Sample records for multiple place fields

  1. Spiking Neurons in a Hierarchical Self-Organizing Map Model Can Learn to Develop Spatial and Temporal Properties of Entorhinal Grid Cells and Hippocampal Place Cells

    PubMed Central

    Pilly, Praveen K.; Grossberg, Stephen

    2013-01-01

    Medial entorhinal grid cells and hippocampal place cells provide neural correlates of spatial representation in the brain. A place cell typically fires whenever an animal is present in one or more spatial regions, or places, of an environment. A grid cell typically fires in multiple spatial regions that form a regular hexagonal grid structure extending throughout the environment. Different grid and place cells prefer spatially offset regions, with their firing fields increasing in size along the dorsoventral axes of the medial entorhinal cortex and hippocampus. The spacing between neighboring fields for a grid cell also increases along the dorsoventral axis. This article presents a neural model whose spiking neurons operate in a hierarchy of self-organizing maps, each obeying the same laws. This spiking GridPlaceMap model simulates how grid cells and place cells may develop. It responds to realistic rat navigational trajectories by learning grid cells with hexagonal grid firing fields of multiple spatial scales and place cells with one or more firing fields that match neurophysiological data about these cells and their development in juvenile rats. The place cells represent much larger spaces than the grid cells, which enable them to support navigational behaviors. Both self-organizing maps amplify and learn to categorize the most frequent and energetic co-occurrences of their inputs. The current results build upon a previous rate-based model of grid and place cell learning, and thus illustrate a general method for converting rate-based adaptive neural models, without the loss of any of their analog properties, into models whose cells obey spiking dynamics. New properties of the spiking GridPlaceMap model include the appearance of theta band modulation. The spiking model also opens a path for implementation in brain-emulating nanochips comprised of networks of noisy spiking neurons with multiple-level adaptive weights for controlling autonomous adaptive robots capable of spatial navigation. PMID:23577130

  2. Coordinated learning of grid cell and place cell spatial and temporal properties: multiple scales, attention and oscillations.

    PubMed

    Grossberg, Stephen; Pilly, Praveen K

    2014-02-05

    A neural model proposes how entorhinal grid cells and hippocampal place cells may develop as spatial categories in a hierarchy of self-organizing maps (SOMs). The model responds to realistic rat navigational trajectories by learning both grid cells with hexagonal grid firing fields of multiple spatial scales, and place cells with one or more firing fields, that match neurophysiological data about their development in juvenile rats. Both grid and place cells can develop by detecting, learning and remembering the most frequent and energetic co-occurrences of their inputs. The model's parsimonious properties include: similar ring attractor mechanisms process linear and angular path integration inputs that drive map learning; the same SOM mechanisms can learn grid cell and place cell receptive fields; and the learning of the dorsoventral organization of multiple spatial scale modules through medial entorhinal cortex to hippocampus (HC) may use mechanisms homologous to those for temporal learning through lateral entorhinal cortex to HC ('neural relativity'). The model clarifies how top-down HC-to-entorhinal attentional mechanisms may stabilize map learning, simulates how hippocampal inactivation may disrupt grid cells, and explains data about theta, beta and gamma oscillations. The article also compares the three main types of grid cell models in the light of recent data.

  3. From grid cells to place cells with realistic field sizes

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    While grid cells in the medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) of rodents have multiple, regularly arranged firing fields, place cells in the cornu ammonis (CA) regions of the hippocampus mostly have single spatial firing fields. Since there are extensive projections from MEC to the CA regions, many models have suggested that a feedforward network can transform grid cell firing into robust place cell firing. However, these models generate place fields that are consistently too small compared to those recorded in experiments. Here, we argue that it is implausible that grid cell activity alone can be transformed into place cells with robust place fields of realistic size in a feedforward network. We propose two solutions to this problem. Firstly, weakly spatially modulated cells, which are abundant throughout EC, provide input to downstream place cells along with grid cells. This simple model reproduces many place cell characteristics as well as results from lesion studies. Secondly, the recurrent connections between place cells in the CA3 network generate robust and realistic place fields. Both mechanisms could work in parallel in the hippocampal formation and this redundancy might account for the robustness of place cell responses to a range of disruptions of the hippocampal circuitry. PMID:28750005

  4. Stator for a rotating electrical machine having multiple control windings

    DOEpatents

    Shah, Manoj R.; Lewandowski, Chad R.

    2001-07-17

    A rotating electric machine is provided which includes multiple independent control windings for compensating for rotor imbalances and for levitating/centering the rotor. The multiple independent control windings are placed at different axial locations along the rotor to oppose forces created by imbalances at different axial locations along the rotor. The multiple control windings can also be used to levitate/center the rotor with a relatively small magnetic field per unit area since the rotor and/or the main power winding provides the bias field.

  5. An oppositely charged insect exclusion screen with gap-free multiple electric fields

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Matsuda, Yoshinori; Kakutani, Koji; Nonomura, Teruo; Kimbara, Junji; Kusakari, Shin-ichi; Osamura, Kazumi; Toyoda, Hideyoshi

    2012-12-01

    An electric field screen was constructed to examine insect attraction mechanisms in multiple electric fields generated inside the screen. The screen consisted of two parallel insulated conductor wires (ICWs) charged with equal but opposite voltages and two separate grounded nets connected to each other and placed on each side of the ICW layer. Insects released inside the fields were charged either positively or negatively as a result of electricity flow from or to the insect, respectively. The force generated between the charged insects and opposite ICW charges was sufficient to capture all insects.

  6. Theta phase precession of grid and place cell firing in open environments

    PubMed Central

    Jeewajee, A.; Barry, C.; Douchamps, V.; Manson, D.; Lever, C.; Burgess, N.

    2014-01-01

    Place and grid cells in the rodent hippocampal formation tend to fire spikes at successively earlier phases relative to the local field potential theta rhythm as the animal runs through the cell's firing field on a linear track. However, this ‘phase precession’ effect is less well characterized during foraging in two-dimensional open field environments. Here, we mapped runs through the firing fields onto a unit circle to pool data from multiple runs. We asked which of seven behavioural and physiological variables show the best circular–linear correlation with the theta phase of spikes from place cells in hippocampal area CA1 and from grid cells from superficial layers of medial entorhinal cortex. The best correlate was the distance to the firing field peak projected onto the animal's current running direction. This was significantly stronger than other correlates, such as instantaneous firing rate and time-in-field, but similar in strength to correlates with other measures of distance travelled through the firing field. Phase precession was stronger in place cells than grid cells overall, and robust phase precession was seen in traversals through firing field peripheries (although somewhat less than in traversals through the centre), consistent with phase coding of displacement along the current direction. This type of phase coding, of place field distance ahead of or behind the animal, may be useful for allowing calculation of goal directions during navigation. PMID:24366140

  7. Quadruple Axis Neutron Computed Tomography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schillinger, Burkhard; Bausenwein, Dominik

    Neutron computed tomography takes more time for a full tomography than X-rays or Synchrotron radiation, because the source intensity is limited. Most neutron imaging detectors have a square field of view, so if tomography of elongated, narrow samples, e.g. fuel rods, sword blades is recorded, much of the detector area is wasted. Using multiple rotation axes, several samples can be placed inside the field of view, and multiple tomographies can be recorded at the same time by later splitting the recorded images into separate tomography data sets. We describe a new multiple-axis setup using four independent miniaturized rotation tables.

  8. Minimizing field time to get reasonable greenhouse gas flux estimates from many chambers

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Greenhouse gas measurements from soil are typically derived from static chambers placed in several replicate field plots and in multiple locations within a plot. Inherent variability in emissions is due to a number of known and unknown factors. Getting robust emission estimates from numerous chamber...

  9. Rural Literacies: Toward Social Cartography

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Corbett, Michael; Donehower, Kim

    2017-01-01

    In this article we analyze the emergence of the field of rural literacies. We attempt to map this field in a way that illustrates the foundational ideas of literacy and rurality as relational concepts, which are devoid of meaning as what we call "singularities." Our insistence on the importance of context and place reveals multiple rural…

  10. Where do the Field Plots Belong? A Multiple-Constraint Sampling Design for the BigFoot Project

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kennedy, R. E.; Cohen, W. B.; Kirschbaum, A. A.; Gower, S. T.

    2002-12-01

    A key component of a MODIS validation project is effective characterization of biophysical measures on the ground. Fine-grain ecological field measurements must be placed strategically to capture variability at the scale of the MODIS imagery. Here we describe the BigFoot project's revised sampling scheme, designed to simultaneously meet three important goals: capture landscape variability, avoid spatial autocorrelation between field plots, and minimize time and expense of field sampling. A stochastic process places plots in clumped constellations to reduce field sampling costs, while minimizing spatial autocorrelation. This stochastic process is repeated, creating several hundred realizations of plot constellations. Each constellation is scored and ranked according to its ability to match landscape variability in several Landsat-based spectral indices, and its ability to minimize field sampling costs. We show how this approach has recently been used to place sample plots at the BigFoot project's two newest study areas, one in a desert system and one in a tundra system. We also contrast this sampling approach to that already used at the four prior BigFoot project sites.

  11. Scattering of focused ultrasonic beams by cavities in a solid half-space.

    PubMed

    Rahni, Ehsan Kabiri; Hajzargarbashi, Talieh; Kundu, Tribikram

    2012-08-01

    The ultrasonic field generated by a point focused acoustic lens placed in a fluid medium adjacent to a solid half-space, containing one or more spherical cavities, is modeled. The semi-analytical distributed point source method (DPSM) is followed for the modeling. This technique properly takes into account the interaction effect between the cavities placed in the focused ultrasonic field, fluid-solid interface and the lens surface. The approximate analytical solution that is available in the literature for the single cavity geometry is very restrictive and cannot handle multiple cavity problems. Finite element solutions for such problems are also prohibitively time consuming at high frequencies. Solution of this problem is necessary to predict when two cavities placed in close proximity inside a solid can be distinguished by an acoustic lens placed outside the solid medium and when such distinction is not possible.

  12. Singular gauge transformation and the Erler-Maccaferri solution in bosonic open string field theory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Miwa, Akitsugu; Sugita, Kazuhiro

    2017-09-01

    We study candidate multiple-brane solutions of bosonic open string field theory. They are constructed by performing a singular gauge transformation n times for the Erler-Maccaferri solution. We check the equation of motion in the strong sense, and find that it is satisfied only when we perform the gauge transformation once. We calculate the energy for that case and obtain a support that the solution is a multiple-brane solution. We also check the tachyon profile for a specific solution that we interpret as describing a D24-brane placed on a D25-brane.

  13. Spatial-area selective retrieval of multiple object-place associations in a hierarchical cognitive map formed by theta phase coding.

    PubMed

    Sato, Naoyuki; Yamaguchi, Yoko

    2009-06-01

    The human cognitive map is known to be hierarchically organized consisting of a set of perceptually clustered landmarks. Patient studies have demonstrated that these cognitive maps are maintained by the hippocampus, while the neural dynamics are still poorly understood. The authors have shown that the neural dynamic "theta phase precession" observed in the rodent hippocampus may be capable of forming hierarchical cognitive maps in humans. In the model, a visual input sequence consisting of object and scene features in the central and peripheral visual fields, respectively, results in the formation of a hierarchical cognitive map for object-place associations. Surprisingly, it is possible for such a complex memory structure to be formed in a few seconds. In this paper, we evaluate the memory retrieval of object-place associations in the hierarchical network formed by theta phase precession. The results show that multiple object-place associations can be retrieved with the initial cue of a scene input. Importantly, according to the wide-to-narrow unidirectional connections among scene units, the spatial area for object-place retrieval can be controlled by the spatial area of the initial cue input. These results indicate that the hierarchical cognitive maps have computational advantages on a spatial-area selective retrieval of multiple object-place associations. Theta phase precession dynamics is suggested as a fundamental neural mechanism of the human cognitive map.

  14. Fundamental study on the magnetic field control method using multiple HTS coils for Magnetic Drug Delivery System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hirano, R.; Kim, S. B.; Nakagawa, T.; Tomisaka, Y.; Ueda, H.

    2017-07-01

    The magnetic drug delivery system (MDDS) is a key technology to reduce the side effects in the medical applications, and the magnetic force control is very important issue in MDDS. In this application, the strength of magnetic field and gradient required to MDDS devices are 54 mT and 5.5 T/m, respectively. We proposed the new magnetic force control system that consists of the multiple racetrack HTS magnets. We can control the magnetic field gradient along the longitudinal direction by the arrangement of the multiple racetrack HTS magnets and operating current of each magnet. When the racetrack HTS magnets were used, the critical current was reduced by the self-magnetic field. Therefore, the shape design of HTS magnet to reduce the magnet field into the surface of HTS tapes was required. Therefore, the electromagnetic analysis based on finite element method (FEM) was carried out to design and optimize the shape of multiple racetrack HTS magnet. We were able to suppress the reduction of critical current by placing the magnetic substance at upper and lower side of the HTS magnets. It was confirmed that obtained maximum values of magnetic field strength and field gradient were 33 mT and 0.18 T/m, respectively.

  15. Hippocampal Remapping Is Constrained by Sparseness rather than Capacity

    PubMed Central

    Kammerer, Axel; Leibold, Christian

    2014-01-01

    Grid cells in the medial entorhinal cortex encode space with firing fields that are arranged on the nodes of spatial hexagonal lattices. Potential candidates to read out the space information of this grid code and to combine it with other sensory cues are hippocampal place cells. In this paper, we investigate a population of grid cells providing feed-forward input to place cells. The capacity of the underlying synaptic transformation is determined by both spatial acuity and the number of different spatial environments that can be represented. The codes for different environments arise from phase shifts of the periodical entorhinal cortex patterns that induce a global remapping of hippocampal place fields, i.e., a new random assignment of place fields for each environment. If only a single environment is encoded, the grid code can be read out at high acuity with only few place cells. A surplus in place cells can be used to store a space code for more environments via remapping. The number of stored environments can be increased even more efficiently by stronger recurrent inhibition and by partitioning the place cell population such that learning affects only a small fraction of them in each environment. We find that the spatial decoding acuity is much more resilient to multiple remappings than the sparseness of the place code. Since the hippocampal place code is sparse, we thus conclude that the projection from grid cells to the place cells is not using its full capacity to transfer space information. Both populations may encode different aspects of space. PMID:25474570

  16. 41 CFR 102-5.30 - What definitions apply to this part?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... business or would substantially increase a Federal agency's efficiency and economy. Emergency means... locations other than his/her regular place of work. (Multiple stops (itinerant-type travel) within the... locations that are only accessible by Government-provided transportation are examples of field work.) Home...

  17. An experimental study of multiple jet mixing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Krothapalli, D.; Baganoff, D.; Karamcheti, K.

    1979-01-01

    Measurements of an incompressible jet issuing from an array of rectangular lobes, equally spaced with their small dimensions in a line, both as a free jet, and as a confined jet, are carried out in three parts: (1) on a single rectangular free jet, (2) on the same jet in a multiple free jet configuration, and (3) on the same jet in a multiple jet configuration with confining surfaces (two parallel plates are symmetrically placed perpendicular to the long dimension of each lobe covering the entire flow field under consideration). In the case of a single rectangular free jet, the flow field of the jet is characterized by the presence of three distinct regions in the axial mean velocity decay and are referred to as: potential core region, two dimensional type region, and axisymmetric type region. In the case of a multiple free jet, the flow field for downstream distance X greater than 60D (D = width of a lobe) resembles that of a jet exiting from a two dimensional nozzle with its short dimension being the long dimension of the lobe.

  18. Participant Observation, Anthropology Methodology and Design Anthropology Research Inquiry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gunn, Wendy; Løgstrup, Louise B.

    2014-01-01

    Within the design studio, and across multiple field sites, the authors compare involvement of research tools and materials during collaborative processes of designing. Their aim is to trace temporal dimensions (shifts/ movements) of where and when learning takes place along different sites of practice. They do so by combining participant…

  19. Constructing an Identity: Environmental Educators in Mexico

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amaya, Silvia Fuentes

    2004-01-01

    The environmental education field in Mexico is a relatively new social space characterized by wide discursive proliferation and organized by regional hegemonies. In this context, a plurality of identification processes has taken place. There is not a singular environmental educator identity but a multiplicity of local definitions. In this paper, I…

  20. Learning through Place-Making: Virtual Environments and Future Literacies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Berry, Maryanne Susan

    2010-01-01

    This study examines a project through which elementary school and high school students collaborated with university Architecture/New Media students in building models of virtual, immersive libraries. It presents the project in the context of multiple and cross-disciplinary fields currently investigating the use of virtual and immersive…

  1. Methodological Caveats in the Detection of Coordinated Replay between Place Cells and Grid Cells.

    PubMed

    Trimper, John B; Trettel, Sean G; Hwaun, Ernie; Colgin, Laura Lee

    2017-01-01

    At rest, hippocampal "place cells," neurons with receptive fields corresponding to specific spatial locations, reactivate in a manner that reflects recently traveled trajectories. These "replay" events have been proposed as a mechanism underlying memory consolidation, or the transfer of a memory representation from the hippocampus to neocortical regions associated with the original sensory experience. Accordingly, it has been hypothesized that hippocampal replay of a particular experience should be accompanied by simultaneous reactivation of corresponding representations in the neocortex and in the entorhinal cortex, the primary interface between the hippocampus and the neocortex. Recent studies have reported that coordinated replay may occur between hippocampal place cells and medial entorhinal cortex grid cells, cells with multiple spatial receptive fields. Assessing replay in grid cells is problematic, however, as the cells exhibit regularly spaced spatial receptive fields in all environments and, therefore, coordinated replay between place cells and grid cells may be detected by chance. In the present report, we adapted analytical approaches utilized in recent studies of grid cell and place cell replay to determine the extent to which coordinated replay is spuriously detected between grid cells and place cells recorded from separate rats. For a subset of the employed analytical methods, coordinated replay was detected spuriously in a significant proportion of cases in which place cell replay events were randomly matched with grid cell firing epochs of equal duration. More rigorous replay evaluation procedures and minimum spike count requirements greatly reduced the amount of spurious findings. These results provide insights into aspects of place cell and grid cell activity during rest that contribute to false detection of coordinated replay. The results further emphasize the need for careful controls and rigorous methods when testing the hypothesis that place cells and grid cells exhibit coordinated replay.

  2. Coherent Terahertz Radiation from Multiple Electron Beams Excitation within a Plasmonic Crystal-like structure.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Yaxin; Zhou, Yucong; Gang, Yin; Jiang, Guili; Yang, Ziqiang

    2017-01-23

    Coherent terahertz radiation from multiple electron beams excitation within a plasmonic crystal-like structure (a three-dimensional holes array) which is composed of multiple stacked layers with 3 × 3 subwavelength holes array has been proposed in this paper. It has been found that in the structure the electromagnetic fields in each hole can be coupled with one another to construct a composite mode with strong field intensity. Therefore, the multiple electron beams injection can excite and efficiently interact with such mode. Meanwhile, the coupling among the electron beams is taken place during the interaction so that a very strong coherent terahertz radiation with high electron conversion efficiency can be generated. Furthermore, due to the coupling, the starting current density of this mechanism is much lower than that of traditional electron beam-driven terahertz sources. This multi-beam radiation system may provide a favorable way to combine photonics structure with electronics excitation to generate middle, high power terahertz radiation.

  3. Coherent Terahertz Radiation from Multiple Electron Beams Excitation within a Plasmonic Crystal-like structure

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Yaxin; Zhou, Yucong; Gang, Yin; Jiang, Guili; Yang, Ziqiang

    2017-01-01

    Coherent terahertz radiation from multiple electron beams excitation within a plasmonic crystal-like structure (a three-dimensional holes array) which is composed of multiple stacked layers with 3 × 3 subwavelength holes array has been proposed in this paper. It has been found that in the structure the electromagnetic fields in each hole can be coupled with one another to construct a composite mode with strong field intensity. Therefore, the multiple electron beams injection can excite and efficiently interact with such mode. Meanwhile, the coupling among the electron beams is taken place during the interaction so that a very strong coherent terahertz radiation with high electron conversion efficiency can be generated. Furthermore, due to the coupling, the starting current density of this mechanism is much lower than that of traditional electron beam-driven terahertz sources. This multi-beam radiation system may provide a favorable way to combine photonics structure with electronics excitation to generate middle, high power terahertz radiation. PMID:28112234

  4. Field Verification Program (Upland Disposal): Prediction of Surface Runoff Water Quality from Black Rock Harbor Dredged Material Placed in an Upland Disposal Site.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1987-03-01

    Simulator was similar to the original rotating disk-type rainfall simulator but had several important design modifications ( Westerdahl and Skogerboe...exist- ing vegetation on the soil surface ( Westerdahl and Skogerboe 1982). A multiple-peaked natural storm event was selected from field data and pro... Westerdahl and Skogerboe 1982) and has been used as a standard storm event for comparison to natural storm events (Laws and Parsons 1943). Similar

  5. Fate of Methane Emitted from Dissociating Marine Hydrates: Modeling, Laboratory, and Field Constraints

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

    Juanes, Ruben

    The overall goals of this research are: (1) to determine the physical fate of single and multiple methane bubbles emitted to the water column by dissociating gas hydrates at seep sites deep within the hydrate stability zone or at the updip limit of gas hydrate stability, and (2) to quantitatively link theoretical and laboratory findings on methane transport to the analysis of real-world field-scale methane plume data placed within the context of the degrading methane hydrate province on the US Atlantic margin. The project is arranged to advance on three interrelated fronts (numerical modeling, laboratory experiments, and analysis of field-basedmore » plume data) simultaneously. The fundamental objectives of each component are the following: Numerical modeling: Constraining the conditions under which rising bubbles become armored with hydrate, the impact of hydrate armoring on the eventual fate of a bubble’s methane, and the role of multiple bubble interactions in survival of methane plumes to very shallow depths in the water column. Laboratory experiments: Exploring the parameter space (e.g., bubble size, gas saturation in the liquid phase, “proximity” to the stability boundary) for formation of a hydrate shell around a free bubble in water, the rise rate of such bubbles, and the bubble’s acoustic characteristics using field-scale frequencies. Field component: Extending the results of numerical modeling and laboratory experiments to the field-scale using brand new, existing, public-domain, state-of-the-art real world data on US Atlantic margin methane seeps, without acquiring new field data in the course of this particular project. This component quantitatively analyzes data on Atlantic margin methane plumes and place those new plumes and their corresponding seeps within the context of gas hydrate degradation processes on this margin.« less

  6. Design space exploration of high throughput finite field multipliers for channel coding on Xilinx FPGAs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Schryver, C.; Weithoffer, S.; Wasenmüller, U.; Wehn, N.

    2012-09-01

    Channel coding is a standard technique in all wireless communication systems. In addition to the typically employed methods like convolutional coding, turbo coding or low density parity check (LDPC) coding, algebraic codes are used in many cases. For example, outer BCH coding is applied in the DVB-S2 standard for satellite TV broadcasting. A key operation for BCH and the related Reed-Solomon codes are multiplications in finite fields (Galois Fields), where extension fields of prime fields are used. A lot of architectures for multiplications in finite fields have been published over the last decades. This paper examines four different multiplier architectures in detail that offer the potential for very high throughputs. We investigate the implementation performance of these multipliers on FPGA technology in the context of channel coding. We study the efficiency of the multipliers with respect to area, frequency and throughput, as well as configurability and scalability. The implementation data of the fully verified circuits are provided for a Xilinx Virtex-4 device after place and route.

  7. Addressing the Rural Context in Literacies Research: A Call to Action

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Azano, Amy Price

    2015-01-01

    The article features a discussion about rural contexts in literacy research. Rural students compose a significant portion of K-12 students, and rural schools have unique challenges, such as limited funding and resources. However, as a field of literacy researchers, we do not privilege place equitably across multiple contexts. The article serves as…

  8. The validity of three tests of temperament in guppies (Poecilia reticulata).

    PubMed

    Burns, James G

    2008-11-01

    Differences in temperament (consistent differences among individuals in behavior) can have important effects on fitness-related activities such as dispersal and competition. However, evolutionary ecologists have put limited effort into validating their tests of temperament. This article attempts to validate three standard tests of temperament in guppies: the open-field test, emergence test, and novel-object test. Through multiple reliability trials, and comparison of results between different types of test, this study establishes the confidence that can be placed in these temperament tests. The open-field test is shown to be a good test of boldness and exploratory behavior; the open-field test was reliable when tested in multiple ways. There were problems with the emergence test and novel-object test, which leads one to conclude that the protocols used in this study should not be considered valid tests for this species. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).

  9. Methodological Caveats in the Detection of Coordinated Replay between Place Cells and Grid Cells

    PubMed Central

    Trimper, John B.; Trettel, Sean G.; Hwaun, Ernie; Colgin, Laura Lee

    2017-01-01

    At rest, hippocampal “place cells,” neurons with receptive fields corresponding to specific spatial locations, reactivate in a manner that reflects recently traveled trajectories. These “replay” events have been proposed as a mechanism underlying memory consolidation, or the transfer of a memory representation from the hippocampus to neocortical regions associated with the original sensory experience. Accordingly, it has been hypothesized that hippocampal replay of a particular experience should be accompanied by simultaneous reactivation of corresponding representations in the neocortex and in the entorhinal cortex, the primary interface between the hippocampus and the neocortex. Recent studies have reported that coordinated replay may occur between hippocampal place cells and medial entorhinal cortex grid cells, cells with multiple spatial receptive fields. Assessing replay in grid cells is problematic, however, as the cells exhibit regularly spaced spatial receptive fields in all environments and, therefore, coordinated replay between place cells and grid cells may be detected by chance. In the present report, we adapted analytical approaches utilized in recent studies of grid cell and place cell replay to determine the extent to which coordinated replay is spuriously detected between grid cells and place cells recorded from separate rats. For a subset of the employed analytical methods, coordinated replay was detected spuriously in a significant proportion of cases in which place cell replay events were randomly matched with grid cell firing epochs of equal duration. More rigorous replay evaluation procedures and minimum spike count requirements greatly reduced the amount of spurious findings. These results provide insights into aspects of place cell and grid cell activity during rest that contribute to false detection of coordinated replay. The results further emphasize the need for careful controls and rigorous methods when testing the hypothesis that place cells and grid cells exhibit coordinated replay. PMID:28824388

  10. Probe measurements of the three-dimensional magnetic field structure in a rotating magnetic field sustained field-reversed configuration

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

    Velas, K. M.; Milroy, R. D.

    A translatable three-axis probe was constructed and installed on the translation, confinement, and sustainment upgrade (TCSU) experiment. With ninety windings, the probe can simultaneously measure B{sub r}, B{sub θ}, and B{sub z} at 30 radial positions, and can be placed at any desired axial position within the field reversed configuration (FRC) confinement chamber. Positioning the probe at multiple axial positions and taking multiple repeatable shots allows for a full r-z map of the magnetic field. Measurements were made for odd-parity rotating magnetic field (RMF) antennas and even-parity RMF. The steady state data from applying a 10 kHz low pass filter usedmore » in conjunction with data at the RMF frequency yields a map of the full 3D rotating field structure. Comparisons will be made to the 3D magnetic structure predicted by NIMROD simulations, with parameters adjusted to match that of the TCSU experiments. The probe provides sufficient data to utilize a Maxwell stress tensor approach to directly measure the torque applied to the FRC's electrons, which combined with a resistive torque model, yields an estimate of the average FRC resistivity.« less

  11. Energy density engineering via zero-admittance domains in all-dielectric stratified materials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Amra, Claude; Zerrad, Myriam; Lemarchand, Fabien; Lereu, Aude; Passian, Ali; Zapien, Juan Antonio; Lequime, Michel

    2018-02-01

    Emerging photonic, sensing, and quantum applications require high fields and tight localization but low power consumption. Spatial, spectral, and magnitude control of electromagnetic fields is of key importance for enabling experiments in atomic, molecular, and optical physics. We introduce the concept of zero-admittance domains as a mechanism for tailoring giant optical fields bound within or on the surface of dielectric media. The described mechanism permits the creation of highly localized fields of extreme amplitudes simultaneously for incident photons of multiple wavelengths and incidence angles but arbitrary polarization states. No material constraints are placed upon the bounding media. Both intrinsic and extrinsic potential practical limitations of the predicted field enhancement are analyzed and applications relevant to optical sensors and microsources are briefly discussed.

  12. During running in place, grid cells integrate elapsed time and distance run

    PubMed Central

    Kraus, Benjamin J.; Brandon, Mark P.; Robinson, Robert J.; Connerney, Michael A.; Hasselmo, Michael E.; Eichenbaum, Howard

    2015-01-01

    Summary The spatial scale of grid cells may be provided by self-generated motion information or by external sensory information from environmental cues. To determine whether grid cell activity reflects distance traveled or elapsed time independent of external information, we recorded grid cells as animals ran in place on a treadmill. Grid cell activity was only weakly influenced by location but most grid cells and other neurons recorded from the same electrodes strongly signaled a combination of distance and time, with some signaling only distance or time. Grid cells were more sharply tuned to time and distance than non-grid cells. Many grid cells exhibited multiple firing fields during treadmill running, parallel to the periodic firing fields observed in open fields, suggesting a common mode of information processing. These observations indicate that, in the absence of external dynamic cues, grid cells integrate self-generated distance and time information to encode a representation of experience. PMID:26539893

  13. Frequent Shifts in Aspergillus flavus Populations Associated with Maize Production in Sonora, Mexico.

    PubMed

    Ortega-Beltran, A; Cotty, P J

    2018-03-01

    Aspergillus flavus frequently contaminates maize, a critical staple for billions of people, with aflatoxins. Diversity among A. flavus L morphotype populations associated with maize in Sonora, Mexico was assessed and, in total, 869 isolates from 83 fields were placed into 136 vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) using nitrate-nonutilizing mutants. VCG diversity indices did not differ in four agroecosystems (AES) but diversity significantly differed among years. Frequencies of certain VCGs changed manyfold over single years in both multiple fields and multiple AES. Certain VCGs were highly frequent (>1%) in 2006 but frequencies declined repeatedly in each of the two subsequent years. Other VCGs that had low frequencies in 2006 increased in 2007 and subsequently declined. None of the VCGs were consistently associated with any AES. Fourteen VCGs were considered dominant in at least a single year. However, frequencies often varied significantly among years. Only 9% of VCGs were detected all 3 years whereas 66% were detected in only 1 year. Results suggest that the most realistic measurements of both genetic diversity and the frequency of A. flavus VCGs are obtained by sampling multiple locations in multiple years. Single-season sampling in many locations should not be substituted for sampling over multiple years.

  14. Influence of Soil Heterogeneity on Mesoscale Land Surface Fluxes During Washita '92

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jasinski, Michael F.; Jin, Hao

    1998-01-01

    The influence of soil heterogeneity on the partitioning of mesoscale land surface energy fluxes at diurnal time scales is investigated over a 10(exp 6) sq km domain centered on the Little Washita Basin, Oklahoma, for the period June 10 - 18, 1992. The sensitivity study is carried out using MM5/PLACE, the Penn State/NCAR MM5 model enhanced with the Parameterization for Land-Atmosphere-Cloud Exchange or PLACE. PLACE is a one-dimensional land surface model possessing detailed plant and soil water physics algorithms, multiple soil layers, and the capacity to model subgrid heterogeneity. A series of 12-hour simulations were conducted with identical atmospheric initialization and land surface characterization but with different initial soil moisture and texture. A comparison then was made of the simulated land surface energy flux fields, the partitioning of net radiation into latent and sensible heat, and the soil moisture fields. Results indicate that heterogeneity in both soil moisture and texture affects the spatial distribution and partitioning of mesoscale energy balance. Spatial averaging results in an overprediction of latent heat flux, and an underestimation of sensible heat flux. In addition to the primary focus on the partitioning of the land surface energy, the modeling effort provided an opportunity to examine the issue of initializing the soil moisture fields for coupled three-dimensional models. For the present case, the initial soil moisture and temperature were determined from off-line modeling using PLACE at each grid box, driven with a combination of observed and assimilated data fields.

  15. Method of making high breakdown voltage semiconductor device

    DOEpatents

    Arthur, Stephen D.; Temple, Victor A. K.

    1990-01-01

    A semiconductor device having at least one P-N junction and a multiple-zone junction termination extension (JTE) region which uniformly merges with the reverse blocking junction is disclosed. The blocking junction is graded into multiple zones of lower concentration dopant adjacent termination to facilitate merging of the JTE to the blocking junction and placing of the JTE at or near the high field point of the blocking junction. Preferably, the JTE region substantially overlaps the graded blocking junction region. A novel device fabrication method is also provided which eliminates the prior art step of separately diffusing the JTE region.

  16. Application of the planar-scanning technique to the near-field dosimetry of millimeter-wave radiators.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Jianxun; Lu, Hongmin; Deng, Jun

    2015-02-01

    The planar-scanning technique was applied to the experimental measurement of the electric field and power flux density (PFD) in the exposure area close to the millimeter-wave (MMW) radiator. In the near-field region, the field and PFD were calculated from the plane-wave spectrum of the field sampled on a scan plane far from the radiator. The measurement resolution was improved by reducing the spatial interval between the field samples to a fraction of half the wavelength and implementing multiple iterations of the fast Fourier transform. With the reference to the results from the numerical calculation, an experimental evaluation of the planar-scanning measurement was made for a 50 GHz radiator. Placing the probe 1 to 3 wavelengths from the aperture of the radiator, the direct measurement gave the near-field data with significant differences from the numerical results. The planar-scanning measurement placed the probe 9 wavelengths away from the aperture and effectively reduced the maximum and averaged differences in the near-field data by 70.6% and 65.5%, respectively. Applied to the dosimetry of an open-ended waveguide and a choke ring antenna for 60 GHz exposure, the technique proved useful to the measurement of the PFD in the near-field exposure area of MMW radiators. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  17. Effects of Hydrostatic Pressure and Electric Field on the Electron-Related Optical Properties in GaAs Multiple Quantum Well.

    PubMed

    Ospina, D A; Mora-Ramos, M E; Duque, C A

    2017-02-01

    The properties of the electronic structure of a finite-barrier semiconductor multiple quantum well are investigated taking into account the effects of the application of a static electric field and hydrostatic pressure. With the information of the allowed quasi-stationary energy states, the coefficients of linear and nonlinear optical absorption and of the relative refractive index change associated to transitions between allowed subbands are calculated with the use of a two-level scheme for the density matrix equation of motion and the rotating wave approximation. It is noticed that the hydrostatic pressure enhances the amplitude of the nonlinear contribution to the optical response of the multiple quantum well, whilst the linear one becomes reduced. Besides, the calculated coefficients are blueshifted due to the increasing of the applied electric field, and shows systematically dependence upon the hydrostatic pressure. The comparison of these results with those related with the consideration of a stationary spectrum of states in the heterostructure-obtained by placing infinite confining barriers at a conveniently far distance-shows essential differences in the pressure-induced effects in the sense of resonant frequency shifting as well as in the variation of the amplitudes of the optical responses.

  18. A case study of radiotherapy planning for Intensity Modulation Radiation Therapy for the whole scalp with matching electron treatment

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

    Sponseller, Patricia, E-mail: sponselp@uw.edu; Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA; Paravathaneni, Upendra

    2013-07-01

    The purpose of this report is to communicate a technique to match an electron field to the dose distribution of an Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) plan. A patient with multiple areas of squamous cell carcinoma over the scalp was treated using 60 Gy in 2.0-Gy fractions to the entire scalp and first echelon nodes with multiple 6-MV photon fields. To deliver an adequate dose to the scalp, a custom 1.0-cm bolus helmet was fashioned using a solid piece of aquaplast. Along with the IMRT scalp treatment, a left zygoma area was treated with electrons matching the anterior border of themore » IMRT dose distribution. The border was matched by creating a left lateral field with the multileaf collimator shaped to the IMRT dose distribution. The result indicated an adequate dose to the skin match between the IMRT plan and the electron field. Results were confirmed using optically stimulated luminescence placed at the skin match area, so that the dose matched the prescription within 10%.« less

  19. Tempo-Spatial Dynamics of Adult Plum Curculio (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) Based on Semiochemical-Baited Trap Captures in Blueberries.

    PubMed

    Hernandez-Cumplido, Johnattan; Leskey, Tracy C; Holdcraft, Robert; Zaman, Faruque U; Hahn, Noel G; Rodriguez-Saona, Cesar

    2017-06-01

    Plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar (Herbst), has become an important pest of highbush blueberries in the northeastern United States. Here, we conducted experiments in 2010-2013 to compare the efficacy of semiochemical-baited traps for C. nenuphar versus conventional (beating cloth) sampling methods in blueberries, and to understand the seasonal abundance and distribution of C. nenuphar adults within and among blueberry fields using these traps. Black pyramid traps baited with the C. nenuphar aggregation pheromone grandisoic acid and the fruit volatile benzaldehyde caught three to four times more adults than unbaited traps without causing an increase in injury to berries in neighboring bushes. Numbers of adult weevils caught in traps correlated with those on bushes (beating cloth samples), indicating that trap counts can predict C. nenuphar abundance in the field. Early in the season, traps placed 20 m from field edges near a forest caught higher C. nenuphar numbers than traps placed at farther distances, suggesting movement of overwintered weevils from outside fields. Using a trapping network across multiple fields in an organic farm, we found evidence of C. nenuphar aggregation in "hotspots"; early in the season, C. nenuphar numbers in traps were higher in the middle of fields, and there was a correlation between these numbers and distance from the forest in 2013 but not in 2012. These results show that semiochemical-baited traps are effective in capturing C. nenuphar adults in blueberries, and that these traps should be placed in the interior of fields preferably, but not exclusively, near wooded habitats to maximize their efficacy. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  20. Structural Orientations Adjacent to Some Colorado Geothermal Systems

    DOE Data Explorer

    Richard

    2012-02-01

    Structural orientations (fractures, joints, faults, lineaments, bedding orientations, etc.) were collected with a standard Brunton compass during routine field examinations of geothermal phenomena in Colorado. Often multiple orientations were taken from one outcrop. Care was taken to ensure outcrops were "in place". Point data was collected with a hand-held GPS unit. The structural data is presented both as standard quadrant measurements and in format suitable for ESRI symbology

  1. Historical Consideration of Place: Inviting Multiple Histories and Narratives in Place-Based Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lim, Miyoun

    2010-01-01

    Drawing upon van Eijck and Roth's notion of "place as chronotope," this review paper discusses historical consideration of place as it assists us to conceptualize place in its collective, political, and dialogical nature. In a place, we are positioned amidst of the multiplicity of histories and narratives within ever shifting various contexts of…

  2. Energy density engineering via zero-admittance domains in all-dielectric stratified materials

    DOE PAGES

    Amra, Claude; Zerrad, Myriam; Lemarchand, Fabien; ...

    2018-02-12

    Emerging photonic, sensing, and quantum applications require high fields and tight localization but low power consumption. Spatial, spectral, and magnitude control of electromagnetic fields is of key importance for enabling experiments in atomic, molecular, and optical physics. Here in this paper, we introduce the concept of zero-admittance domains as a mechanism for tailoring giant optical fields bound within or on the surface of dielectric media. The described mechanism permits the creation of highly localized fields of extreme amplitudes simultaneously for incident photons of multiple wavelengths and incidence angles but arbitrary polarization states. No material constraints are placed upon the boundingmore » media. Both intrinsic and extrinsic potential practical limitations of the predicted field enhancement are analyzed and applications relevant to optical sensors and microsources are briefly discussed.« less

  3. Energy density engineering via zero-admittance domains in all-dielectric stratified materials

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

    Amra, Claude; Zerrad, Myriam; Lemarchand, Fabien

    Emerging photonic, sensing, and quantum applications require high fields and tight localization but low power consumption. Spatial, spectral, and magnitude control of electromagnetic fields is of key importance for enabling experiments in atomic, molecular, and optical physics. Here in this paper, we introduce the concept of zero-admittance domains as a mechanism for tailoring giant optical fields bound within or on the surface of dielectric media. The described mechanism permits the creation of highly localized fields of extreme amplitudes simultaneously for incident photons of multiple wavelengths and incidence angles but arbitrary polarization states. No material constraints are placed upon the boundingmore » media. Both intrinsic and extrinsic potential practical limitations of the predicted field enhancement are analyzed and applications relevant to optical sensors and microsources are briefly discussed.« less

  4. Research education: findings of a study of teaching-learning research using multiple analytical perspectives.

    PubMed

    Vandermause, Roxanne; Barbosa-Leiker, Celestina; Fritz, Roschelle

    2014-12-01

    This multimethod, qualitative study provides results for educators of nursing doctoral students to consider. Combining the expertise of an empirical analytical researcher (who uses statistical methods) and an interpretive phenomenological researcher (who uses hermeneutic methods), a course was designed that would place doctoral students in the midst of multiparadigmatic discussions while learning fundamental research methods. Field notes and iterative analytical discussions led to patterns and themes that highlight the value of this innovative pedagogical application. Using content analysis and interpretive phenomenological approaches, together with one of the students, data were analyzed from field notes recorded in real time over the period the course was offered. This article describes the course and the study analysis, and offers the pedagogical experience as transformative. A link to a sample syllabus is included in the article. The results encourage nurse educators of doctoral nursing students to focus educational practice on multiple methodological perspectives. Copyright 2014, SLACK Incorporated.

  5. DOE and JAEA Field Trial of the Single Chip Shift Register (SCSR)

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

    Newell, Matthew R.

    2016-03-23

    Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL) has recently developed a new data acquisition system for multiplicity analysis of neutron detector pulse streams. This new technology, the Single Chip Shift Register (SCSR), places the entire data acquisition system along with the communications hardware onto a single chip. This greatly simplifies the instrument and reduces the size. The SCSR is designed to be mounted into the neutron detector head alongside the instrument amplifiers. The user’s computer connects via USB directly to the neutron detector eliminating the external data acquisition electronics entirely. JAEA, through the INSEP program, asked LANL to demonstrate the functionality ofmore » the SCSR in Tokai using the JAEA Epithermal Neutron Multiplicity Counter, ENMC. In late September of 2015 LANL traveled to Tokai to install, demonstrate and uninstall the SCSR in the ENMC. This report documents the results of that field trial.« less

  6. Thick Escaping Magnetospheric Ion Layer in Magnetopause Reconnection with MMS Observations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nagai, T.; Kitamura, N.; Hasagawa, H.; Shinohara, I.; Yokota, S.; Saito, Y.; Nakamura, R.; Giles, B. L.; Pollock, C.; Moore, T. E.; hide

    2016-01-01

    The structure of asymmetric magnetopause reconnection is explored with multiple point and high-time-resolution ion velocity distribution observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. On 9 September 2015, reconnection took place at the magnetopause, which separated the magnetosheath and the magnetosphere with a density ratio of 25:2. The magnetic field intensity was rather constant, even higher in the asymptotic magnetosheath. The reconnected field line region had a width of approximately 540 km. In this region, streaming and gyrating ions are discriminated. The large extension of the reconnected field line region toward the magnetosheath can be identified where a thick layer of escaping magnetospheric ions was formed. The scale of the magnetosheath side of the reconnected field line region relative to the scale of its magnetospheric side was 4.5:1.

  7. Synchronized Re-Entrant Flux Reversal of Multiple FeSiB Amorphous Wires Having the Larger Output

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Takajo, Minoru; Yamasaki, Jiro

    Technique to synchronize the re-entrant flux reversal of the multiple magnetostrictive Fe77.5Si7.5B15 amorphous wires was developed using a flux keeper of amorphous ribbons contacted to the wire ends. It is comprehended that the characteristics of the re-entrant flux takes place respectively at almost the same time in the three Fe-Si-B amorphous wires with a diameter of 65, 95μm. This phenomenon can be explained by considering the strong magnetic coupling of wires and amorphous ribbon by stray field from the each wire ends. As a result, the magnitude of the induced voltage in the sense coil is increased in proportion to the multiplication of the number of the wires.

  8. Multiple Bloch surface waves in visible region of light at the interfaces between rugate filter/rugate filter and rugate filter/dielectric slab/rugate filter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ullah Manzoor, Habib; Manzoor, Tareq; Hussain, Masroor; Manzoor, Sanaullah; Nazar, Kashif

    2018-04-01

    Surface electromagnetic waves are the solution of Maxwell’s frequency domain equations at the interface of two dissimilar materials. In this article, two canonical boundary-value problems have been formulated to analyze the multiplicity of electromagnetic surface waves at the interface between two dissimilar materials in the visible region of light. In the first problem, the interface between two semi-infinite rugate filters having symmetric refractive index profiles is considered and in the second problem, to enhance the multiplicity of surface electromagnetic waves, a homogeneous dielectric slab of 400 nm is included between two semi-infinite symmetric rugate filters. Numerical results show that multiple Bloch surface waves of different phase speeds, different polarization states, different degrees of localization and different field profiles are propagated at the interface between two semi-infinite rugate filters. Having two interfaces when a homogeneous dielectric layer is placed between two semi-infinite rugate filters has increased the multiplicity of electromagnetic surface waves.

  9. Influence of local objects on hippocampal representations: landmark vectors and memory

    PubMed Central

    Deshmukh, Sachin S.; Knierim, James J.

    2013-01-01

    The hippocampus is thought to represent nonspatial information in the context of spatial information. An animal can derive both spatial information as well as nonspatial information from the objects (landmarks) it encounters as it moves around in an environment. Here, we demonstrate correlates of both object-derived spatial as well as nonspatial information in the hippocampus of rats foraging in the presence of objects. We describe a new form of CA1 place cells, called landmark-vector cells, that encode spatial locations as a vector relationship to local landmarks. Such landmark vector relationships can be dynamically encoded. Of the 26 CA1 neurons that developed new fields in the course of a day’s recording sessions, in 8 cases the new fields were located at a similar distance and direction from a landmark as the initial field was located relative to a different landmark. We also demonstrate object-location memory in the hippocampus. When objects were removed from an environment or moved to new locations, a small number of neurons in CA1 and CA3 increased firing at the locations where the objects used to be. In some neurons, this increase occurred only in one location, indicating object +place conjunctive memory; in other neurons the increase in firing was seen at multiple locations where an object used to be. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the spatially restricted firing of hippocampal neurons encode multiple types of information regarding the relationship between an animal’s location and the location of objects in its environment. PMID:23447419

  10. Superconducting 3D Transmon Qubits for Analog Quantum Simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gargiulo, Oscar; Oleschko, Stefan; Muppalla, Phani; Dalmonte, Marcello; Zoller, Peter; Kirchmair, Gerhard

    We present an experimental investigation of the tunability of a 3D transmon qubit through the use of multiple magnetic fields. The 3D transmon is placed inside a copper cavity with sockets for coils and a hole for a magnetic hose. The magnetic hose is used to guide the magnetic field inside the cavity minimizing Eddy currents in the copper wall. As a first step we analyse the qubit tuning with static magnetic fields applied through the use of external coils. This allows us to set the qubit frequency to the desired bias point. Then we show that we can switch the magnetic field inside the cavity on fast time scales through the use of the magnetic hose. We also investigate the influence of the magnetic hose on the coherence time of the qubit.

