95 microS/cm. The lowest conductivity values were observed when PNM III - CX mixture was studied: 96,90 microS/cm and 117,37 microS/cm. When a complex of derivatives of N-isopropylacrylamide with chlorhexidine undergoes thermal alteration, there is a potential to obtain controlled release of chlorhexidine from the polymeric bead in the range between 25 degrees C and 42 degrees C. The affinity of chlorhexidine to the polymer may be assessed in this systems applying the conductivity measurements. The solubility of chlorhexidine in the polymeric systems should be in future evaluated, to determine role of this factor in the conductivity alterations.

Nomarski imaging interferometry to measure the displacement field of micro-electro-mechanical systems

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

Amiot, Fabien; Roger, Jean Paul

2006-10-20

We propose to use a Nomarski imaging interferometer to measure the out-of-plane displacement field of micro-electro-mechanical systems. It is shown that the measured optical phase arises from both height and slope gradients. By using four integrating buckets, a more efficient approach to unwrap the measured phase is presented,thus making the method well suited for highly curved objects. Slope and height effects are then decoupled by expanding the displacement field on a functions basis, and the inverse transformation is applied to get a displacement field from a measured optical phase map change with a mechanical loading. A measurement reproducibility of approximatelymore » 10 pm is achieved, and typical results are shown on a microcantilever under thermal actuation, thereby proving the ability of such a setup to provide a reliable full-field kinematic measurement without surface modification.« less

Computer systems performance measurement techniques.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1971-06-01

Computer system performance measurement techniques, tools, and approaches are presented as a foundation for future recommendations regarding the instrumentation of the ARTS ATC data processing subsystem for purposes of measurement and evaluation.

Measurement of SIFT operating system overhead

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Palumbo, D. L.; Butler, R. W.

1985-01-01

The overhead of the software implemented fault tolerance (SIFT) operating system was measured. Several versions of the operating system evolved. Each version represents different strategies employed to improve the measured performance. Three of these versions are analyzed. The internal data structures of the operating systems are discussed. The overhead of the SIFT operating system was found to be of two types: vote overhead and executive task overhead. Both types of overhead were found to be significant in all versions of the system. Improvements substantially reduced this overhead; even with these improvements, the operating system consumed well over 50% of the available processing time.

30 CFR 250.1203 - Gas measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Security § 250.1203 Gas measurement. (a) To which meters do MMS requirements for gas measurement apply? MMS requirements for gas measurements apply to all OCS gas royalty and allocation meters. (b) What are the... throughout the system. (4) Equip the meter with a chart or electronic data recorder. If an electronic data...

Applying systems engineering to implement an evidence-based intervention at a community health center.

PubMed

Tu, Shin-Ping; Feng, Sherry; Storch, Richard; Yip, Mei-Po; Sohng, HeeYon; Fu, Mingang; Chun, Alan

2012-11-01

Impressive results in patient care and cost reduction have increased the demand for systems-engineering methodologies in large health care systems. This Report from the Field describes the feasibility of applying systems-engineering techniques at a community health center currently lacking the dedicated expertise and resources to perform these activities.

Advanced solar irradiances applied to satellite and ionospheric operational systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tobiska, W. Kent; Schunk, Robert; Eccles, Vince; Bouwer, Dave

Satellite and ionospheric operational systems require solar irradiances in a variety of time scales and spectral formats. We describe the development of a system using operational grade solar irradiances that are applied to empirical thermospheric density models and physics-based ionospheric models used by operational systems that require a space weather characterization. The SOLAR2000 (S2K) and SOLARFLARE (SFLR) models developed by Space Environment Technologies (SET) provide solar irradiances from the soft X-rays (XUV) through the Far Ultraviolet (FUV) spectrum. The irradiances are provided as integrated indices for the JB2006 empirical atmosphere density models and as line/band spectral irradiances for the physics-based Ionosphere Forecast Model (IFM) developed by the Space Environment Corporation (SEC). We describe the integration of these irradiances in historical, current epoch, and forecast modes through the Communication Alert and Prediction System (CAPS). CAPS provides real-time and forecast HF radio availability for global and regional users and global total electron content (TEC) conditions.

Measurement system and model for simultaneously measuring 6DOF geometric errors.

PubMed

Zhao, Yuqiong; Zhang, Bin; Feng, Qibo

2017-09-04

A measurement system to simultaneously measure six degree-of-freedom (6DOF) geometric errors is proposed. The measurement method is based on a combination of mono-frequency laser interferometry and laser fiber collimation. A simpler and more integrated optical configuration is designed. To compensate for the measurement errors introduced by error crosstalk, element fabrication error, laser beam drift, and nonparallelism of two measurement beam, a unified measurement model, which can improve the measurement accuracy, is deduced and established using the ray-tracing method. A numerical simulation using the optical design software Zemax is conducted, and the results verify the correctness of the model. Several experiments are performed to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed system and measurement model.

System Measures Thermal Noise In A Microphone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zuckerwar, Allan J.; Ngo, Kim Chi T.

1994-01-01

Vacuum provides acoustic isolation from environment. System for measuring thermal noise of microphone and its preamplifier eliminates some sources of error found in older systems. Includes isolation vessel and exterior suspension, acting together, enables measurement of thermal noise under realistic conditions while providing superior vibrational and accoustical isolation. System yields more accurate measurements of thermal noise.

40 CFR 63.8030 - What requirements apply to my heat exchange systems?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... apply to my heat exchange systems? (a) You must comply with the requirements specified in Table 6 to... § 63.10(b)(1). (e) The reference to the periodic report required by § 63.152(c) of subpart G of this...

40 CFR 63.8030 - What requirements apply to my heat exchange systems?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... apply to my heat exchange systems? (a) You must comply with the requirements specified in Table 6 to... § 63.10(b)(1). (e) The reference to the periodic report required by § 63.152(c) of subpart G of this...

40 CFR 63.8030 - What requirements apply to my heat exchange systems?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... apply to my heat exchange systems? (a) You must comply with the requirements specified in Table 6 to... § 63.10(b)(1). (e) The reference to the periodic report required by § 63.152(c) of subpart G of this...

40 CFR 63.8030 - What requirements apply to my heat exchange systems?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... apply to my heat exchange systems? (a) You must comply with the requirements specified in Table 6 to... § 63.10(b)(1). (e) The reference to the periodic report required by § 63.152(c) of subpart G of this...

40 CFR 63.8030 - What requirements apply to my heat exchange systems?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... apply to my heat exchange systems? (a) You must comply with the requirements specified in Table 6 to... § 63.10(b)(1). (e) The reference to the periodic report required by § 63.152(c) of subpart G of this...

A measurement system of high-temperature oxidation environment with ultrasonic Ir0.6Rth0.4 alloy thermometry.

PubMed

Wei, Yanlong; Wang, Gao; Gao, Yubin; Liu, Zhengguang; Xu, Lin; Tian, Miao; Yuan, Dongfang; Ren, Haiping; Zhou, Hanchang; Yang, Lu; Shi, Xueshun; Xiao, Zhaoqian

2018-04-03

Iridium-rhodium is generally applied as a thermocouple material, with max operating temperature about 2150 °C. In this study, a ultrasonic temperature measurement system was designed by using Iridium-rhodium (60%Ir-40%Rh) alloy as an acoustic waveguide sensor material, and the system was preliminarily tested in a high-temperature oxidation environment. The result of ultrasonic temperature measurement shows that this system can indeed work stably in high-temperature oxidation environments. The relationship between temperature and delay time of ultrasonic thermometry up to 2200 °C was illustrated. Iridium-rhodium materials were also investigated in order to fully elucidate the proposed waveguide sensor's performance in a high-temperature oxidation environment. This system lays a foundation for further application of high-temperature measurement. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Approximation of discrete-time LQG compensators for distributed systems with boundary input and unbounded measurement

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gibson, J. S.; Rosen, I. G.

1987-01-01

The approximation of optimal discrete-time linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) compensators for distributed parameter control systems with boundary input and unbounded measurement is considered. The approach applies to a wide range of problems that can be formulated in a state space on which both the discrete-time input and output operators are continuous. Approximating compensators are obtained via application of the LQG theory and associated approximation results for infinite dimensional discrete-time control systems with bounded input and output. Numerical results for spline and modal based approximation schemes used to compute optimal compensators for a one dimensional heat equation with either Neumann or Dirichlet boundary control and pointwise measurement of temperature are presented and discussed.

Calibration of a flexible measurement system based on industrial articulated robot and structured light sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mu, Nan; Wang, Kun; Xie, Zexiao; Ren, Ping

2017-05-01

To realize online rapid measurement for complex workpieces, a flexible measurement system based on an articulated industrial robot with a structured light sensor mounted on the end-effector is developed. A method for calibrating the system parameters is proposed in which the hand-eye transformation parameters and the robot kinematic parameters are synthesized in the calibration process. An initial hand-eye calibration is first performed using a standard sphere as the calibration target. By applying the modified complete and parametrically continuous method, we establish a synthesized kinematic model that combines the initial hand-eye transformation and distal link parameters as a whole with the sensor coordinate system as the tool frame. According to the synthesized kinematic model, an error model is constructed based on spheres' center-to-center distance errors. Consequently, the error model parameters can be identified in a calibration experiment using a three-standard-sphere target. Furthermore, the redundancy of error model parameters is eliminated to ensure the accuracy and robustness of the parameter identification. Calibration and measurement experiments are carried out based on an ER3A-C60 robot. The experimental results show that the proposed calibration method enjoys high measurement accuracy, and this efficient and flexible system is suitable for online measurement in industrial scenes.

Operationalizing System Importance Measures for Assessing System of System Resilience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandrahasa, Rakshit

In recent times, there has been a shift in focus from component level to system level analysis and an increasing effort to understand and design resilience into the system. Several efforts have been carried out in creating metrics to analyse resilience. Understanding and implementing system resilience in complex System of Systems will help us in building safer and resilient systems. System Importance Measures (SIMs) was formulated to analyse System of System resilience and help in designing a resilient SoS. Here, we operationalize these System Importance Measures for designing a resilient SoS. We first look at the existing methodology to improve the visual representation of system resilience and its usability. We demonstrate this using our first case study with a Naval warfare SoS. We incorporate probability into the SIM formulation. We expand the existing SIMs to quantify the effects of disruptions and mitigation likelihoods. We built a second case study based on Air transportation networks and demonstrated our expanded metrics in both the case studies. SIM based analysis of SoS resilience provides us with two different analysis of resilience, with and without probability. Having an outlook on how the resilience changes with a probability of disruptions can aid the designer making informed choices on design changes and help in creating a resilient SoS.

[A Digital System for Bioimpedance and Electrical Impedance Tomography Measurement System].

PubMed

Chen, Xiaoyan; Gao, Nana; Huang, Huafang

2015-06-01

A digital system for bioimpedance and electrical impedance tomography (EIT) measurement controlled by an ATmega16 microcontroller was constructed in our laboratory. There are eight digital electrodes using AD5933 to measure the impedance of the targets, and the data is transmitted to the computer wirelessly through nRF24L01. The structure of the system, circuit design, system testing, vitro measurements of animals' tissues and electrical impedance tomography are introduced specifically in this paper. The experimental results showed that the system relative error was 0.42%, and the signal noise ratio was 76.3 dB. The system not only can be used to measure the impedance by any two electrodes within the frequency of 1-100 kHz in a sweep scanning, but also can reconstruct the images of EIT. The animal experiments showed that the data was valid and plots were fitting with Cole-Cole theory. The testing verified the feasibility and effectiveness of the system. The images reconstructed of a salt-water tank are satisfactory and match with the actual distribution of the tank. The system improves the effectiveness of the front-end measuring signal and the stability of the system greatly.

First Airborne IPDA Lidar Measurements of Methane and Carbon Dioxide Applying the DLR Greenhouse Gas Sounder CHARM-F

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amediek, A.; Ehret, G.; Fix, A.; Wirth, M.; Quatrevalet, M.; Büdenbender, C.; Kiemle, C.; Loehring, J.; Gerbig, C.

2015-12-01

First airborne measurement using CHARM-F, the four-wavelengths lidar for simultaneous soundings of atmospheric CO2 and CH4, were performed in Spring 2015 onboard the German research aircraft HALO. The lidar is designed in the IPDA (integrated path differential absorption) configuration using short double pulses, which gives column averaged gas mixing ratios between aircraft and ground. HALO's maximum flight altitude of 15 km and special features of the lidar, such as a relatively large laser ground spot, enable the CHARM-F system to be an airborne demonstrator for future spaceborne greenhouse gas lidars. Due to a high technological conformity this applies in particular to the French-German satellite mission MERLIN, the spaceborne methane IPDA lidar. The successfully completed flight measurements provide a valuable dataset, which supports the retrieval algorithm development for MERLIN notably. The flights covered different ground cover types, different orography types as well as the sea. Additionally, we captured different cloud conditions, at which the broken cloud case is a matter of particular interest. This dataset allows detailed analyses of measurement sensitivities, general studies on the IPDA principle and on technical details of the system. These activities are supported by another instrument onboard: a cavity ring down spectrometer, providing in-situ data of carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor with high accuracy and precision, which is ideal for validation purposes of the lidar. Additionally the onboard instrumentation of HALO gives information about pressure and temperature for cross-checking the ECMWF data, which are intended to be used for calculating the weighting function, the key quantity for the retrieval of gas column mixing ratios from the measured gas optical depths. In combination with dedicated descents into the boundary layer and subsequent ascents, a self-contained dataset for characterizations of CHARM-F is available.

Applying Systems Engineering to Implement an Evidence-based Intervention at a Community Health Center

PubMed Central

Tu, Shin-Ping; Feng, Sherry; Storch, Richard; Yip, Mei-Po; Sohng, HeeYon; Fu, Mingang; Chun, Alan

2013-01-01

Summary Impressive results in patient care and cost reduction have increased the demand for systems-engineering methodologies in large health care systems. This Report from the Field describes the feasibility of applying systems-engineering techniques at a community health center currently lacking the dedicated expertise and resources to perform these activities. PMID:23698657

Measurement system for diffraction efficiency of convex gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Peng; Chen, Xin-hua; Zhou, Jian-kang; Zhao, Zhi-cheng; Liu, Quan; Luo, Chao; Wang, Xiao-feng; Tang, Min-xue; Shen, Wei-min

2017-08-01

A measurement system for diffraction efficiency of convex gratings is designed. The measurement system mainly includes four components as a light source, a front system, a dispersing system that contains a convex grating, and a detector. Based on the definition and measuring principle of diffraction efficiency, the optical scheme of the measurement system is analyzed and the design result is given. Then, in order to validate the feasibility of the designed system, the measurement system is set up and the diffraction efficiency of a convex grating with the aperture of 35 mm, the curvature-radius of 72mm, the blazed angle of 6.4°, the grating period of 2.5μm and the working waveband of 400nm-900nm is tested. Based on GUM (Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement), the uncertainties in the measuring results are evaluated. The measured diffraction efficiency data are compared to the theoretical ones, which are calculated based on the grating groove parameters got by an atomic force microscope and Rigorous Couple Wave Analysis, and the reliability of the measurement system is illustrated. Finally, the measurement performance of the system is analyzed and tested. The results show that, the testing accuracy, the testing stability and the testing repeatability are 2.5%, 0.085% and 3.5% , respectively.