  11. Tactile modulation of hippocampal place fields.

    PubMed

    Gener, Thomas; Perez-Mendez, Lorena; Sanchez-Vives, Maria V

    2013-12-01

    Neural correlates of spatial representation can be found in the activity of the hippocampal place cells. These neurons are characterized by firing whenever the animal is located in a particular area of the space, the place field. Place fields are modulated by sensory cues, such as visual, auditory, or olfactory cues, being the influence of visual inputs the most thoroughly studied. Tactile information gathered by the whiskers has a prominent representation in the rat cerebral cortex. However, the influence of whisker-detected tactile cues on place fields remains an open question. Here we studied place fields in an enriched tactile environment where the remaining sensory cues were occluded. First, place cells were recorded before and after blockade of tactile transmission by means of lidocaine applied on the whisker pad. Following tactile deprivation, the majority of place cells decreased their firing rate and their place fields expanded. We next rotated the tactile cues and 90% of place fields rotated with them. Our results demonstrate that tactile information is integrated into place cells at least in a tactile-enriched arena and when other sensory cues are not available. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. Hippocampal place cell instability after lesions of the head direction cell network

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Calton, Jeffrey L.; Stackman, Robert W.; Goodridge, Jeremy P.; Archey, William B.; Dudchenko, Paul A.; Taube, Jeffrey S.; Oman, C. M. (Principal Investigator)

    2003-01-01

    The occurrence of cells that encode spatial location (place cells) or head direction (HD cells) in the rat limbic system suggests that these cell types are important for spatial navigation. We sought to determine whether place fields of hippocampal CA1 place cells would be altered in animals receiving lesions of brain areas containing HD cells. Rats received bilateral lesions of anterodorsal thalamic nuclei (ADN), postsubiculum (PoS), or sham lesions, before place cell recording. Although place cells from lesioned animals did not differ from controls on many place-field characteristics, such as place-field size and infield firing rate, the signal was significantly degraded with respect to measures of outfield firing rate, spatial coherence, and information content. Surprisingly, place cells from lesioned animals were more likely modulated by the directional heading of the animal. Rotation of the landmark cue showed that place fields from PoS-lesioned animals were not controlled by the cue and shifted unpredictably between sessions. Although fields from ADN-lesioned animals tended to have less landmark control than fields from control animals, this impairment was mild compared with cells recorded from PoS-lesioned animals. Removal of the prominent visual cue also led to instability of place-field representations in PoS-lesioned, but not ADN-lesioned, animals. Together, these findings suggest that an intact HD system is not necessary for the maintenance of place fields, but lesions of brain areas that convey the HD signal can degrade this signal, and lesions of the PoS might lead to perceptual or mnemonic deficits, leading to place-field instability between sessions.

  13. Cognitive culture: theoretical and empirical insights into social learning strategies.

    PubMed

    Rendell, Luke; Fogarty, Laurel; Hoppitt, William J E; Morgan, Thomas J H; Webster, Mike M; Laland, Kevin N

    2011-02-01

    Research into social learning (learning from others) has expanded significantly in recent years, not least because of productive interactions between theoretical and empirical approaches. This has been coupled with a new emphasis on learning strategies, which places social learning within a cognitive decision-making framework. Understanding when, how and why individuals learn from others is a significant challenge, but one that is critical to numerous fields in multiple academic disciplines, including the study of social cognition. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Numerical propulsion system simulation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lytle, John K.; Remaklus, David A.; Nichols, Lester D.

    1990-01-01

    The cost of implementing new technology in aerospace propulsion systems is becoming prohibitively expensive. One of the major contributors to the high cost is the need to perform many large scale system tests. Extensive testing is used to capture the complex interactions among the multiple disciplines and the multiple components inherent in complex systems. The objective of the Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) is to provide insight into these complex interactions through computational simulations. This will allow for comprehensive evaluation of new concepts early in the design phase before a commitment to hardware is made. It will also allow for rapid assessment of field-related problems, particularly in cases where operational problems were encountered during conditions that would be difficult to simulate experimentally. The tremendous progress taking place in computational engineering and the rapid increase in computing power expected through parallel processing make this concept feasible within the near future. However it is critical that the framework for such simulations be put in place now to serve as a focal point for the continued developments in computational engineering and computing hardware and software. The NPSS concept which is described will provide that framework.

  15. Multichannel optical mapping: investigation of depth information

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sase, Ichiro; Eda, Hideo; Seiyama, Akitoshi; Tanabe, Hiroki C.; Takatsuki, Akira; Yanagida, Toshio

    2001-06-01

    Near infrared (NIR) light has become a powerful tool for non-invasive imaging of human brain activity. Many systems have been developed to capture the changes in regional brain blood flow and hemoglobin oxygenation, which occur in the human cortex in response to neural activity. We have developed a multi-channel reflectance imaging system, which can be used as a `mapping device' and also as a `multi-channel spectrophotometer'. In the present study, we visualized changes in the hemodynamics of the human occipital region in multiple ways. (1) Stimulating left and right primary visual cortex independently by showing sector shaped checkerboards sequentially over the contralateral visual field, resulted in corresponding changes in the hemodynamics observed by `mapping' measurement. (2) Simultaneous measurement of functional-MRI and NIR (changes in total hemoglobin) during visual stimulation showed good spatial and temporal correlation with each other. (3) Placing multiple channels densely over the occipital region demonstrated spatial patterns more precisely, and depth information was also acquired by placing each pair of illumination and detection fibers at various distances. These results indicate that optical method can provide data for 3D analysis of human brain functions.

  16. The theta/gamma discrete phase code occuring during the hippocampal phase precession may be a more general brain coding scheme.

    PubMed

    Lisman, John

    2005-01-01

    In the hippocampus, oscillations in the theta and gamma frequency range occur together and interact in several ways, indicating that they are part of a common functional system. It is argued that these oscillations form a coding scheme that is used in the hippocampus to organize the readout from long-term memory of the discrete sequence of upcoming places, as cued by current position. This readout of place cells has been analyzed in several ways. First, plots of the theta phase of spikes vs. position on a track show a systematic progression of phase as rats run through a place field. This is termed the phase precession. Second, two cells with nearby place fields have a systematic difference in phase, as indicated by a cross-correlation having a peak with a temporal offset that is a significant fraction of a theta cycle. Third, several different decoding algorithms demonstrate the information content of theta phase in predicting the animal's position. It appears that small phase differences corresponding to jitter within a gamma cycle do not carry information. This evidence, together with the finding that principle cells fire preferentially at a given gamma phase, supports the concept of theta/gamma coding: a given place is encoded by the spatial pattern of neurons that fire in a given gamma cycle (the exact timing within a gamma cycle being unimportant); sequential places are encoded in sequential gamma subcycles of the theta cycle (i.e., with different discrete theta phase). It appears that this general form of coding is not restricted to readout of information from long-term memory in the hippocampus because similar patterns of theta/gamma oscillations have been observed in multiple brain regions, including regions involved in working memory and sensory integration. It is suggested that dual oscillations serve a general function: the encoding of multiple units of information (items) in a way that preserves their serial order. The relationship of such coding to that proposed by Singer and von der Malsburg is discussed; in their scheme, theta is not considered. It is argued that what theta provides is the absolute phase reference needed for encoding order. Theta/gamma coding therefore bears some relationship to the concept of "word" in digital computers, with word length corresponding to the number of gamma cycles within a theta cycle, and discrete phase corresponding to the ordered "place" within a word. Copyright 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  17. A nanoscale piezoelectric transformer for low-voltage transistors.

    PubMed

    Agarwal, Sapan; Yablonovitch, Eli

    2014-11-12

    A novel piezoelectric voltage transformer for low-voltage transistors is proposed. Placing a piezoelectric transformer on the gate of a field-effect transistor results in the piezoelectric transformer field-effect transistor that can switch at significantly lower voltages than a conventional transistor. The piezoelectric transformer operates by using one piezoelectric to squeeze another piezoelectric to generate a higher output voltage than the input voltage. Multiple piezoelectrics can be used to squeeze a single piezoelectric layer to generate an even higher voltage amplification. Coupled electrical and mechanical modeling in COMSOL predicts a 12.5× voltage amplification for a six-layer piezoelectric transformer. This would lead to more than a 150× reduction in the power needed for communications.

  18. Acoustic processing method for MS/MS experiments

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Whymark, R. R.

    1973-01-01

    Acoustical methods in which intense sound beams can be used to control the position of objects are considered. The position control arises from the radiation force experienced when a body is placed in a sound field. A description of the special properties of intense sound fields useful for position control is followed by a discussion of the more obvious methods of position, namely the use of multiple sound beams. A new type of acoustic position control device is reported that has advantages of simplicity and reliability and utilizes only a single sound beam. Finally a description is given of an experimental single beam levitator, and the results obtained in a number of key levitation experiments.

  19. Methods for magnetic resonance analysis using magic angle technique

    DOEpatents

    Hu, Jian Zhi [Richland, WA; Wind, Robert A [Kennewick, WA; Minard, Kevin R [Kennewick, WA; Majors, Paul D [Kennewick, WA

    2011-11-22

    Methods of performing a magnetic resonance analysis of a biological object are disclosed that include placing the object in a main magnetic field (that has a static field direction) and in a radio frequency field; rotating the object at a frequency of less than about 100 Hz around an axis positioned at an angle of about 54.degree.44' relative to the main magnetic static field direction; pulsing the radio frequency to provide a sequence that includes a phase-corrected magic angle turning pulse segment; and collecting data generated by the pulsed radio frequency. In particular embodiments the method includes pulsing the radio frequency to provide at least two of a spatially selective read pulse, a spatially selective phase pulse, and a spatially selective storage pulse. Further disclosed methods provide pulse sequences that provide extended imaging capabilities, such as chemical shift imaging or multiple-voxel data acquisition.

  20. Optimized multi-electrode stimulation increases focality and intensity at target

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dmochowski, Jacek P.; Datta, Abhishek; Bikson, Marom; Su, Yuzhuo; Parra, Lucas C.

    2011-08-01

    Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) provides a non-invasive tool to elicit neuromodulation by delivering current through electrodes placed on the scalp. The present clinical paradigm uses two relatively large electrodes to inject current through the head resulting in electric fields that are broadly distributed over large regions of the brain. In this paper, we present a method that uses multiple small electrodes (i.e. 1.2 cm diameter) and systematically optimize the applied currents to achieve effective and targeted stimulation while ensuring safety of stimulation. We found a fundamental trade-off between achievable intensity (at the target) and focality, and algorithms to optimize both measures are presented. When compared with large pad-electrodes (approximated here by a set of small electrodes covering 25cm2), the proposed approach achieves electric fields which exhibit simultaneously greater focality (80% improvement) and higher target intensity (98% improvement) at cortical targets using the same total current applied. These improvements illustrate the previously unrecognized and non-trivial dependence of the optimal electrode configuration on the desired electric field orientation and the maximum total current (due to safety). Similarly, by exploiting idiosyncratic details of brain anatomy, the optimization approach significantly improves upon prior un-optimized approaches using small electrodes. The analysis also reveals the optimal use of conventional bipolar montages: maximally intense tangential fields are attained with the two electrodes placed at a considerable distance from the target along the direction of the desired field; when radial fields are desired, the maximum-intensity configuration consists of an electrode placed directly over the target with a distant return electrode. To summarize, if a target location and stimulation orientation can be defined by the clinician, then the proposed technique is superior in terms of both focality and intensity as compared to previous solutions and is thus expected to translate into improved patient safety and increased clinical efficacy.

  1. Magnetic-field sensing coil embedded in ceramic for measuring ambient magnetic field

    DOEpatents

    Takahashi, Hironori

    2004-02-10

    A magnetic pick-up coil for measuring magnetic field with high specific sensitivity, optionally with an electrostatic shield (24), having coupling elements (22) with high winding packing ratio, oriented in multiple directions, and embedded in ceramic material for structural support and electrical insulation. Elements of the coil are constructed from green ceramic sheets (200) and metallic ink deposited on surfaces and in via holes of the ceramic sheets. The ceramic sheets and the metallic ink are co-fired to create a monolithic hard ceramic body (20) with metallized traces embedded in, and placed on exterior surfaces of, the hard ceramic body. The compact and rugged coil can be used in a variety of environments, including hostile conditions involving ultra-high vacuum, high temperatures, nuclear and optical radiation, chemical reactions, and physically demanding surroundings, occurring either individually or in combinations.

  2. A synchronous strobed laser light sheet for helicopter model rotor flow visualization

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Leighty, Bradley D.; Rhodes, David B.; Jones, Stephen B.; Franke, John M.

    1990-01-01

    A synchronous, strobed laser light sheet has been developed for use in flow visualization of a helicopter rotor model. The light sheet strobe circuit included selectable blade position, strobe duration, and multiple pulses per revolution for rotors having 2 to 9 blades. The flow was seeded with propylene glycol. Between runs, a calibration grid board was placed in the plane of the laser sheet and recorded with the video camera at the position used to record the flow field. A slip-sync mode permitted slow motion visualization of the flow field over complete rotations of the rotor. The system was used to make two-dimensional flow field cuts of a four-bladed rotor operating at advance ratio of 0.37 at wind tunnel speeds up to 79.25 meters per second (260 feet per second).

  3. Composite x-ray image assembly for large-field digital mammography with one- and two-dimensional positioning of a focal plane array

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Halama, G.; McAdoo, J.; Liu, H.

    1998-01-01

    To demonstrate the feasibility of a novel large-field digital mammography technique, a 1024 x 1024 pixel Loral charge-coupled device (CCD) focal plane array (FPA) was positioned in a mammographic field with one- and two-dimensional scan sequences to obtain 950 x 1800 pixel and 3600 x 3600 pixel composite images, respectively. These experiments verify that precise positioning of FPAs produced seamless composites and that the CCD mosaic concept has potential for high-resolution, large-field imaging. The proposed CCD mosaic concept resembles a checkerboard pattern with spacing left between the CCDs for the driver and readout electronics. To obtain a complete x-ray image, the mosaic must be repositioned four times, with an x-ray exposure at each position. To reduce the patient dose, a lead shield with appropriately patterned holes is placed between the x-ray source and the patient. The high-precision motorized translation stages and the fiber-coupled-scintillating-screen-CCD sensor assembly were placed in the position usually occupied by the film cassette. Because of the high mechanical precision, seamless composites were constructed from the subimages. This paper discusses the positioning, image alignment procedure, and composite image results. The paper only addresses the formation of a seamless composite image from subimages and will not consider the effects of the lead shield, multiple CCDs, or the speed of motion.

  4. Chemical Detection using Electrically Open Circuits having no Electrical Connections

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Woodward, Stanley E.; Olgesby, Donald M.; Taylor, Bryant D.; Shams, Qamar A.

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents investigations to date on chemical detection using a recently developed method for designing, powering and interrogating sensors as electrically open circuits having no electrical connections. In lieu of having each sensor from a closed circuit with multiple electrically connected components, an electrically conductive geometric pattern that is powered using oscillating magnetic fields and capable of storing an electric field and a magnetic field without the need of a closed circuit or electrical connections is used. When electrically active, the patterns respond with their own magnetic field whose frequency, amplitude and bandwidth can be correlated with the magnitude of the physical quantities being measured. Preliminary experimental results of using two different detection approaches will be presented. In one method, a thin film of a reactant is deposited on the surface of the open-circuit sensor. Exposure to a specific targeted reactant shifts the resonant frequency of the sensor. In the second method, a coating of conductive material is placed on a thin non-conductive plastic sheet that is placed over the surface of the sensor. There is no physical contact between the sensor and the electrically conductive material. When the conductive material is exposed to a targeted reactant, a chemical reaction occurs that renders the material non-conductive. The change in the material s electrical resistance within the magnetic field of the sensor alters the sensor s response bandwidth and amplitude, allowing detection of the reaction without having the reactants in physical contact with the sensor.

  5. Reciprocity relationships in vector acoustics and their application to vector field calculations.

    PubMed

    Deal, Thomas J; Smith, Kevin B

    2017-08-01

    The reciprocity equation commonly stated in underwater acoustics relates pressure fields and monopole sources. It is often used to predict the pressure measured by a hydrophone for multiple source locations by placing a source at the hydrophone location and calculating the field everywhere for that source. A similar equation that governs the orthogonal components of the particle velocity field is needed to enable this computational method to be used for acoustic vector sensors. This paper derives a general reciprocity equation that accounts for both monopole and dipole sources. This vector-scalar reciprocity equation can be used to calculate individual components of the received vector field by altering the source type used in the propagation calculation. This enables a propagation model to calculate the received vector field components for an arbitrary number of source locations with a single model run for each vector field component instead of requiring one model run for each source location. Application of the vector-scalar reciprocity principle is demonstrated with analytic solutions for a range-independent environment and with numerical solutions for a range-dependent environment using a parabolic equation model.

  6. Dynamics of hippocampal spatial representation in echolocating bats

    PubMed Central

    Ulanovsky, Nachum; Moss, Cynthia F.

    2009-01-01

    The ‘place fields‘ of hippocampal pyramidal neurons are not static. For example, upon a contextual change in the environment, place-fields may ‘remap‘ within typical timescales of ~1 minute. A few studies have shown more rapid dynamics in hippocampal activity, linked to internal processes, such as switches between spatial reference frames or changes within the theta cycle. However, little is known about rapid hippocampal place-field dynamics in response to external, sensory stimuli. Here, we studied this question in big brown bats, echolocating mammals in which we can readily measure rapid changes in sensory dynamics (sonar signals), as well as rapid behavioral switches between distal and proximal exploratory modes. First, we show that place-field size was modulated by the availability of sensory information, on a timescale of ~300-milliseconds: Bat hippocampal place-fields were smallest immediately after an echolocation call, but place-fields ‘diffused’ with the passage of time after the call, when echo information was no longer arriving. Second, we show rapid modulation of hippocampal place-fields as the animal switched between two exploratory modes. Third, we compared place fields and spatial-view fields of individual neurons and found that place tuning was much more pronounced than spatial-view tuning. In addition, dynamic fluctuations in spatial-view tuning were stronger than fluctuations in place tuning. Taken together, these results suggest that spatial representation in mammalian hippocampus can be very rapidly modulated by external sensory and behavioral events. PMID:20014379

  7. Recreation of three-dimensional objects in a real-time simulated environment by means of a panoramic single lens stereoscopic image-capturing device

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wong, Erwin

    2000-03-01

    Traditional methods of linear based imaging limits the viewer to a single fixed-point perspective. By means of a single lens multiple perspective mirror system, a 360-degree representation of the area around the camera is reconstructed. This reconstruction is used overcome the limitations of a traditional camera by providing the viewer with many different perspectives. By constructing the mirror into a hemispherical surface with multiple focal lengths at various diameters on the mirror, and by placing a parabolic mirror overhead, a stereoscopic image can be extracted from the image captured by a high-resolution camera placed beneath the mirror. Image extraction and correction is made by computer processing of the image obtained by camera; the image present up to five distinguishable different viewpoints that a computer can extrapolate pseudo- perspective data from. Geometric and depth for field can be extrapolated via comparison and isolation of objects within a virtual scene post processed by the computer. Combining data with scene rendering software provides the viewer with the ability to choose a desired viewing position, multiple dynamic perspectives, and virtually constructed perspectives based on minimal existing data. An examination into the workings of the mirror relay system is provided, including possible image extrapolation and correctional methods. Generation of data and virtual interpolated and constructed data is also mentioned.

  8. Ventral tegmental area disruption selectively affects CA1/CA2 but not CA3 place fields during a differential reward working memory task

    PubMed Central

    Martig, Adria K; Mizumori, Sheri JY

    2010-01-01

    Hippocampus (HPC) receives dopaminergic (DA) projections from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra. These inputs appear to provide a modulatory signal that influences HPC dependent behaviors and place fields. We examined how efferent projections from VTA to HPC influence spatial working memory and place fields when the reward context changes. CA1 and CA3 process environmental context changes differently and VTA preferentially innervates CA1. Given these anatomical data and electrophysiological evidence that implicates DA in reward processing, we predicted that CA1 place fields would respond more strongly to both VTA disruption and changes in the reward context than CA3 place fields. Rats (N=9) were implanted with infusion cannula targeting VTA and recording tetrodes aimed at HPC. Then they were tested on a differential reward, win-shift working memory task. One recording session consisted of 5 baseline and 5 manipulation trials during which place cells in CA1/CA2 (N=167) and CA3 (N=94) were recorded. Prior to manipulation trials rats were infused with either baclofen or saline and then subjected to control or reward conditions during which the learned locations of large and small reward quantities were reversed. VTA disruption resulted in an increase in errors, and in CA1/CA2 place field reorganization. There were no changes in any measures of CA3 place field stability during VTA disruption. Reward manipulations did not affect performance or place field stability in CA1/CA2 or CA3; however, changes in the reward locations “rescued” performance and place field stability in CA1/CA2 when VTA activity was compromised, perhaps by trigging compensatory mechanisms. These data support the hypothesis that VTA contributes to spatial working memory performance perhaps specifically by maintaining place field stability selectively in CA1/CA2. PMID:20082295

  9. The Multigrid-Mask Numerical Method for Solution of Incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ku, Hwar-Ching; Popel, Aleksander S.

    1996-01-01

    A multigrid-mask method for solution of incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in primitive variable form has been developed. The main objective is to apply this method in conjunction with the pseudospectral element method solving flow past multiple objects. There are two key steps involved in calculating flow past multiple objects. The first step utilizes only Cartesian grid points. This homogeneous or mask method step permits flow into the interior rectangular elements contained in objects, but with the restriction that the velocity for those Cartesian elements within and on the surface of an object should be small or zero. This step easily produces an approximate flow field on Cartesian grid points covering the entire flow field. The second or heterogeneous step corrects the approximate flow field to account for the actual shape of the objects by solving the flow field based on the local coordinates surrounding each object and adapted to it. The noise occurring in data communication between the global (low frequency) coordinates and the local (high frequency) coordinates is eliminated by the multigrid method when the Schwarz Alternating Procedure (SAP) is implemented. Two dimensional flow past circular and elliptic cylinders will be presented to demonstrate the versatility of the proposed method. An interesting phenomenon is found that when the second elliptic cylinder is placed in the wake of the first elliptic cylinder a traction force results in a negative drag coefficient.

  10. Role of reservoir simulation in development and management of complexly-faulted, multiple-reservoir Dulang field, offshore Malaysia: Holistic strategies

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

    Sonrexa, K.; Aziz, A.; Solomon, G.J.

    1995-10-01

    The Dulang field, discovered in 1981, is a major oil filed located offshore Malaysia in the Malay Basin. The Dulang Unit Area constitutes the central part of this exceedingly heterogeneous field. The Unit Area consists of 19 stacked shaly sandstone reservoirs which are divided into about 90 compartments with multiple fluid contacts owing to severe faulting. Current estimated put the Original-Oil-In-Place (OOIP) in the neighborhood of 700 million stock tank barrels (MMSTB). Production commenced in March 1991 and the current production is more than 50,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD). In addition to other more conventional means, reservoir simulationmore » has been employed form the very start as a vital component of the overall strategy to develop and manage this challenging field. More than 10 modeling studies have been completed by Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd. (Carigali) at various times during the short life of this field thus far. To add to that, Esso Production Malaysia Inc. (EPMI) has simultaneously conducted a number of independent studies. These studies have dealt with undersaturated compartments as well as those with small and large gas caps. They have paved the way for improved reservoir characterization, optimum development planning and prudent production practices. This paper discusses the modeling approaches and highlights the crucial role these studies have played on an ongoing basis in the development and management of the complexly-faulted, multi-reservoir Dulang Unit Area.« less

  11. Applications of numerical methods to simulate the movement of contaminants in groundwater.

    PubMed Central

    Sun, N Z

    1989-01-01

    This paper reviews mathematical models and numerical methods that have been extensively used to simulate the movement of contaminants through the subsurface. The major emphasis is placed on the numerical methods of advection-dominated transport problems and inverse problems. Several mathematical models that are commonly used in field problems are listed. A variety of numerical solutions for three-dimensional models are introduced, including the multiple cell balance method that can be considered a variation of the finite element method. The multiple cell balance method is easy to understand and convenient for solving field problems. When the advection transport dominates the dispersion transport, two kinds of numerical difficulties, overshoot and numerical dispersion, are always involved in solving standard, finite difference methods and finite element methods. To overcome these numerical difficulties, various numerical techniques are developed, such as upstream weighting methods and moving point methods. A complete review of these methods is given and we also mention the problems of parameter identification, reliability analysis, and optimal-experiment design that are absolutely necessary for constructing a practical model. PMID:2695327

  12. Measurement and modeling of the acoustic field near an underwater vehicle and implications for acoustic source localization.

    PubMed

    Lepper, Paul A; D'Spain, Gerald L

    2007-08-01

    The performance of traditional techniques of passive localization in ocean acoustics such as time-of-arrival (phase differences) and amplitude ratios measured by multiple receivers may be degraded when the receivers are placed on an underwater vehicle due to effects of scattering. However, knowledge of the interference pattern caused by scattering provides a potential enhancement to traditional source localization techniques. Results based on a study using data from a multi-element receiving array mounted on the inner shroud of an autonomous underwater vehicle show that scattering causes the localization ambiguities (side lobes) to decrease in overall level and to move closer to the true source location, thereby improving localization performance, for signals in the frequency band 2-8 kHz. These measurements are compared with numerical modeling results from a two-dimensional time domain finite difference scheme for scattering from two fluid-loaded cylindrical shells. Measured and numerically modeled results are presented for multiple source aspect angles and frequencies. Matched field processing techniques quantify the source localization capabilities for both measurements and numerical modeling output.

  13. GLOBE and Place-based learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Andersen, T. J.; Murphy, T.; Malmberg, J. S.; Wegner, K.

    2016-12-01

    You visit a special natural setting and are amazed at the splendor. You revisit it years later at the same time of year and note how it has changed. The environment looks different-algae is growing where it didn't before. Trees are dying. Weeds are flourishing. You ask yourself "why is this happening?" The spark starting your climate place-based awareness just ignited. The GLOBE program encourages and enables young citizen scientists to observe and record measurements related to the environment and to use those measurements for research. Over 130 learning activities supplement the 51 measurement protocols that can be done in and out of the field, with and without technical devices that open up the mind to questions about one's environment. From taking pictures of the sky to creating instruments, to noting when plants bloom and examining the characteristics of the soil and land, GLOBE encourages investigating climate change in numerous ways. GLOBE activities encouraging climate awareness and "what if" scenarios fuel student research and help validate scientific research. Studying one's local GLOBE observations and seeing where and when change occurs, brings out intrigue that expands to investigating multiple places where even more questions can arise-fueling the scientific process and encouraging place-based learning.

  14. Local transformations of the hippocampal cognitive map.

    PubMed

    Krupic, Julija; Bauza, Marius; Burton, Stephen; O'Keefe, John

    2018-03-09

    Grid cells are neurons active in multiple fields arranged in a hexagonal lattice and are thought to represent the "universal metric for space." However, they become nonhomogeneously distorted in polarized enclosures, which challenges this view. We found that local changes to the configuration of the enclosure induce individual grid fields to shift in a manner inversely related to their distance from the reconfigured boundary. The grid remained primarily anchored to the unchanged stable walls and showed a nonuniform rescaling. Shifts in simultaneously recorded colocalized grid fields were strongly correlated, which suggests that the readout of the animal's position might still be intact. Similar field shifts were also observed in place and boundary cells-albeit of greater magnitude and more pronounced closer to the reconfigured boundary-which suggests that there is no simple one-to-one relationship between these three different cell types. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

  15. Functional Differences in the Backward Shifts of CA1 and CA3 Place Fields in Novel and Familiar Environments

    PubMed Central

    Roth, Eric D.; Yu, Xintian; Rao, Geeta; Knierim, James J.

    2012-01-01

    Insight into the processing dynamics and other neurophysiological properties of different hippocampal subfields is critically important for understanding hippocampal function. In this study, we compared shifts in the center of mass (COM) of CA3 and CA1 place fields in a familiar and completely novel environment. Place fields in CA1 and CA3 were simultaneously recorded as rats ran along a closed loop track in a familiar room followed by a session in a completely novel room. This process was repeated each day over a 4-day period. CA3 place fields shifted backward (opposite to the direction of motion of the rat) only in novel environments. This backward shift gradually diminished across days, as the novel environment became more familiar with repeated exposures. Conversely, CA1 place fields shifted backward across all days in both familiar and novel environments. Prior studies demonstrated that CA1 place fields on average do not exhibit a backward shift during the first exposure to an environment in which the familiar cues are rearranged into a novel configuration, although CA3 place fields showed a strong backward shift. Under the completely novel conditions of the present study, no dissociation was observed between CA3 and CA1 during the first novel session (although a strong dissociation was observed in the familiar sessions and the later novel sessions). In summary, this is the first study to use simultaneous recordings in CA1 and CA3 to compare place field COM shift and other associated properties in truly novel and familiar environments. This study further demonstrates functional differentiation between CA1 and CA3 as the plasticity of CA1 place fields is affected differently by exposure to a completely novel environment in comparison to an altered, familiar environment, whereas the plasticity of CA3 place fields is affected similarly during both types of environmental novelty. PMID:22558316

  16. Beyond seismic interferometry: imaging the earth's interior with virtual sources and receivers inside the earth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wapenaar, C. P. A.; Van der Neut, J.; Thorbecke, J.; Broggini, F.; Slob, E. C.; Snieder, R.

    2015-12-01

    Imagine one could place seismic sources and receivers at any desired position inside the earth. Since the receivers would record the full wave field (direct waves, up- and downward reflections, multiples, etc.), this would give a wealth of information about the local structures, material properties and processes in the earth's interior. Although in reality one cannot place sources and receivers anywhere inside the earth, it appears to be possible to create virtual sources and receivers at any desired position, which accurately mimics the desired situation. The underlying method involves some major steps beyond standard seismic interferometry. With seismic interferometry, virtual sources can be created at the positions of physical receivers, assuming these receivers are illuminated isotropically. Our proposed method does not need physical receivers at the positions of the virtual sources; moreover, it does not require isotropic illumination. To create virtual sources and receivers anywhere inside the earth, it suffices to record the reflection response with physical sources and receivers at the earth's surface. We do not need detailed information about the medium parameters; it suffices to have an estimate of the direct waves between the virtual-source positions and the acquisition surface. With these prerequisites, our method can create virtual sources and receivers, anywhere inside the earth, which record the full wave field. The up- and downward reflections, multiples, etc. in the virtual responses are extracted directly from the reflection response at the surface. The retrieved virtual responses form an ideal starting point for accurate seismic imaging, characterization and monitoring.

  17. The multiple-hit pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

    PubMed

    Buzzetti, Elena; Pinzani, Massimo; Tsochatzis, Emmanuel A

    2016-08-01

    Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is increasingly prevalent and represents a growing challenge in terms of prevention and treatment. Despite its high prevalence, only a small minority of affected patients develops inflammation and subsequently fibrosis and chronic liver disease, while most of them only exhibit simple steatosis. In this context, the full understanding of the mechanisms underlying the development of NAFLD and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is of extreme importance; despite advances in this field, knowledge on the pathogenesis of NAFLD is still incomplete. The 'two-hit' hypothesis is now obsolete, as it is inadequate to explain the several molecular and metabolic changes that take place in NAFLD. The "multiple hit" hypothesis considers multiple insults acting together on genetically predisposed subjects to induce NAFLD and provides a more accurate explanation of NAFLD pathogenesis. Such hits include insulin resistance, hormones secreted from the adipose tissue, nutritional factors, gut microbiota and genetic and epigenetic factors. In this article, we review the factors that form this hypothesis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Three-dimension finite-element analyses of multiple electrodes bipolar RF global endometrial ablation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hu, Tao; Panhao, Tang; Xiao, Jiahua

    2015-03-01

    Radio-frequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure to thermally ablate the targeted diseased tissue. There have been many finite-element method (FEM) studies of cardiac and hepatic RFA, but hardly find any FEM study on endometrial ablation for abnormal uterine bleeding. In this paper, a FEM model was generated to analyze the temperature distribution of bipolar RF global endometrial ablation with three pairs of bipolar electrodes placed at the perimeter of the uterine cavity. COMSOL was utilized to calculate the RF electric fields and temperature fields by numerically solving the bioheat equation in the triangle uterine cavity range. The 55°C isothermal surfaces show the shape of the ablation dimensions (depth and width), which reasonably matched the experimental results.

  19. Electromagnetic fields of a relativistic electron avalanche with special attention to the origin of lightning signatures known as narrow bipolar pulses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cooray, Vernon; Cooray, Gerald; Marshall, Thomas; Arabshahi, Shahab; Dwyer, Joseph; Rassoul, Hamid

    2014-11-01

    In the present study, electromagnetic fields of accelerating charges were utilized to evaluate the electromagnetic fields generated by a relativistic electron avalanche. In the analysis it is assumed that all the electrons in the avalanche are moving with the same speed. In other words, the growth or the decay of the number of electrons takes place only at the head of the avalanche. It is shown that the radiation is emanating only from the head of the avalanche where electrons are being accelerated. It is also shown that an analytical expression for the radiation field of the avalanche at any distance can be written directly in terms of the e-folding length of the avalanche. This model of the avalanche was utilized to test the idea whether the source of the lightning signatures known as narrow bipolar pulses could be relativistic avalanches. The idea was tested by using the simultaneously measured electric fields of narrow bipolar pulses at two distances, one measured far away from the source and the other in the near vicinity. The avalanche parameters were extracted from the distant field and they are used to evaluate the close field. The results show that the source of the NBP can be modeled either as a single or a multiple burst of relativistic avalanches with speed of avalanches in the range of 2-3 × 108 m/s. The multiple avalanche model agrees better with the experimental data in that it can also generate the correct signature of the time derivatives and the HF and VHF radiation bursts of NBP.

  20. System and method for optimal load and source scheduling in context aware homes

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

    Shetty, Pradeep; Foslien Graber, Wendy; Mangsuli, Purnaprajna R.

    A controller for controlling energy consumption in a home includes a constraints engine to define variables for multiple appliances in the home corresponding to various home modes and persona of an occupant of the home. A modeling engine models multiple paths of energy utilization of the multiple appliances to place the home into a desired state from a current context. An optimal scheduler receives the multiple paths of energy utilization and generates a schedule as a function of the multiple paths and a selected persona to place the home in a desired state.

  1. Methods of Using a Magnetic Field Response Sensor Within Closed, Electrically Conductive Containers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Woodward, Stanley E.; Taylor, Bryant D.

    2010-01-01

    Magnetic field response sensors are a class of sensors that are powered via oscillating magnetic fields, and when electrically active, respond with their own magnetic fields with attributes dependent upon the magnitude of the physical quantity being measured. A magnetic field response recorder powers and interrogates the magnetic sensors [see Magnetic-Field-Response Measurement- Acquisition System, NASA Tech Briefs Vol. 30, No, 6 (June 2006, page 28)]. Electrically conductive containers have low transmissivity for radio frequency (RF) energy and thus present problems for magnetic field response sensors. It is necessary in some applications to have a magnetic field response sensor s capacitor placed in these containers. Proximity to conductive surfaces alters the inductance and capacitance of the sensors. As the sensor gets closer to a conductive surface, the electric field and magnetic field energy of the sensor is reduced due to eddy currents being induced in the conductive surface. Therefore, the capacitors and inductors cannot be affixed to a conductive surface or embedded in a conductive material. It is necessary to have a fixed separation away from the conductive material. The minimum distance for separation is determined by the desired sensor response signal to noise ratio. Although the inductance is less than what it would be if it were not in proximity to the conductive surface, the inductance is fixed. As long as the inductance is fixed, all variations of the magnetic field response are due to capacitance changes. Numerous variations of inductor mounting can be utilized, such as providing a housing that provides separation from the conductive material as well as protection from impact damage. The sensor can be on the same flexible substrate with a narrow throat portion of the sensor between the inductor and the capacitor, Figure 1. The throat is of sufficient length to allow the capacitor to be appropriately placed within the container and the inductor placed outside the container. The throat is fed through the orifice in the container wall (e.g., fuel tank opening) and connects to the inductor and capacitor via electrical leads to form a closed circuit, Figure 2. Another embodiment is to have the inductor and capacitor fabricated as separate units. In this embodiment, the inductor is mounted external to the container, and the capacitor is mounted internal to the container, Figure 1. Electrical leads are fed through the orifice to connect the inductor and capacitor, Figure 2. When a container holding multiple sensors is made of a conductive material, an antenna can be placed internal to the container. An internal antenna allows all components of the sensors to reside inside the container. The antenna must be separated from the container wall s conductive surface. Additionally, the inductors must be maintained in a fixed position relative to and separated from the container

  2. A simple and effective process for noise reduction of multichannel cortical field potential recordings in freely moving rats.

    PubMed

    Shaw, Fu-Zen; Yen, Chen Tung; Chen, Ruei Feng

    2003-04-15

    Simple and useful steps, i.e. placing a grounded plate under the recording chamber as well as using multiple reference electrodes, are introduced here for obtaining reliable low-noise recordings of brain activity in freely moving rats. A general circuit model was built to analyze the electrical interference of both single-grounded and two-reference ground-free recording configurations. In both simulated and realistic conditions under two recording states, 60-Hz magnitude was in the microvolt range. Moreover, the noise was significantly reduced by shortening the distance between the subject and the grounded plate under the recording chamber. Furthermore, in chronically implanted rats, average 60-Hz interference of multichannel electroencephalograms of two-reference ground-free recordings (3.74 +/- 0.18 microV) was significantly smaller than that of the single-grounded condition (9.03 +/- 1.98 microV). Thus, we demonstrated that a lower-noise recording can be achieved by a two-reference configuration and a closely-placed metal grounded plate in an open-field circumstance. As compared to the use of a Faraday cage, this simple procedure is of benefit for long-term behavioral tracking with a video camera and for pharmacological experiments.

  3. Methods for multiple-telescope beam imaging and guiding in the near-infrared

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anugu, N.; Amorim, A.; Gordo, P.; Eisenhauer, F.; Pfuhl, O.; Haug, M.; Wieprecht, E.; Wiezorrek, E.; Lima, J.; Perrin, G.; Brandner, W.; Straubmeier, C.; Le Bouquin, J.-B.; Garcia, P. J. V.

    2018-05-01

    Atmospheric turbulence and precise measurement of the astrometric baseline vector between any two telescopes are two major challenges in implementing phase-referenced interferometric astrometry and imaging. They limit the performance of a fibre-fed interferometer by degrading the instrument sensitivity and the precision of astrometric measurements and by introducing image reconstruction errors due to inaccurate phases. A multiple-beam acquisition and guiding camera was built to meet these challenges for a recently commissioned four-beam combiner instrument, GRAVITY, at the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope Interferometer. For each telescope beam, it measures (a) field tip-tilts by imaging stars in the sky, (b) telescope pupil shifts by imaging pupil reference laser beacons installed on each telescope using a 2 × 2 lenslet and (c) higher-order aberrations using a 9 × 9 Shack-Hartmann. The telescope pupils are imaged to provide visual monitoring while observing. These measurements enable active field and pupil guiding by actuating a train of tip-tilt mirrors placed in the pupil and field planes, respectively. The Shack-Hartmann measured quasi-static aberrations are used to focus the auxiliary telescopes and allow the possibility of correcting the non-common path errors between the adaptive optics systems of the unit telescopes and GRAVITY. The guiding stabilizes the light injection into single-mode fibres, increasing sensitivity and reducing the astrometric and image reconstruction errors. The beam guiding enables us to achieve an astrometric error of less than 50 μas. Here, we report on the data reduction methods and laboratory tests of the multiple-beam acquisition and guiding camera and its performance on-sky.

  4. Agile development of ontologies through conversation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Braines, Dave; Bhattal, Amardeep; Preece, Alun D.; de Mel, Geeth

    2016-05-01

    Ontologies and semantic systems are necessarily complex but offer great potential in terms of their ability to fuse information from multiple sources in support of situation awareness. Current approaches do not place the ontologies directly into the hands of the end user in the field but instead hide them away behind traditional applications. We have been experimenting with human-friendly ontologies and conversational interactions to enable non-technical business users to interact with and extend these dynamically. In this paper we outline our approach via a worked example, covering: OWL ontologies, ITA Controlled English, Sensor/mission matching and conversational interactions between human and machine agents.

  5. Remembering to learn: independent place and journey coding mechanisms contribute to memory transfer.

    PubMed

    Bahar, Amir S; Shapiro, Matthew L

    2012-02-08

    The neural mechanisms that integrate new episodes with established memories are unknown. When rats explore an environment, CA1 cells fire in place fields that indicate locations. In goal-directed spatial memory tasks, some place fields differentiate behavioral histories ("journey-dependent" place fields) while others do not ("journey-independent" place fields). To investigate how these signals inform learning and memory for new and familiar episodes, we recorded CA1 and CA3 activity in rats trained to perform a "standard" spatial memory task in a plus maze and in two new task variants. A "switch" task exchanged the start and goal locations in the same environment; an "altered environment" task contained unfamiliar local and distal cues. In the switch task, performance was mildly impaired, new firing maps were stable, but the proportion and stability of journey-dependent place fields declined. In the altered environment, overall performance was strongly impaired, new firing maps were unstable, and stable proportions of journey-dependent place fields were maintained. In both tasks, memory errors were accompanied by a decline in journey codes. The different dynamics of place and journey coding suggest that they reflect separate mechanisms and contribute to distinct memory computations. Stable place fields may represent familiar relationships among environmental features that are required for consistent memory performance. Journey-dependent activity may correspond with goal-directed behavioral sequences that reflect expectancies that generalize across environments. The complementary signals could help link current events with established memories, so that familiarity with either a behavioral strategy or an environment can inform goal-directed learning.

  6. REMEMBERING TO LEARN: INDEPENDENT PLACE AND JOURNEY CODING MECHANISMS CONTRIBUTE TO MEMORY TRANSFER

    PubMed Central

    Bahar, Amir S.; Shapiro, Matthew L.

    2012-01-01

    The neural mechanisms that integrate new episodes with established memories are unknown. When rats explore an environment, CA1 cells fire in place fields that indicate locations. In goal-directed spatial memory tasks, some place fields differentiate behavioral histories (journey-dependent place fields) while others do not (journey-independent place fields). To investigate how these signals inform learning and memory for new and familiar episodes, we recorded CA1 and CA3 activity in rats trained to perform a standard spatial memory task in a plus maze and in two new task variants. A switch task exchanged the start and goal locations in the same environment; an altered environment task contained unfamiliar local and distal cues. In the switch task, performance was mildly impaired, new firing maps were stable, but the proportion and stability of journey-dependent place fields declined. In the altered environment, overall performance was strongly impaired, new firing maps were unstable, and stable proportions of journey-dependent place fields were maintained. In both tasks, memory errors were accompanied by a decline in journey codes. The different dynamics of place and journey coding suggest that they reflect separate mechanisms and contribute to distinct memory computations. Stable place fields may represent familiar relationships among environmental features that are required for consistent memory performance. Journey-dependent activity may correspond with goal directed behavioral sequences that reflect expectancies that generalize across environments. The complementary signals could help link current events with established memories, so that familiarity with either a behavioral strategy or an environment can inform goal-directed learning. PMID:22323731

  7. Nonadiabatic dynamics in intense continuous wave laser fields and real-time observation of the associated wavepacket bifurcation in terms of spectrogram of induced photon emission.

    PubMed

    Mizuno, Yuta; Arasaki, Yasuki; Takatsuka, Kazuo

    2016-11-14

    We propose a theoretical principle to directly monitor the bifurcation of quantum wavepackets passing through nonadiabatic regions of a molecule that is placed in intense continuous wave (CW) laser fields. This idea makes use of the phenomenon of laser-driven photon emission from molecules that can undergo nonadiabatic transitions between ionic and covalent potential energy surfaces like Li + F - and LiF. The resultant photon emission spectra are of anomalous yet characteristic frequency and intensity, if pumped to an energy level in which the nonadiabatic region is accessible and placed in a CW laser field. The proposed method is designed to take the time-frequency spectrogram with an appropriate time-window from this photon emission to detect the time evolution of the frequency and intensity, which depends on the dynamics and location of the relevant nuclear wavepackets. This method is specifically designed for the study of dynamics in intense CW laser fields and is rather limited in scope than other techniques for femtosecond chemical dynamics in vacuum. The following characteristic features of dynamics can be mapped onto the spectrogram: (1) the period of driven vibrational motion (temporally confined vibrational states in otherwise dissociative channels, the period and other states of which dramatically vary depending on the CW driving lasers applied), (2) the existence of multiple nuclear wavepackets running individually on the field-dressed potential energy surfaces, (3) the time scale of coherent interaction between the nuclear wavepackets running on ionic and covalent electronic states after their branching (the so-called coherence time in the terminology of the theory of nonadiabatic interaction), and so on.

  8. Nonadiabatic dynamics in intense continuous wave laser fields and real-time observation of the associated wavepacket bifurcation in terms of spectrogram of induced photon emission

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mizuno, Yuta; Arasaki, Yasuki; Takatsuka, Kazuo

    2016-11-01

    We propose a theoretical principle to directly monitor the bifurcation of quantum wavepackets passing through nonadiabatic regions of a molecule that is placed in intense continuous wave (CW) laser fields. This idea makes use of the phenomenon of laser-driven photon emission from molecules that can undergo nonadiabatic transitions between ionic and covalent potential energy surfaces like Li+ F- and LiF. The resultant photon emission spectra are of anomalous yet characteristic frequency and intensity, if pumped to an energy level in which the nonadiabatic region is accessible and placed in a CW laser field. The proposed method is designed to take the time-frequency spectrogram with an appropriate time-window from this photon emission to detect the time evolution of the frequency and intensity, which depends on the dynamics and location of the relevant nuclear wavepackets. This method is specifically designed for the study of dynamics in intense CW laser fields and is rather limited in scope than other techniques for femtosecond chemical dynamics in vacuum. The following characteristic features of dynamics can be mapped onto the spectrogram: (1) the period of driven vibrational motion (temporally confined vibrational states in otherwise dissociative channels, the period and other states of which dramatically vary depending on the CW driving lasers applied), (2) the existence of multiple nuclear wavepackets running individually on the field-dressed potential energy surfaces, (3) the time scale of coherent interaction between the nuclear wavepackets running on ionic and covalent electronic states after their branching (the so-called coherence time in the terminology of the theory of nonadiabatic interaction), and so on.

  9. Homesickness in University Students: The Role of Multiple Place Attachment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Scopelliti, Massimiliano; Tiberio, Lorenza

    2010-01-01

    The transition to college or university can lead to the challenge of adapting to a new setting. Homesickness has been frequently investigated as a potential negative consequence of relocation. This study analyzed the role of multiple place attachment in the development of homesickness among university students. The study used a multicausal…

  10. Mapping of government land encroachment in Cameron Highlands using multiple remote sensing datasets

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zin, M. H. M.; Ahmad, B.