Multivariate Curve Resolution Applied to Infrared Reflection Measurements of Soil Contaminated with an Organophosphorus Analyte

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

Gallagher, Neal B.; Blake, Thomas A.; Gassman, Paul L.

2006-07-01

Multivariate curve resolution (MCR) is a powerful technique for extracting chemical information from measured spectra on complex mixtures. The difficulty with applying MCR to soil reflectance measurements is that light scattering artifacts can contribute much more variance to the measurements than the analyte(s) of interest. Two methods were integrated into a MCR decomposition to account for light scattering effects. Firstly, an extended mixture model using pure analyte spectra augmented with scattering ‘spectra’ was used for the measured spectra. And secondly, second derivative preprocessed spectra, which have higher selectivity than the unprocessed spectra, were included in a second block as amore » part of the decomposition. The conventional alternating least squares (ALS) algorithm was modified to simultaneously decompose the measured and second derivative spectra in a two-block decomposition. Equality constraints were also included to incorporate information about sampling conditions. The result was an MCR decomposition that provided interpretable spectra from soil reflectance measurements.« less

Accurate measurement of RF exposure from emerging wireless communication systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Letertre, Thierry; Monebhurrun, Vikass; Toffano, Zeno

2013-04-01

Isotropic broadband probes or spectrum analyzers (SAs) may be used for the measurement of rapidly varying electromagnetic fields generated by emerging wireless communication systems. In this paper this problematic is investigated by comparing the responses measured by two different isotropic broadband probes typically used to perform electric field (E-field) evaluations. The broadband probes are submitted to signals with variable duty cycles (DC) and crest factors (CF) either with or without Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) modulation but with the same root-mean-square (RMS) power. The two probes do not provide accurate enough results for deterministic signals such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WIMAX) or Long Term Evolution (LTE) as well as for non-deterministic signals such as Wireless Fidelity (WiFi). The legacy measurement protocols should be adapted to cope for the emerging wireless communication technologies based on the OFDM modulation scheme. This is not easily achieved except when the statistics of the RF emission are well known. In this case the measurement errors are shown to be systematic and a correction factor or calibration can be applied to obtain a good approximation of the total RMS power.

Research of spectacle frame measurement system based on structured light method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, Dong; Chen, Xiaodong; Zhang, Xiuda; Yan, Huimin

2016-10-01

Automatic eyeglass lens edging system is now widely used to automatically cut and polish the uncut lens based on the spectacle frame shape data which is obtained from the spectacle frame measuring machine installed on the system. The conventional approach to acquire the frame shape data works in the contact scanning mode with a probe tracing around the groove contour of the spectacle frame which requires a sophisticated mechanical and numerical control system. In this paper, a novel non-contact optical measuring method based on structured light to measure the three dimensional (3D) data of the spectacle frame is proposed. First we focus on the processing approach solving the problem of deterioration of the structured light stripes caused by intense specular reflection on the frame surface. The techniques of bright-dark bi-level fringe projecting, multiple exposuring and high dynamic range imaging are introduced to obtain a high-quality image of structured light stripes. Then, the Gamma transform and median filtering are applied to enhance image contrast. In order to get rid of background noise from the image and extract the region of interest (ROI), an auxiliary lighting system of special design is utilized to help effectively distinguish between the object and the background. In addition, a morphological method with specific morphological structure-elements is adopted to remove noise between stripes and boundary of the spectacle frame. By further fringe center extraction and depth information acquisition through the method of look-up table, the 3D shape of the spectacle frame is recovered.

Design and Analysis of a Sensor System for Cutting Force Measurement in Machining Processes

PubMed Central

Liang, Qiaokang; Zhang, Dan; Coppola, Gianmarc; Mao, Jianxu; Sun, Wei; Wang, Yaonan; Ge, Yunjian

2016-01-01

Multi-component force sensors have infiltrated a wide variety of automation products since the 1970s. However, one seldom finds full-component sensor systems available in the market for cutting force measurement in machine processes. In this paper, a new six-component sensor system with a compact monolithic elastic element (EE) is designed and developed to detect the tangential cutting forces Fx, Fy and Fz (i.e., forces along x-, y-, and z-axis) as well as the cutting moments Mx, My and Mz (i.e., moments about x-, y-, and z-axis) simultaneously. Optimal structural parameters of the EE are carefully designed via simulation-driven optimization. Moreover, a prototype sensor system is fabricated, which is applied to a 5-axis parallel kinematic machining center. Calibration experimental results demonstrate that the system is capable of measuring cutting forces and moments with good linearity while minimizing coupling error. Both the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and calibration experimental studies validate the high performance of the proposed sensor system that is expected to be adopted into machining processes. PMID:26751451

Design and Analysis of a Sensor System for Cutting Force Measurement in Machining Processes.

PubMed

Liang, Qiaokang; Zhang, Dan; Coppola, Gianmarc; Mao, Jianxu; Sun, Wei; Wang, Yaonan; Ge, Yunjian

2016-01-07

Multi-component force sensors have infiltrated a wide variety of automation products since the 1970s. However, one seldom finds full-component sensor systems available in the market for cutting force measurement in machine processes. In this paper, a new six-component sensor system with a compact monolithic elastic element (EE) is designed and developed to detect the tangential cutting forces Fx, Fy and Fz (i.e., forces along x-, y-, and z-axis) as well as the cutting moments Mx, My and Mz (i.e., moments about x-, y-, and z-axis) simultaneously. Optimal structural parameters of the EE are carefully designed via simulation-driven optimization. Moreover, a prototype sensor system is fabricated, which is applied to a 5-axis parallel kinematic machining center. Calibration experimental results demonstrate that the system is capable of measuring cutting forces and moments with good linearity while minimizing coupling error. Both the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and calibration experimental studies validate the high performance of the proposed sensor system that is expected to be adopted into machining processes.

Sender–receiver systems and applying information theory for quantitative synthetic biology

PubMed Central

Barcena Menendez, Diego; Senthivel, Vivek Raj; Isalan, Mark

2015-01-01

Sender–receiver (S–R) systems abound in biology, with communication systems sending information in various forms. Information theory provides a quantitative basis for analysing these processes and is being applied to study natural genetic, enzymatic and neural networks. Recent advances in synthetic biology are providing us with a wealth of artificial S–R systems, giving us quantitative control over networks with a finite number of well-characterised components. Combining the two approaches can help to predict how to maximise signalling robustness, and will allow us to make increasingly complex biological computers. Ultimately, pushing the boundaries of synthetic biology will require moving beyond engineering the flow of information and towards building more sophisticated circuits that interpret biological meaning. PMID:25282688

Three-component laser anemometer measurement systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goldman, Louis J.

1991-01-01

A brief overview of the different laser anemometer (LA) optical designs available is presented. Then, the LA techniques that can be used to design a three-component measurement system for annular geometries are described. Some of the facility design considerations unique to these LA systems are also addressed. Following this, the facilities and the LA systems that were used to successfully measure the three components of velocity in the blading of annular-flow machines are reviewed. Finally, possible LA system enhancements and future research directions are presented.

10 CFR 600.306 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Metric system of measurement. 600.306 Section 600.306... system of measurement. (a) The Metric Conversion Act of 1975, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and... system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. (2) The metric system of...

10 CFR 600.306 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Metric system of measurement. 600.306 Section 600.306... system of measurement. (a) The Metric Conversion Act of 1975, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and... system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. (2) The metric system of...