    2014-02-01

    The cold and refreshing highland weather is one of the factors that give impact to socio-economic growth in Cameron Highlands. This unique weather of the highland surrounded by tropical rain forest can only be found in a few places in Malaysia. It makes this place a famous tourism attraction and also provides a very suitable temperature for agriculture activities. Thus it makes agriculture such as tea plantation, vegetable, fruits and flowers one of the biggest economic activities in Cameron Highlands. However unauthorized agriculture activities are rampant. The government land, mostly forest area have been encroached by farmers, in many cases indiscriminately cutting down trees and hill slopes. This study is meant to detect and assess this encroachment using multiple remote sensing datasets. The datasets were used together with cadastral parcel data where survey lines describe property boundary, pieces of land are subdivided into lots of government and private. The general maximum likelihood classification method was used on remote sensing image to classify the land-cover in the study area. Ground truth data from field observation were used to assess the accuracy of the classification. Cadastral parcel data was overlaid on the classification map in order to detect the encroachment area. The result of this study shows that there is a land cover change of 93.535 ha in the government land of the study area between years 2001 to 2010, nevertheless almost no encroachment took place in the studied forest reserve area. The result of this study will be useful for the authority in monitoring and managing the forest.

  11. Invited Article: Mask-modulated lensless imaging with multi-angle illuminations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhang, Zibang; Zhou, You; Jiang, Shaowei; Guo, Kaikai; Hoshino, Kazunori; Zhong, Jingang; Suo, Jinli; Dai, Qionghai; Zheng, Guoan

    2018-06-01

    The use of multiple diverse measurements can make lensless phase retrieval more robust. Conventional diversity functions include aperture diversity, wavelength diversity, translational diversity, and defocus diversity. Here we discuss a lensless imaging scheme that employs multiple spherical-wave illuminations from a light-emitting diode array as diversity functions. In this scheme, we place a binary mask between the sample and the detector for imposing support constraints for the phase retrieval process. This support constraint enforces the light field to be zero at certain locations and is similar to the aperture constraint in Fourier ptychographic microscopy. We use a self-calibration algorithm to correct the misalignment of the binary mask. The efficacy of the proposed scheme is first demonstrated by simulations where we evaluate the reconstruction quality using mean square error and structural similarity index. The scheme is then experimentally tested by recovering images of a resolution target and biological samples. The proposed scheme may provide new insights for developing compact and large field-of-view lensless imaging platforms. The use of the binary mask can also be combined with other diversity functions for better constraining the phase retrieval solution space. We provide the open-source implementation code for the broad research community.

  12. 2010 CEOS Field Reflectance Intercomparisons Lessons Learned

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thome, Kurtis; Fox, Nigel

    2011-01-01

    This paper summarizes lessons learned from the 2009 and 2010 joint field campaigns to Tuz Golu, Turkey. Emphasis is placed on the 2010 campaign related to understanding the equipment and measurement protocols, processing schemes, and traceability to SI quantities. Participants in both 2009 and 2010 used an array of measurement approaches to determine surface reflectance. One lesson learned is that even with all of the differences in collection between groups, the differences in reflectance are currently dominated by instrumental artifacts including knowledge of the white reference. Processing methodology plays a limited role once the bi-directional reflectance of the white reference is used rather than a hemispheric-directional value. The lack of a basic set of measurement protocols, or best practices, limits a group s ability to ensure SI traceability and the development of proper error budgets. Finally, rigorous attention to sampling methodology and its impact on instrument behavior is needed. The results of the 2009 and 2010 joint campaigns clearly demonstrate both the need and utility of such campaigns and such comparisons must continue in the future to ensure a coherent set of data that can span multiple sensor types and multiple decades.

  13. Hydrologic and geochemical data assimilation at the Hanford 300 Area

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, X.; Hammond, G. E.; Murray, C. J.; Zachara, J. M.

    2012-12-01

    In modeling the uranium migration within the Integrated Field Research Challenge (IFRC) site at the Hanford 300 Area, uncertainties arise from both hydrologic and geochemical sources. The hydrologic uncertainty includes the transient flow boundary conditions induced by dynamic variations in Columbia River stage and the underlying heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity field, while the geochemical uncertainty is a result of limited knowledge of the geochemical reaction processes and parameters, as well as heterogeneity in uranium source terms. In this work, multiple types of data, including the results from constant-injection tests, borehole flowmeter profiling, and conservative tracer tests, are sequentially assimilated across scales within a Bayesian framework to reduce the hydrologic uncertainty. The hydrologic data assimilation is then followed by geochemical data assimilation, where the goal is to infer the heterogeneous distribution of uranium sources using uranium breakthrough curves from a desorption test that took place at high spring water table. We demonstrate in our study that Ensemble-based data assimilation techniques (Ensemble Kalman filter and smoother) are efficient in integrating multiple types of data sequentially for uncertainty reduction. The computational demand is managed by using the multi-realization capability within the parallel PFLOTRAN simulator.

  14. Quantum caustics in resonance-fluorescence trajectories

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Naghiloo, M.; Tan, D.; Harrington, P. M.; Lewalle, P.; Jordan, A. N.; Murch, K. W.

    2017-11-01

    We employ phase-sensitive amplification to perform homodyne detection of the resonance fluorescence from a driven superconducting artificial atom. Entanglement between the emitter and its fluorescence allows us to track the individual quantum state trajectories of the emitter conditioned on the outcomes of the field measurements. We analyze the ensemble properties of these trajectories by considering trajectories that connect specific initial and final states. By applying the stochastic path-integral formalism, we calculate equations of motion for the most-likely path between two quantum states and compare these predicted paths to experimental data. Drawing on the mathematical similarity between the action formalism of the most-likely quantum paths and ray optics, we study the emergence of caustics in quantum trajectories: places where multiple extrema in the stochastic action occur. We observe such multiple most-likely paths in experimental data and find these paths to be in reasonable quantitative agreement with theoretical calculations.

  15. Multiband selection with linear array detectors

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Richard, H. L.; Barnes, W. L.

    1985-01-01

    Several techniques that can be used in an earth-imaging system to separate the linear image formed after the collecting optics into the desired spectral band are examined. The advantages and disadvantages of the Multispectral Linear Array (MLA) multiple optics, the MLA adjacent arrays, the imaging spectrometer, and the MLA beam splitter are discussed. The beam-splitter design approach utilizes, in addition to relatively broad spectral region separation, a movable Multiband Selection Device (MSD), placed between the exit ports of the beam splitter and a linear array detector, permitting many bands to be selected. The successful development and test of the MSD is described. The device demonstrated the capacity to provide a wide field of view, visible-to-near IR/short-wave IR and thermal IR capability, and a multiplicity of spectral bands and polarization measuring means, as well as a reasonable size and weight at minimal cost and risk compared to a spectrometer design approach.

  16. Contamination of water resources by pathogenic bacteria

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Water-borne pathogen contamination in water resources and related diseases are a major water quality concern throughout the world. Increasing interest in controlling water-borne pathogens in water resources evidenced by a large number of recent publications clearly attests to the need for studies that synthesize knowledge from multiple fields covering comparative aspects of pathogen contamination, and unify them in a single place in order to present and address the problem as a whole. Providing a broader perceptive of pathogen contamination in freshwater (rivers, lakes, reservoirs, groundwater) and saline water (estuaries and coastal waters) resources, this review paper attempts to develop the first comprehensive single source of existing information on pathogen contamination in multiple types of water resources. In addition, a comprehensive discussion describes the challenges associated with using indicator organisms. Potential impacts of water resources development on pathogen contamination as well as challenges that lie ahead for addressing pathogen contamination are also discussed. PMID:25006540

  17. Enhancement of coherent acoustic phonons in InGaN multiple quantum wells

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hafiz, Shopan D.; Zhang, Fan; Monavarian, Morteza; Avrutin, Vitaliy; Morkoç, Hadis; Özgür, Ümit

    2015-03-01

    Enhancement of coherent zone folded longitudinal acoustic phonon (ZFLAP) oscillations at terahertz frequencies was demonstrated in InGaN multiple quantum wells (MQWs) by using wavelength degenerate time resolved differential transmission spectroscopy. Screening of the piezoelectric field in InGaN MQWs by photogenerated carriers upon femtosecond pulse excitation gave rise to terahertz ZFLAPs, which were monitored at the Brillouin zone center in the transmission geometry. MQWs composed of 10 pairs InxGa1-xN wells and In0.03Ga0.97N barriers provided coherent phonon frequencies of 0.69-0.80 THz depending on the period of MQWs. Dependences of ZFLAP amplitude on excitation density and wavelength were also investigated. Possibility of achieving phonon cavity, incorporating a MQW placed between two AlN/GaN phonon mirrors designed to exhibit large acoustic gaps at the zone center, was also explored.

  18. 22 CFR 5.2 - Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the methods whereby the public may secure information, make... ORGANIZATION § 5.2 Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the...

  19. 22 CFR 5.2 - Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the methods whereby the public may secure information, make... ORGANIZATION § 5.2 Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the...

  20. 22 CFR 5.2 - Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the methods whereby the public may secure information, make... ORGANIZATION § 5.2 Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the...

  1. 22 CFR 5.2 - Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the methods whereby the public may secure information, make... ORGANIZATION § 5.2 Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the...

  2. A boundary element method for particle and droplet electrohydrodynamics in the Quincke regime

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Das, Debasish; Saintillan, David

    2014-11-01

    Quincke electrorotation is the spontaneous rotation of dielectric particles suspended in a dielectric liquid of higher conductivity when placed in a sufficiently strong electric field. This phenomenon of Quincke rotation has interesting implications for the rheology of these suspensions, whose effective viscosity can be controlled and reduced by application of an external field. While spherical harmonics can be used to solve the governing equations for a spherical particle, they cannot be used to study the dynamics of particles of more complex shapes or deformable particles or droplets. Here, we develop a novel boundary element formulation to model the dynamics of a dielectric particle under Quincke rotation based on the Taylor-Melcher leaky dielectric model, and compare the numerical results to theoretical predictions. We then employ this boundary element method to analyze the dynamics of a two-dimensional drop under Quincke rotation, where we allow the drop to deform under the electric field. Extensions to three-dimensions and to the electrohydrodynamic interactions of multiple droplets are also discussed.

  3. A Plant's Response to Gravity as a Wave Guide Phenomenon

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wagner, Orvin

    1997-11-01

    Plant experimental data provides a unifying wave theory (W-wave theory) for the growth and development of plants. A plant's response to gravity is an important aspect of this theory. It appears that a plant part is tuned to the angle with which it initially grew with respect to the gravitational field and changes produce correction responses. This is true because the velocity of W-waves (whose standing waves determine plant structure) within plant tissue is found to be different in different directions (angle a) with respect to the gravitational field. I found that there are preferred values of a, namely integral multiples of near 5 degrees for some plants. Conifers apparently are more sensitive to the gravitational field than deciduous trees, in the cases studied, so their structure is determined in more detail by the gravitational field. A plant's response to gravity appears to be a fundamental phenomenon and may provide a new model for gravity that can be experimentally verified in the laboratory. Along these same lines accelerometers placed in plant tissue indicate that plants produce gravity related forces that facilitate sap flow. See the

  4. Visualizing Gyrokinetic Turbulence in a Tokamak

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stantchev, George

    2005-10-01

    Multi-dimensional data output from gyrokinetic microturbulence codes are often difficult to visualize, in part due to the non-trivial geometry of the underlying grids, in part due to high irregularity of the relevant scalar field structures in turbulent regions. For instance, traditional isosurface extraction methods are likely to fail for the electrostatic potential field whose level sets may exhibit various geometric pathologies. To address these issues we develop an advanced interactive 3D gyrokinetic turbulence visualization framework which we apply in the study of microtearing instabilities calculated with GS2 in the MAST and NSTX geometries. In these simulations GS2 uses field-line-following coordinates such that the computational domain maps in physical space to a long, twisting flux tube with strong cross-sectional shear. Using statistical wavelet analysis we create a sparse multiple-scale volumetric representation of the relevant scalar fields, which we visualize via a variation of the so called splatting technique. To handle the problem of highly anisotropic flux tube configurations we adapt a geometry-driven surface illumination algorithm that places local light sources for effective feature-enhanced visualization.

  5. Novel design methods for magnetic flux loops in the National Compact Stellarator Experiment

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

    Pomphrey, N.; Lazarus, E.; Zarnstorff, M.

    2007-05-15

    Magnetic pickup loops on the vacuum vessel (VV) can provide an abundance of equilibrium information for stellarators. A substantial effort has gone into designing flux loops for the National Compact Stellarator Experiment (NCSX) [Zarnstorff et al., Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 43, A237 (2001)], a three-field period quasi-axisymmetric stellarator under construction at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. The design philosophy, to measure all of the magnetic field distributions normal to the VV that can be measured, has necessitated the development of singular value decomposition algorithms for identifying efficient loop locations. Fields are expected to be predominantly stellarator symmetric (SS)--the symmetry ofmore » the machine design--with toroidal mode numbers per torus (n) equal to a multiple of 3 and possessing reflection symmetry in a period. However, plasma instabilities and coil imperfections will generate non-SS fields that must also be diagnosed. The measured symmetric fields will yield important information on the plasma current and pressure profile as well as on the plasma shape. All fields that obey the design symmetries could be measured by placing flux loops in a single half-period of the VV, but accurate resolution of nonsymmetric modes, quantified by the condition number of a matrix, requires repositioning loops to equivalent locations on the full torus. A subarray of loops located along the inside wall of the vertically elongated cross section was designed to detect n=3, m=5 or 6 resonant field perturbations that can cause important islands. Additional subarrays included are continuous in the toroidal and poloidal directions. Loops are also placed at symmetry points of the VV to obtain maximal sensitivity to asymmetric perturbations. Combining results from various calculations which have made extensive use of a database of 2500 free-boundary VMEC equilibria, has led to the choice of 225 flux loops for NCSX, of which 151 have distinct shapes.« less

  6. Phencyclidine Discoordinates Hippocampal Network Activity But Not Place Fields

    PubMed Central

    Kao, Hsin-Yi; Kenney, Jana; Kelemen, Eduard

    2017-01-01

    We used the psychotomimetic phencyclidine (PCP) to investigate the relationships among cognitive behavior, coordinated neural network function, and information processing within the hippocampus place cell system. We report in rats that PCP (5 mg/kg, i.p.) impairs a well learned, hippocampus-dependent place avoidance behavior in rats that requires cognitive control even when PCP is injected directly into dorsal hippocampus. PCP increases 60–100 Hz medium-freguency gamma oscillations in hippocampus CA1 and these increases correlate with the cognitive impairment caused by systemic PCP administration. PCP discoordinates theta-modulated medium-frequency and slow gamma oscillations in CA1 LFPs such that medium-frequency gamma oscillations become more theta-organized than slow gamma oscillations. CA1 place cell firing fields are preserved under PCP, but the drug discoordinates the subsecond temporal organization of discharge among place cells. This discoordination causes place cell ensemble representations of a familiar space to cease resembling pre-PCP representations despite preserved place fields. These findings point to the cognitive impairments caused by PCP arising from neural discoordination. PCP disrupts the timing of discharge with respect to the subsecond timescales of theta and gamma oscillations in the LFP. Because these oscillations arise from local inhibitory synaptic activity, these findings point to excitation–inhibition discoordination as the root of PCP-induced cognitive impairment. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Hippocampal neural discharge is temporally coordinated on timescales of theta and gamma oscillations in the LFP and the discharge of a subset of pyramidal neurons called “place cells” is spatially organized such that discharge is restricted to locations called a cell's “place field.” Because this temporal coordination and spatial discharge organization is thought to represent spatial knowledge, we used the psychotomimetic phencyclidine (PCP) to disrupt cognitive behavior and assess the importance of neural coordination and place fields for spatial cognition. PCP impaired the judicious use of spatial information and discoordinated hippocampal discharge without disrupting firing fields. These findings dissociate place fields from spatial cognitive behavior and suggest that hippocampus discharge coordination is crucial to spatial cognition. PMID:29118102

  7. Shaping complex microwave fields in reverberating media with binary tunable metasurfaces

    PubMed Central

    Kaina, Nadège; Dupré, Matthieu; Lerosey, Geoffroy; Fink, Mathias

    2014-01-01

    In this article we propose to use electronically tunable metasurfaces as spatial microwave modulators. We demonstrate that like spatial light modulators, which have been recently proved to be ideal tools for controlling light propagation through multiple scattering media, spatial microwave modulators can efficiently shape in a passive way complex existing microwave fields in reverberating environments with a non-coherent energy feedback. Unlike in free space, we establish that a binary-only phase state tunable metasurface allows a very good control over the waves, owing to the random nature of the electromagnetic fields in these complex media. We prove in an everyday reverberating medium, that is, a typical office room, that a small spatial microwave modulator placed on the walls can passively increase the wireless transmission between two antennas by an order of magnitude, or on the contrary completely cancel it. Interestingly and contrary to free space, we show that this results in an isotropic shaped microwave field around the receiving antenna, which we attribute again to the reverberant nature of the propagation medium. We expect that spatial microwave modulators will be interesting tools for fundamental physics and will have applications in the field of wireless communications. PMID:25331498

  8. Reflections on the four facets of symmetry: how physics exemplifies rational thinking

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mouchet, Amaury

    2013-12-01

    In contemporary theoretical physics, the powerful notion of symmetry stands for a web of intricate meanings among which I identify four clusters associated with the notion of transformation, comprehension, invariance and projection. While their interrelations are examined closely these four facets of symmetry are scrutinised one after the other in great detail. This decomposition allows us to carefully examine the multiple different roles symmetry plays in many places in physics. Furthermore, some connections with other disciplines like neurobiology, epistemology, cognitive sciences and, not least, philosophy are proposed in an attempt to show that symmetry can be an organising principle also in these fields.

  9. Place field assembly distribution encodes preferred locations

    PubMed Central

    Mamad, Omar; Stumpp, Lars; McNamara, Harold M.; Ramakrishnan, Charu; Deisseroth, Karl; Reilly, Richard B.

    2017-01-01

    The hippocampus is the main locus of episodic memory formation and the neurons there encode the spatial map of the environment. Hippocampal place cells represent location, but their role in the learning of preferential location remains unclear. The hippocampus may encode locations independently from the stimuli and events that are associated with these locations. We have discovered a unique population code for the experience-dependent value of the context. The degree of reward-driven navigation preference highly correlates with the spatial distribution of the place fields recorded in the CA1 region of the hippocampus. We show place field clustering towards rewarded locations. Optogenetic manipulation of the ventral tegmental area demonstrates that the experience-dependent place field assembly distribution is directed by tegmental dopaminergic activity. The ability of the place cells to remap parallels the acquisition of reward context. Our findings present key evidence that the hippocampal neurons are not merely mapping the static environment but also store the concurrent context reward value, enabling episodic memory for past experience to support future adaptive behavior. PMID:28898248

  10. Modeling Agricultural Watersheds with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT): Calibration and Validation with a Novel Procedure for Spatially Explicit HRUs.

    PubMed

    Teshager, Awoke Dagnew; Gassman, Philip W; Secchi, Silvia; Schoof, Justin T; Misgna, Girmaye

    2016-04-01

    Applications of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model typically involve delineation of a watershed into subwatersheds/subbasins that are then further subdivided into hydrologic response units (HRUs) which are homogeneous areas of aggregated soil, landuse, and slope and are the smallest modeling units used within the model. In a given standard SWAT application, multiple potential HRUs (farm fields) in a subbasin are usually aggregated into a single HRU feature. In other words, the standard version of the model combines multiple potential HRUs (farm fields) with the same landuse/landcover, soil, and slope, but located at different places of a subbasin (spatially non-unique), and considers them as one HRU. In this study, ArcGIS pre-processing procedures were developed to spatially define a one-to-one match between farm fields and HRUs (spatially unique HRUs) within a subbasin prior to SWAT simulations to facilitate input processing, input/output mapping, and further analysis at the individual farm field level. Model input data such as landuse/landcover (LULC), soil, crop rotation, and other management data were processed through these HRUs. The SWAT model was then calibrated/validated for Raccoon River watershed in Iowa for 2002-2010 and Big Creek River watershed in Illinois for 2000-2003. SWAT was able to replicate annual, monthly, and daily streamflow, as well as sediment, nitrate and mineral phosphorous within recommended accuracy in most cases. The one-to-one match between farm fields and HRUs created and used in this study is a first step in performing LULC change, climate change impact, and other analyses in a more spatially explicit manner.

  11. An image-based reaction field method for electrostatic interactions in molecular dynamics simulations of aqueous solutions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lin, Yuchun; Baumketner, Andrij; Deng, Shaozhong; Xu, Zhenli; Jacobs, Donald; Cai, Wei

    2009-10-01

    In this paper, a new solvation model is proposed for simulations of biomolecules in aqueous solutions that combines the strengths of explicit and implicit solvent representations. Solute molecules are placed in a spherical cavity filled with explicit water, thus providing microscopic detail where it is most needed. Solvent outside of the cavity is modeled as a dielectric continuum whose effect on the solute is treated through the reaction field corrections. With this explicit/implicit model, the electrostatic potential represents a solute molecule in an infinite bath of solvent, thus avoiding unphysical interactions between periodic images of the solute commonly used in the lattice-sum explicit solvent simulations. For improved computational efficiency, our model employs an accurate and efficient multiple-image charge method to compute reaction fields together with the fast multipole method for the direct Coulomb interactions. To minimize the surface effects, periodic boundary conditions are employed for nonelectrostatic interactions. The proposed model is applied to study liquid water. The effect of model parameters, which include the size of the cavity, the number of image charges used to compute reaction field, and the thickness of the buffer layer, is investigated in comparison with the particle-mesh Ewald simulations as a reference. An optimal set of parameters is obtained that allows for a faithful representation of many structural, dielectric, and dynamic properties of the simulated water, while maintaining manageable computational cost. With controlled and adjustable accuracy of the multiple-image charge representation of the reaction field, it is concluded that the employed model achieves convergence with only one image charge in the case of pure water. Future applications to pKa calculations, conformational sampling of solvated biomolecules and electrolyte solutions are briefly discussed.

  12. Modeling Agricultural Watersheds with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT): Calibration and Validation with a Novel Procedure for Spatially Explicit HRUs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Teshager, Awoke Dagnew; Gassman, Philip W.; Secchi, Silvia; Schoof, Justin T.; Misgna, Girmaye

    2016-04-01

    Applications of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model typically involve delineation of a watershed into subwatersheds/subbasins that are then further subdivided into hydrologic response units (HRUs) which are homogeneous areas of aggregated soil, landuse, and slope and are the smallest modeling units used within the model. In a given standard SWAT application, multiple potential HRUs (farm fields) in a subbasin are usually aggregated into a single HRU feature. In other words, the standard version of the model combines multiple potential HRUs (farm fields) with the same landuse/landcover, soil, and slope, but located at different places of a subbasin (spatially non-unique), and considers them as one HRU. In this study, ArcGIS pre-processing procedures were developed to spatially define a one-to-one match between farm fields and HRUs (spatially unique HRUs) within a subbasin prior to SWAT simulations to facilitate input processing, input/output mapping, and further analysis at the individual farm field level. Model input data such as landuse/landcover (LULC), soil, crop rotation, and other management data were processed through these HRUs. The SWAT model was then calibrated/validated for Raccoon River watershed in Iowa for 2002-2010 and Big Creek River watershed in Illinois for 2000-2003. SWAT was able to replicate annual, monthly, and daily streamflow, as well as sediment, nitrate and mineral phosphorous within recommended accuracy in most cases. The one-to-one match between farm fields and HRUs created and used in this study is a first step in performing LULC change, climate change impact, and other analyses in a more spatially explicit manner.

  13. SU-F-T-180: Evaluation of a Scintillating Screen Detector for Proton Beam QA and Acceptance Testing

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

    Ghebremedhin, A; Taber, M; Koss, P

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: To test the performance of a commercial scintillating screen detector for acceptance testing and Quality Assurance of a proton pencil beam scanning system. Method: The detector (Lexitek DRD 400) has 40cm × 40cm field, uses a thin scintillator imaged onto a 16-bit scientific CCD with ∼0.5mm resolution. A grid target and LED illuminators are provided for spatial calibration and relative gain correction. The detector mounts to the nozzle with micron precision. Tools are provided for image processing and analysis of single or multiple Gaussian spots. Results: The bias and gain of the detector were studied to measure repeatability andmore » accuracy. Gain measurements were taken with the LED illuminators to measure repeatability and variation of the lens-CCD pair as a function with f-stop. Overall system gain was measured with a passive scattering (broad) beam whose shape is calibrated with EDR film placed in front of the scintillator. To create a large uniform field, overlapping small fields were recorded with the detector translated laterally and stitched together to cover the full field. Due to the long exposures required to obtain multiple spills of the synchrotron and very high detector sensitivity, borated polyethylene shielding was added to reduce direct radiation events hitting the CCD. Measurements with a micro ion chamber were compared to the detector’s spot profile. Software was developed to process arrays of Gaussian spots and to correct for radiation events. Conclusion: The detector background has a fixed bias, a small component linear in time, and is easily corrected. The gain correction method was validated with 2% accuracy. The detector spot profile matches the micro ion chamber data over 4 orders of magnitude. The multiple spot analyses can be easily used with plan data for measuring pencil beam uniformity and for regular QA comparison.« less

  14. MEANS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING A VACUUM

    DOEpatents

    Otavka, M.A.

    1960-08-01

    A new method is given for starting the operation of evapor-ion vacuum pumps. Ordinarily this type of pump is started by inducing an electric field with the vacuum chamber; however, by placing such an electric field in the chamber at the outset, a glow discharge may be initiated which is harmful to the pump. The procedure consists of using a negative electric field during which time only gettering action takes place; subsequently when the field reverses after a sufficient reduction of the number of gaseous particles in the chamber both gettering and ionizing takes place.

  15. Is stellar multiplicity universal? Tight stellar binaries in the Orion Nebula Cluster

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Duchêne, Gaspard; Lacour, S.; Moraux, E.; Goodwin, S.; Bouvier, J.

    2018-05-01

    We present a survey for the tightest visual binaries among 0.3-2 M⊙ members the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC). Among 42 targets, we discovered 13 new 0{^''.}025-0{^''.}15 companions. Accounting for the Branch bias, we find a companion star fraction (CSF) in the 10-60 au range of 21^{+8}_{-5}%, consistent with that observed in other star-forming regions (SFRs) and twice as high as among field stars; this excess is found with a high level of confidence. Since our sample is dominated by disk-bearing targets, this indicates that disk disruption by close binaries is inefficient, or has not yet taken place, in the ONC. The resulting separation distribution in the ONC drops sharply outside 60 au. These findings are consistent with a scenario in which the initial multiplicity properties, set by the star formation process itself, are identical in the ONC and in other SFRs and subsequently altered by the cluster's dynamical evolution. This implies that the fragmentation process does not depend on the global properties of a molecular cloud, but on the local properties of prestellar cores, and that the latter are self-regulated to be nearly identical in a wide range of environments. These results, however, raise anew the question of the origin of field stars as the tight binaries we have discovered will not be destroyed as the ONC dissolves into the galactic field. It thus appears that most field stars formed in regions that differ from well-studied SFRs in the Solar neighborhood, possibly due to changes in core fragmentation on Gyr timescales.

  16. Growing a Best Babies Zone: Lessons Learned from the Pilot Phase of a Multi-Sector, Place-Based Initiative to Reduce Infant Mortality.

    PubMed

    Pies, Cheri; Barr, Monica; Strouse, Carly; Kotelchuck, Milton

    2016-05-01

    Infant mortality reduction in the U.S. has been addressed predominantly through clinical approaches. While these efforts have reduced the infant mortality rate overall, they have not reduced disparities between different racial/socioeconomic groups. To address the interrelated social, economic and environmental factors contributing to infant mortality, a place-based approach is needed to complement existing initiatives and clinical practices. Best Babies Zone (BBZ) is an early attempt to put life course theory into practice, taking a place-based approach to reducing infant mortality by aligning resources, building community leadership, and transforming educational opportunities, economic development, and community systems in concentrated neighborhoods. BBZ is currently in three neighborhoods: Price Hill (Cincinnati, OH), Hollygrove (New Orleans, LA), and Castlemont (Oakland, CA). Assessment In its first 4 years, each BBZ crafted resident-driven strategies for decreasing the root causes of toxic stress and poor birth outcomes. To address resident priorities, BBZ sites experimented with tools from other fields (like design thinking and health impact assessment), and emphasized existing MCH strategies like leadership development. Early challenges, including shifting from traditional MCH interventions and addressing health equity, point to areas of growth in implementing this approach in the maternal and child health field. BBZ aims to elevate local voice and mobilize multiple sectors in order to address the social determinants of infant mortality, and other initiatives working to improve MCH outcomes can learn from the successes and challenges of the first 4 years of BBZ in order to bring life course theory into practice.

  17. MCNP study for epithermal neutron irradiation of an isolated liver at the Finnish BNCT facility.

    PubMed

    Kotiluoto, P; Auterinen, I

    2004-11-01

    A successful boron neutron capture treatment (BNCT) of a patient with multiple liver metastases has been first given in Italy, by placing the removed organ into the thermal neutron column of the Triga research reactor of the University of Pavia. In Finland, FiR 1 Triga reactor with an epithermal neutron beam well suited for BNCT has been extensively used to irradiate patients with brain tumors such as glioblastoma and recently also head and neck tumors. In this work we have studied by MCNP Monte Carlo simulations, whether it would be beneficial to treat an isolated liver with epithermal neutrons instead of thermal ones. The results show, that the epithermal field penetrates deeper into the liver and creates a build-up distribution of the boron dose. Our results strongly encourage further studying of irradiation arrangement of an isolated liver with epithermal neutron fields.

  18. Electron beam control for barely separated beams

    DOEpatents

    Douglas, David R.; Ament, Lucas J. P.

    2017-04-18

    A method for achieving independent control of multiple beams in close proximity to one another, such as in a multi-pass accelerator where coaxial beams are at different energies, but moving on a common axis, and need to be split into spatially separated beams for efficient recirculation transport. The method for independent control includes placing a magnet arrangement in the path of the barely separated beams with the magnet arrangement including at least two multipole magnets spaced closely together and having a multipole distribution including at least one odd multipole and one even multipole. The magnetic fields are then tuned to cancel out for a first of the barely separated beams to allow independent control of the second beam with common magnets. The magnetic fields may be tuned to cancel out either the dipole component or tuned to cancel out the quadrupole component in order to independently control the separate beams.

  19. The growth of palliative care in the United States.

    PubMed

    Hughes, Mark T; Smith, Thomas J

    2014-01-01

    Palliative care has been one of the most rapidly growing fields of health care in the United States in the past decade. The benefits of palliative care have now been shown in multiple clinical trials, with increased patient and provider satisfaction, equal or better symptom control, more discernment of and honoring choices about place of death, fewer and less intensive hospital admissions in the last month of life, less anxiety and depression, less caregiver distress, and cost savings. The cost savings come from cost avoidance, or movement of a patient from a high cost setting to a lower cost setting. Barriers to expanded use include physician resistance, unrealistic expectations of patients and families, and lack of workforce. The future of palliative care includes more penetration into other fields such as nephrology, neurology, and surgery; further discernment of the most effective and cost-effective models; and establishment of more outpatient services.

  20. CSP cogeneration of electricity and desalinated water at the Pentakomo field facility

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Papanicolas, C. N.; Bonanos, A. M.; Georgiou, M. C.; Guillen, E.; Jarraud, N.; Marakkos, C.; Montenon, A.; Stiliaris, E.; Tsioli, E.; Tzamtzis, G.; Votyakov, E. V.

    2016-05-01

    The Cyprus Institute's Pentakomo Field Facility (PFF) is a major infrastructure for research, development and testing of technologies relating to concentrated solar power (CSP) and solar seawater desalination. It is located at the south coast of Cyprus near the sea and its environmental conditions are fully monitored. It provides a test facility specializing in the development of CSP systems suitable for island and coastal environments with particular emphasis on small units (<25 MWth) endowed with substantial storage, suitable for use in isolation or distributed in small power grids. The first major experiment to take place at the PFF concerns the development of a pilot/experimental facility for the co-generation of electricity and desalinated seawater from CSP. Specifically, the experimental plant consists of a heliostat-central receiver system for solar harvesting, thermal energy storage in molten salts followed by a Rankine cycle for electricity production and a multiple-effect distillation (MED) unit for desalination.

  1. Wafer scale oblique angle plasma etching

    DOEpatents

    Burckel, David Bruce; Jarecki, Jr., Robert L.; Finnegan, Patrick Sean

    2017-05-23

    Wafer scale oblique angle etching of a semiconductor substrate is performed in a conventional plasma etch chamber by using a fixture that supports a multiple number of separate Faraday cages. Each cage is formed to include an angled grid surface and is positioned such that it will be positioned over a separate one of the die locations on the wafer surface when the fixture is placed over the wafer. The presence of the Faraday cages influences the local electric field surrounding each wafer die, re-shaping the local field to be disposed in alignment with the angled grid surface. The re-shaped plasma causes the reactive ions to follow a linear trajectory through the plasma sheath and angled grid surface, ultimately impinging the wafer surface at an angle. The selected geometry of the Faraday cage angled grid surface thus determines the angle at with the reactive ions will impinge the wafer.

  2. Dynamic Museum Place: Exploring the Multi-Dimensional Museum Environment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leach, Denise Blair

    2007-01-01

    Place is an important factor in museum education, yet describing what the museum is as place is often difficult. This article introduces the idea that museums consist of multiple physical and virtual place "domains" where interactions between people and objects occur: the origin domain, creation domain, display domain, and the experiencer-object…

  3. Entorhinal-CA3 Dual-Input Control of Spike Timing in the Hippocampus by Theta-Gamma Coupling.

    PubMed

    Fernández-Ruiz, Antonio; Oliva, Azahara; Nagy, Gergő A; Maurer, Andrew P; Berényi, Antal; Buzsáki, György

    2017-03-08

    Theta-gamma phase coupling and spike timing within theta oscillations are prominent features of the hippocampus and are often related to navigation and memory. However, the mechanisms that give rise to these relationships are not well understood. Using high spatial resolution electrophysiology, we investigated the influence of CA3 and entorhinal inputs on the timing of CA1 neurons. The theta-phase preference and excitatory strength of the afferent CA3 and entorhinal inputs effectively timed the principal neuron activity, as well as regulated distinct CA1 interneuron populations in multiple tasks and behavioral states. Feedback potentiation of distal dendritic inhibition by CA1 place cells attenuated the excitatory entorhinal input at place field entry, coupled with feedback depression of proximal dendritic and perisomatic inhibition, allowing the CA3 input to gain control toward the exit. Thus, upstream inputs interact with local mechanisms to determine theta-phase timing of hippocampal neurons to support memory and spatial navigation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Selective Impairment of Spatial Cognition Caused by Autoantibodies to the N-Methyl-d-Aspartate Receptor

    PubMed Central

    Chang, Eric H.; Volpe, Bruce T.; Mackay, Meggan; Aranow, Cynthia; Watson, Philip; Kowal, Czeslawa; Storbeck, Justin; Mattis, Paul; Berlin, RoseAnn; Chen, Huiyi; Mader, Simone; Huerta, Tomás S.; Huerta, Patricio T.; Diamond, Betty

    2015-01-01

    Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) experience cognitive abnormalities in multiple domains including processing speed, executive function, and memory. Here we show that SLE patients carrying antibodies that bind DNA and the GluN2A and GluN2B subunits of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), termed DNRAbs, displayed a selective impairment in spatial recall. Neural recordings in a mouse model of SLE, in which circulating DNRAbs penetrate the hippocampus, revealed that CA1 place cells exhibited a significant expansion in place field size. Structural analysis showed that hippocampal pyramidal cells had substantial reductions in their dendritic processes and spines. Strikingly, these abnormalities became evident at a time when DNRAbs were no longer detectable in the hippocampus. These results suggest that antibody-mediated neurocognitive impairments may be highly specific, and that spatial cognition may be particularly vulnerable to DNRAb-mediated structural and functional injury to hippocampal cells that evolves after the triggering insult is no longer present. PMID:26286205

  5. University Engagement at INL

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

    Morrell, Sean Robert; Rynes, Amanda Renee

    2014-07-01

    There are currently over 900 facilities in over 170 countries which fall under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. As additional nations look to purse civilian nuclear programs or to expand infrastructure already in place, the number of reactors and accompanying facilities as well as the quantity of material has greatly increased. Due to the breadth of the threat and the burden placed on the IAEA as nuclear applications expand, it has become increasingly important that safeguards professionals have a strong understanding of both the technical and political aspects of nonproliferation starting early in their career. To begin overcoming thismore » challenge, Idaho National Laboratory, has partnered with local universities to deliver a graduate level nuclear engineering course that covers both aspects of the field with a focus on safeguards applications. To date over 60 students across multiple disciplines have participated in this course with many deciding to transition into a nonproliferation area of focus in both their academic and professional careers.« less

  6. Globally optimal, minimum stored energy, double-doughnut superconducting magnets.

    PubMed

    Tieng, Quang M; Vegh, Viktor; Brereton, Ian M

    2010-01-01

    The use of the minimum stored energy current density map-based methodology of designing closed-bore symmetric superconducting magnets was described recently. The technique is further developed to cater for the design of interventional-type MRI systems, and in particular open symmetric magnets of the double-doughnut configuration. This extends the work to multiple magnet domain configurations. The use of double-doughnut magnets in MRI scanners has previously been hindered by the ability to deliver strong magnetic fields over a sufficiently large volume appropriate for imaging, essentially limiting spatial resolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and field of view. The requirement of dedicated interventional space restricts the manner in which the coils can be arranged and placed. The minimum stored energy optimal coil arrangement ensures that the field strength is maximized over a specific region of imaging. The design method yields open, dual-domain magnets capable of delivering greater field strengths than those used prior to this work, and at the same time it provides an increase in the field-of-view volume. Simulation results are provided for 1-T double-doughnut magnets with at least a 50-cm 1-ppm (parts per million) field of view and 0.7-m gap between the two doughnuts. Copyright (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  7. Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) Antennas via Mode Combining and Canceling in Near-field.

    PubMed

    Byun, Woo Jin; Do Choi, Hyung; Cho, Yong Heui

    2017-10-09

    Orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode combining and canceling in the near-field was investigated using a Cassegrain dual-reflectarray antenna composed of multiple microstrip patches on the main and sub-reflectarrays. Microstrip patches on dielectric substrates were designed to radiate the particular OAM modes for arithmetic mode combining, where two OAM wave-generating reflectarrays are very closely placed in the near-field. We conducted near-field antenna measurements at 18 [GHz] by manually replacing the sub-reflectarray substrates with different OAM mode numbers of 0, ±1, when the OAM mode number of the main reflectarray was fixed to +1. We subsequently checked the azimuthal phase distributions of the reflected total electromagnetic waves in the near-field, and verified that the OAM waves mutually reflected from the main and sub-reflectarrays are added or subtracted to each other according to their OAM mode numbers. Based on our proposal, an OAM mode-canceling reflectarray antenna was designed, and the following measurements indicate that the antenna has a better reflection bandwidth and antenna gain than a conventional reflectarray antenna. The concept of OAM mode canceling in the near-field can contribute widely to a new type of low-profile, broad-reflection bandwidth, and high-gain antenna.

  8. Encoding of head direction by hippocampal place cells in bats.

    PubMed

    Rubin, Alon; Yartsev, Michael M; Ulanovsky, Nachum

    2014-01-15

    Most theories of navigation rely on the concept of a mental map and compass. Hippocampal place cells are neurons thought to be important for representing the mental map; these neurons become active when the animal traverses a specific location in the environment (the "place field"). Head-direction cells are found outside the hippocampus, and encode the animal's head orientation, thus implementing a neural compass. The prevailing view is that the activity of head-direction cells is not tuned to a single place, while place cells do not encode head direction. However, little work has been done to investigate in detail the possible head-directional tuning of hippocampal place cells across species. Here we addressed this by recording the activity of single neurons in the hippocampus of two evolutionarily distant bat species, Egyptian fruit bat and big brown bat, which crawled randomly in three different open-field arenas. We found that a large fraction of hippocampal neurons, in both bat species, showed conjunctive sensitivity to the animal's spatial position (place field) and to its head direction. We introduced analytical methods to demonstrate that the head-direction tuning was significant even after controlling for the behavioral coupling between position and head direction. Surprisingly, some hippocampal neurons preserved their head direction tuning even outside the neuron's place field, suggesting that "spontaneous" extra-field spikes are not noise, but in fact carry head-direction information. Overall, these findings suggest that bat hippocampal neurons can convey both map information and compass information.

  9. 78 FR 70321 - Petitions for Modification of Application of Existing Mandatory Safety Standards

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-11-25

    .... (9) Keep the working place free from accumulations of coal dust and coal spillages, and place rock... been intersected and the working place determined safe, continue mining inby the well at a distance... perforating multiple strings. (3) Place a mechanical bridge plug in the well if a cleaned-out well emits...

  10. Care in place: A case study of assembling a carescape.

    PubMed

    Ivanova, Dara; Wallenburg, Iris; Bal, Roland

    2016-11-01

    In this article we analyse the process of the multiple ways place and care shape each other and are co-produced and co-functioning. The resulting emerging assemblage of this co-constituent process we call a carescape. Focusing on a case study of a nursing home on a Dutch island, we use place as a theoretical construct for analysing how current changes in healthcare governance interact with mundane practices of care. In order to make the patterns of care in our case explicit, we use actor-network theory (ANT) sensibilities and especially the concept of assemblage. Our goal is to show - by zooming in on a particular case - how to study the co-constituent processes of place- and care-shaping, revealing the ontological diversity of place and care. Through this, we contribute a perspective of the heterogeneity and multiplicity of care in its dynamic relationship of co-production with place. © 2016 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness.

  11. Multiplicative Thinking: Much More than Knowing Multiplication Facts and Procedures

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hurst, Chris; Hurrell, Derek

    2016-01-01

    Multiplicative thinking is accepted as a "big idea" of mathematics that underpins important mathematical concepts such as fraction understanding, proportional reasoning, and algebraic thinking. It is characterised by understandings such as the multiplicative relationship between places in the number system, basic and extended number…

  12. Overview of NASA's Observations for Global Air Quality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kaye, J. A.

    2015-12-01

    Observations of pollutants are central to the study of air quality. Much focus has been placed on local-scale observations that can help specific geographic areas document their air quality issues, plan abatement strategies, and understand potential impacts. In addition, long-range atmospheric transport of pollutants can cause downwind regions to not meet attainment standards. Satellite observations have shed significant light on air quality from local to regional to global scales, especially for pollutants such as ozone, aerosols, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. These observations have made use of multiple techniques and in some cases multiple satellite sensors. The satellite observations are complemented by surface observations, as well as atmospheric (in situ) observations typically made as part of focused airborne field campaigns. The synergy between satellite observations and field campaigns has been an important theme for recent and upcoming activities and plans. In this talk, a review of NASA's investments in observations relevant to global air quality will be presented, with examples given for a range of pollutants and measurement approaches covering the last twenty-five years. These investments have helped build national and international collaborations such that the global satellite community is now preparing to deploy a constellation of satellites that together will provide fundamental advances in global observations for air quality.

  13. Life on the Reservation: Cross-Cultural Field Experiences and Student Learning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Richardson, Belinda Conrad; Dinkins, Elizabeth G.

    2014-01-01

    Twenty-first century classrooms are filled with increasingly diverse student populations. Effective teacher preparation programs must include explicit course work in culturally responsive pedagogies and field experiences that place educators in new sociocultural contexts. Field experiences in cross-cultural, place-based settings have the potential…

  14. Propulsion and Levitation with a Large Electrodynamic Wheel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gaul, Nathan; Lane, Hannah

    We constructed an electrodynamic wheel using a motorized bicycle wheel with a radius of 12 inches and 36 one-inch cube magnets attached to the rim of the wheel. The radial magnetic field on the outside of the wheel was maximized by arranging the magnets into a series of Halbach arrays which amplify the field on one side of the array and reduce it on the other side. Rotating the wheel produces a rapidly oscillating magnetic field. When a conductive metal ``track'' is placed in this area of strong magnetic flux, eddy currents are produced in the track. These eddy currents create magnetic fields that interact with the magnetic fields from the electrodynamic wheel. The interaction of the magnetic fields produces lift and drag forces on the track which were measured with force gauges. Measurements were taken at a variety of wheel speeds, and the results were compared to the theoretical prediction that there should be a linear relationship between the lift and drag forces with increasing wheel speed. Partial levitation was achieved with the current electrodynamic wheel. In the future, the wheel will be upgraded to include 72 magnets rather than 36 magnets. This will double the frequency at which the magnetic field oscillates, increasing the magnetic flux. Electrodynamic wheels have applications to the transportation industry, since multiple electrodynamic wheels could be used on a vehicle to produce a lift and propulsion force over a conductive track.

  15. A unified approach for the spatial enhancement of sound

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Choi, Joung-Woo; Jang, Ji-Ho; Kim, Yang-Hann

    2005-09-01

    This paper aims to control the sound field spatially, so that the desired or target acoustic variable is enhanced within a zone where a listener is located. This is somewhat analogous to having manipulators that can draw sounds in any place. This also means that one can somehow see the controlled shape of sound in frequency or in real time. The former assures its practical applicability, for example, listening zone control for music. The latter provides a mean of analyzing sound field. With all these regards, a unified approach is proposed that can enhance selected acoustic variables using multiple sources. Three kinds of acoustic variables that have to do with magnitude and direction of sound field are formulated and enhanced. The first one, which has to do with the spatial control of acoustic potential energy, enables one to make a zone of loud sound over an area. Otherwise, one can control directional characteristic of sound field by controlling directional energy density, or one can enhance the magnitude and direction of sound at the same time by controlling acoustic intensity. Throughout various examples, it is shown that these acoustic variables can be controlled successfully by the proposed approach.

  16. Methods for Influencing Social Policy: The Role of Social Experiments.

    PubMed

    Shinn, Marybeth

    2016-12-01

    Research methods in community psychology have grown more diverse since the Swampscott conference, but rigorous social experiments maintain a place among the multiplicity of methods that can promote community psychology values. They are particularly influential in policy circles. Two examples of social experiments to end homelessness for different populations illustrate their role. Both studies show that offering extremely poor and disenfranchised people autonomy and the resources they seek works better than "helping" them to overcome deficits in ways designed by well-meaning service providers. Experiments are neither the first nor the last method community psychologists should employ, but are a critical part of the field's armamentarium for systems change. © Society for Community Research and Action 2016.