10 CFR 600.306 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Metric system of measurement. 600.306 Section 600.306... system of measurement. (a) The Metric Conversion Act of 1975, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and... system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. (2) The metric system of...

10 CFR 600.306 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Metric system of measurement. 600.306 Section 600.306... system of measurement. (a) The Metric Conversion Act of 1975, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and... system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. (2) The metric system of...

10 CFR 600.306 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Metric system of measurement. 600.306 Section 600.306... system of measurement. (a) The Metric Conversion Act of 1975, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and... system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. (2) The metric system of...

Identifying a cooperative control mechanism between an applied field and the environment of open quantum systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Fang; Rey-de-Castro, Roberto; Wang, Yaoxiong; Rabitz, Herschel; Shuang, Feng

2016-05-01

Many systems under control with an applied field also interact with the surrounding environment. Understanding the control mechanisms has remained a challenge, especially the role played by the interaction between the field and the environment. In order to address this need, here we expand the scope of the Hamiltonian-encoding and observable-decoding (HE-OD) technique. HE-OD was originally introduced as a theoretical and experimental tool for revealing the mechanism induced by control fields in closed quantum systems. The results of open-system HE-OD analysis presented here provide quantitative mechanistic insights into the roles played by a Markovian environment. Two model open quantum systems are considered for illustration. In these systems, transitions are induced by either an applied field linked to a dipole operator or Lindblad operators coupled to the system. For modest control yields, the HE-OD results clearly show distinct cooperation between the dynamics induced by the optimal field and the environment. Although the HE-OD methodology introduced here is considered in simulations, it has an analogous direct experimental formulation, which we suggest may be applied to open systems in the laboratory to reveal mechanistic insights.

Creating a System for Data-Driven Decision-Making: Applying the Principal-Agent Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wohlstetter, Priscilla; Datnow, Amanda; Park, Vicki

2008-01-01

The purpose of this article is to improve our understanding of data-driven decision-making strategies that are initiated at the district or system level. We apply principal-agent theory to the analysis of qualitative data gathered in a case study of 4 urban school systems. Our findings suggest educators at the school level need not only systemic…

Acute effect of intravenously applied alcohol in the human striatal and extrastriatal D2 /D3 dopamine system.

PubMed

Pfeifer, Philippe; Tüscher, Oliver; Buchholz, Hans Georg; Gründer, Gerhard; Vernaleken, Ingo; Paulzen, Michael; Zimmermann, Ulrich S; Maus, Stephan; Lieb, Klaus; Eggermann, Thomas; Fehr, Christoph; Schreckenberger, Mathias

2017-09-01

Investigations on the acute effects of alcohol in the human mesolimbic dopamine D 2 /D 3 receptor system have yielded conflicting results. With respect to the effects of alcohol on extrastriatal D 2 /D 3 dopamine receptors no investigations have been reported yet. Therefore we applied PET imaging using the postsynaptic dopamine D 2 /D 3 receptor ligand [ 18 F]fallypride addressing the question, whether intravenously applied alcohol stimulates the extrastriatal and striatal dopamine system. We measured subjective effects of alcohol and made correlation analyses with the striatal and extrastriatal D 2 /D 3 binding potential. Twenty-four healthy male μ-opioid receptor (OPRM1)118G allele carriers underwent a standardized intravenous and placebo alcohol administration. The subjective effects of alcohol were measured with a visual analogue scale. For the evaluation of the dopamine response we calculated the binding potential (BP ND ) by using the simplified reference tissue model (SRTM). In addition, we calculated distribution volumes (target and reference regions) in 10 subjects for which metabolite corrected arterial samples were available. In the alcohol condition no significant dopamine response in terms of a reduction of BP ND was observed in striatal and extrastriatal brain regions. We found a positive correlation for 'liking' alcohol and the BP ND in extrastriatal brain regions (Inferior frontal cortex (IFC) (r = 0.533, p = 0.007), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) (r = 0.416, p = 0.043) and prefrontal cortex (PFC) (r = 0.625, p = 0.001)). The acute alcohol effects on the D 2 /D 3 dopamine receptor binding potential of the striatal and extrastriatal system in our experiment were insignificant. A positive correlation of the subjective effect of 'liking' alcohol with cortical D 2 /D 3 receptors may hint at an addiction relevant trait. © 2016 Society for the Study of Addiction.

An Automated Inner Dimensional Measurement System Based on a Laser Displacement Sensor for Long-Stepped Pipes

PubMed Central

Zhang, Fumin; Qu, Xinghua; Ouyang, Jianfei

2012-01-01

A novel measurement prototype based on a mobile vehicle that carries a laser scanning sensor is proposed. The prototype is intended for the automated measurement of the interior 3D geometry of large-diameter long-stepped pipes. The laser displacement sensor, which has a small measurement range, is mounted on an extended arm of known length. It is scanned to improve the measurement accuracy for large-sized pipes. A fixing mechanism based on two sections is designed to ensure that the stepped pipe is concentric with the axis of rotation of the system. Data are acquired in a cylindrical coordinate system and fitted in a circle to determine diameter. Systematic errors covering arm length, tilt, and offset errors are analyzed and calibrated. The proposed system is applied to sample parts and the results are discussed to verify its effectiveness. This technique measures a diameter of 600 mm with an uncertainty of 0.02 mm at a 95% confidence probability. A repeatability test is performed to examine precision, which is 1.1 μm. A laser tracker is used to verify the measurement accuracy of the system, which is evaluated as 9 μm within a diameter of 600 mm. PMID:22778615

Scattering matrix elements of biological particles measured in a flow through system: theory and practice.

PubMed

Sloot, P M; Hoekstra, A G; van der Liet, H; Figdor, C G

1989-05-15

Light scattering techniques (including depolarization experiments) applied to biological cells provide a fast nondestructive probe that is very sensitive to small morphological differences. Until now quantitative measurement of these scatter phenomena were only described for particles in suspension. In this paper we discuss the symmetry conditions applicable to the scattering matrices of monodisperse biological cells in a flow cytometer and provide evidence that quantitative measurement of the elements of these scattering matrices is possible in flow through systems. Two fundamental extensions to the theoretical description of conventional scattering experiments are introduced: large cone integration of scattering signals and simultaneous implementation of the localization principle to account for scattering by a sharply focused laser beam. In addition, a specific calibration technique is proposed to account for depolarization effects of the highly specialized optics applied in flow through equipment.

Measurement and analysis of applied power, forces and material response in friction stir welding of aluminum alloy 6061

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Avila, Ricardo E.

The process of Friction Stir Welding (FSW) 6061 aluminum alloy is investigated, with focus on the forces and power being applied in the process and the material response. The main objective is to relate measurements of the forces and power applied in the process with mechanical properties of the material during the dynamic process, based on mathematical modeling and aided by computer simulations, using the LS-DYNA software for finite element modeling. Results of measurements of applied forces and power are presented. The result obtained for applied power is used in the construction of a mechanical variational model of FSW, in which minimization of a functional for the applied torque is sought, leading to an expression for shear stress in the material. The computer simulations are performed by application of the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method, in which no structured finite element mesh is used to construct a spatial discretization of the model. The current implementation of SPH in LS-DYNA allows a structural solution using a plastic kinematic material model. This work produces information useful to improve understanding of the material flow in the process, and thus adds to current knowledge about the behavior of materials under processes of severe plastic deformation, particularly those processes in which deformation occurs mainly by application of shear stress, aided by thermoplastic strain localization and dynamic recrystallization.