  17. Diffusion tensor imaging using multiple coils for mouse brain connectomics.

    PubMed

    Nouls, John C; Badea, Alexandra; Anderson, Robert B J; Cofer, Gary P; Allan Johnson, G

    2018-06-01

    The correlation between brain connectivity and psychiatric or neurological diseases has intensified efforts to develop brain connectivity mapping techniques on mouse models of human disease. The neural architecture of mouse brain specimens can be shown non-destructively and three-dimensionally by diffusion tensor imaging, which enables tractography, the establishment of a connectivity matrix and connectomics. However, experiments on cohorts of animals can be prohibitively long. To improve throughput in a 7-T preclinical scanner, we present a novel two-coil system in which each coil is shielded, placed off-isocenter along the axis of the magnet and connected to a receiver circuit of the scanner. Preservation of the quality factor of each coil is essential to signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) performance and throughput, because mouse brain specimen imaging at 7 T takes place in the coil-dominated noise regime. In that regime, we show a shielding configuration causing no SNR degradation in the two-coil system. To acquire data from several coils simultaneously, the coils are placed in the magnet bore, around the isocenter, in which gradient field distortions can bias diffusion tensor imaging metrics, affect tractography and contaminate measurements of the connectivity matrix. We quantified the experimental alterations in fractional anisotropy and eigenvector direction occurring in each coil. We showed that, when the coils were placed 12 mm away from the isocenter, measurements of the brain connectivity matrix appeared to be minimally altered by gradient field distortions. Simultaneous measurements on two mouse brain specimens demonstrated a full doubling of the diffusion tensor imaging throughput in practice. Each coil produced images devoid of shading or artifact. To further improve the throughput of mouse brain connectomics, we suggested a future expansion of the system to four coils. To better understand acceptable trade-offs between imaging throughput and connectivity matrix integrity, studies may seek to clarify how measurement variability, post-processing techniques and biological variability impact mouse brain connectomics. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  18. Application of facies analysis to improve gas reserve growth in Fluvial Frio Reservoirs, La Gloria Field, South Texas

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

    Ambrose, W.A.; Jackson, M.L.W.; Finley, R.J.

    1988-01-01

    Geologically based infill-drilling strategies hold great potential for extension of domestic gas resources. Traditional gas-well drilling and development have often assumed homogeneous and continuous reservoirs; uniform gas-well spacing has resulted in numerous untapped reservoirs isolated from other productive sand bodies. Strategically located infill wells drilled into these undrained reservoirs may ultimately contact an additional 20% of original gas in place in Texas gas fields. Tertiary formations in the Texas Gulf Coast commonly exhibit multiple fluvial and fluvial-deltaic reservoirs that contain vertical and horizontal permeability barriers. For example, the Frio La Gloria field (Jim Wells and Brooks Counties, Texas) contains isolatedmore » and compartmentalized reservoirs that can be related to the irregular distribution of heterogeneous facies. Net-sand and log-facies maps in areas of dense well spacing delineate relatively continuous pay defined by lenticular point-bar and channel-fill deposits 1,500-2,500 ft wide. These point-bar deposits are flanked laterally by sand-poor levee and splay facies that isolate the reservoirs into narrow, dip-elongate bands.« less

  19. Pavlovian conditioning of multiple opioid-like responses in mice.

    PubMed

    Bryant, Camron D; Roberts, Kristofer W; Culbertson, Christopher S; Le, Alan; Evans, Christopher J; Fanselow, Michael S

    2009-07-01

    Conditional responses in rodents such as locomotion have been reported for drugs of abuse and similar to the placebo response in humans, may be associated with the expectation of reward. We examined several conditional opioid-like responses and the influence of drug expectation on conditioned place preference and concomitant conditional locomotion. Male C57BL/6J mice were conditioned with the selective mu opioid receptor agonist fentanyl (0.2mg/kg, i.p.) in a novel context and subsequently given a vehicle injection. In separate experiments, locomotor activity, Straub tail, hot plate sensitivity, and conditioned place preference (CPP) were measured. Mice exhibited multiple conditional opioid-like responses including conditional hyperlocomotion, a conditional pattern of opioid-like locomotion, Straub tail, analgesia, and place preference. Modulating drug expectation via administration of fentanyl to "demonstrator" mice in the home cage did not affect the expression of conditioned place preference or the concomitant locomotor activity in "observer" mice. In summary, Pavlovian conditioning of an opioid in a novel context induced multiple conditional opioid-like behaviors and provides a model for studying the neurobiological mechanisms of the placebo response in mice.

  20. High performance multi-finger MOSFET on SOI for RF amplifiers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Adhikari, M. Singh; Singh, Y.

    2017-10-01

    In this paper, we propose structural modifications in the conventional planar metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) on silicon-on-insulator by utilizing trenches in the epitaxial layer. The proposed multi-finger MOSFET (MF-MOSFET) has dual vertical-gates placed in separate trenches to form multiple channels in the p-base which carry the drain current in parallel. The proposed device uses TaN as gate electrode and SiO2 as gate dielectric. Simultaneous conduction of multiple channels enhances the drain current (ID) and provides higher transconductance (gm) leading to significant improvement in cut-off frequency (ft). Two-dimensional simulations are performed to evaluate and compare the performance of the MF-MOSFET with the conventional MOSFET. At a gate length of 60 nm, the proposed device provides 4 times higher ID, 3 times improvement in gm and 1.25 times increase in ft with better control over the short channel effects as compared with the conventional device.

  1. Evidence of trapline foraging in honeybees.

    PubMed

    Buatois, Alexis; Lihoreau, Mathieu

    2016-08-15

    Central-place foragers exploiting floral resources often use multi-destination routes (traplines) to maximise their foraging efficiency. Recent studies on bumblebees have showed how solitary foragers can learn traplines, minimising travel costs between multiple replenishing feeding locations. Here we demonstrate a similar routing strategy in the honeybee (Apis mellifera), a major pollinator known to recruit nestmates to discovered food resources. Individual honeybees trained to collect sucrose solution from four artificial flowers arranged within 10 m of the hive location developed repeatable visitation sequences both in the laboratory and in the field. A 10-fold increase of between-flower distances considerably intensified this routing behaviour, with bees establishing more stable and more efficient routes at larger spatial scales. In these advanced social insects, trapline foraging may complement cooperative foraging for exploiting food resources near the hive (where dance recruitment is not used) or when resources are not large enough to sustain multiple foragers at once. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  2. Methods, caveats and the future of large-scale microelectrode recordings in the non-human primate

    PubMed Central

    Dotson, Nicholas M.; Goodell, Baldwin; Salazar, Rodrigo F.; Hoffman, Steven J.; Gray, Charles M.

    2015-01-01

    Cognitive processes play out on massive brain-wide networks, which produce widely distributed patterns of activity. Capturing these activity patterns requires tools that are able to simultaneously measure activity from many distributed sites with high spatiotemporal resolution. Unfortunately, current techniques with adequate coverage do not provide the requisite spatiotemporal resolution. Large-scale microelectrode recording devices, with dozens to hundreds of microelectrodes capable of simultaneously recording from nearly as many cortical and subcortical areas, provide a potential way to minimize these tradeoffs. However, placing hundreds of microelectrodes into a behaving animal is a highly risky and technically challenging endeavor that has only been pursued by a few groups. Recording activity from multiple electrodes simultaneously also introduces several statistical and conceptual dilemmas, such as the multiple comparisons problem and the uncontrolled stimulus response problem. In this perspective article, we discuss some of the techniques that we, and others, have developed for collecting and analyzing large-scale data sets, and address the future of this emerging field. PMID:26578906

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

    Elliott, C.J.; McVey, B.; Quimby, D.C.

    The level of field errors in an FEL is an important determinant of its performance. We have computed 3D performance of a large laser subsystem subjected to field errors of various types. These calculations have been guided by simple models such as SWOOP. The technique of choice is utilization of the FELEX free electron laser code that now possesses extensive engineering capabilities. Modeling includes the ability to establish tolerances of various types: fast and slow scale field bowing, field error level, beam position monitor error level, gap errors, defocusing errors, energy slew, displacement and pointing errors. Many effects of thesemore » errors on relative gain and relative power extraction are displayed and are the essential elements of determining an error budget. The random errors also depend on the particular random number seed used in the calculation. The simultaneous display of the performance versus error level of cases with multiple seeds illustrates the variations attributable to stochasticity of this model. All these errors are evaluated numerically for comprehensive engineering of the system. In particular, gap errors are found to place requirements beyond mechanical tolerances of {plus minus}25{mu}m, and amelioration of these may occur by a procedure utilizing direct measurement of the magnetic fields at assembly time. 4 refs., 12 figs.« less

  4. Microwave sintering of multiple articles

    DOEpatents

    Blake, Rodger D.; Katz, Joel D.

    1993-01-01

    Apparatus and method for producing articles of alumina and of alumina and silicon carbide in which the articles are sintered at high temperatures using microwave radiation. The articles are placed in a sintering container which is placed in a microwave cavity for heating. The rates at which heating and cooling take place is controlled.

  5. Conflict between Place and Response Navigation Strategies: Effects on Vicarious Trial and Error (VTE) Behaviors

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schmidt, Brandy; Papale, Andrew; Redish, A. David; Markus, Etan J.

    2013-01-01

    Navigation can be accomplished through multiple decision-making strategies, using different information-processing computations. A well-studied dichotomy in these decision-making strategies compares hippocampal-dependent "place" and dorsal-lateral striatal dependent "response" strategies. A place strategy depends on the ability to flexibly respond…

  6. Central-place foraging and ecological effects of an invasive predator across multiple habitats.

    PubMed

    Benkwitt, Cassandra E

    2016-10-01

    Cross-habitat foraging movements of predators can have widespread implications for predator and prey populations, community structure, nutrient transfer, and ecosystem function. Although central-place foraging models and other aspects of optimal foraging theory focus on individual predator behavior, they also provide useful frameworks for understanding the effects of predators on prey populations across multiple habitats. However, few studies have examined both the foraging behavior and ecological effects of nonnative predators across multiple habitats, and none has tested whether nonnative predators deplete prey in a manner predicted by these foraging models. I conducted behavioral observations of invasive lionfish (Pterois volitans) to determine whether they exhibit foraging movements similar to other central-place consumers. Then, I used a manipulative field experiment to test whether their effects on prey populations are consistent with three qualitative predictions from optimal foraging models. Specifically, I predicted that the effects of invasive lionfish on native prey will (1) occur at central sites first and then in surrounding habitats, (2) decrease with increasing distance away from their shelter site, and (3) extend to greater distances when prey patches are spaced closer together. Approximately 40% of lionfish exhibited short-term crepuscular foraging movements into surrounding habitats from the coral patch reefs where they shelter during daylight hours. Over the course of 7 weeks, lionfish depleted native fish populations on the coral patch reefs where they reside, and subsequently on small structures in the surrounding habitat. However, their effects did not decrease with increasing distance from the central shelter site and the influence of patch spacing was opposite the prediction. Instead, lionfish always had the greatest effects in areas with the highest prey densities. The differences between the predicted and observed effects of lionfish foraging are likely due to different constraints faced by invasive predators compared to native predators, namely that lionfish do not face increased predation risk with increased movement away from shelter sites. By foraging at greater distances from patch reefs than native predators, lionfish eliminated a spatial refuge from predation used by juveniles of many commercially and ecologically important reef fishes. © 2016 by the Ecological Society of America.

  7. Cluster observations of ion dispersion discontinuities in the polar cusp

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Escoubet, C. P.; Berchem, J.; Pitout, F.; Richard, R. L.; Trattner, K. J.; Grison, B.; Taylor, M. G.; Masson, A.; Dunlop, M. W.; Dandouras, I. S.; Reme, H.; Fazakerley, A. N.

    2009-12-01

    The reconnection between the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and the Earth’s magnetic field is taking place at the magnetopause on magnetic field lines threading through the polar cusp. When the IMF is southward, reconnection occurs near the subsolar point, which is magnetically connected to the equatorward boundary of the polar cusp. Subsequently the ions injected through the reconnection point precipitate in the cusp and are dispersed poleward. If reconnection is continuous and operates at constant rate, the ion dispersion is smooth and continuous. On the other hand if the reconnection rate varies, we expect interruption in the dispersion forming energy steps or staircase. Similarly, multiple entries near the magnetopause could also produce steps at low or mid-altitude when a spacecraft is crossing subsequently the field lines originating from these multiple sources. In addition, motion of the magnetopause induced by solar wind pressure changes or erosion due to reconnection can also induce a motion of the polar cusp and a disruption of the ions dispersion observed by a spacecraft. Cluster with four spacecraft following each other in the mid-altitude cusp can be used to distinguish between these “temporal” and “spatial” effects. We will present a cusp crossing with two spacecraft, separated by around two minutes. The two spacecraft observed a very similar dispersion with a step in energy in its centre and two other dispersions poleward. We will show that the steps could be temporal (assuming that the time between two reconnection bursts corresponds to the time delay between the two spacecraft) but it would be a fortuitous coincidence. On the other hand the steps and the two poleward dispersions could be explained by spatial effects if we take into account the motion of the open-closed boundary between the two spacecraft crossings.

  8. Environmental Field Trips - Some Places to Visit in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Meetre, Jeff

    This publication lists 40 places in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area that could be visited on an environmental field trip. The sites are placed into five categories: (1) Air Monitoring; (2) Ecology and Nature Study; (3) Solid Waste Management; (4) Wastewater Treatment; and (5) Water Supply. Each entry includes name, address, and phone number…

  9. Multiple Scales of Representation along the Hippocampal Anteroposterior Axis in Humans.

    PubMed

    Brunec, Iva K; Bellana, Buddhika; Ozubko, Jason D; Man, Vincent; Robin, Jessica; Liu, Zhong-Xu; Grady, Cheryl; Rosenbaum, R Shayna; Winocur, Gordon; Barense, Morgan D; Moscovitch, Morris

    2018-06-13

    The ability to represent the world accurately relies on simultaneous coarse and fine-grained neural information coding, capturing both gist and detail of an experience. The longitudinal axis of the hippocampus may provide a gradient of representational granularity in spatial and episodic memory in rodents and humans [1-8]. Rodent place cells in the ventral hippocampus exhibit significantly larger place fields and greater autocorrelation than those in the dorsal hippocampus [1, 9-11], which may underlie a coarser and slower changing representation of space [10, 12]. Recent evidence suggests that properties of cellular dynamics in rodents can be captured with fMRI in humans during spatial navigation [13] and conceptual learning [14]. Similarly, mechanisms supporting granularity along the long axis may also be extrapolated to the scale of fMRI signal. Here, we provide the first evidence for separable scales of representation along the human hippocampal anteroposterior axis during navigation and rest by showing (1) greater similarity among voxel time courses and (2) higher temporal autocorrelation in anterior hippocampus (aHPC), relative to posterior hippocampus (pHPC), the human homologs of ventral and dorsal rodent hippocampus. aHPC voxels exhibited more similar activity at each time point and slower signal change over time than voxels in pHPC, consistent with place field organization in rodents. Importantly, similarity between voxels was related to navigational strategy and episodic memory. These findings provide evidence that the human hippocampus supports an anterior-to-posterior gradient of coarse-to-fine spatiotemporal representations, suggesting the existence of a cross-species mechanism, whereby lower neural similarity supports more complex coding of experience. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Use of a force-sensing automated open field apparatus in a longitudinal study of multiple behavioral deficits in CAG140 Huntington's disease model mice.

    PubMed

    Fowler, Stephen C; Muma, Nancy A

    2015-11-01

    Behavioral testing of mouse models of Huntington's disease (HD) is a key component of preclinical assessment for potential pharmacological intervention. An open field with a force plate floor was used to quantify numerous spontaneous behaviors in a slowly progressing model of HD. CAG140 (+/+, +/-, -/-) male and female mice were compared in a longitudinal study from 6 to 65 weeks of age. Distance traveled, wall rears, wall rear duration, number of low mobility bouts, in-place movements, number of high velocity runs, and gait parameters (stride rate, stride length, and velocity) were extracted from the ground reaction forces recorded in 20-min actometer sessions. Beginning at 11 weeks, HD mice (both +/- and +/+) were consistently hypoactive throughout testing. Robust hypoactivity at 39 weeks of age was not accompanied by gait disturbances. By 52 and 65 weeks of age the duration of wall rears increased and in-place tremor-like movements emerged at 65 weeks of age in the +/+, but not in the +/- HD mice. Taken together, these results suggest that hypoactivity preceding frank motor dysfunction is a characteristic of CAG140 mice that may correspond to low motivation to move seen clinically in the premanifest/prediagnostic stage in human HD. The results also show that the force plate method provides a means for tracking the progression of behavioral dysfunction in HD mice beyond the stage when locomotion is lost while enabling quantification of tremor-like and similar in-place behaviors without a change in instrumentation. Use of force plate actometry also minimizes testing-induced enrichment effects when batteries of different tests are carried out longitudinally. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Calcium transient prevalence across the dendritic arbour predicts place field properties.

    PubMed

    Sheffield, Mark E J; Dombeck, Daniel A

    2015-01-08

    Establishing the hippocampal cellular ensemble that represents an animal's environment involves the emergence and disappearance of place fields in specific CA1 pyramidal neurons, and the acquisition of different spatial firing properties across the active population. While such firing flexibility and diversity have been linked to spatial memory, attention and task performance, the cellular and network origin of these place cell features is unknown. Basic integrate-and-fire models of place firing propose that such features result solely from varying inputs to place cells, but recent studies suggest instead that place cells themselves may play an active role through regenerative dendritic events. However, owing to the difficulty of performing functional recordings from place cell dendrites, no direct evidence of regenerative dendritic events exists, leaving any possible connection to place coding unknown. Using multi-plane two-photon calcium imaging of CA1 place cell somata, axons and dendrites in mice navigating a virtual environment, here we show that regenerative dendritic events do exist in place cells of behaving mice, and, surprisingly, their prevalence throughout the arbour is highly spatiotemporally variable. Furthermore, we show that the prevalence of such events predicts the spatial precision and persistence or disappearance of place fields. This suggests that the dynamics of spiking throughout the dendritic arbour may play a key role in forming the hippocampal representation of space.

  12. Calcium transient prevalence across the dendritic arbor predicts place field properties

    PubMed Central

    Sheffield, Mark E. J.; Dombeck, Daniel A.

    2014-01-01

    Establishing the hippocampal cellular ensemble that represents an animal’s environment involves the emergence and disappearance of place fields in specific CA1 pyramidal neurons1–4, and the acquisition of different spatial firing properties across the active population5. While such firing flexibility and diversity have been linked to spatial memory, attention and task performance6,7, the cellular and network origin of these place cell features is unknown. Basic integrate-and-fire models of place firing propose that such features result solely from varying inputs to place cells8,9, but recent studies3,10 instead suggest that place cells themselves may play an active role through regenerative dendritic events. However, due to the difficulty of performing functional recordings from place cell dendrites, no direct evidence of regenerative dendritic events exists, leaving any possible connection to place coding unknown. Using multi-plane two-photon calcium imaging of CA1 place cell somata, axons, and dendrites in mice navigating a virtual environment, we show that regenerative dendritic events do exist in place cells of behaving mice and, surprisingly, their prevalence throughout the arbor is highly spatiotemporally variable. Further, we show that the prevalence of such events predicts the spatial precision and persistence or disappearance of place fields. This suggests that the dynamics of spiking throughout the dendritic arbor may play a key role in forming the hippocampal representation of space. PMID:25363782

  13. State of play of CME in Europe in 2015: Proceedings from the Eighth Annual European CME Forum

    PubMed Central

    Pozniak, Eugene; Jacobson, Anne

    2016-01-01

    European CME Forum is a not-for-profit organisation that brings together all stakeholder groups with an interest in European continuing medical education (CME) and promote multichannel discussion in an independent and neutral environment. This report summarises the discussions that took place at the 8th Annual European CME Forum in Manchester on 11–12 November 2015. Held at a time of increased scrutiny on the quality and value of the CME, the forum provided a space for attendees to share perspectives on trends, challenges, and opportunities related to European CME accreditation, funding, and regulation. Discussions focused on specific “hot topics” identified through a pre-meeting survey and needs assessment conducted among CME stakeholders in Europe and beyond. Chief among these were issues related to managing the transparency of relationships between industry and healthcare professionals, evolving systems of European CME accreditation, and the future of CME funding. The programme structure included multiple workshops conducted by leaders in the CME field, and plenary sessions that facilitated multidisciplinary interactions with invited guests, including the very learners the CME field is designed to serve. Attendee feedback was gathered to begin shaping the programme for the 9th Annual European CME Forum (#9ECF), which will take place in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on 9–11 November 2016. PMID:29644124

  14. Development of a check sheet for collecting information necessary for occupational safety and health activities and building relevant systems in overseas business places.

    PubMed

    Kajiki, Shigeyuki; Kobayashi, Yuichi; Uehara, Masamichi; Nakanishi, Shigemoto; Mori, Koji

    2016-06-07

    This study aimed to develop an information gathering check sheet to efficiently collect information necessary for Japanese companies to build global occupational safety and health management systems in overseas business places. The study group consisted of 2 researchers with occupational physician careers in a foreign-affiliated company in Japan and 3 supervising occupational physicians who were engaged in occupational safety and health activities in overseas business places. After investigating information and sources of information necessary for implementing occupational safety and health activities and building relevant systems, we conducted information acquisition using an information gathering check sheet in the field, by visiting 10 regions in 5 countries (first phase). The accuracy of the information acquired and the appropriateness of the information sources were then verified in study group meetings to improve the information gathering check sheet. Next, the improved information gathering check sheet was used in another setting (3 regions in 1 country) to confirm its efficacy (second phase), and the information gathering check sheet was thereby completed. The information gathering check sheet was composed of 9 major items (basic information on the local business place, safety and health overview, safety and health systems, safety and health staff, planning/implementation/evaluation/improvement, safety and health activities, laws and administrative organs, local medical care systems and public health, and medical support for resident personnel) and 61 medium items. We relied on the following eight information sources: the internet, company (local business place and head office in Japan), embassy/consulate, ISO certification body, university or other educational institutions, and medical institutions (aimed at Japanese people or at local workers). Through multiple study group meetings and a two-phased field survey (13 regions in 6 countries), an information gathering check sheet was completed. We confirmed the possibility that this check sheet would enable the user to obtain necessary information when expanding safety and health activities in a country or region that is new to the user. It is necessary in the future to evaluate safety and health systems and activities using this information gathering check sheet in a local business place in any country in which a Japanese business will be established, and to verify the efficacy of the check sheet by conducting model programs to test specific approaches.

  15. A Model of Generating Visual Place Cells Based on Environment Perception and Similar Measure.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Yang; Wu, Dewei

    2016-01-01

    It is an important content to generate visual place cells (VPCs) in the field of bioinspired navigation. By analyzing the firing characteristic of biological place cells and the existing methods for generating VPCs, a model of generating visual place cells based on environment perception and similar measure is abstracted in this paper. VPCs' generation process is divided into three phases, including environment perception, similar measure, and recruiting of a new place cell. According to this process, a specific method for generating VPCs is presented. External reference landmarks are obtained based on local invariant characteristics of image and a similar measure function is designed based on Euclidean distance and Gaussian function. Simulation validates the proposed method is available. The firing characteristic of the generated VPCs is similar to that of biological place cells, and VPCs' firing fields can be adjusted flexibly by changing the adjustment factor of firing field (AFFF) and firing rate's threshold (FRT).

  16. A Model of Generating Visual Place Cells Based on Environment Perception and Similar Measure

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    It is an important content to generate visual place cells (VPCs) in the field of bioinspired navigation. By analyzing the firing characteristic of biological place cells and the existing methods for generating VPCs, a model of generating visual place cells based on environment perception and similar measure is abstracted in this paper. VPCs' generation process is divided into three phases, including environment perception, similar measure, and recruiting of a new place cell. According to this process, a specific method for generating VPCs is presented. External reference landmarks are obtained based on local invariant characteristics of image and a similar measure function is designed based on Euclidean distance and Gaussian function. Simulation validates the proposed method is available. The firing characteristic of the generated VPCs is similar to that of biological place cells, and VPCs' firing fields can be adjusted flexibly by changing the adjustment factor of firing field (AFFF) and firing rate's threshold (FRT). PMID:27597859

  17. Concept of dual-resolution light field imaging using an organic photoelectric conversion film for high-resolution light field photography.

    PubMed

    Sugimura, Daisuke; Kobayashi, Suguru; Hamamoto, Takayuki

    2017-11-01

    Light field imaging is an emerging technique that is employed to realize various applications such as multi-viewpoint imaging, focal-point changing, and depth estimation. In this paper, we propose a concept of a dual-resolution light field imaging system to synthesize super-resolved multi-viewpoint images. The key novelty of this study is the use of an organic photoelectric conversion film (OPCF), which is a device that converts spectra information of incoming light within a certain wavelength range into an electrical signal (pixel value), for light field imaging. In our imaging system, we place the OPCF having the green spectral sensitivity onto the micro-lens array of the conventional light field camera. The OPCF allows us to acquire the green spectra information only at the center viewpoint with the full resolution of the image sensor. In contrast, the optical system of the light field camera in our imaging system captures the other spectra information (red and blue) at multiple viewpoints (sub-aperture images) but with low resolution. Thus, our dual-resolution light field imaging system enables us to simultaneously capture information about the target scene at a high spatial resolution as well as the direction information of the incoming light. By exploiting these advantages of our imaging system, our proposed method enables the synthesis of full-resolution multi-viewpoint images. We perform experiments using synthetic images, and the results demonstrate that our method outperforms other previous methods.

  18. An Energy Model of Place Cell Network in Three Dimensional Space.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yihong; Xu, Xuying; Wang, Rubin

    2018-01-01

    Place cells are important elements in the spatial representation system of the brain. A considerable amount of experimental data and classical models are achieved in this area. However, an important question has not been addressed, which is how the three dimensional space is represented by the place cells. This question is preliminarily surveyed by energy coding method in this research. Energy coding method argues that neural information can be expressed by neural energy and it is convenient to model and compute for neural systems due to the global and linearly addable properties of neural energy. Nevertheless, the models of functional neural networks based on energy coding method have not been established. In this work, we construct a place cell network model to represent three dimensional space on an energy level. Then we define the place field and place field center and test the locating performance in three dimensional space. The results imply that the model successfully simulates the basic properties of place cells. The individual place cell obtains unique spatial selectivity. The place fields in three dimensional space vary in size and energy consumption. Furthermore, the locating error is limited to a certain level and the simulated place field agrees to the experimental results. In conclusion, this is an effective model to represent three dimensional space by energy method. The research verifies the energy efficiency principle of the brain during the neural coding for three dimensional spatial information. It is the first step to complete the three dimensional spatial representing system of the brain, and helps us further understand how the energy efficiency principle directs the locating, navigating, and path planning function of the brain.

  19. The effects of field dependent/independent style awareness on learning strategies and outcomes in an instructional hypermedia module

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fyle, Clifford Omodele

    The purpose of this study was to examine whether field-dependent/independent style awareness affects learning outcomes and learning strategies used in a hypermedia instructional module. Field-dependent/independent style was measured using the Global Embedded Figures Test. Style awareness meant that students were provided with information and explanations about their individual cognitive styles and the learning strategies that accommodate those styles. The study entailed examining students' achievement in a multiple-choice test and performance in a design task, and also their navigation patterns as they studied a science-oriented Webquest. The sample consisted of 149 eighth-grade students in 10 sections of a science class taught by two teachers in a public middle school. A two-group posttest-only design on one factor (style awareness) was used. Sixty-eight students in five sections of the class were assigned to the treatment group (field dependent/independent style awareness) while the other 81 students in five sections were assigned to the control group (no field dependent/independent style awareness). The study took place over a period of 6 days. On the first day, students in the treatment group were first tested and debriefed on their individual styles. Next, all students in both the treatment and control groups studied the hypermedia instructional module (Webquest) over a period of two days. On the fourth and fifth days students worked on the performance tasks, and on the sixth day students took the multiple-choice test and students in the control group were tested and debriefed on their individual styles. The findings indicate that style awareness significantly influenced the learning strategies of field-dependent students as they studied and carried out learning tasks in the Webquest. Field-dependent students with style awareness used hypertext links and navigated the menu sequentially a greater number of times than their counterparts with no style awareness. Correspondingly, there were no significant findings for field-independent students of the effects of style awareness on learning strategies. The findings also revealed significant differences in terms of style awareness and its interactions with achievement on the multiple-choice test. Both field-dependent and field-independent students with style awareness achieved higher scores than their counterparts who received no style awareness. There were however no significant findings with respect to the effects of style awareness on performance on the design task. Overall this study demonstrated that providing middle-school students with cognitive-style awareness training can improve both their academic performance as well as enable them to adopt more effective learning strategies when learning in hypermedia environments.

  20. 27 CFR 31.94 - Retail dealers “At Large.”

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ..., DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY LIQUORS ALCOHOL BEVERAGE DEALERS Places Subject to Registration Sales in Multiple... business requires the dealer to travel from place to place, such as a dealer who sells at carnivals or... on an attachment thereto, the nature of the dealer's business and the reason the dealer requires...

  1. Using Quotitive Division Problems to Promote Place-Value Understanding

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bicknell, Brenda; Young-Loveridge, Jenny; Simpson, Jackie

    2017-01-01

    A robust understanding of place value is essential. Using a problem-based approach set within meaningful contexts, students' attention may be drawn to the multiplicative structure of place value. By using quotitive division problems through a concrete-representational-abstract lesson structure, this study showed a powerful strengthening of Year 3…

  2. Singapore Math: Place Value, Computation & Number Sense. [CD-ROM

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chen, Sandra

    2008-01-01

    "Singapore Math: Place Value, Computation & Number Sense" is a six-part presentation on CD-ROM that can be used by individual teachers or an entire school. The author takes primary to upper elementary grade teachers through place value skills with each of the computational operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. She gives…

  3. Water quality of flow through cured-in-place pipe (CIPP).

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2017-02-01

    Though this study did not include replication, the preponderance of the data from field and simulated-field experiments indicates that Curedin- : Place Pipe (CIPP), with some care in enforcing the Caltrans specification and delaying the reintroductio...

  4. Instantaneous and Time Averaged Flow Fields of Multiple Vortices in the Tip Region of a Ducted Propulsor

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oweis, Ghanem; Steven, Ceccio

    2003-11-01

    PIV data of the flow field in the immediate vicinity of the trailing edge of a ducted propeller at the tip revealed the existence of multiple vorticity concentrations. The multiple vortices in each instantaneous PIV field were identified and individually characterized. The measurements of the multiple vortices were combined with a Gaussian vortex model to reconstruct the vorticity and velocity fields. The major features of the original experimental field were recovered, and the correlation between the two fields was good. The time averaged field and velocity fluctuations were also measured. We will discuss why the "typical" instantaneous tip vortex and the tip vortex from the time averaged field are substantially different. We attempt to explain the cause of these differences. Knowledge of the instantaneous flow field variability is used to understand the causes of the measured velocity fluctuations. The results from this study have an impact on the understanding of the roll-up of tip vortices, and the dynamics of multiple vortices.

  5. Population Structure, Movement Patterns, and Frequency of Multiple Matings in Tenodera sinensis (Mantodea: Mantidae).

    PubMed

    Christensen, Tyler; Brown, William D

    2018-04-14

    Models of the evolution of sexual cannibalism show that the frequency of male mating opportunities has significant impact on male choice and male risk aversion. In this study, we examined ecological components that should affect opportunities for multiple mating in wild populations of the Chinese mantid (Tenodera sinensis Saussure). While conducting mark-recapture studies of two field populations over the course of two seasons, along with Global Positioning System data on locations of individuals, we collected data on population densities, movement patterns, and individual ranges to estimate the overlap of adult males and female mantids. Our results show that local populations of mantids range from 89 to 161 individuals and occur at densities ranging from 10 to 39 mantids per 1,000 m2. Males move greater distances daily compared with females, giving males larger home range sizes. The ranges of male mantids overlapped with multiple females, thus offering the potential for multiple mating by males. We directly observed 11 encounters between male and female T. sinensis, including one multiple mating by an individual male. The overall mate encounter rate for males was 12.5%. We also provide additional observations of interspecific sexual attraction between T. sinensis and Mantis religiosa Linne (Mantodea: Mantidae). Mantids were most commonly found within the top 20% of two flowering plants, goldenrod (Solidago Linnaeus spp. (Asterales: Asteraceae)) and mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris Linnaeus (Asterales: Asteraceae)), which should place them in prime locations for capturing flying pollinators.

  6. Intraoperative visualization and assessment of electromagnetic tracking error

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harish, Vinyas; Ungi, Tamas; Lasso, Andras; MacDonald, Andrew; Nanji, Sulaiman; Fichtinger, Gabor

    2015-03-01

    Electromagnetic tracking allows for increased flexibility in designing image-guided interventions, however it is well understood that electromagnetic tracking is prone to error. Visualization and assessment of the tracking error should take place in the operating room with minimal interference with the clinical procedure. The goal was to achieve this ideal in an open-source software implementation in a plug and play manner, without requiring programming from the user. We use optical tracking as a ground truth. An electromagnetic sensor and optical markers are mounted onto a stylus device, pivot calibrated for both trackers. Electromagnetic tracking error is defined as difference of tool tip position between electromagnetic and optical readings. Multiple measurements are interpolated into the thin-plate B-spline transform visualized in real time using 3D Slicer. All tracked devices are used in a plug and play manner through the open-source SlicerIGT and PLUS extensions of the 3D Slicer platform. Tracking error was measured multiple times to assess reproducibility of the method, both with and without placing ferromagnetic objects in the workspace. Results from exhaustive grid sampling and freehand sampling were similar, indicating that a quick freehand sampling is sufficient to detect unexpected or excessive field distortion in the operating room. The software is available as a plug-in for the 3D Slicer platforms. Results demonstrate potential for visualizing electromagnetic tracking error in real time for intraoperative environments in feasibility clinical trials in image-guided interventions.

  7. Water quality of flow through cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) : final report.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2017-02-01

    Though this study did not include replication, the preponderance of the data from field and simulated-field experiments indicates that Curedin-Place : Pipe (CIPP), with some care in enforcing the Caltrans specification and delaying the reintroduction...

  8. Fields of Tension in a Boundary-Crossing World: Towards a Democratic Organization of the Self.

    PubMed

    Hermans, Hubert J M; Konopka, Agnieszka; Oosterwegel, Annerieke; Zomer, Peter

    2017-12-01

    In their study of the relationship between self and society, scientists have proposed taking society as a metaphor for understanding the dynamics of the self, such as the analogy between the self and the functioning of a totalitarian state or the analogy between the self and the functioning of a bureaucratic organization. In addition to these models, the present article proposes a democratic society as a metaphor for understanding the workings of a dialogical self in a globalizing, boundary-crossing world. The article follows four steps. In the first step the self is depicted as extended to the social and societal environment and made up of fields of tension in which a multiplicity of self-positions are involved in processes of positioning and counter-positioning and in relationships of social power. In the second step, the fertility of the democratic metaphor is demonstrated by referring to theory and research from three identity perspectives: multicultural, multiracial, and transgender. In the fields of tension emerging between the multiplicity of self-positions, new, hybrid, and mixed identities have a chance to emerge as adaptive responses to the limitations of existing societal structures. In the third step, we place the democratic self in a broader societal context by linking three levels of inclusiveness, proposed by Self-Categorization Theory (personal, social, and human) to recent conceptions of a cosmopolitan democracy. In the fourth and final step, a model is presented which allows the formulation of a series of specific research questions for future studies of a democratically organized self.

  9. Multidisciplinary approaches to stimulate wound healing.

    PubMed

    Businaro, Rita; Corsi, Mariangela; Di Raimo, Tania; Marasco, Sergio; Laskin, Debra L; Salvati, Bruno; Capoano, Raffaele; Ricci, Serafino; Siciliano, Camilla; Frati, Giacomo; De Falco, Elena

    2016-08-01

    New civil wars and waves of terrorism are causing crucial social changes, with consequences in all fields, including health care. In particular, skin injuries are evolving as an epidemic issue. From a physiological standpoint, although wound repair takes place more rapidly in the skin than in other tissues, it is still a complex organ to reconstruct. Genetic and clinical variables, such as diabetes, smoking, and inflammatory/immunological pathologies, are also important risk factors limiting the regenerative potential of many therapeutic applications. Therefore, optimization of current clinical strategies is critical. Here, we summarize the current state of the field by focusing on stem cell therapy applications in wound healing, with an emphasis on current clinical approaches being developed. These involve protocols for the ex vivo expansion of adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells by means of a patented Good Manufacturing Practice-compliant platelet lysate. Combinations of multiple strategies, including genetic modifications and stem cells, biomimetic scaffolds, and novel vehicles, such as nanoparticles, are also discussed as future approaches. © 2016 New York Academy of Sciences.

  10. Ignition dynamics of a laminar diffusion flame in the field of a vortex embedded in a shear flow

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Macaraeg, Michele G.; Jackson, T. L.; Hussaini, M. Y.

    1994-01-01

    The role of streamwise-spanwise vorticity interactions that occur in turbulent shear flows on flame/vortex interactions is examined by means of asymptotic analysis and numerical simulation in the limit of small Mach number. An idealized model is employed to describe the interaction process. The model consists of a one-step, irreversible Arrhenius reaction between initially unmixed species occupying adjacent half-planes which are then allowed to mix and react in the presence of a streamwise vortex embedded in a shear flow. It is found that the interaction of the streamwise vortex with shear gives rise to small-scale velocity oscillations which increase in magnitude with shear strength. These oscillations give rise to regions of strong temperature gradients via viscous heating, which can lead to multiple ignition points and substantially decrease ignition times. The evolution in time of the temperature and mass-fraction fields is followed, and emphasis is placed on the ignition time and structure as a function of vortex and shear strength.

  11. Automated processing of whole blood samples into microliter aliquots of plasma.

    PubMed

    Burtis, C A; Johnson, W W; Walker, W A

    1988-01-01

    A rotor that accepts and automatically processes a bulk aliquot of a single blood sample into multiple aliquots of plasma has been designed and built. The rotor consists of a central processing unit, which includes a disk containing eight precision-bore capillaries. By varying the internal diameters of the capillaries, aliquot volumes ranging 1 to 10 mul can be prepared. In practice, an unmeasured volume of blood is placed in a centre well, and, as the rotor begins to spin, is moved radially into a central annular ring where it is distributed into a series of processing chambers. The rotor is then spun at 3000 rpm for 10 min. When the centrifugal field is removed by slowly decreasing the rotor speed, an aliquot of plasma is withdrawn by capillary action into each of the capillary tubes. The disk containing the eight measured aliquots of plasma is subsequently removed and placed in a modifed rotor for conventional centrifugal analysis. Initial evaluation of the new rotor indicates that it is capable of producing discrete, microliter volumes of plasma with a degree of accuracy and precision approaching that of mechanical pipettes.

  12. Project-based teaching in health informatics: a course on health care quality improvement.

    PubMed

    Moehr, J R; Berenji, G R; Green, C J; Kagolovsky, Y

    2001-01-01

    Teaching the skills and knowledge required in health informatics [1] is a challenge because the skill of applying knowledge in real life requires practice. We relate the experience with introducing a practice component to a course in "Health Care Quality Improvement". Working health care professionals were invited to bring an actual quality problem from their place of work and to work alongside students in running the problem through a quality improvement project lifecycle. Multiple technological and process oriented teaching innovations were employed including project sessions in observation rooms, video recording of these sessions, generation of demonstration examples and distance education components. Both students and their collaborators from the work place developed proficiency in applying quality improvement methods as well as in experiencing the realities of group processes, information gaps and organizational constraints. The principles used to achieve high involvement of the whole class, the employed resources and technical support are described. The resulting academic and practical achievements are discussed in relation to the alternative instructional modalities, and with respect to didactic implications for similar endeavors and beyond to other fields such as systems engineering.

  13. Changing the Culture of Science Communication Training for Junior Scientists

    PubMed Central

    Bankston, Adriana; McDowell, Gary S.

    2018-01-01

    Being successful in an academic environment places many demands on junior scientists. Science communication currently may not be adequately valued and rewarded, and yet communication to multiple audiences is critical for ensuring that it remains a priority in today’s society. Due to the potential for science communication to produce better scientists, facilitate scientific progress, and influence decision-making at multiple levels, training junior scientists in both effective and ethical science communication practices is imperative, and can benefit scientists regardless of their chosen career path. However, many challenges exist in addressing specific aspects of this training. Principally, science communication training and resources should be made readily available to junior scientists at institutions, and there is a need to scale up existing science communication training programs and standardize core aspects of these programs across universities, while also allowing for experimentation with training. We propose a comprehensive core training program be adopted by universities, utilizing a centralized online resource with science communication information from multiple stakeholders. In addition, the culture of science must shift toward greater acceptance of science communication as an essential part of training. For this purpose, the science communication field itself needs to be developed, researched and better understood at multiple levels. Ultimately, this may result in a larger cultural change toward acceptance of professional development activities as valuable for training scientists. PMID:29904538

  14. Changing the Culture of Science Communication Training for Junior Scientists.

    PubMed

    Bankston, Adriana; McDowell, Gary S

    2018-01-01

    Being successful in an academic environment places many demands on junior scientists. Science communication currently may not be adequately valued and rewarded, and yet communication to multiple audiences is critical for ensuring that it remains a priority in today's society. Due to the potential for science communication to produce better scientists, facilitate scientific progress, and influence decision-making at multiple levels, training junior scientists in both effective and ethical science communication practices is imperative, and can benefit scientists regardless of their chosen career path. However, many challenges exist in addressing specific aspects of this training. Principally, science communication training and resources should be made readily available to junior scientists at institutions, and there is a need to scale up existing science communication training programs and standardize core aspects of these programs across universities, while also allowing for experimentation with training. We propose a comprehensive core training program be adopted by universities, utilizing a centralized online resource with science communication information from multiple stakeholders. In addition, the culture of science must shift toward greater acceptance of science communication as an essential part of training. For this purpose, the science communication field itself needs to be developed, researched and better understood at multiple levels. Ultimately, this may result in a larger cultural change toward acceptance of professional development activities as valuable for training scientists.

  15. Low-cost standalone multi-sensor thermometer for long time measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kumchaiseemak, Nakorn; Hormwantha, Tongchai; Wungmool, Piyachat; Suwanatus, Suchat; Kanjai, Supaporn; Lertkitthaworn, Thitima; Jutamanee, Kanapol; Luengviriya, Chaiya

    2017-09-01

    We present a portable device for long-time recording of the temperature at multiple measuring points. Thermocouple wires are utilized as the sensors attached to the objects. To minimize the production cost, the measured voltage signals are relayed via a multiplexer to a set of amplifiers and finally to a single microcontroller. The observed temperature and the corresponding date and time, obtained from a real-time clock circuit, are recorded in a memory card for further analysis. The device is powered by a rechargeable battery and placed in a rainproof container, thus it can operate under outdoor conditions. A demonstration of the device usage in a mandarin orange cultivation field of the Royal project, located in the northern Thailand, is illustrated.

  16. Antibiotic adjuvants - A strategy to unlock bacterial resistance to antibiotics.

    PubMed

    González-Bello, Concepción

    2017-09-15

    Resistance to available antibiotics in pathogenic bacteria is currently a global challenge since the number of strains that are resistant to multiple types of antibiotics has increased dramatically each year and has spread worldwide. To unlock this problem, the use of an 'antibiotic adjuvant' in combination with an antibiotic is now being exploited. This approach enables us to prolong the lifespan of these life-saving drugs. This digests review provides an overview of the main types of antibiotic adjuvants, the basis of their operation and the remaining issues to be tackled in this field. Particular emphasis is placed on those compounds that are already in clinical development, namely β-lactamase inhibitors. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  17. Drone based measurement system for radiofrequency exposure assessment.

    PubMed

    Joseph, Wout; Aerts, Sam; Vandenbossche, Matthias; Thielens, Arno; Martens, Luc

    2016-03-10

    For the first time, a method to assess radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure of the general public in real environments with a true free-space antenna system is presented. Using lightweight electronics and multiple antennas placed on a drone, it is possible to perform exposure measurements. This technique will enable researchers to measure three-dimensional RF-EMF exposure patterns accurately in the future and at locations currently difficult to access. A measurement procedure and appropriate measurement settings have been developed. As an application, outdoor measurements are performed as a function of height up to 60 m for Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) 900 MHz base station exposure. Bioelectromagnetics. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. The flow across a street canyon of variable width—Part 2:. Scalar dispersion from a street level line source

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Simoëns, Serge; Wallace, James M.

    As described in Part 1 [Simoëns et al., 2007. The flow across a street canyon of variable width—Part 1: kinematic description. Atmospheric Environment 41, 9002-9017] measurements have been made of the velocity field around and within the canyon formed by two obstacles placed on the wall of a turbulent boundary layer. Here in Part 2 measurements of the scalar dispersion of smoke released from a two-dimensional slot in the wall perpendicular to the mean flow and located parallel to and midway between these two square obstacles are presented. The Reynolds number of the boundary layer at the slot location without the obstacles in place was Rθ≈980. Statistical properties of the concentration field and the scalar fluxes in the streamwise plane are reported here for canyon openings that have been chosen based on characteristics of the kinematic description. These opening widths, expressed as multiples of the obstacle height, are 1 h, 4 h and 8 h. The mean concentration field revealed that the much of the scalar is trapped on the leeward side of the upstream obstacle before some of it escapes the canyon and is entrained on the roof of the upstream obstacle. It then is spread downstream by the turbulence in the wake of this obstacle. Surprisingly, the root mean square (rms) concentration field reveals that high concentration fluctuations exist in a zone where velocity field turbulence is very low. Measured streamwise scalar fluxes were found to be negative above the obstacles, whereas they are mainly positive between the obstacles. The measured wall normal scalar fluxes have an inverse behavior. Within the canyon, the scalar fluxes are greatest in the region between the large primary vortex, evident in the kinematic field, and the secondary vortex located in the corner of the leeward side of the upstream obstacle. In the flow above the obstacle roofs the wake of the upstream obstacle seems to dominate the scalar transport. Between the obstacles in and above the canyon, the existence of intermittent and intense events appear to prevent the modelling of these fluxes with a simple mean concentration gradient model.

  19. Monitor design with multiple self-loops for maximally permissive supervisors.

    PubMed

    Chen, YuFeng; Li, ZhiWu; Barkaoui, Kamel; Uzam, Murat

    2016-03-01

    In this paper, we improve the previous work by considering that a control place can have multiple self-loops. Then, two integer linear programming problems (ILPPs) are formulated. Based on the first ILPP, an iterative deadlock control policy is developed, where a control place is computed at each iteration to implement as many marking/transition separation instances (MTSIs) as possible. The second ILPP can find a set of control places to implement all MTSIs and the objective function is used to minimize the number of control places. It is a non-iterative deadlock control strategy since we need to solve the ILPP only once. Both ILPPs can make all legal markings reachable in the controlled system, i.e., the obtained supervisor is behaviorally optimal. Finally, we provide examples to illustrate the proposed approaches. Copyright © 2016 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. An Educational Rationale for Deaf Students with Multiple Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ewing, Karen M.; Jones, Thomas W.