Nitric Oxide PLIF Measurements in the Hypersonic Materials Environmental Test System (HYMETS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Inman, Jennifer A.; Bathel, Brett F.; Johansen, Craig T.; Danehy, Paul M.; Jones, Stephen B.; Gragg, Jeffrey G.; Splinter, Scott C.

2011-01-01

A nonintrusive laser-based measurement system has been applied for the first time in the HYMETS (Hypersonic Materials Environmental Test System) 400 kW arc-heated wind tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center. Planar laser-induced fluorescence of naturally occurring nitric oxide (NO) has been used to obtain instantaneous flow visualization images, and to make both radial and axial velocity measurements. Results are presented at selected facility run conditions, including some in simulated Earth atmosphere (75% nitrogen, 20% oxygen, 5% argon) and others in simulated Martian atmosphere (71% carbon dioxide, 24% nitrogen, 5% argon), for bulk enthalpies ranging from 6.5 MJ/kg to 18.4 MJ/kg. Flow visualization images reveal the presence of large scale unsteady flow structures, and indicate nitric oxide fluorescence signal over more than 70% of the core flow for bulk enthalpies below about 11 MJ/kg, but over less than 10% of the core flow for bulk enthalpies above about 16 MJ/kg. Axial velocimetry was performed using molecular tagging velocimetry (MTV). Axial velocities of about 3 km/s were measured along the centerline. Radial velocimetry was performed by scanning the wavelength of the narrowband laser and analyzing the resulting Doppler shift. Radial velocities of 0.5km/s were measured.

A Foot-Arch Parameter Measurement System Using a RGB-D Camera

PubMed Central

Kong, Sejin; Mun, Kyung-Ryoul; Kim, Jinwook

2017-01-01

The conventional method of measuring foot-arch parameters is highly dependent on the measurer’s skill level, so accurate measurements are difficult to obtain. To solve this problem, we propose an autonomous geometric foot-arch analysis platform that is capable of capturing the sole of the foot and yields three foot-arch parameters: arch index (AI), arch width (AW) and arch height (AH). The proposed system captures 3D geometric and color data on the plantar surface of the foot in a static standing pose using a commercial RGB-D camera. It detects the region of the foot surface in contact with the footplate by applying the clustering and Markov random field (MRF)-based image segmentation methods. The system computes the foot-arch parameters by analyzing the 2/3D shape of the contact region. Validation experiments were carried out to assess the accuracy and repeatability of the system. The average errors for AI, AW, and AH estimation on 99 data collected from 11 subjects during 3 days were −0.17%, 0.95 mm, and 0.52 mm, respectively. Reliability and statistical analysis on the estimated foot-arch parameters, the robustness to the change of weights used in the MRF, the processing time were also performed to show the feasibility of the system. PMID:28777349

Icing research tunnel rotating bar calibration measurement system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gibson, Theresa L.; Dearmon, John M.

1993-01-01

In order to measure icing patterns across a test section of the Icing Research Tunnel, an automated rotating bar measurement system was developed at the NASA Lewis Research Center. In comparison with the previously used manual measurement system, this system provides a number of improvements: increased accuracy and repeatability, increased number of data points, reduced tunnel operating time, and improved documentation. The automated system uses a linear variable differential transformer (LVDT) to measure ice accretion. This instrument is driven along the bar by means of an intelligent stepper motor which also controls data recording. This paper describes the rotating bar calibration measurement system.

A weighted communicability measure applied to complex brain networks

PubMed Central

Crofts, Jonathan J.; Higham, Desmond J.

2009-01-01

Recent advances in experimental neuroscience allow non-invasive studies of the white matter tracts in the human central nervous system, thus making available cutting-edge brain anatomical data describing these global connectivity patterns. Through magnetic resonance imaging, this non-invasive technique is able to infer a snapshot of the cortical network within the living human brain. Here, we report on the initial success of a new weighted network communicability measure in distinguishing local and global differences between diseased patients and controls. This approach builds on recent advances in network science, where an underlying connectivity structure is used as a means to measure the ease with which information can flow between nodes. One advantage of our method is that it deals directly with the real-valued connectivity data, thereby avoiding the need to discretize the corresponding adjacency matrix, i.e. to round weights up to 1 or down to 0, depending upon some threshold value. Experimental results indicate that the new approach is able to extract biologically relevant features that are not immediately apparent from the raw connectivity data. PMID:19141429

Development of a lightweight portable optical measurement system for the print-through phenomenon of fiber-reinforced plastics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shiou, Fang-Jung; Lai, Yao-Zih; Tsai, Min-Long

2011-12-01

Due to the volumetric shrinkage of the resin and the induced residual stress during the curing process, the reflection on the gel-coating layer surface will be imperfect if twists and wrinkles exist on the gel-coating surface. This phenomenon is denoted as print-through phenomenon (PTP). Currently, the detection of PTP for most of the yacht industry using the composite materials is performed mainly by visual inspection, and its quality is needed to be quantified to determine their grades. Therefore, there is a need to develop a lightweight portable optical measurement system that can be applied quickly to inspect different levels of PTP for the fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) of the yacht body. The measurement system was developed based on the scattering principle of a reflected laser fringe projected on to the workpiece surface. Two indexes, namely the profile peak-valley height and wave-height of the Fast-Fourier Transform based on the centerline of the extracted image profile, were proposed to quantify the PTP of a test specimen. The mean line width of the extracted image was applied to evaluate the surface roughness of the test specimen, based on the scattering theorem. A set of software programmed with Borland C++ Builder language was developed to calculate the proposed indexes and the mean line width. The developed measurement system has been taken to some yacht factories to do the on-site measurements. The measurement results were, in general, consistent with the surface conditions of the polished surfaces.

User Performance Evaluation of Four Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems Applying ISO 15197:2013 Accuracy Criteria and Calculation of Insulin Dosing Errors.

PubMed

Freckmann, Guido; Jendrike, Nina; Baumstark, Annette; Pleus, Stefan; Liebing, Christina; Haug, Cornelia

2018-04-01

The international standard ISO 15197:2013 requires a user performance evaluation to assess if intended users are able to obtain accurate blood glucose measurement results with a self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) system. In this study, user performance was evaluated for four SMBG systems on the basis of ISO 15197:2013, and possibly related insulin dosing errors were calculated. Additionally, accuracy was assessed in the hands of study personnel. Accu-Chek ® Performa Connect (A), Contour ® plus ONE (B), FreeStyle Optium Neo (C), and OneTouch Select ® Plus (D) were evaluated with one test strip lot. After familiarization with the systems, subjects collected a capillary blood sample and performed an SMBG measurement. Study personnel observed the subjects' measurement technique. Then, study personnel performed SMBG measurements and comparison measurements. Number and percentage of SMBG measurements within ± 15 mg/dl and ± 15% of the comparison measurements at glucose concentrations < 100 and ≥ 100 mg/dl, respectively, were calculated. In addition, insulin dosing errors were modelled. In the hands of lay-users three systems fulfilled ISO 15197:2013 accuracy criteria with the investigated test strip lot showing 96% (A), 100% (B), and 98% (C) of results within the defined limits. All systems fulfilled minimum accuracy criteria in the hands of study personnel [99% (A), 100% (B), 99.5% (C), 96% (D)]. Measurements with all four systems were within zones of the consensus error grid and surveillance error grid associated with no or minimal risk. Regarding calculated insulin dosing errors, all 99% ranges were between dosing errors of - 2.7 and + 1.4 units for measurements in the hands of lay-users and between - 2.5 and + 1.4 units for study personnel. Frequent lay-user errors were not checking the test strips' expiry date and applying blood incorrectly. Data obtained in this study show that not all available SMBG systems complied with ISO 15197