    2003-01-01

    Deaf students with multiple disabilities have a long history of limited opportunity, including limited access to educational opportunities available to their deaf peers. This article places the individual needs of deaf students with multiple disabilities in the context that guides much of deaf education--the importance of language acquisition.…

  1. Simultaneous cellular-resolution optical perturbation and imaging of place cell firing fields

    PubMed Central

    Rickgauer, John Peter; Deisseroth, Karl; Tank, David W.

    2015-01-01

    Linking neural microcircuit function to emergent properties of the mammalian brain requires fine-scale manipulation and measurement of neural activity during behavior, where each neuron’s coding and dynamics can be characterized. We developed an optical method for simultaneous cellular-resolution stimulation and large-scale recording of neuronal activity in behaving mice. Dual-wavelength two-photon excitation allowed largely independent functional imaging with a green fluorescent calcium sensor (GCaMP3, λ = 920 ± 6 nm) and single-neuron photostimulation with a red-shifted optogenetic probe (C1V1, λ = 1,064 ± 6 nm) in neurons coexpressing the two proteins. We manipulated task-modulated activity in individual hippocampal CA1 place cells during spatial navigation in a virtual reality environment, mimicking natural place-field activity, or ‘biasing’, to reveal subthreshold dynamics. Notably, manipulating single place-cell activity also affected activity in small groups of other place cells that were active around the same time in the task, suggesting a functional role for local place cell interactions in shaping firing fields. PMID:25402854

  2. Maladjustment of programmable ventricular shunt valves by inadvertent exposure to a common hospital device.

    PubMed

    Fujimura, R; Lober, R; Kamian, K; Kleiner, L

    2018-01-01

    Programmable ventricular shunt valves are commonly used to treat hydrocephalus. They can be adjusted to allow for varying amounts of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow using an external magnetic programming device, and are susceptible to maladjustment from inadvertent exposure to magnetic fields. We describe the case of a 3-month-old girl treated for hydrocephalus with a programmable Strata TM II valve found at the incorrect setting on multiple occasions during her hospitalization despite frequent reprogramming and surveillance. We found that the Vocera badge, a common hands-free wireless communication system worn by our nursing staff, had a strong enough magnetic field to unintentionally change the shunt setting. The device is worn on the chest bringing it into close proximity to the shunt valve when care providers hold the baby, resulting in the maladjustment. Some commonly used medical devices have a magnetic field strong enough to alter programmable shunt valve settings. Here, we report that the magnetic field from the Vocera hands-free wireless communication system, combined with the worn position, results in shunt maladjustment for the Strata TM II valve. Healthcare facilities using the Vocera badges need to put protocols in place and properly educate staff members to ensure the safety of patients with Strata TM II valves.

  3. Observation of force-detected nuclear magnetic resonance in a homogeneous field

    PubMed Central

    Madsen, L. A.; Leskowitz, G. M.; Weitekamp, D. P.

    2004-01-01

    We report the experimental realization of BOOMERANG (better observation of magnetization, enhanced resolution, and no gradient), a sensitive and general method of magnetic resonance. The prototype millimeter-scale NMR spectrometer shows signal and noise levels in agreement with the design principles. We present 1H and 19F NMR in both solid and liquid samples, including time-domain Fourier transform NMR spectroscopy, multiple-pulse echoes, and heteronuclear J spectroscopy. By measuring a 1H-19F J coupling, this last experiment accomplishes chemically specific spectroscopy with force-detected NMR. In BOOMERANG, an assembly of permanent magnets provides a homogeneous field throughout the sample, while a harmonically suspended part of the assembly, a detector, is mechanically driven by spin-dependent forces. By placing the sample in a homogeneous field, signal dephasing by diffusion in a field gradient is made negligible, enabling application to liquids, in contrast to other force-detection methods. The design appears readily scalable to μm-scale samples where it should have sensitivity advantages over inductive detection with microcoils and where it holds great promise for application of magnetic resonance in biology, chemistry, physics, and surface science. We briefly discuss extensions of the BOOMERANG method to the μm and nm scales. PMID:15326302

  4. Study of RF breakdown and multipacting in accelerator components

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

    Pande, Manjiri; Singh, P., E-mail: manjiri@barc.gov.in, E-mail: psingh@barc.gov.in

    2014-07-01

    Radio frequency (RF) structures that are part of accelerators and energy sources, operate with sinusoidally varying electromagnetic fields under high RF energy. Here, RF breakdown and multipacting take place in RF structures and limit their performance. Electron field emission processes in a RF structure are precursors for breakdown processes. RF breakdown is a major phenomena affecting and causing the irreversible damage to RF structures. Breakdown rate and the damage induced by the breakdowns are its important properties. The damage is related to power absorbed during breakdown, while the breakdown rate is determined by the amplitudes of surface electric and magneticmore » fields, geometry, metal surface preparation and conditioning history. It limits working power and produces irreversible surface damage. The breakdown limit depends on the RF circuit, structure geometry, RF frequency, input RF power, pulse width, materials used, surface processing technique and surface electric and magnetic fields. Multipactor (MP) is a low power, electron multiplication based resonance breakdown phenomenon in vacuum and is often observed in RF structures. A multipactor discharge is undesirable, as it can create a reactive component that detunes the resonant cavities and components, generates noise in communication system and induces gas desorption from the conductor surfaces. In RF structures, certain conditions are required to generate multipacting. (author)« less

  5. A boundary-Fitted Coordinate Code for General Two-Dimensional Regions with Obstacles and Boundary Intrusions.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1983-03-01

    values of these functions on the two sides of the slits. The acceleration parameters for the iteration at each point are in the field array WACC (I,J...code will calculate a locally optimum value at each point in the field, these values being placed in the field array WACC . This calculation is...changes in x and y, are calculated by calling subroutine ERROR.) The acceleration parameter is placed in the field 65 array WACC . The addition to the

  6. Hippocampal place-cell firing during movement in three-dimensional space

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Knierim, J. J.; McNaughton, B. L.

    2001-01-01

    "Place" cells of the rat hippocampus are coupled to "head direction" cells of the thalamus and limbic cortex. Head direction cells are sensitive to head direction in the horizontal plane only, which leads to the question of whether place cells similarly encode locations in the horizontal plane only, ignoring the z axis, or whether they encode locations in three dimensions. This question was addressed by recording from ensembles of CA1 pyramidal cells while rats traversed a rectangular track that could be tilted and rotated to different three-dimensional orientations. Cells were analyzed to determine whether their firing was bound to the external, three-dimensional cues of the environment, to the two-dimensional rectangular surface, or to some combination of these cues. Tilting the track 45 degrees generally provoked a partial remapping of the rectangular surface in that some cells maintained their place fields, whereas other cells either gained new place fields, lost existing fields, or changed their firing locations arbitrarily. When the tilted track was rotated relative to the distal landmarks, most place fields remapped, but a number of cells maintained the same place field relative to the x-y coordinate frame of the laboratory, ignoring the z axis. No more cells were bound to the local reference frame of the recording apparatus than would be predicted by chance. The partial remapping demonstrated that the place cell system was sensitive to the three-dimensional manipulations of the recording apparatus. Nonetheless the results were not consistent with an explicit three-dimensional tuning of individual hippocampal neurons nor were they consistent with a model in which different sets of cells are tightly coupled to different sets of environmental cues. The results are most consistent with the statement that hippocampal neurons can change their "tuning functions" in arbitrary ways when features of the sensory input or behavioral context are altered. Understanding the rules that govern the remapping phenomenon holds promise for deciphering the neural circuitry underlying hippocampal function.

  7. A THREE-DIMENSIONAL BABCOCK-LEIGHTON SOLAR DYNAMO MODEL

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

    Miesch, Mark S.; Dikpati, Mausumi, E-mail: miesch@ucar.edu

    We present a three-dimensional (3D) kinematic solar dynamo model in which poloidal field is generated by the emergence and dispersal of tilted sunspot pairs (more generally bipolar magnetic regions, or BMRs). The axisymmetric component of this model functions similarly to previous 2.5 dimensional (2.5D, axisymmetric) Babcock-Leighton (BL) dynamo models that employ a double-ring prescription for poloidal field generation but we generalize this prescription into a 3D flux emergence algorithm that places BMRs on the surface in response to the dynamo-generated toroidal field. In this way, the model can be regarded as a unification of BL dynamo models (2.5D in radius/latitude)more » and surface flux transport models (2.5D in latitude/longitude) into a more self-consistent framework that builds on the successes of each while capturing the full 3D structure of the evolving magnetic field. The model reproduces some basic features of the solar cycle including an 11 yr periodicity, equatorward migration of toroidal flux in the deep convection zone, and poleward propagation of poloidal flux at the surface. The poleward-propagating surface flux originates as trailing flux in BMRs, migrates poleward in multiple non-axisymmetric streams (made axisymmetric by differential rotation and turbulent diffusion), and eventually reverses the polar field, thus sustaining the dynamo. In this Letter we briefly describe the model, initial results, and future plans.« less

  8. Optimizing hydraulic fracture design in the diatomite formation, Lost Hills Field

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

    Nelson, D.G.; Klins, M.A.; Manrique, J.F.

    1996-12-31

    Since 1988, over 1.3 billion pounds of proppant have been placed in the Lost Hills Field of Kern County. California in over 2700 hydraulic fracture treatments involving investments of about $150 million. In 1995, systematic reevaluation of the standard, field trial-based fracture design began. Reservoir, geomechanical, and hydraulic fracture characterization; production and fracture modeling; sensitivity analysis; and field test results were integrated to optimize designs with regard to proppant volume, proppant ramps, and perforating strategy. The results support a reduction in proppant volume from 2500 to 1700 lb/ft which will save about $50,000 per well, totalling over $3 million permore » year. Vertical coverage was found to be a key component of fracture quality which could be optimized by eliminating perforations from lower stress intervals, reducing the total number of perforations, and reducing peak slurry loading from 16 to 12 ppa. A relationship between variations in lithology, pore pressure, and stress was observed. Point-source, perforating strategies were investigated and variable multiple fracture behavior was observed. The discussed approach has application in areas where stresses are variable; pay zones are thick; hydraulic fracture design is based primarily on empirical, trial-and-error field test results; and effective, robust predictive models involving real-data feedback have not been incorporated into the design improvement process.« less

  9. Dynamic NMDAR-mediated properties of place cells during the object place memory task.

    PubMed

    Faust, Thomas W; Robbiati, Sergio; Huerta, Tomás S; Huerta, Patricio T

    2013-01-01

    N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) in the hippocampus participate in encoding and recalling the location of objects in the environment, but the ensemble mechanisms by which NMDARs mediate these processes have not been completely elucidated. To address this issue, we examined the firing patterns of place cells in the dorsal CA1 area of the hippocampus of mice (n = 7) that performed an object place memory (OPM) task, consisting of familiarization (T1), sample (T2), and choice (T3) trials, after systemic injection of 3-[(±)2-carboxypiperazin-4yl]propyl-1-phosphate (CPP), a specific NMDAR antagonist. Place cell properties under CPP (CPP-PCs) were compared to those after control saline injection (SAL-PCs) in the same mice. We analyzed place cells across the OPM task to determine whether they signaled the introduction or movement of objects by NMDAR-mediated changes of their spatial coding. On T2, when two objects were first introduced to a familiar chamber, CPP-PCs and SAL-PCs showed stable, vanishing or moving place fields in addition to changes in spatial information (SI). These metrics were comparable between groups. Remarkably, previously inactive CPP-PCs (with place fields emerging de novo on T2) had significantly weaker SI increases than SAL-PCs. On T3, when one object was moved, CPP-PCs showed reduced center-of-mass (COM) shift of their place fields. Indeed, a subset of SAL-PCs with large COM shifts (>7 cm) was largely absent in the CPP condition. Notably, for SAL-PCs that exhibited COM shifts, those initially close to the moving object followed the trajectory of the object, whereas those far from the object did the opposite. Our results strongly suggest that the SI changes and COM shifts of place fields that occur during the OPM task reflect key dynamic properties that are mediated by NMDARs and might be responsible for binding object identity with location.

  10. Dynamic NMDAR-mediated properties of place cells during the object place memory task

    PubMed Central

    Faust, Thomas W.; Robbiati, Sergio; Huerta, Tomás S.; Huerta, Patricio T.

    2013-01-01

    N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) in the hippocampus participate in encoding and recalling the location of objects in the environment, but the ensemble mechanisms by which NMDARs mediate these processes have not been completely elucidated. To address this issue, we examined the firing patterns of place cells in the dorsal CA1 area of the hippocampus of mice (n = 7) that performed an object place memory (OPM) task, consisting of familiarization (T1), sample (T2), and choice (T3) trials, after systemic injection of 3-[(±)2-carboxypiperazin-4yl]propyl-1-phosphate (CPP), a specific NMDAR antagonist. Place cell properties under CPP (CPP–PCs) were compared to those after control saline injection (SAL–PCs) in the same mice. We analyzed place cells across the OPM task to determine whether they signaled the introduction or movement of objects by NMDAR-mediated changes of their spatial coding. On T2, when two objects were first introduced to a familiar chamber, CPP–PCs and SAL–PCs showed stable, vanishing or moving place fields in addition to changes in spatial information (SI). These metrics were comparable between groups. Remarkably, previously inactive CPP–PCs (with place fields emerging de novo on T2) had significantly weaker SI increases than SAL–PCs. On T3, when one object was moved, CPP–PCs showed reduced center-of-mass (COM) shift of their place fields. Indeed, a subset of SAL–PCs with large COM shifts (>7 cm) was largely absent in the CPP condition. Notably, for SAL–PCs that exhibited COM shifts, those initially close to the moving object followed the trajectory of the object, whereas those far from the object did the opposite. Our results strongly suggest that the SI changes and COM shifts of place fields that occur during the OPM task reflect key dynamic properties that are mediated by NMDARs and might be responsible for binding object identity with location. PMID:24381547

  11. Simple model for multiple-choice collective decision making

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lee, Ching Hua; Lucas, Andrew

    2014-11-01

    We describe a simple model of heterogeneous, interacting agents making decisions between n ≥2 discrete choices. For a special class of interactions, our model is the mean field description of random field Potts-like models and is effectively solved by finding the extrema of the average energy E per agent. In these cases, by studying the propagation of decision changes via avalanches, we argue that macroscopic dynamics is well captured by a gradient flow along E . We focus on the permutation symmetric case, where all n choices are (on average) the same, and spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) arises purely from cooperative social interactions. As examples, we show that bimodal heterogeneity naturally provides a mechanism for the spontaneous formation of hierarchies between decisions and that SSB is a preferred instability to discontinuous phase transitions between two symmetric points. Beyond the mean field limit, exponentially many stable equilibria emerge when we place this model on a graph of finite mean degree. We conclude with speculation on decision making with persistent collective oscillations. Throughout the paper, we emphasize analogies between methods of solution to our model and common intuition from diverse areas of physics, including statistical physics and electromagnetism.

  12. SU-E-J-70: Evaluation of Multiple Isocentric Intensity Modulated and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy Techniques Using Portal Dosimetry

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

    Muralidhar, K Raja; Pangam, S; Kolla, J

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: To develop a method for verification of dose distribution in a patient during treatment using multiple isocentric Intensity modulated and volumetric modulated arc therapy techniques with portal dosimetry. Methods: Varian True Beam accelerator, equipped with an aS1000 megavoltage electronic portal imaging device (EPID) has an integrated image mode for portal dosimetry (PD). The source-to-imager distance was taken at 150 cm to avoid collision to the table. Fourteen fractions were analyzed for this study. During shift in a single plan from one isocenter to another isocenter, EPID also shifted longitudinally for each field by taking the extent of divergence ofmore » beam into the consideration for EPID distance of 150cm. Patients were given treatment everyday with EPID placed in proper position for each field. Several parameters were obtained by comparing the dose distribution between fractions to fraction. The impact of the intra-fraction and inter-fraction of the patient in combination with isocenter shift of the beams were observed. Results: During treatment, measurements were performed by EPID and were evaluated by the gamma method. Analysis was done between fractions for multiple isocenter treatments. The pass rates of the gamma analysis with a criterion of 3% and 3 mm for the 14 fractions were over 97.8% with good consistency. Whereas maximum gamma exceeded the criteria in few fractions (in<1 cc vol). Average gamma was observed in the criteria of 0.5%. Maximum dose difference and average dose differences were less than 0.22 CU and 0.01 CU for maximum tolerance of 1.0 CU and 0.2 CU respectively. Conclusion: EPID with extended distance is ideal method to verify the multiple isocentric dose distribution in patient during treatment, especially cold and hot spots in junction dose. Verification of shifts as well as the dose differences between each fraction due to inter-fraction and intra-fraction of the patient can be derived.« less

  13. 27 CFR 46.243 - Articles at multiple locations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Articles at multiple... Cigarette Tubes Held for Sale on April 1, 2009 Records § 46.243 Articles at multiple locations. The dealer must maintain a list of all places where the dealer holds articles subject to the floor stocks tax...

  14. 27 CFR 46.243 - Articles at multiple locations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Articles at multiple... Cigarette Tubes Held for Sale on April 1, 2009 Records § 46.243 Articles at multiple locations. The dealer must maintain a list of all places where the dealer holds articles subject to the floor stocks tax...

  15. 27 CFR 46.243 - Articles at multiple locations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Articles at multiple... Cigarette Tubes Held for Sale on April 1, 2009 Records § 46.243 Articles at multiple locations. The dealer must maintain a list of all places where the dealer holds articles subject to the floor stocks tax...

  16. 27 CFR 46.243 - Articles at multiple locations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2012-04-01 2011-04-01 true Articles at multiple... Cigarette Tubes Held for Sale on April 1, 2009 Records § 46.243 Articles at multiple locations. The dealer must maintain a list of all places where the dealer holds articles subject to the floor stocks tax...

  17. 27 CFR 46.243 - Articles at multiple locations.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Articles at multiple... Cigarette Tubes Held for Sale on April 1, 2009 Records § 46.243 Articles at multiple locations. The dealer must maintain a list of all places where the dealer holds articles subject to the floor stocks tax...

  18. Transposition of foliations and superposition of lineations during polyphase deformation in the Nevado-Filabride complex: tectonic implications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ruiz-Fuentes, Alejandro; Aerden, Domingo G. A. M.

    2018-01-01

    Detailed structural analysis in a ca. 80 km2 area of the western Nevado-Filabride complex (Betic Cordillera) reveals a heterogeneous internal structure characterized by multiple cross-cutting foliations and lineations that locally transpose earlier ones. The large-scale geometry of these fabrics conflicts with continuous westward to south-westward tectonic transport related to thrusting or crustal extension, and mismatches a previously inferred extensional detachment in the area. Multiple crenulation lineations can be distinguished in the field and correlated with five foliation intersection axes (FIA1-5) preserved in garnet and plagioclase porphyroblasts of the western Sierra Nevada. These indicate crustal shortening in different directions associated with vertical foliation development and intermitted stages of gravitational collapse producing horizontal foliations. The large spread of lineation- and fold-axes trends in the Nevado-Filabride complex results from the mixed presence of multiple generations of these structures whose distinction is critical for tectonic models. The five principal FIA trends remarkably match successive vectors of relative Africa-Iberia plate motion since the Eocene, suggesting that deformation of the Nevado-Filabride took place during this period, although peak metamorphism in at least some of its parts was reached as late as the Middle Miocene.

  19. Winding for linear pump

    DOEpatents

    Kliman, G.B.; Brynsvold, G.V.; Jahns, T.M.

    1989-08-22

    A winding and method of winding for a submersible linear pump for pumping liquid sodium are disclosed. The pump includes a stator having a central cylindrical duct preferably vertically aligned. The central vertical duct is surrounded by a system of coils in slots. These slots are interleaved with magnetic flux conducting elements, these magnetic flux conducting elements forming a continuous magnetic field conduction path along the stator. The central duct has placed therein a cylindrical magnetic conducting core, this core having a cylindrical diameter less than the diameter of the cylindrical duct. The core once placed to the duct defines a cylindrical interstitial pumping volume of the pump. This cylindrical interstitial pumping volume preferably defines an inlet at the bottom of the pump, and an outlet at the top of the pump. Pump operation occurs by static windings in the outer stator sequentially conveying toroidal fields from the pump inlet at the bottom of the pump to the pump outlet at the top of the pump. The winding apparatus and method of winding disclosed uses multiple slots per pole per phase with parallel winding legs on each phase equal to or less than the number of slots per pole per phase. The slot sequence per pole per phase is chosen to equalize the variations in flux density of the pump sodium as it passes into the pump at the pump inlet with little or no flux and acquires magnetic flux in passage through the pump to the pump outlet. 4 figs.

  20. Winding for linear pump

    DOEpatents

    Kliman, Gerald B.; Brynsvold, Glen V.; Jahns, Thomas M.

    1989-01-01

    A winding and method of winding for a submersible linear pump for pumping liquid sodium is disclosed. The pump includes a stator having a central cylindrical duct preferably vertically aligned. The central vertical duct is surrounded by a system of coils in slots. These slots are interleaved with magnetic flux conducting elements, these magnetic flux conducting elements forming a continuous magnetic field conduction path along the stator. The central duct has placed therein a cylindrical magnetic conducting core, this core having a cylindrical diameter less than the diameter of the cylindrical duct. The core once placed to the duct defines a cylindrical interstitial pumping volume of the pump. This cylindrical interstitial pumping volume preferably defines an inlet at the bottom of the pump, and an outlet at the top of the pump. Pump operation occurs by static windings in the outer stator sequentially conveying toroidal fields from the pump inlet at the bottom of the pump to the pump outlet at the top of the pump. The winding apparatus and method of winding disclosed uses multiple slots per pole per phase with parallel winding legs on each phase equal to or less than the number of slots per pole per phase. The slot sequence per pole per phase is chosen to equalize the variations in flux density of the pump sodium as it passes into the pump at the pump inlet with little or no flux and acquires magnetic flux in passage through the pump to the pump outlet.

  1. Polyelectrolyte gels as bending actuators: modeling and numerical simulation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wallmersperger, Thomas; Keller, Karsten; Attaran, Abdolhamid

    2013-04-01

    Polyelectrolyte gels are ionic electroactivematerials. They have the ability to react as both, sensors and actuators. As actuators they can be used e.g. as artificial muscles or drug delivery control; as sensors they may be used for measuring e.g. pressure, pH or other ion concentrations in the solution. In this research both, anionic and cationic polyelectrolyte gels placed in aqueous solution with mobile anions and cations are investigated. Due to external stimuli the polyelectrolyte gels can swell or shrink enormously by the uptake or delivery of solvent. In the present research a coupled multi-field problem within a continuum mechanics framework is proposed. The modeling approach introduces a set of equations governing multiple fields of the problem, including the chemical field of the ionic species, the electrical field and the mechanical field. The numerical simulation is performed by using the Finite Element Method. Within the study some test cases will be carried out to validate our model. In the works by Gülch et al., the application of combined anionic-cationic gels as grippers was shown. In the present research for an applied electric field, the change of the concentrations and the electric potential in the complete polymer is simulated by the given formulation. These changes lead to variations in the osmotic pressure resulting in a bending of different polyelectrolyte gels. In the present research it is shown that our model is capable of describing the bending behavior of anionic or cationic gels towards the different electrodes (cathode or anode).

  2. Experience-Dependency of Reliance on Local Visual and Idiothetic Cues for Spatial Representations Created in the Absence of Distal Information.

    PubMed

    Draht, Fabian; Zhang, Sijie; Rayan, Abdelrahman; Schönfeld, Fabian; Wiskott, Laurenz; Manahan-Vaughan, Denise

    2017-01-01

    Spatial encoding in the hippocampus is based on a range of different input sources. To generate spatial representations, reliable sensory cues from the external environment are integrated with idiothetic cues, derived from self-movement, that enable path integration and directional perception. In this study, we examined to what extent idiothetic cues significantly contribute to spatial representations and navigation: we recorded place cells while rodents navigated towards two visually identical chambers in 180° orientation via two different paths in darkness and in the absence of reliable auditory or olfactory cues. Our goal was to generate a conflict between local visual and direction-specific information, and then to assess which strategy was prioritized in different learning phases. We observed that, in the absence of distal cues, place fields are initially controlled by local visual cues that override idiothetic cues, but that with multiple exposures to the paradigm, spaced at intervals of days, idiothetic cues become increasingly implemented in generating an accurate spatial representation. Taken together, these data support that, in the absence of distal cues, local visual cues are prioritized in the generation of context-specific spatial representations through place cells, whereby idiothetic cues are deemed unreliable. With cumulative exposures to the environments, the animal learns to attend to subtle idiothetic cues to resolve the conflict between visual and direction-specific information.

  3. Comparing Building and Neighborhood-Scale Variability of CO₂ and O₃ to Inform Deployment Considerations for Low-Cost Sensor System Use.

    PubMed

    Collier-Oxandale, Ashley; Coffey, Evan; Thorson, Jacob; Johnston, Jill; Hannigan, Michael

    2018-04-26

    The increased use of low-cost air quality sensor systems, particularly by communities, calls for the further development of best-practices to ensure these systems collect usable data. One area identified as requiring more attention is that of deployment logistics, that is, how to select deployment sites and how to strategically place sensors at these sites. Given that sensors are often placed at homes and businesses, ideal placement is not always possible. Considerations such as convenience, access, aesthetics, and safety are also important. To explore this issue, we placed multiple sensor systems at an existing field site allowing us to examine both neighborhood-level and building-level variability during a concurrent period for CO₂ (a primary pollutant) and O₃ (a secondary pollutant). In line with previous studies, we found that local and transported emissions as well as thermal differences in sensor systems drive variability, particularly for high-time resolution data. While this level of variability is unlikely to affect data on larger averaging scales, this variability could impact analysis if the user is interested in high-time resolution or examining local sources. However, with thoughtful placement and thorough documentation, high-time resolution data at the neighborhood level has the potential to provide us with entirely new information on local air quality trends and emissions.

  4. Experience-Dependency of Reliance on Local Visual and Idiothetic Cues for Spatial Representations Created in the Absence of Distal Information

    PubMed Central

    Draht, Fabian; Zhang, Sijie; Rayan, Abdelrahman; Schönfeld, Fabian; Wiskott, Laurenz; Manahan-Vaughan, Denise

    2017-01-01

    Spatial encoding in the hippocampus is based on a range of different input sources. To generate spatial representations, reliable sensory cues from the external environment are integrated with idiothetic cues, derived from self-movement, that enable path integration and directional perception. In this study, we examined to what extent idiothetic cues significantly contribute to spatial representations and navigation: we recorded place cells while rodents navigated towards two visually identical chambers in 180° orientation via two different paths in darkness and in the absence of reliable auditory or olfactory cues. Our goal was to generate a conflict between local visual and direction-specific information, and then to assess which strategy was prioritized in different learning phases. We observed that, in the absence of distal cues, place fields are initially controlled by local visual cues that override idiothetic cues, but that with multiple exposures to the paradigm, spaced at intervals of days, idiothetic cues become increasingly implemented in generating an accurate spatial representation. Taken together, these data support that, in the absence of distal cues, local visual cues are prioritized in the generation of context-specific spatial representations through place cells, whereby idiothetic cues are deemed unreliable. With cumulative exposures to the environments, the animal learns to attend to subtle idiothetic cues to resolve the conflict between visual and direction-specific information. PMID:28634444

  5. The role of advection for CO2 exchange flux over a moutainous grassland in the Alps

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Peng; Hammerle, Albin; Wohlfahrt, Georg

    2016-04-01

    The inclusion of the advection contribution can improve the quantification of net ecosystem exchange (NEE) budget. However, advection observation is challenging and the role of advection is thus often ignored in the literature. In this study, a field campaign was conducted on the basis of the advection completed mass balance (ACMB) concept. The observation took place in October 2015 at the FLUXNET site Monte Bondone, which was located on a permanent alpine meadow in a mountainous area in Northern Italy. A home-assembled solenoid valve system, together with multiple tubes and a gas analyser, was used to analyse CO2 concentration at multiple positions across the faces at three heights of the control volume. Horizontal advection of CO2 was thus calculated from the measurement of wind components and CO2 gradients, from which the storage term can be derived as well. Vertical flux of CO2 was measured by eddy-covariance technique. Three automatic chambers measured NEE as reference. Data post-processing is still in progress and preliminary results will come soon.

  6. Driving competences and neuropsychological factors associated to driving counseling in multiple sclerosis.

    PubMed

    Badenes, Dolors; Garolera, Maite; Casas, Laura; Cejudo-Bolivar, Juan Carlos; de Francisco, Jorge; Zaragoza, Silvia; Calzado, Noemi; Aguilar, Miquel

    2014-05-01

    Multiple Sclerosis (MS) significantly impacts daily living activities, including car driving. To investigate driving difficulties experienced with MS, we compared 50 MS patients with minor or moderate disability and 50 healthy controls (HC) using computerized driving tests (the ASDE driver test and the Useful Field of View (UFOV) test) and neuropsychological tests. Inclusion criteria included being active drivers. We evaluated whether cognitive deterioration in MS is associated with the results of driving tests by comparing MS patients without cognitive deterioration with HC. The results indicated that the MS patients performed worse than the HCs in attention, information processing, working memory and visuomotor coordination tasks. Furthermore, MS patients with cognitive impairments experienced more difficulties in the driving tests than did the non-impaired MS patients. Motor dysfunction associated with MS also played an important role in this activity. The results of this study suggest that MS should be assessed carefully and that special emphasis should be placed on visuomotor coordination and executive functions because patients with minor motor disability and subtle cognitive impairments can pass measures predictive of driving safety.

  7. Method and systems for collecting data from multiple fields of view

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schwemmer, Geary K. (Inventor)

    2002-01-01

    Systems and methods for processing light from multiple fields (48, 54, 55) of view without excessive machinery for scanning optical elements. In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, multiple holographic optical elements (41, 42, 43, 44, 45), integrated on a common film (4), diffract and project light from respective fields of view.

  8. Coherent Waves in Seismic Researches

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Emanov, A.; Seleznev, V. S.

    2013-05-01

    Development of digital processing algorithms of seismic wave fields for the purpose of useful event picking to study environment and other objects is the basis for the establishment of new seismic techniques. In the submitted paper a fundamental property of seismic wave field coherence is used. The authors extended conception of coherence types of observed wave fields and devised a technique of coherent component selection from observed wave field. Time coherence and space coherence are widely known. In this paper conception "parameter coherence" has been added. The parameter by which wave field is coherent can be the most manifold. The reason is that the wave field is a multivariate process described by a set of parameters. Coherence in the first place means independence of linear connection in wave field of parameter. In seismic wave fields, recorded in confined space, in building-blocks and stratified mediums time coherent standing waves are formed. In prospecting seismology at observation systems with multiple overlapping head waves are coherent by parallel correlation course or, in other words, by one measurement on generalized plane of observation system. For detail prospecting seismology at observation systems with multiple overlapping on basis of coherence property by one measurement of area algorithms have been developed, permitting seismic records to be converted to head wave time sections which have neither reflected nor other types of waves. Conversion in time section is executed on any specified observation base. Energy storage of head waves relative to noise on basis of multiplicity of observation system is realized within area of head wave recording. Conversion on base below the area of wave tracking is performed with lack of signal/noise ratio relative to maximum of this ratio, fit to observation system. Construction of head wave time section and dynamic plots a basis of automatic processing have been developed, similar to CDP procedure in method of reflected waves. With use of developed algorithms of head wave conversion in time sections a work of studying of refracting boundaries in Siberia have been executed. Except for the research by method of refracting waves, the conversion of head waves in time sections, applied to seismograms of reflected wave method, allows to obtain information about refracting horizons in upper part of section in addition to reflecting horizons data. Recovery method of wave field coherent components is the basis of the engineering seismology on the level of accuracy and detail. In seismic microzoning resonance frequency of the upper part of section are determined on the basis of this method. Maps of oscillation amplification and result accuracy are constructed for each of the frequencies. The same method makes it possible to study standing wave field in buildings and constructions with high accuracy and detail, realizing diagnostics of their physical state on set of natural frequencies and form of self-oscillations, examined with high detail. The method of standing waves permits to estimate a seismic stability of structure on new accuracy level.

  9. Ferromagnetic movements of middle ear implants and stapes prostheses in a 3-T magnetic resonance field.

    PubMed

    Fritsch, Michael H; Gutt, Jason J

    2005-03-01

    A 3-T magnetic resonance field may cause motion or displacement of middle ear implants not seen in studies with 1.5-T magnets. Previous publications have described the safety limitations of some otologic implants in 1.5-T magnetic resonance fields. Several company-wide recalls of implants were issued. No studies to date have been reported for otologic implants within a 3-T magnetic resonance field, nor have there been comparisons with a 1.5-T field strength. Eighteen commonly used middle ear implants and prostheses were selected. In Part 1, the prostheses were placed in Petri dishes and exposed to a 3-T magnetic resonance field. In Part 2, the particular prostheses that showed movement in Part 1 were placed into their intended use positions within temporal bone laboratory specimens and exposed to a 3-T field. Both parts were repeated in a 1.5-T field. In Part 1, three prostheses moved dramatically from their start positions when exposed to the 3-T magnetic resonance field. In Part 2, the three particular prostheses that showed movement in Part 1 showed no gross displacement or movement from their start positions within the temporal bone laboratory specimens. No implants moved in the 1.5-T field in either Part 1 or Part 2. Certain stapes prostheses move dramatically in Petri dishes in 3-T fields. When placed into temporal bone laboratory specimens, the same prostheses show no signs of movement from the surgical site in a 3-T field, and it appears that the surgical position holds the implants firmly in place. Results of published 1.5-T field studies should not be used directly for safety recommendations in a 3-T magnetic resonance. Heat, voltage induction, and vibration during exposure to the magnetic resonance fields should be considered as additional possible safety issues. Preference should be given to platinum and titanium implants in manufacturing processes and surgical selection.

  10. Literacy, Place and the Digital World

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Bill

    2012-01-01

    Observing that place may be understood in a range of sometimes conflicting ways, the paper picks up on recent work within literacy studies on notions of place-making and locational disadvantage to argue for increasingly sophisticated and reflexive uses of place in the field, as a counterpoint to both increasing educational standardisation and…

  11. Missing Data and Multiple Imputation in the Context of Multivariate Analysis of Variance

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Finch, W. Holmes

    2016-01-01

    Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) is widely used in educational research to compare means on multiple dependent variables across groups. Researchers faced with the problem of missing data often use multiple imputation of values in place of the missing observations. This study compares the performance of 2 methods for combining p values in…

  12. Comparison of Two Types of Double-J Ureteral Stents that Differ in Diameter and the Existence of Multiple Side Holes along the Straight Portion in Malignant Ureteral Strictures.

    PubMed

    Song, Myung Gyu; Seo, Tae-Seok; Lee, Chang Hee; Kim, Kyeong Ah; Kim, Jun Suk; Oh, Sang Cheul; Lee, Jae-Kwan

    2015-06-01

    This study was decided to evaluate the impact of diameter and the existences of multiple side holes along the straight portion of double-J ureteral stents (DJUS) on early dysfunction of stents placed for malignant ureteral strictures. Between April 2007 and December 2011, 141 DJUSs were placed via a percutaneous nephrostomy (PCN) tract in 110 consecutive patients with malignant ureteral strictures. 7F DJUSs with multiple side holes in the straight portion were placed in 58 ureters of 43 patients (Group 1). 8F DJUSs with three side holes in the proximal 2-cm of the straight portion were placed in 83 ureters of 67 patients (Group 2). The incidence of early DJUS dysfunction was compared between the two groups, and nephrostographic findings were evaluated in the cases of early dysfunction. Early dysfunction of the DJUS was noted in 14 of 58 patients (24.1 %) in Group 1, which was significantly higher (p = 0.001) than in Group 2 in which only 1 of 83 patients (1.2 %) had early dysfunction of the DJUS. Nephrostographic findings of early dysfunction included dilatation of the pelvicalyceal system, filling defects in the ureteral stent, and no passage of contrast media into the urinary bladder. In malignant ureteral strictures, multiple side holes in the straight portion of the 7-F DJUS seem to cause early dysfunction. The 8F DJUSs with three side holes in the proximal 2-cm of the straight portion may be superior at preventing early dysfunction.

  13. Chronic multisite brain recordings from a totally implantable bidirectional neural interface: experience in 5 patients with Parkinson's disease.

    PubMed

    Swann, Nicole C; de Hemptinne, Coralie; Miocinovic, Svjetlana; Qasim, Salman; Ostrem, Jill L; Galifianakis, Nicholas B; Luciano, Marta San; Wang, Sarah S; Ziman, Nathan; Taylor, Robin; Starr, Philip A

    2018-02-01

    OBJECTIVE Dysfunction of distributed neural networks underlies many brain disorders. The development of neuromodulation therapies depends on a better understanding of these networks. Invasive human brain recordings have a favorable temporal and spatial resolution for the analysis of network phenomena but have generally been limited to acute intraoperative recording or short-term recording through temporarily externalized leads. Here, the authors describe their initial experience with an investigational, first-generation, totally implantable, bidirectional neural interface that allows both continuous therapeutic stimulation and recording of field potentials at multiple sites in a neural network. METHODS Under a physician-sponsored US Food and Drug Administration investigational device exemption, 5 patients with Parkinson's disease were implanted with the Activa PC+S system (Medtronic Inc.). The device was attached to a quadripolar lead placed in the subdural space over motor cortex, for electrocorticography potential recordings, and to a quadripolar lead in the subthalamic nucleus (STN), for both therapeutic stimulation and recording of local field potentials. Recordings from the brain of each patient were performed at multiple time points over a 1-year period. RESULTS There were no serious surgical complications or interruptions in deep brain stimulation therapy. Signals in both the cortex and the STN were relatively stable over time, despite a gradual increase in electrode impedance. Canonical movement-related changes in specific frequency bands in the motor cortex were identified in most but not all recordings. CONCLUSIONS The acquisition of chronic multisite field potentials in humans is feasible. The device performance characteristics described here may inform the design of the next generation of totally implantable neural interfaces. This research tool provides a platform for translating discoveries in brain network dynamics to improved neurostimulation paradigms. Clinical trial registration no.: NCT01934296 (clinicaltrials.gov).

  14. Future observations of and missions to Mercury

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stern, Alan S.; Vilas, Faith

    1988-01-01

    Key scientific objectives of Mercury explorations are discussed, and the methods by which remote observations of Mercury can be carried out from earth and from space are examined. Attention is also given to the scientific rationale and technical concepts for missions to Mercury. It is pointed out that multiple Venus-Mercury encounter trajectories exist which, through successive gravity assists, reduce mission performance requirements to levels deliverable by available systems, such as Titan-Centaur, Atlas-Centaur, and Shuttle/TOS. It is shown that a single launch in July of 1994, using a Titan-Centaur combination, could place a 1477-kg payload into orbit around Meercury. The components of a Mercury-orbiter payload designed to study surface geology and geochemistry, atmospheric composition and structure, the local particle and fields environment, and solid-body rotation dynamics are listed.

  15. From fish to man: understanding endogenous remyelination in central nervous system demyelinating diseases.

    PubMed

    Dubois-Dalcq, Monique; Williams, Anna; Stadelmann, Christine; Stankoff, Bruno; Zalc, Bernard; Lubetzki, Catherine

    2008-07-01

    In the central nervous system (CNS) of man, evolutionary pressure has preserved some capability for remyelination while axonal regeneration is very limited. In contrast, two efficient programmes of regeneration exist in the adult fish CNS, neurite regrowth and remyelination. The rapidity of CNS remyelination is critical since it not only restores fast conduction of nerve impulses but also maintains axon integrity. If myelin repair fails, axons degenerate, leading to increased disability. In the human CNS demyelinating disease multiple sclerosis (MS), remyelination often takes place in the midst of inflammation. Here, we discuss recent studies that address the innate repair capabilities of the axon-glia unit from fish to man. We propose that expansion of this research field will help find ways to maintain or enhance spontaneous remyelination in man.

  16. Functional Cellular Mimics for the Spatiotemporal Control of Multiple Enzymatic Cascade Reactions.

    PubMed

    Liu, Xiaoling; Formanek, Petr; Voit, Brigitte; Appelhans, Dietmar

    2017-12-18

    Next-generation therapeutic approaches are expected to rely on the engineering of biomimetic cellular systems that can mimic specific cellular functions. Herein, we demonstrate a highly effective route for constructing structural and functional eukaryotic cell mimics by loading pH-sensitive polymersomes as membrane-associated and free-floating organelle mimics inside the multifunctional cell membrane. Metabolism mimicry has been validated by performing successive enzymatic cascade reactions spatially separated at specific sites of cell mimics in the presence and absence of extracellular organelle mimics. These enzymatic reactions take place in a highly controllable, reproducible, efficient, and successive manner. Our biomimetic approach to material design for establishing functional principles brings considerable enrichment to the fields of biomedicine, biocatalysis, biotechnology, and systems biology. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  17. Tabletop computed lighting for practical digital photography.

    PubMed

    Mohan, Ankit; Bailey, Reynold; Waite, Jonathan; Tumblin, Jack; Grimm, Cindy; Bodenheimer, Bobby

    2007-01-01

    We apply simplified image-based lighting methods to reduce the equipment, cost, time, and specialized skills required for high-quality photographic lighting of desktop-sized static objects such as museum artifacts. We place the object and a computer-steered moving-head spotlight inside a simple foam-core enclosure and use a camera to record photos as the light scans the box interior. Optimization, guided by interactive user sketching, selects a small set of these photos whose weighted sum best matches the user-defined target sketch. Unlike previous image-based relighting efforts, our method requires only a single area light source, yet it can achieve high-resolution light positioning to avoid multiple sharp shadows. A reduced version uses only a handheld light and may be suitable for battery-powered field photography equipment that fits into a backpack.

  18. Will dapivirine redeem the promises of anti-HIV microbicides? Overview of product design and clinical testing.

    PubMed

    das Neves, José; Martins, João Pedro; Sarmento, Bruno

    2016-08-01

    Microbicides are being developed in order to prevent sexual transmission of HIV. Dapivirine, a non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, is one of the leading drug candidates in the field, currently being tested in various dosage forms, namely vaginal rings, gels, and films. In particular, a ring allowing sustained drug release for 1month is in an advanced stage of clinical testing. Two parallel phase III clinical trials are underway in sub-Saharan Africa and results are expected to be released in early 2016. This article overviews the development of dapivirine and its multiple products as potential microbicides, with particular emphasis being placed on clinical evaluation. Also, critical aspects regarding regulatory approval, manufacturing, distribution, and access are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. The bright future of single-molecule fluorescence imaging

    PubMed Central

    Juette, Manuel F.; Terry, Daniel S.; Wasserman, Michael R.; Zhou, Zhou; Altman, Roger B.; Zheng, Qinsi; Blanchard, Scott C.

    2014-01-01

    Single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) is an essential and maturing tool to probe biomolecular interactions and conformational dynamics in vitro and, increasingly, in living cells. Multi-color smFRET enables the correlation of multiple such events and the precise dissection of their order and timing. However, the requirements for good spectral separation, high time resolution, and extended observation times place extraordinary demands on the fluorescent labels used in such experiments. Together with advanced experimental designs and data analysis, the development of long-lasting, non-fluctuating fluorophores is therefore proving key to progress in the field. Recently developed strategies for obtaining ultra-stable organic fluorophores spanning the visible spectrum are underway that will enable multi-color smFRET studies to deliver on their promise of previously unachievable biological insights. PMID:24956235

  20. Multiscale Currents Observed by MMS in the Flow Braking Region

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nakamura, Rumi; Varsani, Ali; Genestreti, Kevin J.; Le Contel, Olivier; Nakamura, Takuma; Baumjohann, Wolfgang; Nagai, Tsugunobu; Artemyev, Anton; Birn, Joachim; Sergeev, Victor A.; Apatenkov, Sergey; Ergun, Robert E.; Fuselier, Stephen A.; Gershman, Daniel J.; Giles, Barbara J.; Khotyaintsev, Yuri V.; Lindqvist, Per-Arne; Magnes, Werner; Mauk, Barry; Petrukovich, Anatoli; Russell, Christopher T.; Stawarz, Julia; Strangeway, Robert J.; Anderson, Brian; Burch, James L.; Bromund, Ken R.; Cohen, Ian; Fischer, David; Jaynes, Allison; Kepko, Laurence; Le, Guan; Plaschke, Ferdinand; Reeves, Geoff; Singer, Howard J.; Slavin, James A.; Torbert, Roy B.; Turner, Drew L.

    2018-02-01

    We present characteristics of current layers in the off-equatorial near-Earth plasma sheet boundary observed with high time-resolution measurements from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission during an intense substorm associated with multiple dipolarizations. The four Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft, separated by distances of about 50 km, were located in the southern hemisphere in the dusk portion of a substorm current wedge. They observed fast flow disturbances (up to about 500 km/s), most intense in the dawn-dusk direction. Field-aligned currents were observed initially within the expanding plasma sheet, where the flow and field disturbances showed the distinct pattern expected in the braking region of localized flows. Subsequently, intense thin field-aligned current layers were detected at the inner boundary of equatorward moving flux tubes together with Earthward streaming hot ions. Intense Hall current layers were found adjacent to the field-aligned currents. In particular, we found a Hall current structure in the vicinity of the Earthward streaming ion jet that consisted of mixed ion components, that is, hot unmagnetized ions, cold E × B drifting ions, and magnetized electrons. Our observations show that both the near-Earth plasma jet diversion and the thin Hall current layers formed around the reconnection jet boundary are the sites where diversion of the perpendicular currents take place that contribute to the observed field-aligned current pattern as predicted by simulations of reconnection jets. Hence, multiscale structure of flow braking is preserved in the field-aligned currents in the off-equatorial plasma sheet and is also translated to ionosphere to become a part of the substorm field-aligned current system.

  1. Dynamics of photogenerated carriers near magnetic field driven quantum phase transition in aperiodic multiple quantum wells

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tito, M. A.; Pusep, Yu A.

    2018-01-01

    Time-resolved magneto-photoluminescence was employed to study the magnetic field induced quantum phase transition separating two phases with different distributions of electrons over quantum wells in an aperiodic multiple quantum well, embedded in a wide AlGaAs parabolic quantum well. Intensities, broadenings and recombination times attributed to the photoluminescence lines emitted from individual quantum wells of the multiple quantum well structure were measured as a function of the magnetic field near the transition. The presented data manifest themselves to the magnetic field driven migration of the free electrons between the quantum wells of the studied multiple quantum well structure. The observed charge transfer was found to influence the screening of the multiple quantum well and disorder potentials. Evidence of the localization of the electrons in the peripheral quantum wells in strong magnetic field is presented.