Pitfalls and Security Measures for the Mobile EMR System in Medical Facilities

PubMed Central

Yeo, Kiho; Lee, Keehyuck; Kim, Jong-Min; Kim, Tae-Hun; Choi, Yong-Hoon; Jeong, Woo-Jin; Hwang, Hee; Baek, Rong Min

2012-01-01

Objectives The goal of this paper is to examine the security measures that should be reviewed by medical facilities that are trying to implement mobile Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems designed for hospitals. Methods The study of the security requirements for a mobile EMR system is divided into legal considerations and sectional security investigations. Legal considerations were examined with regard to remote medical services, patients' personal information and EMR, medical devices, the establishment of mobile systems, and mobile applications. For the 4 sectional security investigations, the mobile security level SL-3 from the Smartphone Security Standards of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) was used. Results From a compliance perspective, legal considerations for various laws and guidelines of mobile EMR were executed according to the model of the legal considerations. To correspond to the SL-3, separation of DMZ and wireless network is needed. Mobile access servers must be located in only the smartphone DMZ. Furthermore, security measures like 24-hour security control, WIPS, VPN, MDM, and ISMS for each section are needed to establish a secure mobile EMR system. Conclusions This paper suggested a direction for applying regulatory measures to strengthen the security of a mobile EMR system in accordance with the standard security requirements presented by the Smartphone Security Guideline of the NIS. A future study on the materialization of these suggestions after their application at actual medical facilities can be used as an illustrative case to determine the degree to which theory and reality correspond with one another. PMID:22844648

28 CFR 70.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Metric system of measurement. 70.15... AND OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 70.15 Metric system of measurement. The... that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

22 CFR 226.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Metric system of measurement. 226.15 Section....S. NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS Pre-award Requirements § 226.15 Metric system of measurement. (a...) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. (b...

22 CFR 226.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Metric system of measurement. 226.15 Section....S. NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS Pre-award Requirements § 226.15 Metric system of measurement. (a...) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. (b...

28 CFR 70.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Metric system of measurement. 70.15... AND OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 70.15 Metric system of measurement. The... that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

20 CFR 435.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Metric system of measurement. 435.15 Section..., AND COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 435.15 Metric system of measurement. The Metric... metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act requires each...

22 CFR 226.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Metric system of measurement. 226.15 Section....S. NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS Pre-award Requirements § 226.15 Metric system of measurement. (a...) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. (b...

20 CFR 435.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Metric system of measurement. 435.15 Section..., AND COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 435.15 Metric system of measurement. The Metric... metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act requires each...

28 CFR 70.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Metric system of measurement. 70.15... AND OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 70.15 Metric system of measurement. The... that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

28 CFR 70.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Metric system of measurement. 70.15... AND OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 70.15 Metric system of measurement. The... that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

20 CFR 435.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Metric system of measurement. 435.15 Section..., AND COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 435.15 Metric system of measurement. The Metric... metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act requires each...

20 CFR 435.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Metric system of measurement. 435.15 Section..., AND COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 435.15 Metric system of measurement. The Metric... metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act requires each...

28 CFR 70.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 28 Judicial Administration 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Metric system of measurement. 70.15... AND OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 70.15 Metric system of measurement. The... that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

Measuring the photodetector frequency response for ultrasonic applications by a heterodyne system with difference- frequency servo control.

PubMed

Koch, Christian

2010-05-01

A technique for the calibration of photodiodes in ultrasonic measurement systems using standard and cost-effective optical and electronic components is presented. A heterodyne system was realized using two commercially available distributed feedback lasers, and the required frequency stability and resolution were ensured by a difference-frequency servo control scheme. The frequency-sensitive element generating the error signal for the servo loop comprised a delay-line discriminator constructed from electronic elements. Measurements were carried out at up to 450 MHz, and the uncertainties of about 5% (k = 2) can be further reduced by improved radio frequency power measurement without losing the feature of using only simple elements. The technique initially dedicated to the determination of the frequency response of photodetectors applied in ultrasonic applications can be transferred to other application fields of optical measurements.

Measuring the ROI on Knowledge Management Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wickhorst, Vickie

2002-01-01

Defines knowledge management and corporate portals and provides a model that can be applied to assessing return on investment (ROI) for a knowledge management solution. Highlights include leveraging knowledge in an organization; assessing the value of human capital; and the Intellectual Capital Performance Measurement Model. (LRW)

Spectral characterization of dielectric materials using terahertz measurement systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seligman, Jeffrey M.

The performance of modern high frequency components and electronic systems are often limited by the properties of the materials from which they are made. Over the past decade, there has been an increased emphasis on the development of new, high performance dielectrics for use in high frequency systems. The development of these materials requires novel broadband characterization, instrumentation, and extraction techniques, from which models can be formulated. For this project several types of dielectric sheets were characterized at terahertz (THz) frequencies using quasi-optical (free-space) techniques. These measurement systems included a Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS, scalar), a Time Domain Spectrometer (TDS, vector), a Scalar Network Analyzer (SNA), and a THz Vector Network Analyzer (VNA). Using these instruments the THz spectral characteristics of dielectric samples were obtained. Polarization based anisotropy was observed in many of the materials measured using vector systems. The TDS was the most informative and flexible instrument for dielectric characterization at THz frequencies. To our knowledge, this is the first such comprehensive study to be performed. Anisotropy effects within materials that do not come into play at microwave frequencies (e.g. ~10 GHz) were found, in many cases, to increase measured losses at THz frequencies by up to an order of magnitude. The frequency dependent properties obtained during the course of this study included loss tangent, permittivity (index of refraction), and dielectric constant. The results were largely consistent between all the different systems and correlated closely to manufacturer specifications over a wide frequency range (325 GHz-1.5 THz). Anisotropic behavior was observed for some of the materials. Non-destructive evaluation and testing (NDE/NDT) techniques were used throughout. A precision test fixture was developed to accomplish these measurements. Time delay, insertion loss, and S-parameters were

Acoustic systems for the measurement of streamflow

USGS Publications Warehouse

Laenen, Antonius; Smith, Winchell

1983-01-01

The acoustic velocity meter (AVM), also referred to as an ultrasonic flowmeter, has been an operational tool for the measurement of streamflow since 1965. Very little information is available concerning AVM operation, performance, and limitations. The purpose of this report is to consolidate information in such a manner as to provide a better understanding about the application of this instrumentation to streamflow measurement. AVM instrumentation is highly accurate and nonmechanical. Most commercial AVM systems that measure streamflow use the time-of-travel method to determine a velocity between two points. The systems operate on the principle that point-to-point upstream travel-time of sound is longer than the downstream travel-time, and this difference can be monitored and measured accurately by electronics. AVM equipment has no practical upper limit of measurable velocity if sonic transducers are securely placed and adequately protected. AVM systems used in streamflow measurement generally operate with a resolution of ?0.01 meter per second but this is dependent on system frequency, path length, and signal attenuation. In some applications the performance of AVM equipment may be degraded by multipath interference, signal bending, signal attenuation, and variable streamline orientation. Presently used minicomputer systems, although expensive to purchase and maintain, perform well. Increased use of AVM systems probably will be realized as smaller, less expensive, and more conveniently operable microprocessor-based systems become readily available. Available AVM equipment should be capable of flow measurement in a wide variety of situations heretofore untried. New signal-detection techniques and communication linkages can provide additional flexibility to the systems so that operation is possible in more river and estuary situations.