  2. Maintaining a Cognitive Map in Darkness: The Need to Fuse Boundary Knowledge with Path Integration

    PubMed Central

    Cheung, Allen; Ball, David; Milford, Michael; Wyeth, Gordon; Wiles, Janet

    2012-01-01

    Spatial navigation requires the processing of complex, disparate and often ambiguous sensory data. The neurocomputations underpinning this vital ability remain poorly understood. Controversy remains as to whether multimodal sensory information must be combined into a unified representation, consistent with Tolman's “cognitive map”, or whether differential activation of independent navigation modules suffice to explain observed navigation behaviour. Here we demonstrate that key neural correlates of spatial navigation in darkness cannot be explained if the path integration system acted independently of boundary (landmark) information. In vivo recordings demonstrate that the rodent head direction (HD) system becomes unstable within three minutes without vision. In contrast, rodents maintain stable place fields and grid fields for over half an hour without vision. Using a simple HD error model, we show analytically that idiothetic path integration (iPI) alone cannot be used to maintain any stable place representation beyond two to three minutes. We then use a measure of place stability based on information theoretic principles to prove that featureless boundaries alone cannot be used to improve localization above chance level. Having shown that neither iPI nor boundaries alone are sufficient, we then address the question of whether their combination is sufficient and – we conjecture – necessary to maintain place stability for prolonged periods without vision. We addressed this question in simulations and robot experiments using a navigation model comprising of a particle filter and boundary map. The model replicates published experimental results on place field and grid field stability without vision, and makes testable predictions including place field splitting and grid field rescaling if the true arena geometry differs from the acquired boundary map. We discuss our findings in light of current theories of animal navigation and neuronal computation, and elaborate on their implications and significance for the design, analysis and interpretation of experiments. PMID:22916006

  3. Grid scale drives the scale and long-term stability of place maps

    PubMed Central

    Mallory, Caitlin S; Hardcastle, Kiah; Bant, Jason S; Giocomo, Lisa M

    2018-01-01

    Medial entorhinal cortex (MEC) grid cells fire at regular spatial intervals and project to the hippocampus, where place cells are active in spatially restricted locations. One feature of the grid population is the increase in grid spatial scale along the dorsal-ventral MEC axis. However, the difficulty in perturbing grid scale without impacting the properties of other functionally-defined MEC cell types has obscured how grid scale influences hippocampal coding and spatial memory. Here, we use a targeted viral approach to knock out HCN1 channels selectively in MEC, causing grid scale to expand while leaving other MEC spatial and velocity signals intact. Grid scale expansion resulted in place scale expansion in fields located far from environmental boundaries, reduced long-term place field stability and impaired spatial learning. These observations, combined with simulations of a grid-to-place cell model and position decoding of place cells, illuminate how grid scale impacts place coding and spatial memory. PMID:29335607

  4. Portable Intravenous Fluid Production Device For Ground Use Project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Oliva-Buisson, Yvette J.

    2014-01-01

    Several medical conditions require the administration of intravenous (IV) fluids,but limitations of mass, volume, shelf-life, transportation, and local resources can restrict the availability of these important fluids. Such limitations are expected in long-duration space exploration missions and in remote or austere places on Earth. This design uses regular drinking water that is pumped through two filters to produce, in minutes, sterile, ultrapure water that meets the stringent quality standards of the United States Pharmacopeia for Water for Injection (Total Bacteria, Conductivity, Endo - toxins, Total Organic Carbon). The device weighs 2.2 lb (1 kg) and is 10 in. long, 5 in. wide, and 3 in. high (˜25, 13, and 7.5 cm, respectively) in its storage configuration. This handheld device produces one liter of medical-grade water in 21 minutes. Total production capacity for this innovation is expected to be in the hundreds of liters. The device contains one battery powered electric mini-pump. Alternatively, a manually powered pump can be attached and used. Drinking water enters the device from a source water bag, flows through two filters, and final sterile production water exits into a sealed, medical-grade collection bag. The collection bag contains pre-placed crystalline salts to mix with product water to form isotonic intravenous medical solutions. Alternatively, a hypertonic salt solution can be injected into a filled bag. The filled collection bag is detached from the device and is ready for use or storage. This device currently contains one collection bag, but a manifold of several pre-attached bags or replacement of single collection bags under sterile needle technique is possible for the production of multiple liters. The entire system will be flushed, sealed, and radiation-sterilized. Operation of the device is easy and requires minimal training. Drinking water is placed into the collection bag. Inline stopcock flow valves at the source and collection bags are opened, and the mini-pump is turned on by a switch to begin fluid flow. When the collection bag is completely filled with the medical- grade water, the pump can be turned off. The pump is designed so it cannot pump air, and overfilling of the collection bag with fluid is avoided by placing an equal amount of water in the source bag. Backflow is avoided by inline check valves. The filled collection bag is disconnected from its tubing and is ready for use. The source bag can be refilled for production of multiple liters, or the source bag can be replaced with an input tube that can be placed in a larger potable water source if the device is attended. The device functions in all orientations independent of any gravity fields. In addition to creating IV fluids, the device produces medical-grade water, which can be used for mixing with medications for injection, reconstituting freeze-dried blood products for injection, or for wound hydration or irrigation. Potential worldwide use is expected with medical activities in environments that have limited resources, storage, or resupply such as in military field operations, humanitarian relief efforts, submarines, commercial cruise ships, etc.

  5. Effects of coil orientation and magnetic field shield on transcranial magnetic stimulation in cats.

    PubMed

    Nakatoh, S; Kitagawa, H; Kawaguchi, Y; Nakamura, H; Takano, H; Tsuji, H

    1998-09-01

    To obtain suitable stimulus conditions for transcranial magnetic stimulation, the evoked compound muscle action potential (ECMAP), evoked spinal cord potential (ESCP), and magnetic and electric fields were analyzed in cats with and without the use of a magnetic field shield. Cats were stimulated using a figure 8 magnetic coil placed on the cranium above the motor cortex. The maximum ECMAP amplitude was recorded when the electric current in the coil was in the mediolateral direction, regardless of whether a magnetic shield with a 5 x 5 cm window was used. ECMAP and ESCP thresholds were reduced when magnetic shielding was in place. Due to the edge effect, the strengths of the magnetic and electric fields were highest in the brainstem area, which is an inhomogeneous volume conductor of the cat's cranium. A large induced electric field directed caudally elicited ECMAP and ESCP responses effectively when a magnetic shield with a 5 x 5 cm window was in place.

  6. Bio-inspired UAV routing, source localization, and acoustic signature classification for persistent surveillance

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Burman, Jerry; Hespanha, Joao; Madhow, Upamanyu; Pham, Tien

    2011-06-01

    A team consisting of Teledyne Scientific Company, the University of California at Santa Barbara and the Army Research Laboratory* is developing technologies in support of automated data exfiltration from heterogeneous battlefield sensor networks to enhance situational awareness for dismounts and command echelons. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) provide an effective means to autonomously collect data from a sparse network of unattended ground sensors (UGSs) that cannot communicate with each other. UAVs are used to reduce the system reaction time by generating autonomous collection routes that are data-driven. Bio-inspired techniques for search provide a novel strategy to detect, capture and fuse data. A fast and accurate method has been developed to localize an event by fusing data from a sparse number of UGSs. This technique uses a bio-inspired algorithm based on chemotaxis or the motion of bacteria seeking nutrients in their environment. A unique acoustic event classification algorithm was also developed based on using swarm optimization. Additional studies addressed the problem of routing multiple UAVs, optimally placing sensors in the field and locating the source of gunfire at helicopters. A field test was conducted in November of 2009 at Camp Roberts, CA. The field test results showed that a system controlled by bio-inspired software algorithms can autonomously detect and locate the source of an acoustic event with very high accuracy and visually verify the event. In nine independent test runs of a UAV, the system autonomously located the position of an explosion nine times with an average accuracy of 3 meters. The time required to perform source localization using the UAV was on the order of a few minutes based on UAV flight times. In June 2011, additional field tests of the system will be performed and will include multiple acoustic events, optimal sensor placement based on acoustic phenomenology and the use of the International Technology Alliance (ITA) Sensor Network Fabric (IBM).

  7. Graduate and Undergraduate Students' Teaching Practices in a Place-Based Outreach Program

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nilsen, Katherine Joy

    2013-01-01

    This study explores how university students (i.e., undergraduate and graduate students) participating in a place-based outreach program practiced teaching strategies on four field trips. The outreach program, Learning in Place-Based Environments (LPBE), provided opportunities for the university students to teach fifth grade students about place,…

  8. Dovetail spoke internal permanent magnet machine

    DOEpatents

    Alexander, James Pellegrino [Ballston Lake, NY; EL-Refaie, Ayman Mohamed Fawzi [Niskayuna, NY; Lokhandwalla, Murtuza [Clifton Park, NY; Shah, Manoj Ramprasad [Latham, NY; VanDam, Jeremy Daniel [West Coxsackie, NY

    2011-08-23

    An internal permanent magnet (IPM) machine is provided. The IPM machine includes a stator assembly and a stator core. The stator core also includes multiple stator teeth. The stator assembly is further configured with stator windings to generate a stator magnetic field when excited with alternating currents and extends along a longitudinal axis with an inner surface defining a cavity. The IPM machine also includes a rotor assembly and a rotor core. The rotor core is disposed inside the cavity and configured to rotate about the longitudinal axis. The rotor assembly further includes a shaft. The shaft further includes multiple protrusions alternately arranged relative to multiple bottom structures provided on the shaft. The rotor assembly also includes multiple stacks of laminations disposed on the protrusions and dovetailed circumferentially around the shaft. The rotor assembly further includes multiple pair of permanent magnets for generating a magnetic field, which magnetic field interacts with the stator magnetic field to produce a torque. The multiple pair of permanent magnets are disposed between the stacks. The rotor assembly also includes multiple middle wedges mounted between each pair of the multiple permanent magnets.

  9. Experience-Related Changes in Place Cell Responses to New Sensory Configuration That Does Not Occur in the Natural Environment in the Rat Hippocampus

    PubMed Central

    Zou, Dan; Nishimaru, Hiroshi; Matsumoto, Jumpei; Takamura, Yusaku; Ono, Taketoshi; Nishijo, Hisao

    2017-01-01

    The hippocampal formation (HF) is implicated in a comparator that detects sensory conflict (mismatch) among convergent inputs. This suggests that new place cells encoding the new configuration with sensory mismatch develop after the HF learns to accept the new configuration as a match. To investigate this issue, HF CA1 place cell activity in rats was analyzed after the adaptation of the rats to the same sensory mismatch condition. The rats were placed on a treadmill on a stage that was translocated in a figure 8-shaped pathway. We recorded HF neuronal activities under three conditions; (1) an initial control session, in which both the stage and the treadmill moved forward, (2) a backward (mismatch) session, in which the stage was translocated backward while the rats locomoted forward on the treadmill, and (3) the second control session. Of the 161 HF neurons, 56 place-differential activities were recorded from the HF CA1 subfield. These place-differential activities were categorized into four types; forward-related, backward-related, both-translocation-related, and session-dependent. Forward-related activities showed predominant spatial firings in the forward sessions, while backward-related activities showed predominant spatial firings in the backward sessions. Both-translocation-related activities showed consistent spatial firings in both the forward and backward conditions. On the other hand, session-dependent activities showed different spatial firings across the sessions. Detailed analyses of the place fields indicated that mean place field sizes were larger in the forward-related, backward-related, and both-translocation-related activities than in the session-dependent activities. Furthermore, firing rate distributions in the place fields were negatively skewed and asymmetric, which is similar to place field changes that occur after repeated experience. These results demonstrate that the HF encodes a naturally impossible new configuration of sensory inputs after adaptation, suggesting that the HF is capable of updating its stored memory to accept a new configuration as a match by repeated experience. PMID:28878682

  10. 22 CFR 5.2 - Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 22 Foreign Relations 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Central and field organization, established places at which, the officers from whom, and the methods whereby the public may secure information, make... functions are channeled and determined. 5.2 Section 5.2 Foreign Relations DEPARTMENT OF STATE GENERAL...

  11. Research priorities in occupational health in Italy

    PubMed Central

    Iavicoli, S; Marinaccio, A; Vonesch, N; Ursini, C; Grandi, C; Palmi, S

    2001-01-01

    OBJECTIVE—To find a broad consensus on research priorities and strategies in the field of occupational health and safety in Italy.
METHODS—A two phase questionnaire survey was based on the Delphi technique previously described in other reports. 310 Occupational safety and health specialists (from universities and local health units) were given an open questionnaire (to identify three priority research areas). The data obtained from respondents (175, 56.4%) were then used to draw up a list of 27 priority topics grouped together into five macrosectors. Each of these was given a score ranging from 1 (of little importance) to 5 ( extremely important). With the mean scores obtained from a total of 203 respondents (65.4%), it was possible to place the 27 topics in rank order according to a scale of priorities.
RESULTS—Among the macrosectors, first place was given to the question of methodological approach to research in this field, and for individual topics, occupational carcinogenesis and quality in occupational medicine were ranked first and second, respectively. The question of exposure to low doses of environmental pollutants and multiple exposures ranked third among the priorities; the development of adequate and effective approaches and methods for worker education and participation in prevention was also perceived as being an important issue (fourth place).
CONCLUSIONS—This study (the first of its kind in Italy) enabled us to achieve an adequate degree of consensus on research priorities related to the protection of occupational health and safety. Disparities in the mean scores of some of the issues identified overall as being research priorities, seem to be linked both to geographical area and to whether respondents worked in local health units or universities. This finding requires debate and further analysis.


Keywords: research priorities; occupational health; strategies PMID:11303082

  12. InGaP Heterojunction Barrier Solar Cells

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Welser, Roger E.

    2010-01-01

    A new solar-cell structure utilizes a single, ultra-wide well of either gallium arsenide (GaAs) or indium-gallium-phosphide (InGaP) in the depletion region of a wide bandgap matrix, instead of the usual multiple quantum well layers. These InGaP barrier layers are effective at reducing diode dark current, and photogenerated carrier escape is maximized by the proper design of the electric field and barrier profile. With the new material, open-circuit voltage enhancements of 40 and 100 mV (versus PIN control systems) are possible without any degradation in short-circuit current. Basic tenets of quantum-well and quantum- dot solar cells are utilized, but instead of using multiple thin layers, a single wide well works better. InGaP is used as a barrier material, which increases open current, while simultaneously lowering dark current, reducing both hole diffusion from the base, and space charge recombination within the depletion region. Both the built-in field and the barrier profile are tailored to enhance thermionic emissions, which maximizes the photocurrent at forward bias, with a demonstrated voltage increase. An InGaP heterojunction barrier solar cell consists of a single, ultra-wide GaAs, aluminum-gallium-arsenide (AlGaAs), or lower-energy-gap InGaP absorber well placed within the depletion region of an otherwise wide bandgap PIN diode. Photogenerated electron collection is unencumbered in this structure. InGaAs wells can be added to the thick GaAs absorber layer to capture lower-energy photons.

  13. Mass rearing and augmentative biological control evaluation of Rhynocoris fuscipes (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) against multiple pests of cotton.

    PubMed

    Tomson, Majesh; Sahayaraj, Kitherian; Kumar, Vivek; Avery, Pasco B; McKenzie, Cindy L; Osborne, Lance S

    2017-08-01

    Rhynocoris fuscipes (Fab.) (Hemiptera: Reduviidae) is a generalist predator of cotton pests and is commonly found inhabiting cotton-growing regions in southern India. With the goal of integrating this predator in standard management practices used against cotton pests on a commercial scale, (1) we developed a protocol for adult group rearing of this predator inside micro-environmental cages (MECs), and (2) we evaluated the biocontrol potential of mass-produced predators against cotton pests under potted and field conditions. Higher fecundity and adult longevity of R. fuscipes was recorded in the MECs than under natural growing conditions. The reduviid predator preferred stones and fallen leaves as hiding places in the MECs. The predator showed a higher biocontrol potential during the night hours against two pests, Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley and Dysdercus cingulatus (Fab.), than during the day under potted conditions. Under field conditions, R. fuscipes significantly reduced the population of Aphis gossypii Glover, P. solenopsis, D. cingulatus and Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner) by 28, 70, 29 and 50%, respectively. No negative impact of R. fuscipes was reported on other natural enemies present in the cotton agroecosystem. Significantly higher crop yield and cost benefit ratio were observed in R. fuscipes-released plots than in the control plots. The results suggest that R. fuscipes can be mass produced efficiently under controlled conditions in MECs, and used in an integrated management program for multiple cotton pests. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

  14. Leading Schools in Circumstances of Multiple Deprivation in South Africa: Mapping Some Conceptual, Contextual and Research Dimensions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Maringe, Felix; Moletsane, Relebohile

    2015-01-01

    The paper suggests that multiple deprivation is a concept as yet lacking in substantial theoretical analysis and that its application as a research framing tool in education is relatively recent. As a concept, multiple deprivation suggests a confluence of factors which depress learning and place unique challenges on leadership and which act in…

  15. In search of a representative sample of residential building work.

    PubMed

    Lobb, Brenda; Woods, Gregory R

    2012-09-01

    Most research investigating injuries in construction work is limited by reliance on work samples unrepresentative of the multiple, variable-cycle tasks involved, resulting in incomplete characterisation of ergonomic exposures. In this case study, a participatory approach was used including hierarchical task analysis and site observations of a typical team of house builders in New Zealand, over several working days, to obtain a representative work sample. The builders' work consisted of 14 goal-defined jobs using varying subsets of 15 task types, each taking from less than 1 s to more than 1 h and performed in a variety of postures. Task type and duration varied within and between participants and days, although all participants spent at least 25% of the time moving from place to place, mostly carrying materials, and more than half the time either reaching up or bending down to work. This research has provided a description of residential building work based on a work sample more nearly representative than those previously published and has demonstrated a simple, low-cost but robust field observation method that can provide a valid basis for further study of hazard exposures. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.

  16. Asymmetry of Neuronal Combinatorial Codes Arises from Minimizing Synaptic Weight Change.

    PubMed

    Leibold, Christian; Monsalve-Mercado, Mauro M

    2016-08-01

    Synaptic change is a costly resource, particularly for brain structures that have a high demand of synaptic plasticity. For example, building memories of object positions requires efficient use of plasticity resources since objects can easily change their location in space and yet we can memorize object locations. But how should a neural circuit ideally be set up to integrate two input streams (object location and identity) in case the overall synaptic changes should be minimized during ongoing learning? This letter provides a theoretical framework on how the two input pathways should ideally be specified. Generally the model predicts that the information-rich pathway should be plastic and encoded sparsely, whereas the pathway conveying less information should be encoded densely and undergo learning only if a neuronal representation of a novel object has to be established. As an example, we consider hippocampal area CA1, which combines place and object information. The model thereby provides a normative account of hippocampal rate remapping, that is, modulations of place field activity by changes of local cues. It may as well be applicable to other brain areas (such as neocortical layer V) that learn combinatorial codes from multiple input streams.

  17. [A Case of Recurrent Stenosis after Metallic Stenting for Esophagogastric Junction Adenocarcinoma with Peritoneal Metastases].

    PubMed

    Hirakawa, Toshiki; Morimoto, Junya; Nakazawa, Kazunori; Miyamoto, Hironari; Okada, Takuma; Nobori, Chihoko; Kurihara, Shigeaki; Wang, En; Aomatsu, Naoki; Iwauchi, Takehiko; Yamagata, Shigehito; Uchima, Yasutake; Takeuchi, Kazuhiro

    2017-11-01

    A 65-year-old man presented with severe strictures from the esophagogastric junction to the body of the stomach and was histopathologically diagnosed with adenocarcinoma. Computed tomography showed multiple peritoneal metastases. A long, covered metallic stent was placed, and chemotherapy was started. Subsequent granulation from the oral side of the stent caused stricture formation, and a covered stent was also placed. After 8 months, granulation from the oral side of the stent caused recurrent stricture formation. We again placed a metallic stent. Successful chemotherapy for stomach cancer with long-term benefit is possible with new molecularly targeted drugs. Stenting may cause adverse events such as stenosis, but can enable oral intake and is minimally invasive. This report describes a case that required multiple stent placement and reviews the relevant literature.

  18. Audiences for the Theory of Multiple Intelligences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gardner, Howard

    2004-01-01

    In his closing comments, Howard Gardner discusses the various audiences that have emerged over the years for the theory of multiple intelligences. Under that rubric, he places the various papers in this issue and speculates about future lines of work on MI theory.

  19. Field Validation of Food Service Listings: A Comparison of Commercial and Online Geographic Information System Databases

    PubMed Central

    Seliske, Laura; Pickett, William; Bates, Rebecca; Janssen, Ian

    2012-01-01

    Many studies examining the food retail environment rely on geographic information system (GIS) databases for location information. The purpose of this study was to validate information provided by two GIS databases, comparing the positional accuracy of food service places within a 1 km circular buffer surrounding 34 schools in Ontario, Canada. A commercial database (InfoCanada) and an online database (Yellow Pages) provided the addresses of food service places. Actual locations were measured using a global positioning system (GPS) device. The InfoCanada and Yellow Pages GIS databases provided the locations for 973 and 675 food service places, respectively. Overall, 749 (77.1%) and 595 (88.2%) of these were located in the field. The online database had a higher proportion of food service places found in the field. The GIS locations of 25% of the food service places were located within approximately 15 m of their actual location, 50% were within 25 m, and 75% were within 50 m. This validation study provided a detailed assessment of errors in the measurement of the location of food service places in the two databases. The location information was more accurate for the online database, however, when matching criteria were more conservative, there were no observed differences in error between the databases. PMID:23066385

  20. Field validation of food service listings: a comparison of commercial and online geographic information system databases.

    PubMed

    Seliske, Laura; Pickett, William; Bates, Rebecca; Janssen, Ian

    2012-08-01

    Many studies examining the food retail environment rely on geographic information system (GIS) databases for location information. The purpose of this study was to validate information provided by two GIS databases, comparing the positional accuracy of food service places within a 1 km circular buffer surrounding 34 schools in Ontario, Canada. A commercial database (InfoCanada) and an online database (Yellow Pages) provided the addresses of food service places. Actual locations were measured using a global positioning system (GPS) device. The InfoCanada and Yellow Pages GIS databases provided the locations for 973 and 675 food service places, respectively. Overall, 749 (77.1%) and 595 (88.2%) of these were located in the field. The online database had a higher proportion of food service places found in the field. The GIS locations of 25% of the food service places were located within approximately 15 m of their actual location, 50% were within 25 m, and 75% were within 50 m. This validation study provided a detailed assessment of errors in the measurement of the location of food service places in the two databases. The location information was more accurate for the online database, however, when matching criteria were more conservative, there were no observed differences in error between the databases.

  1. Pickup ion acceleration in the successive appearance of corotating interaction regions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tsubouchi, K.

    2017-04-01

    Acceleration of pickup ions (PUIs) in an environment surrounded by a pair of corotating interaction regions (CIRs) was investigated by numerical simulations using a hybrid code. Energetic particles associated with CIRs have been considered to be a result of the acceleration at their shock boundaries, but recent observations identified the ion flux peaks in the sub-MeV to MeV energy range in the rarefaction region, where two separate CIRs were likely connected by the magnetic field. Our simulation results confirmed these observational features. As the accelerated PUIs repeatedly bounce back and forth along the field lines between the reverse shock of the first CIR and the forward shock of the second one, the energetic population is accumulated in the rarefaction region. It was also verified that PUI acceleration in the dual CIR system had two different stages. First, because PUIs have large gyroradii, multiple shock crossing is possible for several tens of gyroperiods, and there is an energy gain in the component parallel to the magnetic field via shock drift acceleration. Second, as the field rarefaction evolves and the radial magnetic field becomes dominant, Fermi-type reflection takes place at the shock. The converging nature of two shocks results in a net energy gain. The PUI energy acquired through these processes is close to 0.5 MeV, which may be large enough for further acceleration, possibly resulting in the source of anomalous cosmic rays.

  2. Highly Diverse Endophytic and Soil Fusarium oxysporum Populations Associated with Field-Grown Tomato Plants

    PubMed Central

    Demers, Jill E.; Gugino, Beth K.

    2014-01-01

    The diversity and genetic differentiation of populations of Fusarium oxysporum associated with tomato fields, both endophytes obtained from tomato plants and isolates obtained from soil surrounding the sampled plants, were investigated. A total of 609 isolates of F. oxysporum were obtained, 295 isolates from a total of 32 asymptomatic tomato plants in two fields and 314 isolates from eight soil cores sampled from the area surrounding the plants. Included in this total were 112 isolates from the stems of all 32 plants, a niche that has not been previously included in F. oxysporum population genetics studies. Isolates were characterized using the DNA sequence of the translation elongation factor 1α gene. A diverse population of 26 sequence types was found, although two sequence types represented nearly two-thirds of the isolates studied. The sequence types were placed in different phylogenetic clades within F. oxysporum, and endophytic isolates were not monophyletic. Multiple sequence types were found in all plants, with an average of 4.2 per plant. The population compositions differed between the two fields but not between soil samples within each field. A certain degree of differentiation was observed between populations associated with different tomato cultivars, suggesting that the host genotype may affect the composition of plant-associated F. oxysporum populations. No clear patterns of genetic differentiation were observed between endophyte populations and soil populations, suggesting a lack of specialization of endophytic isolates. PMID:25304514

  3. X-ray and EUV Observations of CME Eruption Onset

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sterling, A. C.

    2004-01-01

    Why Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) erupt is a major outstanding puzzle of solar physics. Signatures observable at the earliest stages of eruption onset may hold precious clues about the onset mechanism. We present observations from SOHO/EIT and from TRACE in EUV, and from Yohkoh/SXT in soft X-rays of the pre-eruption and eruption phases of CME expulsion, along with the eruption's magnetic setting found from SOHO/MDI magnetograms. Most of our events involve clearly-observable filament eruptions and multiple neutral lines, and we use the magnetic settings and motions of the filaments to help infer the geometry and behavior of the associated erupting magnetic fields. Pre-eruption and early-eruption signatures include a relatively slow filament rise prior to eruption, and intensity "dimmings" and brightenings, both in the immediate neighborhood of the "core" (location of greatest magnetic shear) of the erupting fields and at locations remote from the core. These signatures and their relative timings place observational constraints on eruption mechanisms; our recent work has focused on implications for the so-called "tether cutting" and "breakout" models, but the same observational constraints are applicable to any model.

  4. CME Eruption Onset Observations from EIT and SXT

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sterling, A. C.

    2004-01-01

    Why CMEs erupt is a major outstanding puzzle of solar physics. Signatures observable at the earliest stages of eruption onset may hold precious clues about the onset mechanism. We present observations in EUV from SOHO/EIT and in soft X-rays from Yohkoh/SXT of the re-eruption and eruption phases of CME expulsion, along with the eruption's magnetic setting found from SOHO/MDI magnetograms. Most of our events involve clearly-observable filament eruptions and multiple neutral lines, and we use the magnetic settings and motions of the filaments to help infer the geometry and behavior of the associated erupting magnetic fields. Pre-eruption and early-eruption signatures include a relatively slow filament rise prior to eruption, and intensity "dimmings" and brightenings, both in the immediate neighborhood of the "core" (location of greatest magnetic shear) of the erupting fields and at locations remote from the core. These signatures and their relative timings place observational constraints on eruption mechanisms; our recent work has focused on implications for the so-called "tether cutting" and "breakout" models, but the same observational constraints are applicable to any model.

  5. Electro-optic Modulation Using a DAST Single-crystal Film in a Fabry-Perot Cavity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kutty, S. P.

    2005-03-01

    In this paper, we report a multiple-pass electro-optic modulator using a single- crystal film of 4'-dimethyamino-N-methyl-4-stilbazolium tosylate (DAST) placed inside a Fabry-Perot cavity. The single-crystal film was prepared using the modified shear method. Electro-optic modulation was achieved at 633 nm using field-induced birefringence in the cross polarized geometry including the Fabry-Perot cavity. The modulation due to the electro-optic effect was recorded as a function of phase while the phase was controlled by moving one of the mirrors in the cavity. The observed modulation was high (80 percent) for a low field (0.5V/micron) applied along the charge transfer axis on the film. Similar modulation using the Fabry-Perot cavity with a lower modulation depth was observed involving electroabsorption at 633 nm. Electroabsorption in the DAST film has been recently reported [1]. These are important results considering applications in photonics. [1] ``Electroabsorption in single-crystal film of a second-order optical material,'' R. K. Swamy, S. P. Kutty, J. Titus, S. Khatavkar, and M. Thakur, APL, Vol. 85, 4025, (2004).

  6. Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence from Nanoparticulate Zinc Films

    PubMed Central

    Aslan, Kadir; Previte, Michael J.R.; Zhang, Yongxia; Geddes, Chris D.

    2009-01-01

    A detailed study of metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) from fluorophores in the blue-to- red spectral region placed in close proximity to thermally evaporated zinc nanostructured films is reported. The zinc nanostructured films were deposited onto glass microscope slides as individual particles and were 1–10 nm in height and 20–100 nm in width, as characterized by Atomic Force Microscopy. The surface plasmon resonance peak of the zinc nanostructured films was ≈ 400 nm. Finite-difference time-domain calculations for single and multiple nanostructures organized in a staggered fashion on a solid support predict, as expected, that the electric fields are concentrated both around and between the nanostructures. Additionally, Mie scattering calculations show that the absorption and scattering components of the extinction spectrum are dominant in the UV and visible spectral ranges, respectively. Enhanced fluorescence emission accompanied by no significant changes in excited state lifetimes of fluorophores with emission wavelengths in the visible blue-to-red spectral range near-to zinc nanostructured films were observed, implying that MEF from zinc nanostructured films is mostly due to an electric field enhancement effect. PMID:19946356

  7. An experimental investigation on wind turbine aeromechanics and wake interferences among multiple wind turbines

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ozbay, Ahmet

    A comprehensive experimental study was conducted to investigate wind turbine aeromechanics and wake interferences among multiple wind turbines sited in onshore and offshore wind farms. The experiments were carried out in a large-scale Aerodynamic/Atmospheric Boundary Layer (AABL) Wind Tunnel available at Iowa State University. An array of scaled three-blade Horizontal Axial Wind Turbine (HAWT) models were placed in atmospheric boundary layer winds with different mean and turbulence characteristics to simulate the situations in onshore and offshore wind farms. The effects of the important design parameters for wind farm layout optimization, which include the mean and turbulence characteristics of the oncoming surface winds, the yaw angles of the turbines with respect to the oncoming surface winds, the array spacing and layout pattern, and the terrain topology of wind farms on the turbine performances (i.e., both power output and dynamic wind loadings) and the wake interferences among multiple wind turbines, were assessed in detail. The aeromechanic performance and near wake characteristics of a novel dual-rotor wind turbine (DRWT) design with co-rotating or counter-rotating configuration were also investigated, in comparison to a conventional single rotor wind turbine (SRWT). During the experiments, in addition to measuring dynamic wind loads (both forces and moments) and the power outputs of the scaled turbine models, a high-resolution Particle Image Velocity (PIV) system was used to conduct detailed flow field measurements (i.e., both free-run and phase-locked flow fields measurements) to reveal the transient behavior of the unsteady wake vortices and turbulent flow structures behind wind turbines and to quantify the characteristics of the wake interferences among the wind turbines sited in non-homogenous surface winds. A miniature cobra anemometer was also used to provide high-temporal-resolution data at points of interest to supplement the full field PIV measurement results. The detailed flow field measurements are correlated with the dynamic wind loads and power output measurements to elucidate underlying physics in order to gain further insight into the characteristics of the power generation performance, dynamic wind loads and wake interferences of the wind turbines for higher total power yield and better durability of the wind turbines sited in atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) winds.

  8. Multiple-image oscilloscope camera

    DOEpatents

    Yasillo, Nicholas J.

    1978-01-01

    An optical device for placing automatically a plurality of images at selected locations on one film comprises a stepping motor coupled to a rotating mirror and lens. A mechanical connection from the mirror controls an electronic logical system to allow rotation of the mirror to place a focused image at the desired preselected location. The device is of especial utility when used to place four images on a single film to record oscilloscope views obtained in gamma radiography.

  9. On Multiple-Layered Vortices

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rossow, Vernon J.

    2011-01-01

    As part of an ongoing effort to find ways to make vortex flow fields decompose more quickly, photographs and observations are presented of vortex flow fields that indicate the presence of multiple layers of fluid rotating about a common axis. A survey of the literature indicates that multiple-layered vortices form in waterspouts, tornadoes and lift-generated vortices of aircraft. An explanation for the appearance of multiple-layered structures in vortices is suggested. The observations and data presented are intended to improve the understanding of the formation and persistence of vortex flow fields.

  10. Multiple lobes in the far-field distribution of terahertz quantum-cascade lasers due to self-interference

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

    Röben, B., E-mail: roeben@pdi-berlin.de; Wienold, M.; Schrottke, L.

    2016-06-15

    The far-field distribution of the emission intensity of terahertz (THz) quantum-cascade lasers (QCLs) frequently exhibits multiple lobes instead of a single-lobed Gaussian distribution. We show that such multiple lobes can result from self-interference related to the typically large beam divergence of THz QCLs and the presence of an inevitable cryogenic operation environment including optical windows. We develop a quantitative model to reproduce the multiple lobes. We also demonstrate how a single-lobed far-field distribution can be achieved.

  11. The "Where" of Doctoral Research: The Role of "Place" in Creating Meaning

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Greenwood, Janinka

    2018-01-01

    This article explores the importance of place within doctoral research. It considers place as localised, experiential, interactional, embedded in history and discourses, and often multi-faceted and fluid. With a focus on the field of education, it argues that doctoral students need to navigate between the university, the place of study and the…

  12. Comparison of Two Types of Double-J Ureteral Stents that Differ in Diameter and the Existence of Multiple Side Holes along the Straight Portion in Malignant Ureteral Strictures

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

    Song, Myung Gyu, E-mail: acube808@naver.com; Seo, Tae-Seok, E-mail: g1q1papa@korea.ac.kr; Lee, Chang Hee, E-mail: chlee86@korea.ac.kr

    PurposeThis study was decided to evaluate the impact of diameter and the existences of multiple side holes along the straight portion of double-J ureteral stents (DJUS) on early dysfunction of stents placed for malignant ureteral strictures.MethodsBetween April 2007 and December 2011, 141 DJUSs were placed via a percutaneous nephrostomy (PCN) tract in 110 consecutive patients with malignant ureteral strictures. 7F DJUSs with multiple side holes in the straight portion were placed in 58 ureters of 43 patients (Group 1). 8F DJUSs with three side holes in the proximal 2-cm of the straight portion were placed in 83 ureters of 67more » patients (Group 2). The incidence of early DJUS dysfunction was compared between the two groups, and nephrostographic findings were evaluated in the cases of early dysfunction.ResultsEarly dysfunction of the DJUS was noted in 14 of 58 patients (24.1 %) in Group 1, which was significantly higher (p = 0.001) than in Group 2 in which only 1 of 83 patients (1.2 %) had early dysfunction of the DJUS. Nephrostographic findings of early dysfunction included dilatation of the pelvicalyceal system, filling defects in the ureteral stent, and no passage of contrast media into the urinary bladder.ConclusionsIn malignant ureteral strictures, multiple side holes in the straight portion of the 7-F DJUS seem to cause early dysfunction. The 8F DJUSs with three side holes in the proximal 2-cm of the straight portion may be superior at preventing early dysfunction.« less

  13. The Golden Ratio: A Golden Opportunity to Investigate Multiple Representations of a Problem.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dickey, Edwin M.

    1993-01-01

    This article explores the multiple representations (verbal, algebraic, graphical, and numerical) that can be used to study the golden ratio. Emphasis is placed on using technology (both calculators and computers) to investigate the algebraic, graphical, and numerical representations. (JAF)

  14. A Brave New World: Considering the Pedagogic Potential of Virtual World Field Trips (VWFTs) in Initial Teacher Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fitzsimons, Sabrina; Farren, Margaret

    2016-01-01

    In its broadest and historical sense, place-based education refers to education that occurs outside of the physical boundaries of a school building (Dewey 1910; Sobel 1996; Theobald 1997; Woodhouse and Knapp 2000). Place-based education, colloquially referred to as the "field trip", is predominantly considered a pedagogic tool of the…

  15. Molecular markers in well-differentiated thyroid cancer.

    PubMed

    D'Cruz, Anil K; Vaish, Richa; Vaidya, Abhishek; Nixon, Iain J; Williams, Michelle D; Vander Poorten, Vincent; López, Fernando; Angelos, Peter; Shaha, Ashok R; Khafif, Avi; Skalova, Alena; Rinaldo, Alessandra; Hunt, Jennifer L; Ferlito, Alfio

    2018-06-01

    Thyroid nodules are of common occurrence in the general population. About a fourth of these nodules are indeterminate on aspiration cytology placing many a patient at risk of unwanted surgery. The purpose of this review is to discuss various molecular markers described to date and place their role in proper perspective. This review covers the fundamental role of the signaling pathways and genetic changes involved in thyroid carcinogenesis. The current literature on the prognostic significance of these markers is also described. PubMed was used to search relevant articles. The key terms "thyroid nodules", "thyroid cancer papillary", "carcinoma papillary follicular", "carcinoma papillary", "adenocarcinoma follicular" were searched in MeSH, and "molecular markers", "molecular testing", mutation, BRAF, RAS, RET/PTC, PAX 8, miRNA, NIFTP in title and abstract fields. Multiple combinations were done and a group of experts in the subject from the International Head and Neck Scientific Group extracted the relevant articles and formulated the review. There has been considerable progress in the understanding of thyroid carcinogenesis and the emergence of numerous molecular markers in the recent years with potential to be used in the diagnostic algorithm of these nodules. However, their precise role in routine clinical practice continues to be a contentious issue. Majority of the studies in this context are retrospective and impact of these mutations is not independent of other prognostic factors making the interpretation difficult. The prevalence of these mutations in thyroid nodule is high and it is a continuously evolving field. Clinicians should stay informed as recommendation on the use of these markers is expected to evolve.

  16. Field evidence of strong differential pollen placement by Old World bat-pollinated plants

    PubMed Central

    Stewart, Alyssa B.; Dudash, Michele R.

    2017-01-01

    Background and Aims Sympatric plant species that share pollinators potentially compete for pollination and risk interspecific pollen transfer, but this competition can be minimized when plant species place pollen on different areas of the pollinator’s body. Multiple studies have demonstrated strong differential pollen placement by sympatric plant species under laboratory conditions; however, field evidence collected in natural settings is less common. Furthermore, it is unknown whether precise pollen placement on the pollinator’s body remains constant throughout the foraging period, or if such patterns become diffused over time (e.g. due to grooming). To test the prevalence of differential pollen placement in the wild, we examined a community of five night-blooming plant species in southern Thailand that share common bat pollinators. Methods We mist-netted wild foraging nectar bats and collected pollen samples from four body parts: the crown of the head, face, chest and ventral side of one wing. We also noted the time of pollen collection to assess how pollinator pollen loads change throughout the foraging period. Key Results Our findings revealed that most of our plant study species placed pollen on precise areas of the bat, consistent with experimental work, and that patterns of differential pollen placement remained constant throughout the night. Conclusions This study demonstrates how diverse floral morphologies effectively limit interspecific pollen transfer among Old World bat-pollinated plants under natural conditions. Additionally, interspecific pollen transfer is probably minimal throughout the entire foraging period, since patterns of pollen on the bats’ bodies were consistent over time. PMID:27864223

  17. Mobile multiple access study

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1977-01-01

    Multiple access techniques (FDMA, CDMA, TDMA) for the mobile user and attempts to identify the current best technique are discussed. Traffic loading is considered as well as voice and data modulation and spacecraft and system design. Emphasis is placed on developing mobile terminal cost estimates for the selected design. In addition, design examples are presented for the alternative techniques of multiple access in order to compare with the selected technique.

  18. Swarm observation of field-aligned current and electric field in multiple arc systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, J.; Knudsen, D. J.; Gillies, M.; Donovan, E.; Burchill, J. K.

    2017-12-01

    It is often thought that auroral arcs are a direct consequence of upward field-aligned currents. In fact, the relation between currents and brightness is more complicated. Multiple auroral arc systems provide and opportunity to study this relation in detail. In this study, we have identified two types of FAC configurations in multiple parallel arc systems using ground-based optical data from the THEMIS all-sky imagers (ASIs), magnetometers and electric field instruments onboard the Swarm satellites during the period from December 2013 to March 2015. In type 1 events, each arc is an intensification within a broad, unipolar current sheet and downward currents only exist outside the upward current sheet. These types of events are termed "unipolar FAC" events. In type 2 events, multiple arc systems represent a collection of multiple up/down current pairs, which are termed as "multipolar FAC" events. Comparisons of these two types of FAC events are presented with 17 "unipolar FAC" events and 12 "multipolar FAC" events. The results show that "unipolar FAC" and "multipolar FAC" events have systematic differences in terms of MLT, arc width and separation, and dependence on substorm onset time. For "unipolar FAC" events, significant electric field enhancements are shown on the edges of the broad upward current sheet. Electric field fluctuations inside the multiple arc system can be large or small. For "multipolar FAC" events, a strong correlation between magnetic and electric field indicate uniform conductance within each upward current sheet. The electrodynamical structures of multiple arc systems presented in this paper represents a step toward understanding arc generation.

  19. An analysis of neural receptive field plasticity by point process adaptive filtering

    PubMed Central

    Brown, Emery N.; Nguyen, David P.; Frank, Loren M.; Wilson, Matthew A.; Solo, Victor

    2001-01-01

    Neural receptive fields are plastic: with experience, neurons in many brain regions change their spiking responses to relevant stimuli. Analysis of receptive field plasticity from experimental measurements is crucial for understanding how neural systems adapt their representations of relevant biological information. Current analysis methods using histogram estimates of spike rate functions in nonoverlapping temporal windows do not track the evolution of receptive field plasticity on a fine time scale. Adaptive signal processing is an established engineering paradigm for estimating time-varying system parameters from experimental measurements. We present an adaptive filter algorithm for tracking neural receptive field plasticity based on point process models of spike train activity. We derive an instantaneous steepest descent algorithm by using as the criterion function the instantaneous log likelihood of a point process spike train model. We apply the point process adaptive filter algorithm in a study of spatial (place) receptive field properties of simulated and actual spike train data from rat CA1 hippocampal neurons. A stability analysis of the algorithm is sketched in the Appendix. The adaptive algorithm can update the place field parameter estimates on a millisecond time scale. It reliably tracked the migration, changes in scale, and changes in maximum firing rate characteristic of hippocampal place fields in a rat running on a linear track. Point process adaptive filtering offers an analytic method for studying the dynamics of neural receptive fields. PMID:11593043

  20. Modeling knee joint endoprosthesis mode of deformation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Skeeba, V. Yu; Ivancivsky, V. V.

    2018-03-01

    The purpose of the work was to define the efficient design of the endoprosthesis, working in a multiple-cycle loading environment. Methodology and methods: triangulated surfaces of the base contact surfaces of endoprosthesis butt elements have been created using the PowerShape and SolidWorks software functional environment, and the assemblies of the possible combinations of the knee joint prosthetic designs have been prepared. The mode of deformation modeling took place in the multipurpose program complex ANSYS. Results and discussion: as a result of the numerical modeling, the following data were obtained for each of the developed knee joint versions: the distribution fields of absolute (total) and relative deformations; equivalent stress distribution fields; fatigue strength coefficient distribution fields. In the course of the studies, the following efficient design assembly has been established: 1) Ti-Al-V alloy composite femoral component with polymer inserts; 2) ceramic liners of the compound separator; 3) a Ti-Al-V alloy composite tibial component. The fatigue strength coefficient for the femoral component is 4.2; for the femoral component polymer inserts is 1.2; for the ceramic liners of the compound separator is 3.1; for the tibial component is 2.7. This promising endoprosthesis structure is recommended for further design and technological development.

  1. Current Realities and Future Possibilities: Language and science literacy—empowering research and informing instruction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yore, Larry D.; Treagust, David F.

    2006-02-01

    In this final article, we briefly review and synthesize the science and language research and practice that arose from the current literature and presentations at an international conference, referred to as the first “Island Conference”. We add to the synthesis of the articles the conference deliberations and on-going discussions of the field and also offer our views as to how such contributions can take place. These central issues—the definition of science literacy; the models of learning, discourse, reading, and writing and their underlying pedagogical assumptions; the roles of discourse in doing, teaching, and learning science; and the demands on teacher education and professional development in the current reforms in language and science education—provide points of departure for discussion of four possible new considerations to research in this field of endeavour that could contribute to a broader and productive scholarship and deeper and enriched understanding of both teaching and learning. These considerations, each from well-established fields of research literature, are the need to develop support for a contemporary view of science literacy, the role of metacognition in science learning generally, the role of multiple representations in knowledge building and science literacy, and the need for more focused teacher education and professional development programmes.

  2. Feral Cattle in the White Rock Canyon Reserve at Los Alamos National Laboratory

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

    Hathcock, Charles D.; Hansen, Leslie A.

    2014-03-27

    At the request of the Los Alamos Field Office (the Field Office), Los Alamos National Security (LANS) biologists placed remote-triggered wildlife cameras in and around the mouth of Ancho Canyon in the White Rock Canyon Reserve (the Reserve) to monitor use by feral cattle. The cameras were placed in October 2012 and retrieved in January 2013. Two cameras were placed upstream in Ancho Canyon away from the Rio Grande along the perennial flows from Ancho Springs, two cameras were placed at the north side of the mouth to Ancho Canyon along the Rio Grande, and two cameras were placed atmore » the south side of the mouth to Ancho Canyon along the Rio Grande. The cameras recorded three different individual feral cows using this area as well as a variety of local native wildlife. This report details our results and issues associated with feral cattle in the Reserve. Feral cattle pose significant risks to human safety, impact cultural and biological resources, and affect the environmental integrity of the Reserve. Regional stakeholders have communicated to the Field Office that they support feral cattle removal.« less

  3. A Search for Strong Radio Emission from the Magnetic Interactions of Trappist-1 and its Satellites

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pineda, J. Sebastian; Hallinan, Gregg

    2018-06-01

    The first nearby very-low mass star planet-host discovered, Trappist-1, presents not only a unique opportunity for studying a system of multiple terrestrial planets, but a means to examine the possibility of significant star-planet magnetic interactions at the end of the main sequence. These very-low mass stars and brown dwarfs have been observationally confirmed as capable of generating strong radio emissions produced by the electron cyclotron maser instability as a consequence of currents coupling the magnetospheric environment to the stellar atmosphere. However, multiple electrodynamic mechanisms have been proposed to power these magnetospheric processes, including a potentially significant role for short-period satellites analogous to the auroral interactions between Jupiter and its moons or the Sun and the solar system planets. With multiple close in terrestrial satellites, the Trappist-1 system is an important test case of these potential theories. We present a search for these radio emissions from the seven-planet Trappist-1 system using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, looking for both highly circularly polarized radio emission and persistent quiescent emissions at GHz frequencies. We place these observations in the context of the possible electrodynamic engines driving radio emissions in very-low mass stars and brown dwarfs, and their relation to magnetic field topology, with implications for future radio surveys of planet-hosts at the end of the main sequence.

  4. Influence of transmucosal height in abutments of single and multiple implant-supported prostheses: a non-linear three-dimensional finite element analysis.