A Dynamic Attitude Measurement System Based on LINS

PubMed Central

Li, Hanzhou; Pan, Quan; Wang, Xiaoxu; Zhang, Juanni; Li, Jiang; Jiang, Xiangjun

2014-01-01

A dynamic attitude measurement system (DAMS) is developed based on a laser inertial navigation system (LINS). Three factors of the dynamic attitude measurement error using LINS are analyzed: dynamic error, time synchronization and phase lag. An optimal coning errors compensation algorithm is used to reduce coning errors, and two-axis wobbling verification experiments are presented in the paper. The tests indicate that the attitude accuracy is improved 2-fold by the algorithm. In order to decrease coning errors further, the attitude updating frequency is improved from 200 Hz to 2000 Hz. At the same time, a novel finite impulse response (FIR) filter with three notches is designed to filter the dither frequency of the ring laser gyro (RLG). The comparison tests suggest that the new filter is five times more effective than the old one. The paper indicates that phase-frequency characteristics of FIR filter and first-order holder of navigation computer constitute the main sources of phase lag in LINS. A formula to calculate the LINS attitude phase lag is introduced in the paper. The expressions of dynamic attitude errors induced by phase lag are derived. The paper proposes a novel synchronization mechanism that is able to simultaneously solve the problems of dynamic test synchronization and phase compensation. A single-axis turntable and a laser interferometer are applied to verify the synchronization mechanism. The experiments results show that the theoretically calculated values of phase lag and attitude error induced by phase lag can both match perfectly with testing data. The block diagram of DAMS and physical photos are presented in the paper. The final experiments demonstrate that the real-time attitude measurement accuracy of DAMS can reach up to 20″ (1σ) and the synchronization error is less than 0.2 ms on the condition of three axes wobbling for 10 min. PMID:25177802

45 CFR 74.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Metric system of measurement. 74.15 Section 74.15... ORGANIZATIONS, AND COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 74.15 Metric system of measurement. The... that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

32 CFR 32.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 32 National Defense 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Metric system of measurement. 32.15 Section 32..., HOSPITALS, AND OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 32.15 Metric system of measurement...) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce, and for...

2 CFR 215.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 2 Grants and Agreements 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Metric system of measurement. 215.15 Section... ORGANIZATIONS (OMB CIRCULAR A-110) Pre-Award Requirements § 215.15 Metric system of measurement. The Metric... metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act requires each...

10 CFR 600.115 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Metric system of measurement. 600.115 Section 600.115..., Hospitals, and Other Nonprofit Organizations Pre-Award Requirements § 600.115 Metric system of measurement...) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

32 CFR 32.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 32 National Defense 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Metric system of measurement. 32.15 Section 32..., HOSPITALS, AND OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 32.15 Metric system of measurement...) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce, and for...

10 CFR 600.115 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Metric system of measurement. 600.115 Section 600.115..., Hospitals, and Other Nonprofit Organizations Pre-Award Requirements § 600.115 Metric system of measurement...) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

45 CFR 74.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Metric system of measurement. 74.15 Section 74.15... ORGANIZATIONS, AND COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 74.15 Metric system of measurement. The... that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

32 CFR 32.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Metric system of measurement. 32.15 Section 32..., HOSPITALS, AND OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 32.15 Metric system of measurement...) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce, and for...

45 CFR 74.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Metric system of measurement. 74.15 Section 74.15... ORGANIZATIONS, AND COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 74.15 Metric system of measurement. The... that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

10 CFR 600.115 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Metric system of measurement. 600.115 Section 600.115..., Hospitals, and Other Nonprofit Organizations Pre-Award Requirements § 600.115 Metric system of measurement...) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

32 CFR 32.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 32 National Defense 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Metric system of measurement. 32.15 Section 32..., HOSPITALS, AND OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 32.15 Metric system of measurement...) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce, and for...

2 CFR 215.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 2 Grants and Agreements 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Metric system of measurement. 215.15 Section... ORGANIZATIONS (OMB CIRCULAR A-110) Pre-Award Requirements § 215.15 Metric system of measurement. The Metric... metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act requires each...

32 CFR 32.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 32 National Defense 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Metric system of measurement. 32.15 Section 32..., HOSPITALS, AND OTHER NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 32.15 Metric system of measurement...) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce, and for...

45 CFR 74.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Metric system of measurement. 74.15 Section 74.15... ORGANIZATIONS, AND COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 74.15 Metric system of measurement. The... that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

10 CFR 600.115 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Metric system of measurement. 600.115 Section 600.115..., Hospitals, and Other Nonprofit Organizations Pre-Award Requirements § 600.115 Metric system of measurement...) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

10 CFR 600.115 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Metric system of measurement. 600.115 Section 600.115..., Hospitals, and Other Nonprofit Organizations Pre-Award Requirements § 600.115 Metric system of measurement...) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

45 CFR 74.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 45 Public Welfare 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Metric system of measurement. 74.15 Section 74.15... ORGANIZATIONS, AND COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATIONS Pre-Award Requirements § 74.15 Metric system of measurement. The... that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and commerce. The Act...

PRN 87-1: Label Improvement Program for Pesticides Applied through Irrigation Systems (Chemigation)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This Notice requires registrants of pesticide products registered under FIFRA and applied through irrigation systems to revise the labeling for such products to include additional use directions and other statements described in this Notice.

Dynamic Measurement of Disease Activity in Acute Pancreatitis: The Pancreatitis Activity Scoring System

PubMed Central

Wu, Bechien U.; Batech, Michael; Quezada, Michael; Lew, Daniel; Fujikawa, Kelly; Kung, Jonathan; Jamil, Laith H.; Chen, Wansu; Afghani, Elham; Reicher, Sonya; Buxbaum, James; Pandol, Stephen J.

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVES Acute pancreatitis has a highly variable course. Currently there is no widely accepted method to measure disease activity in patients hospitalized for acute pancreatitis. We aimed to develop a clinical activity index that incorporates routine clinical parameters to assist in the measurement, study, and management of acute pancreatitis. METHODS We used the UCLA/RAND appropriateness method to identify items for inclusion in the disease activity instrument. We conducted a systematic literature review followed by two sets of iterative modified Delphi meetings including a panel of international experts between November 2014 and November 2015. The final instrument was then applied to patient data obtained from five separate study cohorts across Southern California to assess profiles of disease activity. RESULTS From a list of 35 items comprising 6 domains, we identified 5 parameters for inclusion in the final weighted clinical activity scoring system: organ failure, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, abdominal pain, requirement for opiates and ability to tolerate oral intake. We applied the weighted scoring system across the 5 study cohorts comprising 3,123 patients. We identified several distinct patterns of disease activity: (i) overall there was an elevated score at baseline relative to discharge across all study cohorts, (ii) there were distinct patterns of disease activity related to duration of illness as well as (iii) early and persistent elevation of disease activity among patients with severe acute pancreatitis defined as persistent organ failure. CONCLUSIONS We present the development and initial validation of a clinical activity score for real-time assessment of disease activity in patients with acute pancreatitis. PMID:28462914

Dynamic Measurement of Disease Activity in Acute Pancreatitis: The Pancreatitis Activity Scoring System.