    PubMed

    Borie, Eduardo; Leal, Eduardo; Orsi, Iara Augusta; Salamanca, Carlos; Dias, Fernando José; Weber, Benjamin

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study was to analyze the influence of three different transmucosal heights of the abutments in single and multiple implant-supported prostheses through the finite element method. External hexagon implants, MicroUnit, and EsthetiCone abutments were scanned and placed in an edentulous maxillary model obtained from a tomography database. The simulations were divided into two groups: (1) one implant with 3.75 × 10 mm placed in the upper central incisor, simulating a single implant-supported fixed prosthesis with an EsthetiCone abutment; and (2) two implants with 3.75 × 10 mm placed in the upper lateral incisors with MicroUnit abutments, simulating a multiple implant-supported prosthesis. Subsequently, each group was subdivided into three models according to the transmucosal height (1, 2, and 3 mm). A static oblique load at an angle of 45 degrees to the long axis of the implant in palatal-buccal direction of 150 and 75 N was applied for multiple and single implant-supported prosthesis, respectively. The implants and abutments were assessed according to the equivalent Von Mises stress analyses while the bone and ceramics were analyzed through maximum and minimum principal stresses. The total deformation values increased in all models, while the transmucosal height was augmented. The transmucosal height of the abutments influences the stress values at the bone, ceramics, implants, and abutments of both the single and multiple implant-supported prostheses, with the transmucosal height of 1 mm showing the lowest stress values.

  5. Spectral Types and Wind Velocities for Massive Stars in R136

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bostroem, K. A.; Maíz Apellániz, J.; Caballero-Nieves, S. M.; Walborn, N. R.; Crowther, P. A.

    2014-01-01

    We analyze spatially resolved, long-slit ultraviolet (UV) and optical stellar spectra of the compact starburst cluster R136 at the core of 30 Doradus. R136 is young and massive, making it an ideal place to study the upper end of the initial mass function. These spectra, taken with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope, cover over 100 stars in the inner 4 arcseconds (1 parsec) of R136, a region which cannot be resolved with ground-based spectroscopy. In this poster we present both the UV and optical of over 20 of the brightest stars in R136, extracted with MULTISPEC, a tool written specifically for multiple objects in crowded fields. For each star we present an optical spectral type and a terminal wind velocity derived from the UV data

  6. Performance Analysis of Receive Diversity in Wireless Sensor Networks over GBSBE Models

    PubMed Central

    Goel, Shivali; Abawajy, Jemal H.; Kim, Tai-hoon

    2010-01-01

    Wireless sensor networks have attracted a lot of attention recently. In this paper, we develop a channel model based on the elliptical model for multipath components involving randomly placed scatterers in the scattering region with sensors deployed on a field. We verify that in a sensor network, the use of receive diversity techniques improves the performance of the system. Extensive performance analysis of the system is carried out for both single and multiple antennas with the applied receive diversity techniques. Performance analyses based on variations in receiver height, maximum multipath delay and transmit power have been performed considering different numbers of antenna elements present in the receiver array, Our results show that increasing the number of antenna elements for a wireless sensor network does indeed improve the BER rates that can be obtained. PMID:22163510

  7. Monthly mean simulation experiments with a course-mesh global atmospheric model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Spar, J.; Klugman, R.; Lutz, R. J.; Notario, J. J.

    1978-01-01

    Substitution of observed monthly mean sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) as lower boundary conditions, in place of climatological SSTs, failed to improve the model simulations. While the impact of SST anomalies on the model output is greater at sea level than at upper levels the impact on the monthly mean simulations is not beneficial at any level. Shifts of one and two days in initialization time produced small, but non-trivial, changes in the model-generated monthly mean synoptic fields. No improvements in the mean simulations resulted from the use of either time-averaged initial data or re-initialization with time-averaged early model output. The noise level of the model, as determined from a multiple initial state perturbation experiment, was found to be generally low, but with a noisier response to initial state errors in high latitudes than the tropics.

  8. Contemporary NMR Studies of Protein Electrostatics.

    PubMed

    Hass, Mathias A S; Mulder, Frans A A

    2015-01-01

    Electrostatics play an important role in many aspects of protein chemistry. However, the accurate determination of side chain proton affinity in proteins by experiment and theory remains challenging. In recent years the field of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy has advanced the way that protonation states are measured, allowing researchers to examine electrostatic interactions at an unprecedented level of detail and accuracy. Experiments are now in place that follow pH-dependent (13)C and (15)N chemical shifts as spatially close as possible to the sites of protonation, allowing all titratable amino acid side chains to be probed sequence specifically. The strong and telling response of carefully selected reporter nuclei allows individual titration events to be monitored. At the same time, improved frameworks allow researchers to model multiple coupled protonation equilibria and to identify the underlying pH-dependent contributions to the chemical shifts.

  9. Entropy production in a photovoltaic cell

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ansari, Mohammad H.

    2017-05-01

    We evaluate entropy production in a photovoltaic cell that is modeled by four electronic levels resonantly coupled to thermally populated field modes at different temperatures. We use a formalism recently proposed, the so-called multiple parallel worlds, to consistently address the nonlinearity of entropy in terms of density matrix. Our result shows that entropy production is the difference between two flows: a semiclassical flow that linearly depends on occupational probabilities, and another flow that depends nonlinearly on quantum coherence and has no semiclassical analog. We show that entropy production in the cells depends on environmentally induced decoherence time and energy detuning. We characterize regimes where reversal flow of information takes place from a cold to hot bath. Interestingly, we identify a lower bound on entropy production, which sets limitations on the statistics of dissipated heat in the cells.

  10. Surface area generation and droplet size control in solvent extraction systems utilizing high intensity electric fields

    DOEpatents

    Scott, Timothy C.; Wham, Robert M.

    1988-01-01

    A method and system for solvent extraction where droplets are shattered by a high intensity electric field. These shattered droplets form a plurality of smaller droplets which have a greater combined surface area than the original droplet. Dispersion, coalescence and phase separation are accomplished in one vessel through the use of the single pulsing high intensity electric field. Electric field conditions are chosen so that simultaneous dispersion and coalescence are taking place in the emulsion formed in the electric field. The electric field creates a large amount of interfacial surface area for solvent extraction when the droplet is disintegrated and is capable of controlling droplet size and thus droplet stability. These operations take place in the presence of a counter current flow of the continuous phase.

  11. Digital Storytelling in a Place-Based Composition Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chisholm, James S.; Trent, Brandie

    2014-01-01

    Although the study of place in the fields of composition and education has a long and compelling history, the concept has taken on increased importance in today's digital landscape. As perceptions of places shift, we're challenged to understand how and which places shape who we are. Due to its potential power to leverage student choice,…

  12. Suicide case with multiple injuries with sharp objects.

    PubMed

    Черняк, Валентина В; Девяткин, Александр Е; Мустафина, Галия М; Никифоров, Артём Г

    The work of forensic - medical expert examination of the corpse at the place of its discovery and further research in the morgue often there are certain difficulties associated with the solution of a number of issues, including the establishment of a kind of death. Bringing the case demonstrates that, during the initial examination of the corpse to the place of its discovery the presence of multiple injuries on the body of a different nature, as a rule, initially suggest investigators to suspect that the murder occurred. But further questioning around him lately those studying survey data and scene study results allowed the corpse to make objective conclusions.

  13. Effective Albedo of Vegetated Terrain at L-Band

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kurum, Mehmet; O'Neill, Peggy E.; Lang, Roger H.

    2011-01-01

    This paper derives an explicit expression for an effective albedo of vegetated terrain from the zero- and multiple- order radiative transfer (RT) model comparison. The formulation establishes a direct physical link between the effective vegetation parameterization and the theoretical description of absorption and scattering within the canopy. The paper will present an evaluation of the derived albedo for corn canopies with data taken during an experiment at Alabama A&M Winfield A. Thomas Agricultural Research Station near Huntsville, Alabama in June, 1998. The test site consisted of two 50-m x 60-m plots - one with a bare surface and the other with grass cover - and four 30-m x 50-m plots of corn at different planting densities. One corn field was planted at a full density of 9.5 plants/sq m while the others were planted at 1/3, 1/2 and 2/3 of the full density. The fields were observed with a truck-mounted L-band radiometer at incident angle of 15 degree for the period of two weeks. Soil moisture (SM) changed daily due to irrigation and natural rainfall. Variations in gravimetric SM from 18 % to 34 % were seen during this period. Ground truth data, including careful characterization of the corn size and orientation statistics, and its dielectric, was also collected and used to simulate the effective albedo for the vegetation. The single-scattering albedo is defined as the fractional power scattered from individual vegetation constituents with respect to canopy extinction. It represents single-scattering properties of vegetation elements only, and is independent of ground properties. The values of the albedo get higher when there is dense vegetation (i.e. forest, mature corn, etc.) with scatterers, such as branches and trunks (or stalks in the case of corn), which are large with respect to the wavelength. This large albedo leads to a reduction in brightness temperature in the zero-order RT solution (known as tau-omega model). Higher-order multiple-scattering RT solutions are required for proper representation of scattering within vegetation. In this paper, an expression for an effective albedo for the whole canopy including the ground is derived for use in the zero-order RT model-based SM retrieval. This effective albedo takes into account of all the processes taking place within the canopy, including multiple-scattering. This new formulation will be presented and its importance for microwave SM retrieval will be evaluated for corn canopies in conjunction with the detailed ground truth data obtained during the experiment at Alabama in 1998. Emphasis will be placed on examining how the radiometer response to SM is modified by the corn canopy scattering under different field conditions. A semi-empirical parameterization of the effective albedo will be investigated through analysis of SM and vegetation water content effects on the effective albedo.

  14. Multiscale Currents Observed by MMS in the Flow Braking Region.

    PubMed

    Nakamura, Rumi; Varsani, Ali; Genestreti, Kevin J; Le Contel, Olivier; Nakamura, Takuma; Baumjohann, Wolfgang; Nagai, Tsugunobu; Artemyev, Anton; Birn, Joachim; Sergeev, Victor A; Apatenkov, Sergey; Ergun, Robert E; Fuselier, Stephen A; Gershman, Daniel J; Giles, Barbara J; Khotyaintsev, Yuri V; Lindqvist, Per-Arne; Magnes, Werner; Mauk, Barry; Petrukovich, Anatoli; Russell, Christopher T; Stawarz, Julia; Strangeway, Robert J; Anderson, Brian; Burch, James L; Bromund, Ken R; Cohen, Ian; Fischer, David; Jaynes, Allison; Kepko, Laurence; Le, Guan; Plaschke, Ferdinand; Reeves, Geoff; Singer, Howard J; Slavin, James A; Torbert, Roy B; Turner, Drew L

    2018-02-01

    We present characteristics of current layers in the off-equatorial near-Earth plasma sheet boundary observed with high time-resolution measurements from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission during an intense substorm associated with multiple dipolarizations. The four Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft, separated by distances of about 50 km, were located in the southern hemisphere in the dusk portion of a substorm current wedge. They observed fast flow disturbances (up to about 500 km/s), most intense in the dawn-dusk direction. Field-aligned currents were observed initially within the expanding plasma sheet, where the flow and field disturbances showed the distinct pattern expected in the braking region of localized flows. Subsequently, intense thin field-aligned current layers were detected at the inner boundary of equatorward moving flux tubes together with Earthward streaming hot ions. Intense Hall current layers were found adjacent to the field-aligned currents. In particular, we found a Hall current structure in the vicinity of the Earthward streaming ion jet that consisted of mixed ion components, that is, hot unmagnetized ions, cold E × B drifting ions, and magnetized electrons. Our observations show that both the near-Earth plasma jet diversion and the thin Hall current layers formed around the reconnection jet boundary are the sites where diversion of the perpendicular currents take place that contribute to the observed field-aligned current pattern as predicted by simulations of reconnection jets. Hence, multiscale structure of flow braking is preserved in the field-aligned currents in the off-equatorial plasma sheet and is also translated to ionosphere to become a part of the substorm field-aligned current system.

  15. Root Causes of Field Emitters in SRF Cavities Placed in CEBAF Tunnel

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

    Geng, Rongli

    It has been suspected that appearance of new field emitters can occur in SRF cavities after their placement in accelerator tunnel for long term beam operation. This apparently has been the case for CEBAF. However, no physical evidence has been shown in the past. In this contribution, we will report on the recent results concerning the root cause of field emitters in SRF cavities placed in CEBAF tunnel. We will discuss these results in the context of high-reliability and low-cryogenic-loss operation of CEBAF.

  16. The Place and Meaning of the Field of PE in Turkish Young People's Lives: A Study Using Bourdieu's Conceptual Tools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Koca, Canan; Atencio, Matthew; Demirhan, Giyasettin

    2009-01-01

    This paper draws on Bourdieu's notions of habitus, social field, and capital to provide a more complex examination of the place and meaning of physical education in Turkish young people's lives. Two secondary schools comprised of students from quite distinctive social, cultural, and geographical locations were involved in the study. Collected data…

  17. Assessing compartmentalized flux in lipid metabolism with isotopes

    DOE PAGES

    Allen, Doug K.

    2016-03-18

    Metabolism in plants takes place across multiple cell types and within distinct organelles. The distributions equate to spatial heterogeneity; though the limited means to experimentally assess metabolism frequently involve homogenizing tissues and mixing metabolites from different locations.Most current isotope investigations of metabolism therefore lack the ability to resolve spatially distinct events. Recognition of this limitation has resulted in inspired efforts to advance metabolic flux analysis and isotopic labeling techniques. Though a number of these efforts have been applied to studies in central metabolism; recent advances in instrumentation and techniques present an untapped opportunity to make similar progress in lipid metabolismmore » where the use of stable isotopes has been more limited. These efforts will benefit from sophisticated radiolabeling reports that continue to enrich our knowledge on lipid biosynthetic pathways and provide some direction for stable isotope experimental design and extension of MFA. Evidence for this assertion is presented through the review of several elegant stable isotope studies and by taking stock of what has been learned from radioisotope investigations when spatial aspects of metabolism were considered. The studies emphasize that glycerolipid production occurs across several locations with assembly of lipids in the ER or plastid, fatty acid biosynthesis occurring in the plastid, and the generation of acetyl-CoA and glycerol-3-phosphate taking place at multiple sites. Considering metabolism in this context underscores the cellular and subcellular organization that is important to enhanced production of glycerolipids in plants. An attempt is made to unify salient features from a number of reports into a diagrammatic model of lipid metabolism and propose where stable isotope labeling experiments and further flux analysis may help address questions in the field.« less

  18. Assessing compartmentalized flux in lipid metabolism with isotopes

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

    Allen, Doug K.

    Metabolism in plants takes place across multiple cell types and within distinct organelles. The distributions equate to spatial heterogeneity; though the limited means to experimentally assess metabolism frequently involve homogenizing tissues and mixing metabolites from different locations.Most current isotope investigations of metabolism therefore lack the ability to resolve spatially distinct events. Recognition of this limitation has resulted in inspired efforts to advance metabolic flux analysis and isotopic labeling techniques. Though a number of these efforts have been applied to studies in central metabolism; recent advances in instrumentation and techniques present an untapped opportunity to make similar progress in lipid metabolismmore » where the use of stable isotopes has been more limited. These efforts will benefit from sophisticated radiolabeling reports that continue to enrich our knowledge on lipid biosynthetic pathways and provide some direction for stable isotope experimental design and extension of MFA. Evidence for this assertion is presented through the review of several elegant stable isotope studies and by taking stock of what has been learned from radioisotope investigations when spatial aspects of metabolism were considered. The studies emphasize that glycerolipid production occurs across several locations with assembly of lipids in the ER or plastid, fatty acid biosynthesis occurring in the plastid, and the generation of acetyl-CoA and glycerol-3-phosphate taking place at multiple sites. Considering metabolism in this context underscores the cellular and subcellular organization that is important to enhanced production of glycerolipids in plants. An attempt is made to unify salient features from a number of reports into a diagrammatic model of lipid metabolism and propose where stable isotope labeling experiments and further flux analysis may help address questions in the field.« less

  19. Monolayer phosphorene under time-dependent magnetic field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nascimento, J. P. G.; Aguiar, V.; Guedes, I.

    2018-02-01

    We obtain the exact wave function of a monolayer phosphorene under a low-intensity time-dependent magnetic field using the dynamical invariant method. We calculate the quantum-mechanical energy expectation value and the transition probability for a constant and an oscillatory magnetic field. For the former we observe that the Landau level energy varies linearly with the quantum numbers n and m and the magnetic field intensity B0. No transition takes place. For the latter, we observe that the energy oscillates in time, increasing linearly with the Landau level n and m and nonlinearly with the magnetic field. The (k , l) →(n , m) transitions take place only for l = m. We investigate the (0,0) →(n , 0) and (1 , l) and (2 , l) probability transitions.

  20. Student Selection for Selective Educational Programs Using Multiple Criteria.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jenkins, Jerry A.

    This paper shows that multiple sources of data reflecting educational progress may be used with relative ease to systematically, objectively, and accurately place students in selective educational programs, such as those funded under Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act, using readily available commercial microcomputer…

  1. Catastrophic global-avalanche of a hollow pressure filament

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    van Compernolle, B.; Poulos, M. J.; Morales, G. J.

    2017-10-01

    New results are presented of a basic heat transport experiment performed in the Large Plasma Device at UCLA. A ring-shaped electron beam source injects low energy electrons along a strong magnetic field into a preexisting, large and cold plasma. The injected electrons are thermalized by Coulomb collisions within a short distance and provide an off-axis heat source that results in a long, hollow, cylindrical region of elevated plasma pressure. The off-axis source is active for a period long compared to the density decay time, i.e., as time progresses the power per particle increases. Two distinct regimes are observed to take place, an early regime dominated by multiple avalanches, identified as a sudden intermittent rearrangement of the pressure profile that repeats under sustained heating, and a second regime dominated by broadband drift-Alfvén fluctuations. The transition between the two regimes is sudden and global, both radially and axially. The initial regime is characterized by peaked density and temperature profiles, while only the peaked temperature profile survives in the second regime. Recent measurements at multiple axial locations provide new insight into the axial dynamics of the global avalanche. Sponsored by NSF Grant 1619505 and by DOE/NSF at BaPSF.

  2. Grid cell hexagonal patterns formed by fast self-organized learning within entorhinal cortex.

    PubMed

    Mhatre, Himanshu; Gorchetchnikov, Anatoli; Grossberg, Stephen

    2012-02-01

    Grid cells in the dorsal segment of the medial entorhinal cortex (dMEC) show remarkable hexagonal activity patterns, at multiple spatial scales, during spatial navigation. It has previously been shown how a self-organizing map can convert firing patterns across entorhinal grid cells into hippocampal place cells that are capable of representing much larger spatial scales. Can grid cell firing fields also arise during navigation through learning within a self-organizing map? This article describes a simple and general mathematical property of the trigonometry of spatial navigation which favors hexagonal patterns. The article also develops a neural model that can learn to exploit this trigonometric relationship. This GRIDSmap self-organizing map model converts path integration signals into hexagonal grid cell patterns of multiple scales. GRIDSmap creates only grid cell firing patterns with the observed hexagonal structure, predicts how these hexagonal patterns can be learned from experience, and can process biologically plausible neural input and output signals during navigation. These results support an emerging unified computational framework based on a hierarchy of self-organizing maps for explaining how entorhinal-hippocampal interactions support spatial navigation. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Experience-dependent shaping of hippocampal CA1 intracellular activity in novel and familiar environments

    PubMed Central

    Cohen, Jeremy D; Bolstad, Mark; Lee, Albert K

    2017-01-01

    The hippocampus is critical for producing stable representations of familiar spaces. How these representations arise is poorly understood, largely because changes to hippocampal inputs have not been measured during spatial learning. Here, using intracellular recording, we monitored inputs and plasticity-inducing complex spikes (CSs) in CA1 neurons while mice explored novel and familiar virtual environments. Inputs driving place field spiking increased in amplitude – often suddenly – during novel environment exploration. However, these increases were not sustained in familiar environments. Rather, the spatial tuning of inputs became increasingly similar across repeated traversals of the environment with experience – both within fields and throughout the whole environment. In novel environments, CSs were not necessary for place field formation. Our findings support a model in which initial inhomogeneities in inputs are amplified to produce robust place field activity, then plasticity refines this representation into one with less strongly modulated, but more stable, inputs for long-term storage. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.23040.001 PMID:28742496

  4. The Influence of Objects on Place Field Expression and Size in Distal Hippocampal CA1

    PubMed Central

    Burke, S.N.; Maurer, A.P.; Nematollahi, S.; Uprety, A.R.; Wallace, J.L.; Barnes, C.A.

    2012-01-01

    The perirhinal and lateral entorhinal cortices send prominent projections to the portion of the hippocampal CA1 subfield closest to the subiculum, but relatively little is known regarding the contributions of these cortical areas to hippocampal activity patterns. The anatomical connections of the lateral entorhinal and perirhinal cortices, as well as lesion data, suggest that these brain regions may contribute to the perception of complex stimuli such as objects. The current experiments investigated the degree to which 3-dimensional objects affect place field size and activity within the distal region (closest to the subiculum) of CA1. The activity of CA1 pyramidal cells was monitored as rats traversed a circular track that contained no objects in some conditions and 3-dimensial objects in other conditions. In the area of CA1 that receives direct lateral entorhinal input, three factors differentiated the objects-on-track conditions from the no-object conditions: more pyramidal cells expressed place fields when objects were present, adding or removing objects from the environment led to partial remapping in CA1, and the size of place fields decreased when objects were present. Additionally, a proportion of place fields remapped under conditions in which the object locations were shuffled, which suggests that at least some of the CA1 neurons’ firing patterns were sensitive to a particular object in a particular location. Together, these data suggest that the activity characteristics of neurons in the areas of CA1 receiving direct input from the perirhinal and lateral entorhinal cortices are modulated by non-spatial sensory input such as 3-dimensional objects. PMID:21365714

  5. Simulation of Attitude and Trajectory Dynamics and Control of Multiple Spacecraft

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stoneking, Eric T.

    2009-01-01

    Agora software is a simulation of spacecraft attitude and orbit dynamics. It supports spacecraft models composed of multiple rigid bodies or flexible structural models. Agora simulates multiple spacecraft simultaneously, supporting rendezvous, proximity operations, and precision formation flying studies. The Agora environment includes ephemerides for all planets and major moons in the solar system, supporting design studies for deep space as well as geocentric missions. The environment also contains standard models for gravity, atmospheric density, and magnetic fields. Disturbance force and torque models include aerodynamic, gravity-gradient, solar radiation pressure, and third-body gravitation. In addition to the dynamic and environmental models, Agora supports geometrical visualization through an OpenGL interface. Prototype models are provided for common sensors, actuators, and control laws. A clean interface accommodates linking in actual flight code in place of the prototype control laws. The same simulation may be used for rapid feasibility studies, and then used for flight software validation as the design matures. Agora is open-source and portable across computing platforms, making it customizable and extensible. It is written to support the entire GNC (guidance, navigation, and control) design cycle, from rapid prototyping and design analysis, to high-fidelity flight code verification. As a top-down design, Agora is intended to accommodate a large range of missions, anywhere in the solar system. Both two-body and three-body flight regimes are supported, as well as seamless transition between them. Multiple spacecraft may be simultaneously simulated, enabling simulation of rendezvous scenarios, as well as formation flying. Built-in reference frames and orbit perturbation dynamics provide accurate modeling of precision formation control.

  6. Günther Tulip and Celect IVC filters in multiple-trauma patients.

    PubMed

    Rosenthal, David; Kochupura, Paul V; Wellons, Eric D; Burkett, Allison B; Methodius-Rayford, Walaya C

    2009-08-01

    To evaluate results with the retrievable Günther Tulip (GT) and Celect inferior vena cava filters (IVCFs) placed at the intensive care unit (ICU) bedside under "real-time" intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) guidance in multiple-trauma patients. Between December 2004 and December 2008, 187 multiple-trauma patients (109 men; mean age 44+/-2 years, range 17-71) with contraindications to low-dose anticoagulation therapy or sequential compression devices had Günther Tulip (n = 97) or Celect (n = 90) retrievable IVCFs placed under real-time IVUS guidance. Günther Tulip filters were inserted using a "double-puncture" technique. The Celect IVCFs were placed with a simplified single-puncture technique in which the filter introducer sheath was advanced until the radiopaque tip "covered" the IVUS image of the renal vein, indicating that the filter sheath was in position for filter deployment. The 2 filter groups were compared on the endpoints of technical implantation success, retrievability, prevention of PE, and procedure-related deep vein thrombosis (DVT). As verified by abdominal radiography, 93.1% (174/187) of IVCFs were placed without complications; 6 IVCFs (all GT; p = 0.03 versus Celect) were misplaced in the iliac vein but uneventfully retrieved and replaced in the IVC within 24 hours. Two insertion site femoral vein DVTs (both in the dual puncture group; p>0.2) and 5 groin hematomas occurred during follow-up. GT filters were in place a mean of 107 days and Celect 97 days. In this time, 2 pulmonary embolisms occurred (1 in each group; p>0.2). Of the 115 filters scheduled for retrieval (50 Günther Tulip, 65 Celect), 33 (23 Günther Tulip, 10 Celect) could not be retrieved (p = 0.0004). Vena cavography identified filter tilting (>20 degrees ) in 21 cases (15 GT, 6 Celect), while 12 filters (8 GT, 4 Celect) had extended indwell times (mean 187 days) and excessive tissue ingrowth covering the retrieval hook. Subjectively, the Celect filters were clinically "easier" to retrieve; they also had fewer cases of significant tilt (>20%) than the GT filters, but the difference was not statistically significant. GT and Celect IVCFs placed at the ICU bedside under IVUS guidance in multiple-trauma patients was simple, safe, and avoided transporting critically ill patients out of the ICU. Further investigation of the single sheath IVUS technique and the role of retrievable IVCFs in multi-trauma patients is warranted.

  7. Reflected Places of Childhood: Applying the Ideas of Humanistic and Cultural Geographies to Environmental Education Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tani, Sirpa

    2017-01-01

    The article investigates people-environment relationships from the viewpoint of humanistic and cultural geographies and highlights the importance of subjective experiences and emotional place attachment in the construction of environmental attitudes. Some core concepts of these research fields (e.g. "place,"…

  8. Retrieval of Droplet size Density Distribution from Multiple field of view Cross polarized Lidar Signals: Theory and Experimental Validation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-06-02

    Retrieval of droplet-size density distribution from multiple-field-of-view cross-polarized lidar signals: theory and experimental validation...theoretical and experimental studies of mul- tiple scattering and multiple-field-of-view (MFOV) li- dar detection have made possible the retrieval of cloud...droplet cloud are typical of Rayleigh scattering, with a signature close to a dipole (phase function quasi -flat and a zero-depolarization ratio

  9. Cultural politics and masculinities: Multiple-partners in historical perspective in KwaZulu-Natal.

    PubMed

    Hunter, Mark

    2005-01-01

    Drawing from ethnographic, archival and secondary research, this article examines multiple-sexual partners in historical perspective in KwaZulu-Natal, a South Africa province where one in three people are thought to be HIV positive. Research on masculinities, multiple-partners, and AIDS has been predominantly directed towards the present day. This paper stresses the importance of unraveling the antecedents of contemporary masculinities particularly the gendered cultural politics through which they have been produced. Arguing against dominant conceptions of African masculinity as being innate or static, it charts the rise and fall of the isoka, the Zulu man with multiple-sexual partners, over the last century. Showing how the isoka developed through changing conditions occasioned by capitalism, migrant labour and Christianity, it contends that an important turning point took place from the 1970s when high unemployment threatened previous expressions of manliness, notably marriage, setting up an independent household and becoming umnumzana (a household head). The high value placed on men seeking multiple-partners increasingly filled the void left by men's inability to become men through previous means. Turning to the contemporary period, the article argues that, shaken by the huge AIDS deaths, men are betraying increasing doubts about the isoka masculinity.

  10. 100 Days of Learning in Place: How a Small School Utilized "Place-Based" Learning To Master State Academic Standards.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lewicki, James

    This report describes the development and implementation of a place-based curriculum for a small charter high school of 25 students in Wisconsin. The curriculum involved 100 days of field studies in local places such as historical archives, a restored wetland, a river valley, and a senior citizen community center. The students worked with 60…

  11. Distributed magnetic field positioning system using code division multiple access

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Prigge, Eric A. (Inventor)

    2003-01-01

    An apparatus and methods for a magnetic field positioning system use a fundamentally different, and advantageous, signal structure and multiple access method, known as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). This signal architecture, when combined with processing methods, leads to advantages over the existing technologies, especially when applied to a system with a large number of magnetic field generators (beacons). Beacons at known positions generate coded magnetic fields, and a magnetic sensor measures a sum field and decomposes it into component fields to determine the sensor position and orientation. The apparatus and methods can have a large `building-sized` coverage area. The system allows for numerous beacons to be distributed throughout an area at a number of different locations. A method to estimate position and attitude, with no prior knowledge, uses dipole fields produced by these beacons in different locations.

  12. Parallel, multi-stage processing of colors, faces and shapes in macaque inferior temporal cortex

    PubMed Central

    Lafer-Sousa, Rosa; Conway, Bevil R.

    2014-01-01

    Visual-object processing culminates in inferior temporal (IT) cortex. To assess the organization of IT, we measured fMRI responses in alert monkey to achromatic images (faces, fruit, bodies, places) and colored gratings. IT contained multiple color-biased regions, which were typically ventral to face patches and, remarkably, yoked to them, spaced regularly at four locations predicted by known anatomy. Color and face selectivity increased for more anterior regions, indicative of a broad hierarchical arrangement. Responses to non-face shapes were found across IT, but were stronger outside color-biased regions and face patches, consistent with multiple parallel streams. IT also contained multiple coarse eccentricity maps: face patches overlapped central representations; color-biased regions spanned mid-peripheral representations; and place-biased regions overlapped peripheral representations. These results suggest that IT comprises parallel, multi-stage processing networks subject to one organizing principle. PMID:24141314

  13. Evolution of flux ropes in the magnetotail: A three-dimensional global hybrid simulation

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

    Lu, S.; State Key Laboratory of Space Weather, National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing; Lin, Y.

    2015-05-15

    Flux ropes in the Earth's magnetotail are widely believed to play a crucial role in energy transport during substorms and the generation of energetic particles. Previous kinetic simulations are limited to the local-scale regime, and thus cannot be used to study the structure associated with the geomagnetic field and the global-scale evolution of the flux ropes. Here, the evolution of flux ropes in the magnetotail under a steady southward interplanetary magnetic field are studied with a newly developed three-dimensional global hybrid simulation model for dynamics ranging from the ion Larmor radius to the global convection time scales. Magnetic reconnection withmore » multiple X-lines is found to take place in the near-tail current sheet at geocentric solar magnetospheric distances x=−30R{sub E}∼−15R{sub E} around the equatorial plane (z=0). The magnetotail reconnection layer is turbulent, with a nonuniform structure and unsteady evolution, and exhibits properties of typical collisionless fast reconnection with the Hall effect. A number of small-scale flux ropes are generated through the multiple X-line reconnection. The diameter of the flux ropes is several R{sub E}, and the spatial scale of the flux ropes in the dawn-dusk direction is on the order of several R{sub E} and does not extend across the entire section of the magnetotail, contrary to previous models and MHD simulation results and showing the importance of the three-dimensional effects. The nonuniform and unsteady multiple X-line reconnection with particle kinetic effects leads to various kinds of flux rope evolution: The small-scale flux ropes propagate earthward or tailward after formation, and eventually merge into the near-Earth region or the mid-/distant-tail plasmoid, respectively. During the propagation, some of the flux ropes can be tilted in the geocentric solar magnetospheric (x,y) plane with respect to the y (dawn-dusk) axis. Coalescence between flux ropes is also observed. At the same time, the evolution of the flux ropes in the multiple X-line reconnection layer can also lead to the acceleration and heating of ions.« less

  14. Deployment Considerations for Low-cost Air Quality Sensor Networks; Examining Spatial Variability of Gas-Phase Pollutants Around a Building in Los Angeles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Collier-Oxandale, A. M.; Hannigan, M.; Casey, J. G.; Johnston, J.; Coffey, E.; Thorson, J.

    2017-12-01

    The field of low-cost air quality sensing technologies is growing rapidly through the continual development of new sensors, increased research into sensor performance, and more and more community groups utilizing sensors to investigate local issues. However, as this technology is still in an exploratory phase, there are few `best-practices' available to serve as guidelines for these projects and the standardization of some procedures could benefit the research community as a whole. For example, deployment considerations such as where and how to place a monitor at a given location are often determined by accessibility and safety, power-requirements, and what is an ideal for sampling the target pollutant. Using data from multiple gas-phase sensors, we will examine the importance of siting considerations for low-cost monitoring systems. During a sampling campaign in Los Angeles, a subset of monitors was deployed at one field site to explore the variability in air quality sensor data around a single building. The site is a three story, multi-family housing unit in a primarily residential neighborhood that is near two major roadways and other potential sources of pollution. Five low-cost monitors were co-located prior to and following the field deployment. During the approximately 2.5-month deployment, these monitors were placed at various heights above street level, on different sides of the building, and on the roof. In our analysis, we will examine how monitor placement affects a sensor's ability to detect local verses more regional trends and how this building-scale spatial variability changes over time. Additionally, examining data from VOC sensors (quantified for methane and total non-methane hydrocarbon signals) and O3 sensors will allow us to compare the variability of primary and secondary pollutants. An outcome of this analysis may include guidelines or `best practices' for siting sensors that could aid in ensuring the collection of high quality field data. These may be particularly useful in community-based projects where monitor siting is typically a collaborative process.

  15. The Ghost Forests of Cascadia: How Valuing Geological Inquiry Puts Practice into Place

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ault, Charles R., Jr.

    2014-01-01

    Interpreting the hazards and appreciating the privileges of living in a particular place draw upon insights from multiple disciplines. Seemingly self-evident, this perspective stands as a counterpoint to the depiction of scientific practice as unified and independent of discipline in standards for the education of all Americans. Inquiry adapts in…

  16. Agile Preparation within a Traditional Project Management Course

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Landry, Jeffrey P.; McDaniel, Rachel

    2016-01-01

    Agile software approaches have seen a steady rise over a decade and a half, but agile's place in the information systems (IS) undergraduate curriculum is far from settled. While agile concepts may arguably be taught in multiple places in the IS curriculum, this paper argues for its inclusion in a project management course. This paper builds on…

  17. 78 FR 26280 - Special Conditions: Embraer, S.A., Model EMB-550 Airplane; Side-Facing Seats; Installation of...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-05-06

    ... be active during all dynamic tests conducted to show compliance with Sec. 25.562. (2) The design and... novel or unusual design feature(s) associated with multiple place and single place side- facing seats... not contain adequate or appropriate safety standards for this design feature. These proposed special...

  18. Maritime Search and Rescue via Multiple Coordinated UAS

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-01-01

    partitioning method uses the underlying probability distribution assumptions to place that probability near the geometric center of the partitions. There...During partitioning the known locations are accommodated, but the unaccounted for objects are placed into geometrically unfavorable conditions. The...Zeitlin, A.D.: UAS Sence and Avoid Develop- ment - the Challenges of Technology, Standards, and Certification. Aerospace Sciences Meeting including

  19. Real-time optical multiple object recognition and tracking system and method

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chao, Tien-Hsin (Inventor); Liu, Hua Kuang (Inventor)

    1987-01-01

    The invention relates to an apparatus and associated methods for the optical recognition and tracking of multiple objects in real time. Multiple point spatial filters are employed that pre-define the objects to be recognized at run-time. The system takes the basic technology of a Vander Lugt filter and adds a hololens. The technique replaces time, space and cost-intensive digital techniques. In place of multiple objects, the system can also recognize multiple orientations of a single object. This later capability has potential for space applications where space and weight are at a premium.

  20. The effect of Birkeland currents on magnetic field topology

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Peroomian, Vahe; Lyons, Larry R.; Schulz, Michael

    1996-01-01

    A technique was developed for the inclusion of large scale magnetospheric current systems in magnetic field models. The region 1 and 2 Birkeland current systems are included in the source surface model of the terrestrial magnetosphere. The region 1 and 2 Birkeland currents are placed in the model using a series of field aligned, infinitely thin wire segments. The normal component of the magnetic field from these currents is calculated on the surface of the magnetopause and shielded using image current carrying wires placed outside of the magnetosphere. It is found that the inclusion of the Birkeland currents in the model results in a northward magnetic field in the near-midnight tail, leading to the closure of previously open flux in the tail, and a southward magnetic field in the flanks. A sunward shift in the separatrix is observed.

  1. Construction of Logarithm Tables for Galois Fields

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Torres-Jimenez, Jose; Rangel-Valdez, Nelson; Gonzalez-Hernandez, Ana Loreto; Avila-George, Himer

    2011-01-01

    A branch of mathematics commonly used in cryptography is Galois Fields GF(p[superscript n]). Two basic operations performed in GF(p[superscript n]) are the addition and the multiplication. While the addition is generally easy to compute, the multiplication requires a special treatment. A well-known method to compute the multiplication is based on…

  2. Modeling place field activity with hierarchical slow feature analysis

    PubMed Central

    Schönfeld, Fabian; Wiskott, Laurenz

    2015-01-01

    What are the computational laws of hippocampal activity? In this paper we argue for the slowness principle as a fundamental processing paradigm behind hippocampal place cell firing. We present six different studies from the experimental literature, performed with real-life rats, that we replicated in computer simulations. Each of the chosen studies allows rodents to develop stable place fields and then examines a distinct property of the established spatial encoding: adaptation to cue relocation and removal; directional dependent firing in the linear track and open field; and morphing and scaling the environment itself. Simulations are based on a hierarchical Slow Feature Analysis (SFA) network topped by a principal component analysis (ICA) output layer. The slowness principle is shown to account for the main findings of the presented experimental studies. The SFA network generates its responses using raw visual input only, which adds to its biological plausibility but requires experiments performed in light conditions. Future iterations of the model will thus have to incorporate additional information, such as path integration and grid cell activity, in order to be able to also replicate studies that take place during darkness. PMID:26052279

  3. Place and Response Learning in the Open-field Tower Maze.

    PubMed

    Lipatova, Olga; Campolattaro, Matthew M; Toufexis, Donna J; Mabry, Erin A

    2015-10-28

    This protocol describes how the Open-field Tower Maze (OFTM) paradigm is used to study spatial learning in rodents. This maze is especially useful for examining how rats learn to use a place- or response-learning to successfully navigate in an open-field arena. Additionally, this protocol describes how the OFTM differs from other behavioral maze paradigms that are commonly used to study spatial learning in rodents. The OFTM described in this article was adapted from the one previously described by Cole, Clipperton, and Walt (2007). Specifically, the OFTM was created to test spatial learning in rodents without the experimenter having to consider how "stress" might play a role as a confounding variable. Experiments have shown that stress-alone can significantly affect cognitive function(1). The representative results section contains data from an experiment that used the OFTM to examine the effects of estradiol treatment on place- and response-learning in adult female Sprague Dawley rats(2). Future studies will be designed to examine the role of the hippocampus and striatum in place- and response-learning in the OFTM.

  4. Double tuning a single input probe for heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy at low field.

    PubMed

    Tadanki, Sasidhar; Colon, Raul D; Moore, Jay; Waddell, Kevin W

    2012-10-01

    Applications of PASADENA in biomedicine are continuing to emerge due to recent demonstrations that hyperpolarized metabolic substrates and the corresponding reaction products persist sufficiently long to be detected in vivo. Biomedical applications of PASADENA typically differ from their basic science counterparts in that the polarization endowed by addition of parahydrogen is usually transferred from nascent protons to coupled storage nuclei for subsequent detection on a higher field imaging instrument. These pre-imaging preparations usually take place at low field, but commercial spectrometers capable of heteronuclear pulsed NMR at frequencies in the range of 100 kHz to 1 MHz are scarce though, in comparison to single channel consoles in that field regime. Reported here is a probe circuit that can be used in conjunction with a phase and amplitude modulation scheme we have developed called PANORAMIC (Precession And Nutation for Observing Rotations At Multiple Intervals about the Carrier), that expands a single channel console capability to double or generally multiple resonance with minimal hardware modifications. The demands of this application are geared towards uniform preparation, and since the hyperpolarized molecules are being detected externally at high field, detection sensitivity is secondary to applied field uniformity over a large reaction volume to accommodate heterogeneous chemistry of gas molecules at a liquid interface. The probe circuit was therefore configured with a large (40 mL) Helmholtz sample coil for uniformity, and double-tuned to the Larmor precession frequencies of (13)C/(1)H (128/510 kHz) within a custom solenoidal electromagnet at a static field of 12 mT. Traditional (on-resonant) as well as PANORAMIC NMR signals with signal to noise ratios of approximately 75 have been routinely acquired with this probe and spectrometer setup from 1024 repetitions on the high frequency channel. The proton excitation pulse width was 240 μs at 6.31 W, compared to a carbon-13 pulse width of 220 μs at 2.51 W. When PANORAMIC refocusing waveforms were transmitted at a carrier frequency of 319 kHz, integrated signal intensities from a spin-echo sequence at both proton (510 kHz) and carbon-13 (128 kHz) frequencies were within experimental error to block pulse analogs transmitted on resonance. We anticipate that this probe circuit design could be extended to higher and lower frequencies, and that when used in conjunction with PANORAMIC phase and amplitude modulated arrays, will enable low field imaging consoles to serve as multinuclear consoles. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Field Trips. Beginnings Workshop.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cartwright, Sally; Aronson, Susan S.; Stacey, Susan; Winbush, Olga

    2001-01-01

    Five articles highlight benefits and organization of field trips: (1) "Field Trips Promote Child Learning at Its Best"; (2) "Planning for Maximum Benefit, Minimum Risk"; (3) "Coaching Community Hosts"; (4) "The Story of a Field Trip: Trash and Its Place within Children's Learning and Community"; and (5) "Field Trip Stories and Perspectives" (from…

  6. Hierarchical streamline bundles.

    PubMed

    Yu, Hongfeng; Wang, Chaoli; Shene, Ching-Kuang; Chen, Jacqueline H

    2012-08-01

    Effective 3D streamline placement and visualization play an essential role in many science and engineering disciplines. The main challenge for effective streamline visualization lies in seed placement, i.e., where to drop seeds and how many seeds should be placed. Seeding too many or too few streamlines may not reveal flow features and patterns either because it easily leads to visual clutter in rendering or it conveys little information about the flow field. Not only does the number of streamlines placed matter, their spatial relationships also play a key role in understanding the flow field. Therefore, effective flow visualization requires the streamlines to be placed in the right place and in the right amount. This paper introduces hierarchical streamline bundles, a novel approach to simplifying and visualizing 3D flow fields defined on regular grids. By placing seeds and generating streamlines according to flow saliency, we produce a set of streamlines that captures important flow features near critical points without enforcing the dense seeding condition. We group spatially neighboring and geometrically similar streamlines to construct a hierarchy from which we extract streamline bundles at different levels of detail. Streamline bundles highlight multiscale flow features and patterns through clustered yet not cluttered display. This selective visualization strategy effectively reduces visual clutter while accentuating visual foci, and therefore is able to convey the desired insight into the flow data.

  7. Task complexity modifies the search strategy of rats.

    PubMed

    Ruprecht, Chad M; Taylor, C Drew; Wolf, Joshua E; Leising, Kenneth J

    2014-01-01

    Human and non-human animals exhibit a variety of response strategies (e.g., place responding) when searching for a familiar place or evading predators. We still know little about the conditions that support the use of each strategy. We trained rats to locate a hidden food reward in a small-scale spatial search task. The complexity of the search task was manipulated by reducing the number of search locations (25, 4, and 2) within an open-field apparatus and by comparison to a path-based apparatus (plus-maze). After rats were trained to reliably locate the hidden food, each apparatus was shifted to gauge whether rats were searching at the location of the goal relative to extramaze cues (i.e., place responding), or searching in the direction of the goal relative to a combination of intramaze and extramaze cues (i.e.,directional responding). The results indicate that the open field supported place responding when more than two response locations were present, whereas, the four-arm plus-maze supported strong directional responding. These results extend prior research into the role of task demands on search strategy, as well as support the use of the four-choice open field as an analog to the Morris water task for future studies targeting the neural underpinnings of place responding.

  8. 2D and 3D separate and joint inversion of airborne ZTEM and ground AMT data: Synthetic model studies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sasaki, Yutaka; Yi, Myeong-Jong; Choi, Jihyang

    2014-05-01

    The ZTEM (Z-axis Tipper Electromagnetic) method measures naturally occurring audio-frequency magnetic fields and obtains the tipper function that defines the relationship among the three components of the magnetic field. Since the anomalous tipper responses are caused by the presence of lateral resistivity variations, the ZTEM survey is most suited for detecting and delineating conductive bodies extending to considerable depths, such as graphitic dykes encountered in the exploration of unconformity type uranium deposit. Our simulations shows that inversion of ZTEM data can detect reasonably well multiple conductive dykes placed 1 km apart. One important issue regarding ZTEM inversion is the effect of the initial model, because homogeneous half-space and (1D) layered structures produce no responses. For the 2D model with multiple conductive dykes, the inversion results were useful for locating the dykes even when the initial model was not close to the true background resistivity. For general 3D structures, however, the resolution of the conductive bodies can be reduced considerably depending on the initial model. This is because the tipper magnitudes from 3D conductors are smaller due to boundary charges than the 2D responses. To alleviate this disadvantage of ZTEM surveys, we combined ZTEM and audio-frequency magnetotelluric (AMT) data. Inversion of sparse AMT data was shown to be effective in providing a good initial model for ZTEM inversion. Moreover, simultaneously inverting both data sets led to better results than the sequential approach by enabling to identify structural features that were difficult to resolve from the individual data sets.

  9. Inhibitory effect of standardized cannabis sativa extract and its ingredient cannabidiol on rat and human bladder contractility.