PubMed

Wu, Bechien U; Batech, Michael; Quezada, Michael; Lew, Daniel; Fujikawa, Kelly; Kung, Jonathan; Jamil, Laith H; Chen, Wansu; Afghani, Elham; Reicher, Sonya; Buxbaum, James; Pandol, Stephen J

2017-07-01

Acute pancreatitis has a highly variable course. Currently there is no widely accepted method to measure disease activity in patients hospitalized for acute pancreatitis. We aimed to develop a clinical activity index that incorporates routine clinical parameters to assist in the measurement, study, and management of acute pancreatitis. We used the UCLA/RAND appropriateness method to identify items for inclusion in the disease activity instrument. We conducted a systematic literature review followed by two sets of iterative modified Delphi meetings including a panel of international experts between November 2014 and November 2015. The final instrument was then applied to patient data obtained from five separate study cohorts across Southern California to assess profiles of disease activity. From a list of 35 items comprising 6 domains, we identified 5 parameters for inclusion in the final weighted clinical activity scoring system: organ failure, systemic inflammatory response syndrome, abdominal pain, requirement for opiates and ability to tolerate oral intake. We applied the weighted scoring system across the 5 study cohorts comprising 3,123 patients. We identified several distinct patterns of disease activity: (i) overall there was an elevated score at baseline relative to discharge across all study cohorts, (ii) there were distinct patterns of disease activity related to duration of illness as well as (iii) early and persistent elevation of disease activity among patients with severe acute pancreatitis defined as persistent organ failure. We present the development and initial validation of a clinical activity score for real-time assessment of disease activity in patients with acute pancreatitis.

System Sensitivity Analysis Applied to the Conceptual Design of a Dual-Fuel Rocket SSTO

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Olds, John R.

1994-01-01

This paper reports the results of initial efforts to apply the System Sensitivity Analysis (SSA) optimization method to the conceptual design of a single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) launch vehicle. SSA is an efficient, calculus-based MDO technique for generating sensitivity derivatives in a highly multidisciplinary design environment. The method has been successfully applied to conceptual aircraft design and has been proven to have advantages over traditional direct optimization methods. The method is applied to the optimization of an advanced, piloted SSTO design similar to vehicles currently being analyzed by NASA as possible replacements for the Space Shuttle. Powered by a derivative of the Russian RD-701 rocket engine, the vehicle employs a combination of hydrocarbon, hydrogen, and oxygen propellants. Three primary disciplines are included in the design - propulsion, performance, and weights & sizing. A complete, converged vehicle analysis depends on the use of three standalone conceptual analysis computer codes. Efforts to minimize vehicle dry (empty) weight are reported in this paper. The problem consists of six system-level design variables and one system-level constraint. Using SSA in a 'manual' fashion to generate gradient information, six system-level iterations were performed from each of two different starting points. The results showed a good pattern of convergence for both starting points. A discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the method, possible areas of improvement, and future work is included.

Protocol for Uniformly Measuring and Expressing the Performance of Energy Storage Systems

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

Conover, David R.; Crawford, Alasdair J.; Fuller, Jason

This Protocol provides a set of “best practices” for characterizing energy storage systems (ESSs) and measuring and reporting their performance. It serves as a basis for assessing how an ESS will perform with respect to key performance attributes relevant to different applications. It is intended to provide a valid and accurate basis for the comparison of different ESSs. By achieving the stated purpose, the Protocol will enable more informed decision-making in the selection of ESSs for various stationary applications. The Protocol identifies general information and technical specifications relevant in describing an ESS and also defines a set of test, measurement,more » and evaluation criteria with which to express the performance of ESSs that are intended for energy-intensive and/or power-intensive stationary applications. An ESS includes a storage device, battery management system, and any power conversion systems installed with the storage device. The Protocol is agnostic with respect to the storage technology and the size and rating of the ESS. The Protocol does not apply to single-use storage devices and storage devices that are not coupled with power conversion systems, nor does it address safety, security, or operations and maintenance of ESSs, or provide any pass/fail criteria.« less

Constraints to applying systems thinking concepts in health systems: A regional perspective from surveying stakeholders in Eastern Mediterranean countries.

PubMed

El-Jardali, Fadi; Adam, Taghreed; Ataya, Nour; Jamal, Diana; Jaafar, Maha

2014-12-01

Systems Thinking (ST) has recently been promoted as an important approach to health systems strengthening. However, ST is not common practice, particularly in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). This paper seeks to explore the barriers that may hinder its application in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) and possible strategies to mitigate them. A survey consisting of open-ended questions was conducted with a purposive sample of health policy-makers such as senior officials from the Ministry of Health (MoH), researchers, and other stakeholders such as civil society groups and professional associations from ten countries in the region. A total of 62 respondents participated in the study. Thematic analysis was conducted. There was strong recognition of the relevance and usefulness of ST to health systems policy-making and research, although misconceptions about what ST means were also identified. Experience with applying ST was very limited. Approaches to designing health policies in the EMR were perceived as reactive and fragmented (66%). Commonly perceived constraints to application of ST were: a perceived notion of its costliness combined with lack of the necessary funding to operationalize it (53%), competing political interests and lack of government accountability (50%), lack of awareness about relevance and value (47%), limited capacity to apply it (45%), and difficulty in coordinating and managing stakeholders (39%). While several strategies have been proposed to mitigate most of these constraints, they emphasized the importance of political endorsement and adoption of ST at the leadership level, together with building the necessary capacity to apply it and apply the learning in research and practice.

Paper-and-Pencil and Web-Based Testing: The Measurement Invariance of the Big Five Personality Tests in Applied Settings

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vecchione, Michele; Alessandri, Guido; Barbaranelli, Claudio

2012-01-01

This study investigates the measurement equivalence of a five-factor measure of personality across two groups applying for jobs, who completed the same questionnaire using either a paper-and-pencil (n = 429) or a web online answer format (n = 651). The data were collected using the Big Five Questionnaire-2 (BFQ-2; which is a measure of the Five…

Blade Displacement Measurement Technique Applied to a Full-Scale Rotor Test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abrego, Anita I.; Olson, Lawrence E.; Romander, Ethan A.; Barrows, Danny A.; Burner, Alpheus W.

2012-01-01

Blade displacement measurements using multi-camera photogrammetry were acquired during the full-scale wind tunnel test of the UH-60A Airloads rotor, conducted in the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel. The objectives were to measure the blade displacement and deformation of the four rotor blades as they rotated through the entire rotor azimuth. These measurements are expected to provide a unique dataset to aid in the development and validation of rotorcraft prediction techniques. They are used to resolve the blade shape and position, including pitch, flap, lag and elastic deformation. Photogrammetric data encompass advance ratios from 0.15 to slowed rotor simulations of 1.0, thrust coefficient to rotor solidity ratios from 0.01 to 0.13, and rotor shaft angles from -10.0 to 8.0 degrees. An overview of the blade displacement measurement methodology and system development, descriptions of image processing, uncertainty considerations, preliminary results covering static and moderate advance ratio test conditions and future considerations are presented. Comparisons of experimental and computational results for a moderate advance ratio forward flight condition show good trend agreements, but also indicate significant mean discrepancies in lag and elastic twist. Blade displacement pitch measurements agree well with both the wind tunnel commanded and measured values.

34 CFR 74.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 34 Education 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Metric system of measurement. 74.15 Section 74.15... Metric system of measurement. The Metric Conversion Act, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act (15 U.S.C. 205) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S...

22 CFR 145.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Metric system of measurement. 145.15 Section... system of measurement. The Metric Conversion Act, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act (15 U.S.C. 205) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and...

36 CFR 1210.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 36 Parks, Forests, and Public Property 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Metric system of measurement... system of measurement. The Metric Conversion Act, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act (15 U.S.C. 205) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and...

34 CFR 74.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 34 Education 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Metric system of measurement. 74.15 Section 74.15... Metric system of measurement. The Metric Conversion Act, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act (15 U.S.C. 205) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S...

14 CFR 1260.115 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 14 Aeronautics and Space 5 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Metric system of measurement. 1260.115....115 Metric system of measurement. The Metric Conversion Act, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act (15 U.S.C. 205) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S...

22 CFR 145.15 - Metric system of measurement.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Metric system of measurement. 145.15 Section... system of measurement. The Metric Conversion Act, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act (15 U.S.C. 205) declares that the metric system is the preferred measurement system for U.S. trade and...