    PubMed

    Capasso, Raffaele; Aviello, Gabriella; Borrelli, Francesca; Romano, Barbara; Ferro, Matteo; Castaldo, Luigi; Montanaro, Vittorino; Altieri, Vincenzo; Izzo, Angelo A

    2011-04-01

    To evaluate the effect of a Cannabis sativa extract enriched in cannabidiol (CBD) botanic drug substance (BDS) and pure CBD, on bladder contractility in vitro. Cannabis based-medicines, including CBD-enriched extracts, have been shown to reduce urinary urgency, incontinence episodes, frequency, and nocturia in patients with multiple sclerosis. Strips were cut from male Wistar rats and the human bladder body and placed in organ baths containing Krebs solution. Contractions were induced by electrical field stimulation, acetylcholine, KCl, and α,β-methylene adenosine triphosphate. CBD BDS significantly reduced the contractions induced by acetylcholine, but not those induced with electrical field stimulation, KCl, or α,β-methylene adenosine triphosphate in the isolated rat bladder. The inhibitory effect of CBD BDS was not significantly modified by the cannabinoid or opioid receptor antagonists or by modulators of calcium levels, but it was increased by ruthenium red and capsazepine, 2 transient receptor potential vanilloid type-1 blockers. In humans, CBD BDS and pure CBD significantly reduced acetylcholine-induced contractions, an effect that was not changed by the transient receptor potential vanilloid type-1 blockers. Our data have suggested that CBD BDS reduces cholinergic-mediated contractility and that this effect is modulated by transient receptor potential vanilloid type-1 in rats but not in humans. CBD is the chemical ingredient of CBD BDS responsible for such activity. If confirmed in vivo, such results could provide a pharmacologic basis to explain, at least in part, the efficacy of Cannabis medicines in reducing incontinence episodes in patients with multiple sclerosis. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Spatially-Distributed Cost–Effectiveness Analysis Framework to Control Phosphorus from Agricultural Diffuse Pollution

    PubMed Central

    Geng, Runzhe; Wang, Xiaoyan; Sharpley, Andrew N.; Meng, Fande

    2015-01-01

    Best management practices (BMPs) for agricultural diffuse pollution control are implemented at the field or small-watershed scale. However, the benefits of BMP implementation on receiving water quality at multiple spatial is an ongoing challenge. In this paper, we introduce an integrated approach that combines risk assessment (i.e., Phosphorus (P) index), model simulation techniques (Hydrological Simulation Program–FORTRAN), and a BMP placement tool at various scales to identify the optimal location for implementing multiple BMPs and estimate BMP effectiveness after implementation. A statistically significant decrease in nutrient discharge from watersheds is proposed to evaluate the effectiveness of BMPs, strategically targeted within watersheds. Specifically, we estimate two types of cost-effectiveness curves (total pollution reduction and proportion of watersheds improved) for four allocation approaches. Selection of a ‘‘best approach” depends on the relative importance of the two types of effectiveness, which involves a value judgment based on the random/aggregated degree of BMP distribution among and within sub-watersheds. A statistical optimization framework is developed and evaluated in Chaohe River Watershed located in the northern mountain area of Beijing. Results show that BMP implementation significantly (p >0.001) decrease P loss from the watershed. Remedial strategies where BMPs were targeted to areas of high risk of P loss, deceased P loads compared with strategies where BMPs were randomly located across watersheds. Sensitivity analysis indicated that aggregated BMP placement in particular watershed is the most cost-effective scenario to decrease P loss. The optimization approach outlined in this paper is a spatially hierarchical method for targeting nonpoint source controls across a range of scales from field to farm, to watersheds, to regions. Further, model estimates showed targeting at multiple scales is necessary to optimize program efficiency. The integrated model approach described that selects and places BMPs at varying levels of implementation, provides a new theoretical basis and technical guidance for diffuse pollution management in agricultural watersheds. PMID:26313561

  11. The big data-big model (BDBM) challenges in ecological research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Luo, Y.

    2015-12-01

    The field of ecology has become a big-data science in the past decades due to development of new sensors used in numerous studies in the ecological community. Many sensor networks have been established to collect data. For example, satellites, such as Terra and OCO-2 among others, have collected data relevant on global carbon cycle. Thousands of field manipulative experiments have been conducted to examine feedback of terrestrial carbon cycle to global changes. Networks of observations, such as FLUXNET, have measured land processes. In particular, the implementation of the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON), which is designed to network different kinds of sensors at many locations over the nation, will generate large volumes of ecological data every day. The raw data from sensors from those networks offer an unprecedented opportunity for accelerating advances in our knowledge of ecological processes, educating teachers and students, supporting decision-making, testing ecological theory, and forecasting changes in ecosystem services. Currently, ecologists do not have the infrastructure in place to synthesize massive yet heterogeneous data into resources for decision support. It is urgent to develop an ecological forecasting system that can make the best use of multiple sources of data to assess long-term biosphere change and anticipate future states of ecosystem services at regional and continental scales. Forecasting relies on big models that describe major processes that underlie complex system dynamics. Ecological system models, despite great simplification of the real systems, are still complex in order to address real-world problems. For example, Community Land Model (CLM) incorporates thousands of processes related to energy balance, hydrology, and biogeochemistry. Integration of massive data from multiple big data sources with complex models has to tackle Big Data-Big Model (BDBM) challenges. Those challenges include interoperability of multiple, heterogeneous data sets; intractability of structural complexity of big models; equifinality of model structure selection and parameter estimation; and computational demand of global optimization with Big Models.

  12. Spatially-Distributed Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Framework to Control Phosphorus from Agricultural Diffuse Pollution.

    PubMed

    Geng, Runzhe; Wang, Xiaoyan; Sharpley, Andrew N; Meng, Fande

    2015-01-01

    Best management practices (BMPs) for agricultural diffuse pollution control are implemented at the field or small-watershed scale. However, the benefits of BMP implementation on receiving water quality at multiple spatial is an ongoing challenge. In this paper, we introduce an integrated approach that combines risk assessment (i.e., Phosphorus (P) index), model simulation techniques (Hydrological Simulation Program-FORTRAN), and a BMP placement tool at various scales to identify the optimal location for implementing multiple BMPs and estimate BMP effectiveness after implementation. A statistically significant decrease in nutrient discharge from watersheds is proposed to evaluate the effectiveness of BMPs, strategically targeted within watersheds. Specifically, we estimate two types of cost-effectiveness curves (total pollution reduction and proportion of watersheds improved) for four allocation approaches. Selection of a ''best approach" depends on the relative importance of the two types of effectiveness, which involves a value judgment based on the random/aggregated degree of BMP distribution among and within sub-watersheds. A statistical optimization framework is developed and evaluated in Chaohe River Watershed located in the northern mountain area of Beijing. Results show that BMP implementation significantly (p >0.001) decrease P loss from the watershed. Remedial strategies where BMPs were targeted to areas of high risk of P loss, deceased P loads compared with strategies where BMPs were randomly located across watersheds. Sensitivity analysis indicated that aggregated BMP placement in particular watershed is the most cost-effective scenario to decrease P loss. The optimization approach outlined in this paper is a spatially hierarchical method for targeting nonpoint source controls across a range of scales from field to farm, to watersheds, to regions. Further, model estimates showed targeting at multiple scales is necessary to optimize program efficiency. The integrated model approach described that selects and places BMPs at varying levels of implementation, provides a new theoretical basis and technical guidance for diffuse pollution management in agricultural watersheds.

  13. Semantic Similarity Measures for the Generation of Science Tests in Basque

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aldabe, Itziar; Maritxalar, Montse

    2014-01-01

    The work we present in this paper aims to help teachers create multiple-choice science tests. We focus on a scientific vocabulary-learning scenario taking place in a Basque-language educational environment. In this particular scenario, we explore the option of automatically generating Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQ) by means of Natural Language…

  14. Using focused plenoptic cameras for rich image capture.

    PubMed

    Georgiev, T; Lumsdaine, A; Chunev, G

    2011-01-01

    This approach uses a focused plenoptic camera to capture the plenoptic function's rich "non 3D" structure. It employs two techniques. The first simultaneously captures multiple exposures (or other aspects) based on a microlens array having an interleaved set of different filters. The second places multiple filters at the main lens aperture.

  15. Mythogeography Works: Performing Multiplicity on Queen Street

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Smith, Phil

    2011-01-01

    This paper considers the exploration of, and performance on, a single street in Exeter, UK, as guided by an idea of "mythogeography" and a determination to address a place as a multiplicity of meanings, objects, accretions, rhythms and exceptions. It explores the virtues of and obstacles facing a performance made "on the hoof"…

  16. Analysis and Classification of Entering Freshmen Mathematic Students Using Multiple Discriminate Function Analysis.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ahrens, Steve

    Predictor variables that could be used effectively to place entering freshmen methematics students into courses of instruction in mathematics were investigated at West Virginia University. Multiple discriminant analysis was used with nearly 6,000 student records collected over a three-year period, and a series of predictive equations were…

  17. Case Report of Serratus Plane Catheter for Pain Management in a Patient With Multiple Rib Fractures and an Inferior Scapular Fracture.

    PubMed

    Fu, Peter; Weyker, Paul D; Webb, Christopher A J

    2017-03-15

    We placed a superficial serratus anterior plane catheter in an elderly woman with dementia and elevated clotting times who presented with multiple rib fractures after a mechanical fall. She was not a surgical candidate, and treatment consisted of conservative management with physical therapy and pain control. She was not a candidate for a patient-controlled analgesia regimen because of her dementia. Given her elevated international normalized ratio, thoracic epidural and paravertebral analgesia was also contraindicated. We placed an ultrasound-guided serratus anterior plane catheter, allowing titratable continuous infusion in a trauma patient, resulting in excellent analgesia without adverse effects.

  18. Near-field multiple traps of paraxial acoustic vortices with strengthened gradient force generated by sector transducer array

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Qingdong; Li, Yuzhi; Ma, Qingyu; Guo, Gepu; Tu, Juan; Zhang, Dong

    2018-01-01

    In order to improve the capability of particle trapping close to the source plane, theoretical and experimental studies on near-field multiple traps of paraxial acoustic vortices (AVs) with a strengthened acoustic gradient force (AGF) generated by a sector transducer array were conducted. By applying the integration of point source radiation, numerical simulations for the acoustic fields generated by the sector transducer array were conducted and compared with those produced by the circular transducer array. It was proved that strengthened AGFs of near-field multiple AVs with higher peak pressures and smaller vortex radii could be produced by the sector transducer array with a small topological charge. The axial distributions of the equivalent potential gradient indicated that the AGFs of paraxial AVs in the near field were much higher than those in the far field, and the distances at the near-field vortex antinodes were also proved to be the ideal trapping positions with relatively higher AGFs. With the established 8-channel AV generation system, theoretical studies were also verified by the experimental measurements of pressure and phase for AVs with various topological charges. The formation of near-field multiple paraxial AVs was verified by the cross-sectional circular pressure distributions with perfect phase spirals around central pressure nulls, and was also proved by the vortex nodes and antinodes along the center axis. The favorable results demonstrated the feasibility of generating near-field multiple traps of paraxial AVs with strengthened AGF using the sector transducer array, and suggested the potential applications of close-range particle trapping in biomedical engineering.

  19. Emerald oil field on production in North Sea

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

    Not Available

    1992-08-31

    This paper reports that Midland and Scottish Energy Ltd. (MSE) has placed Emerald oil field on stream in the U.K. North Sea with a floating production unit. Initial production, from two satellite wells, will be used to commission facilities. Three water injection wells have been unplugged and are ready for start-up. MSE will place a central cluster of wells-five producers and one water injector-on stream during the next few weeks. Production will build to an expected 25,000 b/d from 35 million bbl of reserves. Field development has undergone an unusually large number of setbacks and changes.

  20. Radiation force on a single atom in a cavity

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kim, M. S.

    1992-01-01

    We consider the radiation pressure microscopically. Two perfectly conducting plates are parallelly placed in a vacuum. As the vacuum field hits the plates they get pressure from the vacuum. The excessive outside modes of the vacuum field push the plates together, which is known as the Casimer force. We investigate the quantization of the standing wave between the plates to study the interaction between this wave and the atoms on the plates or between the plates. We show that even the vacuum field pushes the atom to place it at nodes of the standing wave.

  1. Magnetic field dissipation in pulsar winds

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kirk, John

    Rotation-powered pulsars lose most of their in the form of a relativistic wind containing elec-trons, positrons and possibly ions together with electromagnetic fields. Close to the star, Poynting flux probably accounts for most of the energy flow, but after the termination shock that forms the inner boundary of the nebula, the energy flux is mostly carried by particles. The energy conversion may take place by gradual annihilation of the magnetic field as a "striped" wind accelerates, or suddenly, when the stripes hit the termination shock. I will discuss these processes and the limits that can be placed on them from observation.

  2. Influence of a repulsive vector coupling in magnetized quark matter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Denke, Robson Z.; Pinto, Marcus Benghi

    2013-09-01

    We consider two flavor magnetized quark matter in the presence of a repulsive vector coupling (GV) devoting special attention to the low temperature region of the phase diagram to show how this type of interaction counterbalances the effects produced by a strong magnetic field. The most important effects occur at intermediate and low temperatures affecting the location of the critical end point as well as the region of first order chiral transitions. When GV=0 the presence of high magnetic fields (eB≥10mπ2) increases the density coexistence region with respect to the case when B and GV are absent while a decrease of this region is observed at high GV values and vanishing magnetic fields. Another interesting aspect observed at the low temperature region is that the usual decrease of the coexistence chemical value (inverse magnetic catalysis) at GV=0 is highly affected by the presence of the vector interaction which acts in the opposite way. Our investigation also shows that the presence of a repulsive vector interaction enhances the de Haas-van Alphen oscillations which, for very low temperatures, take place at eB≲6mπ2. We observe that the presence of a magnetic field, together with a repulsive vector interaction, gives rise to a complex transition pattern since B favors the appearance of multiple solutions to the gap equation whereas GV turns some metastable solutions into stable ones allowing for a cascade of transitions to occur.

  3. Protein crystallography prescreen kit

    DOEpatents

    Segelke, Brent W.; Krupka, Heike I.; Rupp, Bernhard

    2007-10-02

    A kit for prescreening protein concentration for crystallization includes a multiplicity of vials, a multiplicity of pre-selected reagents, and a multiplicity of sample plates. The reagents and a corresponding multiplicity of samples of the protein in solutions of varying concentrations are placed on sample plates. The sample plates containing the reagents and samples are incubated. After incubation the sample plates are examined to determine which of the sample concentrations are too low and which the sample concentrations are too high. The sample concentrations that are optimal for protein crystallization are selected and used.

  4. Protein crystallography prescreen kit

    DOEpatents

    Segelke, Brent W.; Krupka, Heike I.; Rupp, Bernhard

    2005-07-12

    A kit for prescreening protein concentration for crystallization includes a multiplicity of vials, a multiplicity of pre-selected reagents, and a multiplicity of sample plates. The reagents and a corresponding multiplicity of samples of the protein in solutions of varying concentrations are placed on sample plates. The sample plates containing the reagents and samples are incubated. After incubation the sample plates are examined to determine which of the sample concentrations are too low and which the sample concentrations are too high. The sample concentrations that are optimal for protein crystallization are selected and used.

  5. Closed bore XMR (CBXMR) systems for aortic valve replacement: Active magnetic shielding of x-ray tubes

    PubMed Central

    Bracken, John A.; DeCrescenzo, Giovanni; Komljenovic, Philip; Lillaney, Prasheel V.; Fahrig, Rebecca; Rowlands, J. A.

    2009-01-01

    Hybrid closed bore x-ray∕MRI systems are being developed to improve the safety and efficacy of percutaneous aortic valve replacement procedures by harnessing the complementary strengths of the x-ray and MRI modalities in a single interventional suite without requiring patient transfer between two rooms. These systems are composed of an x-ray C-arm in close proximity (≈1 m) to an MRI scanner. The MRI magnetic fringe field can cause the electron beam in the x-ray tube to deflect. The deflection causes the x-ray field of view to shift position on the detector receptacle. This could result in unnecessary radiation exposure to the patient and the staff in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. Therefore, the electron beam deflection must be corrected. The authors developed an active magnetic shielding system that can correct for electron beam deflection to within an accuracy of 5% without truncating the field of view or increasing exposure to the patient. This system was able to automatically adjust to different field strengths as the external magnetic field acting on the x-ray tube was changed. Although a small torque was observed on the shielding coils of the active shielding system when they were placed in a magnetic field, this torque will not impact their performance if they are securely mounted on the x-ray tube and the C-arm. The heating of the coils of the shielding system for use in the clinic caused by electric current was found to be slow enough not to require a dedicated cooling system for one percutaneous aortic valve replacement procedure. However, a cooling system will be required if multiple procedures are performed in one session. PMID:19544789

  6. Closed bore XMR (CBXMR) systems for aortic valve replacement: active magnetic shielding of x-ray tubes.

    PubMed

    Bracken, John A; DeCrescenzo, Giovanni; Komljenovic, Philip; Lillaney, Prasheel V; Fahrig, Rebecca; Rowlands, J A

    2009-05-01

    Hybrid closed bore x-ray/MRI systems are being developed to improve the safety and efficacy of percutaneous aortic valve replacement procedures by harnessing the complementary strengths of the x-ray and MRI modalities in a single interventional suite without requiring patient transfer between two rooms. These systems are composed of an x-ray C-arm in close proximity (approximately 1 m) to an MRI scanner. The MRI magnetic fringe field can cause the electron beam in the x-ray tube to deflect. The deflection causes the x-ray field of view to shift position on the detector receptacle. This could result in unnecessary radiation exposure to the patient and the staff in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. Therefore, the electron beam deflection must be corrected. The authors developed an active magnetic shielding system that can correct for electron beam deflection to within an accuracy of 5% without truncating the field of view or increasing exposure to the patient. This system was able to automatically adjust to different field strengths as the external magnetic field acting on the x-ray tube was changed. Although a small torque was observed on the shielding coils of the active shielding system when they were placed in a magnetic field, this torque will not impact their performance if they are securely mounted on the x-ray tube and the C-arm. The heating of the coils of the shielding system for use in the clinic caused by electric current was found to be slow enough not to require a dedicated cooling system for one percutaneous aortic valve replacement procedure. However, a cooling system will be required if multiple procedures are performed in one session.

  7. Simulation of the 3-D Evolution of Electron Scale Magnetic Reconnection - Motivated by Laboratory Experiments Predictions for MMS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buechner, J.; Jain, N.; Sharma, A.

    2013-12-01

    The four s/c of the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, to be launched in 2014, will use the Earth's magnetosphere as a laboratory to study the microphysics of three fundamental plasma processes. One of them is magnetic reconnection, an essentially multi-scale process. While laboratory experiments and past theoretical investigations have shown that important processes necessary to understand magnetic reconnection take place at electron scales the MMS mission for the first time will be able to resolve these scales by in space observations. For the measurement strategy of MMS it is important to make specific predictions of the behavior of current sheets with a thickness of the order of the electron skin depth which play an important role in the evolution of collisionless magnetic reconnection. Since these processes are highly nonlinear and non-local numerical simulation is needed to specify the current sheet evolution. Here we present new results about the nonlinear evolution of electron-scale current sheets starting from the linear stage and using 3-D electron-magnetohydrodynamic (EMHD) simulations. The growth rates of the simulated instabilities compared well with the growth rates obtained from linear theory. Mechanisms and conditions of the formation of flux ropes and of current filamentation will be discussed in comparison with the results of fully kinetic simulations. In 3D the X- and O-point configurations of the magnetic field formed in reconnection planes alternate along the out-of-reconnection-plane direction with the wavelength of the unstable mode. In the presence of multiple reconnection sites, the out-of-plane magnetic field can develop nested structure of quadrupoles in reconnection planes, similar to the 2-D case, but now with variations in the out-of-plane direction. The structures of the electron flow and magnetic field in 3-D simulations will be compared with those in 2-D simulations to discriminate the essentially 3D features. We also discuss the influence of guide fields, as in the magnetopause case and show how the 3-D evolution of an electron current sheet is influenced the strength of the guide field. This is unlike the 2-D case where reconnection takes place only in a plane. This work was partially funded by the Max-Planck/Princeton Center for Plasma Physics and the National Science Foundation.

  8. Noise cancellation in magnetoencephalography and electroencephalography with isolated reference sensors

    DOEpatents

    Kraus, Jr., Robert H.; Espy, Michelle A.; Matlachov, Andrei; Volegov, Petr

    2010-06-01

    An apparatus measures electromagnetic signals from a weak signal source. A plurality of primary sensors is placed in functional proximity to the weak signal source with an electromagnetic field isolation surface arranged adjacent the primary sensors and between the weak signal source and sources of ambient noise. A plurality of reference sensors is placed adjacent the electromagnetic field isolation surface and arranged between the electromagnetic isolation surface and sources of ambient noise.

  9. Matrix formalism of electromagnetic wave propagation through multiple layers in the near-field region: application to the flat panel display.

    PubMed

    Lee, C Y; Lee, D E; Hong, Y K; Shim, J H; Jeong, C K; Joo, J; Zang, D S; Shim, M G; Lee, J J; Cha, J K; Yang, H G

    2003-04-01

    We have developed an electromagnetic (EM) wave propagation theory through a single layer and multiple layers in the near-field and far-field regions, and have constructed a matrix formalism in terms of the boundary conditions of the EM waves. From the shielding efficiency (SE) against EM radiation in the near-field region calculated by using the matrix formalism, we propose that the effect of multiple layers yields enhanced shielding capability compared to a single layer with the same total thickness in conducting layers as the multiple layers. We compare the intensities of an EM wave propagating through glass coated with conducting indium tin oxide (ITO) on one side and on both sides, applying it to the electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding filter in a flat panel display such as a plasma display panel (PDP). From the measured intensities of EMI noise generated by a PDP loaded with ITO coated glass samples, the two-side coated glass shows a lower intensity of EMI noise compared to the one-side coated glass. The result confirms the enhancement of the SE due to the effect of multiple layers, as expected in the matrix formalism of EM wave propagation in the near-field region. In the far-field region, the two-side coated glass with ITO in multiple layers has a higher SE than the one-side coated glass with ITO, when the total thickness of ITO in both cases is the same.

  10. Sharp wave ripples during learning stabilize hippocampal spatial map

    PubMed Central

    Roux, Lisa; Hu, Bo; Eichler, Ronny; Stark, Eran; Buzsáki, György

    2017-01-01

    Cognitive representation of the environment requires a stable hippocampal map but the mechanisms maintaining map representation are unknown. Because sharp wave-ripples (SPW-R) orchestrate both retrospective and prospective spatial information, we hypothesized that disrupting neuronal activity during SPW-Rs affects spatial representation. Mice learned daily a new set of three goal locations on a multi-well maze. We used closed-loop SPW-R detection at goal locations to trigger optogenetic silencing of a subset of CA1 pyramidal neurons. Control place cells (non-silenced or silenced outside SPW-Rs) largely maintained the location of their place fields after learning and showed increased spatial information content. In contrast, the place fields of SPW-R-silenced place cells remapped, and their spatial information remained unaltered. SPW-R silencing did not impact the firing rates or the proportions of place cells. These results suggest that interference with SPW-R-associated activity during learning prevents the stabilization and refinement of the hippocampal map. PMID:28394323

  11. An Activist Approach to Sport Meets Youth From Socially Vulnerable Backgrounds: Possible Learning Aspirations.

    PubMed

    Luguetti, Carla; Oliver, Kimberly L; Dantas, Luiz Eduardo Pinto Basto Tourinho; Kirk, David

    2017-03-01

    This study was a 2-phase activist research project aimed at co-creating a prototype pedagogical model for working with youth from socially vulnerable backgrounds in a sport context. This article addresses the learning aspirations (learning outcomes) that emerged when we created spaces for youth to develop strategies to manage the risks they face in their community. This study took place in a socially and economically disadvantaged neighborhood in a Brazilian city where we worked with a group of 17 boys aged 13 to 15 years old, 4 coaches, a pedagogic coordinator, and a social worker. During a 6-month period, we collected multiple sources of data including field journal entries/observations (38) and audio records of youth work sessions (18), coaches' work sessions (16), combined coaches and youth work sessions (3), and meetings between the lead and the 2nd author for debriefing and planning sessions (36). By using an activist approach, 4 learning aspirations emerged: becoming responsible/committed, learning from mistakes, valuing each other's knowledge, and communicating with others. Findings suggest there is a need for more sports programs that start from young people's concrete needs and life situations and look to create places for youth to see alternative possibilities and take action.

  12. Colony Fusion in a Parthenogenetic Ant, Pristomyrmex punctatus

    PubMed Central

    Satow, Show; Satoh, Toshiyuki; Hirota, Tadao

    2013-01-01

    In the ant Pristomyrmex punctatus Smith (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), all young workers lay a small number of eggs parthenogenetically. Some colonies consist of monoclonal individuals that provide high inclusive fitness, according to the kin selection theory. However, in some populations, a majority of the colonies contain multiple lineages. Intracolonial genetic variation of parthenogenetic ants cannot be explained by the multiple mating of single founderesses or by the foundation of a colony by multiple foundresses, which are the usual causes of genetically diverse colonies in social insects. Here, we hypothesized that the fusion of established colonies might facilitate the formation of multiclonal colonies. Colony fusion decreases indirect benefits because of the reduction in intracolonial relatedness. However, when suitable nesting places for overwintering are scarce, colony fusion provides a strategy for the survival of colonies. Here, ants derived from different colonies were allowed to encounter one another in a container with just one nesting place. Initially, high aggression was observed; however, after several days, no aggression was observed and the ants shared the nest. When the fused colonies were allowed to transfer to two alternative nests, ants from different colonies occupied the same nest. This study highlights the importance of limiting the number of nesting places in order to understand the genetic diversity of parthenogenetic ant colonies. PMID:23895053

  13. Points of Equilibrium in Electrostatic Fields.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rogers, Peter J.

    1979-01-01

    Discusses the electric field line pattern for four equal charges of the same sign placed at the corners of a square. The electric field intensity and the point of equilibrium are interpreted, taking into account three dimensions. (HM)

  14. Ion Beam Neutralization Using FEAs and Mirror Magnetic Fields

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nicolaescu, Dan; Sakai, Shigeki; Gotoh, Yasuhito; Ishikawa, Junzo

    2011-01-01

    Advanced implantation systems used for semiconductor processing require transportation of ion beams which are quasi-parallel and have low energy, such as (11B+,31P+,75As+) with energy in the range Eion = 200-1000 eV. Compensation of ion beam divergence may be obtained through electron injection and confinement in regions of non-uniform magnetic fields. Field emitter arrays with special properties are used as electron sources. The present study shows that electron confinement takes place in regions of gradient magnetic field, such as nearby analyzing, collimator and final energy magnets of the ion beam line. Modeling results have been obtained using Opera3D/Tosca/Scala. In regions of gradient magnetic field, electrons have helical trajectories which are confined like a cloud inside curved "magnetic bottles". An optimal range of positions with respect to the magnet for placing electron sources in gradient magnetic field has been shown to exist.

  15. Social instability stress in adolescence increases anxiety and reduces social interactions in adulthood in male Long-Evans rats.

    PubMed

    Green, Matthew R; Barnes, Brittany; McCormick, Cheryl M

    2013-12-01

    We investigated the effects of social instability stress (daily 1-hr isolation, change of cage partner, postnatal day 30-45) in adolescence in male rats on open field exploration and social behavior in adulthood. Social stressed rats had longer latencies to enter the center of an open field and then took longer to approach an object placed in the center of the field. When another rat was placed in the open field, stressed rats spent less time in social interaction than control rats, particularly when paired with another stressed, rather than a control, rat. The groups did not differ in social approach tests (when a stimulus rat was separated by wire mesh) nor in novel object exploration (when controlling for open field anxiety). The results suggest social stress in adolescence increases open field anxiety while maintaining exploratory behavior, and alters social interactions in adulthood. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Localized-to-extended-states transition below the Fermi level

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tito, M. A.; Pusep, Yu. A.

    2018-05-01

    Time-resolved photoluminescence is employed to examine a transition from localized to extended electron states below the Fermi level in multiple narrow quantum well GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures, where disorder was generated by interface roughness. Such a transition resembles the metal-insulator transition profoundly investigated by electric transport measurements. An important distinction distinguishes the localized-to-extended-states transition studied here: it takes place below the Fermi level in an electron system with a constant concentration, which implies unchanging Coulomb correlations. Moreover, for such a localized-to-extended-states transition the temperature is shown to be irrelevant. In the insulating regime the magnetic field was found to cause an additional momentum relaxation which considerably enhanced the recombination rate. Thus, we propose a method to explore the evolution of the localized electron states in a system with a fixed disorder and Coulomb interaction.

  17. Emerging therapies for mitochondrial disorders

    PubMed Central

    Nightingale, Helen; Pfeffer, Gerald; Bargiela, David; Horvath, Rita

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Mitochondrial disorders are a diverse group of debilitating conditions resulting from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA mutations that affect multiple organs, often including the central and peripheral nervous system. Despite major advances in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms, effective treatments have not been forthcoming. For over five decades patients have been treated with different vitamins, co-factors and nutritional supplements, but with no proven benefit. There is therefore a clear need for a new approach. Several new strategies have been proposed acting at the molecular or cellular level. Whilst many show promise in vitro, the clinical potential of some is questionable. Here we critically appraise the most promising preclinical developments, placing the greatest emphasis on diseases caused by mitochondrial DNA mutations. With new animal and cellular models, longitudinal deep phenotyping in large patient cohorts, and growing interest from the pharmaceutical industry, the field is poised to make a breakthrough. PMID:27190030

  18. Meshless analysis of shear deformable shells: the linear model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Costa, Jorge C.; Tiago, Carlos M.; Pimenta, Paulo M.

    2013-10-01

    This work develops a kinematically linear shell model departing from a consistent nonlinear theory. The initial geometry is mapped from a flat reference configuration by a stress-free finite deformation, after which, the actual shell motion takes place. The model maintains the features of a complete stress-resultant theory with Reissner-Mindlin kinematics based on an inextensible director. A hybrid displacement variational formulation is presented, where the domain displacements and kinematic boundary reactions are independently approximated. The resort to a flat reference configuration allows the discretization using 2-D Multiple Fixed Least-Squares (MFLS) on the domain. The consistent definition of stress resultants and consequent plane stress assumption led to a neat formulation for the analysis of shells. The consistent linear approximation, combined with MFLS, made possible efficient computations with a desired continuity degree, leading to smooth results for the displacement, strain and stress fields, as shown by several numerical examples.

  19. Application of robotics in gastrointestinal endoscopy: A review

    PubMed Central

    Yeung, Baldwin Po Man; Chiu, Philip Wai Yan

    2016-01-01

    Multiple robotic flexible endoscope platforms have been developed based on cross specialty collaboration between engineers and medical doctors. However, significant number of these platforms have been developed for the natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery paradigm. Increasing amount of evidence suggest the focus of development should be placed on advanced endolumenal procedures such as endoscopic submucosal dissection instead. A thorough literature analysis was performed to assess the current status of robotic flexible endoscopic platforms designed for advanced endolumenal procedures. Current efforts are mainly focused on robotic locomotion and robotic instrument control. In the future, advances in actuation and servoing technology, optical analysis, augmented reality and wireless power transmission technology will no doubt further advance the field of robotic endoscopy. Globally, health systems have become increasingly budget conscious; widespread acceptance of robotic endoscopy will depend on careful design to ensure its delivery of a cost effective service. PMID:26855540

  20. [Jean-Martin Charcot (1825-1893): a physician with multiple facets].

    PubMed

    Lellouch, Alain

    2013-12-01

    This work is registered in the year (2013) commemorating the 120 years since Jean-Martin Charcot's (1825-1893) death. Presently, the event takes place during 2013, in France, in Paris, at Hôpital de la Salpêtrière where Charcot practiced as medical chief of l'Hospice de la Vieillesse-Femmes, from 1862 until he died in 1893. The aim of the research is to show, from various examples and sources (printed and handwritten: fonds d'archives Charcot de la Salpêtrière) how talented Charcot was as a clinician, pathologist and microscopist, researcher and experimenter, teacher, artist, designer, cartoonist, polyglot and traveller), how varied his medical career was and how innovative his scientific method was. All this permitted Charcot to make an impressive number of medical discoveries in various fields which are today known as geriatrics and rheumatology, internal medicine, cardiology, neurology, psychiatry and paranormal processes.

  1. Towards a Single Sensor Passive Solution for Automated Fall Detection

    PubMed Central

    Belshaw, Michael; Taati, Babak; Snoek, Jasper; Mihailidis, Alex

    2012-01-01

    Falling in the home is one of the major challenges to independent living among older adults. The associated costs, coupled with a rapidly growing elderly population, are placing a burden on healthcare systems worldwide that will swiftly become unbearable. To facilitate expeditious emergency care, we have developed an artificially intelligent camera-based system that automatically detects if a person within the field-of-view has fallen. The system addresses concerns raised in earlier work and the requirements of a widely deployable in-home solution. The presented prototype utilizes a consumer-grade camera modified with a wide-angle lens. Machine learning techniques applied to carefully engineered features allow the system to classify falls at high accuracy while maintaining invariance to lighting, environment and the presence of multiple moving objects. This paper describes the system, outlines the algorithms used and presents empirical validation of its effectiveness. PMID:22254671

  2. The situation of hepatosplenic schistosomiasis in Brazil today.

    PubMed

    Andrade, Z A

    1998-01-01

    Specific chemotherapy against schistosomiasis together with environmental changes occurring in endemic areas of Brazil are causing a revolution in the clinico-pathological presentation of the disease when comparing to date from 10 to 15 years ago. To update the subject, an inquiry was made among the most experienced Brazilian investigators in this field. They agree that a decrease of about 50 to 70% in prevalence, and an even higher decrease in incidence are taking place in Brazil today. The prevalence of schistosome-infection has decreased in some areas and increased in other, with spreading sometimes occurring to peri-urban regions, indicating that schistosomiasis control depends on the application of multiple measures. General clinical and pathological manifestations related to hepatosplenic disease, such as ascites, gastric hemorrhages, big-spleen syndrome, cor pulmonale, glomerulopathy, etc. are also less severe nowadays than they used to be in the past.

  3. A New Architecture for Visualization: Open Mission Control Technologies

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Trimble, Jay

    2017-01-01

    Open Mission Control Technologies (MCT) is a new architecture for visualisation of mission data. Driven by requirements for new mission capabilities, including distributed mission operations, access to data anywhere, customization by users, synthesis of multiple data sources, and flexibility for multi-mission adaptation, Open MCT provides users with an integrated customizable environment. Developed at NASAs Ames Research Center (ARC), in collaboration with NASAs Advanced Multimission Operations System (AMMOS) and NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Open MCT is getting its first mission use on the Jason 3 Mission, and is also available in the testbed for the Mars 2020 Rover and for development use for NASAs Resource Prospector Lunar Rover. The open source nature of the project provides for use outside of space missions, including open source contributions from a community of users. The defining features of Open MCT for mission users are data integration, end user composition and multiple views. Data integration provides access to mission data across domains in one place, making data such as activities, timelines, telemetry, imagery, event timers and procedures available in one place, without application switching. End user composition provides users with layouts, which act as a canvas to assemble visualisations. Multiple views provide the capability to view the same data in different ways, with live switching of data views in place. Open MCT is browser based, and works on the desktop as well as tablets and phones, providing access to data anywhere. An early use case for mobile data access took place on the Resource Prospector (RP) Mission Distributed Operations Test, in which rover engineers in the field were able to view telemetry on their phones. We envision this capability providing decision support to on console operators from off duty personnel. The plug-in architecture also allows for adaptation for different mission capabilities. Different data types and capabilities may be added or removed using plugins. An API provides a means to write new capabilities and to create data adaptors. Data plugins exist for mission data sources for NASA missions. Adaptors have been written by international and commercial users. Open MCT is open source. Open source enables collaborative development across organizations and also makes the product available outside of the space community, providing a potential source of usage and ideas to drive product design and development. The combination of open source with an Apache 2 license, and distribution on GitHub, has enabled an active community of users and contributors. The spectrum of users for Open MCT is, to our knowledge, unprecedented for mission software. In addition to our NASA users, we have, through open source, had users and inquires on projects ranging from Internet of Things, to radio hobbyists, to farming projects. We have an active community of contributors, enabling a flow of ideas inside and outside of the space community.

  4. Place-classification analysis of community vulnerability to near-field tsunami threats in the U.S. Pacific Northwest (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wood, N. J.; Jones, J.; Spielman, S.

    2013-12-01

    Near-field tsunami hazards are credible threats to many coastal communities throughout the world. Along the U.S. Pacific Northwest coast, low-lying areas could be inundated by a series of catastrophic tsunami waves that begin to arrive in a matter of minutes following a Cascadia subduction zone (CSZ) earthquake. This presentation summarizes analytical efforts to classify communities with similar characteristics of community vulnerability to tsunami hazards. This work builds on past State-focused inventories of community exposure to CSZ-related tsunami hazards in northern California, Oregon, and Washington. Attributes used in the classification, or cluster analysis, include demography of residents, spatial extent of the developed footprint based on mid-resolution land cover data, distribution of the local workforce, and the number and type of public venues, dependent-care facilities, and community-support businesses. Population distributions also are characterized by a function of travel time to safety, based on anisotropic, path-distance, geospatial modeling. We used an unsupervised-model-based clustering algorithm and a v-fold, cross-validation procedure (v=50) to identify the appropriate number of community types. We selected class solutions that provided the appropriate balance between parsimony and model fit. The goal of the vulnerability classification is to provide emergency managers with a general sense of the types of communities in tsunami hazard zones based on similar characteristics instead of only providing an exhaustive list of attributes for individual communities. This classification scheme can be then used to target and prioritize risk-reduction efforts that address common issues across multiple communities. The presentation will include a discussion of the utility of proposed place classifications to support regional preparedness and outreach efforts.

  5. Field evidence of strong differential pollen placement by Old World bat-pollinated plants.

    PubMed

    Stewart, Alyssa B; Dudash, Michele R

    2017-01-01

    Sympatric plant species that share pollinators potentially compete for pollination and risk interspecific pollen transfer, but this competition can be minimized when plant species place pollen on different areas of the pollinator's body. Multiple studies have demonstrated strong differential pollen placement by sympatric plant species under laboratory conditions; however, field evidence collected in natural settings is less common. Furthermore, it is unknown whether precise pollen placement on the pollinator's body remains constant throughout the foraging period, or if such patterns become diffused over time (e.g. due to grooming). To test the prevalence of differential pollen placement in the wild, we examined a community of five night-blooming plant species in southern Thailand that share common bat pollinators. We mist-netted wild foraging nectar bats and collected pollen samples from four body parts: the crown of the head, face, chest and ventral side of one wing. We also noted the time of pollen collection to assess how pollinator pollen loads change throughout the foraging period. Our findings revealed that most of our plant study species placed pollen on precise areas of the bat, consistent with experimental work, and that patterns of differential pollen placement remained constant throughout the night. This study demonstrates how diverse floral morphologies effectively limit interspecific pollen transfer among Old World bat-pollinated plants under natural conditions. Additionally, interspecific pollen transfer is probably minimal throughout the entire foraging period, since patterns of pollen on the bats' bodies were consistent over time. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  6. Healthcare waste management: an interpretive structural modeling approach.

    PubMed

    Thakur, Vikas; Anbanandam, Ramesh

    2016-06-13

    Purpose - The World Health Organization identified infectious healthcare waste as a threat to the environment and human health. India's current medical waste management system has limitations, which lead to ineffective and inefficient waste handling practices. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to: first, identify the important barriers that hinder India's healthcare waste management (HCWM) systems; second, classify operational, tactical and strategical issues to discuss the managerial implications at different management levels; and third, define all barriers into four quadrants depending upon their driving and dependence power. Design/methodology/approach - India's HCWM system barriers were identified through the literature, field surveys and brainstorming sessions. Interrelationships among all the barriers were analyzed using interpretive structural modeling (ISM). Fuzzy-Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée á un Classement (MICMAC) analysis was used to classify HCWM barriers into four groups. Findings - In total, 25 HCWM system barriers were identified and placed in 12 different ISM model hierarchy levels. Fuzzy-MICMAC analysis placed eight barriers in the second quadrant, five in third and 12 in fourth quadrant to define their relative ISM model importance. Research limitations/implications - The study's main limitation is that all the barriers were identified through a field survey and barnstorming sessions conducted only in Uttarakhand, Northern State, India. The problems in implementing HCWM practices may differ with the region, hence, the current study needs to be replicated in different Indian states to define the waste disposal strategies for hospitals. Practical implications - The model will help hospital managers and Pollution Control Boards, to plan their resources accordingly and make policies, targeting key performance areas. Originality/value - The study is the first attempt to identify India's HCWM system barriers and prioritize them.

  7. CLASH: PRECISE NEW CONSTRAINTS ON THE MASS PROFILE OF THE GALAXY CLUSTER A2261

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

    Coe, Dan; Postman, Marc; Bradley, Larry

    2012-09-20

    We precisely constrain the inner mass profile of A2261 (z = 0.225) for the first time and determine that this cluster is not 'overconcentrated' as found previously, implying a formation time in agreement with {Lambda}CDM expectations. These results are based on multiple strong-lensing analyses of new 16-band Hubble Space Telescope imaging obtained as part of the Cluster Lensing and Supernova survey with Hubble. Combining this with revised weak-lensing analyses of Subaru wide-field imaging with five-band Subaru + KPNO photometry, we place tight new constraints on the halo virial mass M{sub vir} = (2.2 {+-} 0.2) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 15} M{sub Sun}more » h {sup -1}{sub 70} (within r{sub vir} Almost-Equal-To 3 Mpc h {sup -1}{sub 70}) and concentration c{sub vir} = 6.2 {+-} 0.3 when assuming a spherical halo. This agrees broadly with average c(M, z) predictions from recent {Lambda}CDM simulations, which span 5 {approx}< (c) {approx}< 8. Our most significant systematic uncertainty is halo elongation along the line of sight (LOS). To estimate this, we also derive a mass profile based on archival Chandra X-ray observations and find it to be {approx}35% lower than our lensing-derived profile at r{sub 2500} {approx} 600 kpc. Agreement can be achieved by a halo elongated with a {approx}2:1 axis ratio along our LOS. For this elongated halo model, we find M{sub vir} = (1.7 {+-} 0.2) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 15} M{sub Sun} h {sup -1}{sub 70} and c{sub vir} = 4.6 {+-} 0.2, placing rough lower limits on these values. The need for halo elongation can be partially obviated by non-thermal pressure support and, perhaps entirely, by systematic errors in the X-ray mass measurements. We estimate the effect of background structures based on MMT/Hectospec spectroscopic redshifts and find that these tend to lower M{sub vir} further by {approx}7% and increase c{sub vir} by {approx}5%.« less

  8. Sense of Place in Australian Environmental Education Research: Distinctive, Missing or Displaced?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stevenson, Robert B.

    2011-01-01

    Many environmental educators were motivated to enter the field by a concern for the loss of places to which they felt a strong sense of attachment and belonging. This raises the question of whether a sense of place, or attachment to the Australian biophysical or cultural landscape, has shaped Australian environmental education research. An…

  9. Frequency Mapping of Rat Spinal Cord at 7T

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chen, Evan; Rauscher, Alexander; Kozlowski, Piotr; Yung, Andrew

    2012-10-01

    The spinal cord is an integral part of the nervous system responsible for sensory, motor, and reflex control crucial to all bodily function. Due to its non-invasive nature, MRI is well matched for characterizing and imaging of spinal cord, and is used extensively for clinical applications. Recent developments in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at high field (7T) using phase represents a new approach of characterizing spinal cord myelin. Theory suggests that microstructure differences in myelinated white matter (WM) and non-myelinated gray matter (GM) affect MR phase, measurable frequency shifts. Data from pilot experiments using a multi-gradient echo (MGE) sequence to image rat spinal cords placed parallel to main magnetic field B0 has shown frequency shifts between not only between WM and GM, but also between specific WM tracts of the dorsal column, including the fasciculus gracilis, fasciculus cuneatus, and corticospinal tract. Using MGE, frequency maps at multiple echo times (TE) between 4ms and 22ms show a non-linear relationship between WM frequency, contrary to what was previously expected. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of MGE in revealing new information about spinal cord tissue microstructure, and lays important groundwork for in-vivo and human studies.

  10. CFD Simulations of the IHF Arc-Jet Flow: Compression-Pad Separation Bolt Wedge Tests

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gokcen, Tahir; Skokova, Kristina A.

    2017-01-01

    This paper reports computational analyses in support of two wedge tests in a high enthalpy arc-jet facility at NASA Ames Research Center. These tests were conducted using two different wedge models, each placed in a free jet downstream of a corresponding different conical nozzle in the Ames 60-MW Interaction Heating Facility. Each panel test article included a metallic separation bolt imbedded in Orion compression-pad and heatshield materials, resulting in a circular protuberance over a flat plate. The protuberances produce complex model flowfields, containing shock-shock and shock-boundary layer interactions, and multiple augmented heating regions on the test plate. As part of the test calibration runs, surface pressure and heat flux measurements on water-cooled calibration plates integrated with the wedge models were also obtained. Surface heating distributions on the test articles as well as arc-jet test environment parameters for each test configuration are obtained through computational fluid dynamics simulations, consistent with the facility and calibration measurements. The present analysis comprises simulations of the non-equilibrium flow field in the facility nozzle, test box, and flow field over test articles, and comparisons with the measured calibration data.

  11. Tensegrity, cellular biophysics, and the mechanics of living systems

    PubMed Central

    Ingber, Donald E.; Wang, Ning; Stamenović, Dimitrije

    2014-01-01

    The recent convergence between physics and biology has led many physicists to enter the fields of cell and developmental biology. One of the most exciting areas of interest has been the emerging field of mechanobiology that centers on how cells control their mechanical properties, and how physical forces regulate cellular biochemical responses, a process that is known as mechanotransduction. In this article, we review the central role that tensegrity (tensional integrity) architecture, which depends on tensile prestress for its mechanical stability, plays in biology. We describe how tensional prestress is a critical governor of cell mechanics and function, and how use of tensegrity by cells contributes to mechanotransduction. Theoretical tensegrity models are also described that predict both quantitative and qualitative behaviors of living cells, and these theoretical descriptions are placed in context of other physical models of the cell. In addition, we describe how tensegrity is used at multiple size scales in the hierarchy of life — from individual molecules to whole living organisms — to both stabilize three-dimensional form and to channel forces from the macroscale to the nanoscale, thereby facilitating mechanochemical conversion at the molecular level. PMID:24695087

  12. A smartphone-based chip-scale microscope using ambient illumination.

    PubMed

    Lee, Seung Ah; Yang, Changhuei

    2014-08-21

    Portable chip-scale microscopy devices can potentially address various imaging needs in mobile healthcare and environmental monitoring. Here, we demonstrate the adaptation of a smartphone's camera to function as a compact lensless microscope. Unlike other chip-scale microscopy schemes, this method uses ambient illumination as its light source and does not require the incorporation of a dedicated light source. The method is based on the shadow imaging technique where the sample is placed on the surface of the image sensor, which captures direct shadow images under illumination. To improve the image resolution beyond the pixel size, we perform pixel super-resolution reconstruction with multiple images at different angles of illumination, which are captured while the user is manually tilting the device around any ambient light source, such as the sun or a lamp. The lensless imaging scheme allows for sub-micron resolution imaging over an ultra-wide field-of-view (FOV). Image acquisition and reconstruction are performed on the device using a custom-built Android application, constructing a stand-alone imaging device for field applications. We discuss the construction of the device using a commercial smartphone and demonstrate the imaging capabilities of our system.

  13. A smartphone-based chip-scale microscope using ambient illumination

    PubMed Central

    Lee, Seung Ah; Yang, Changhuei

    2014-01-01

    Portable chip-scale microscopy devices can potentially address various imaging needs in mobile healthcare and environmental monitoring. Here, we demonstrate the adaptation of a smartphone’s camera to function as a compact lensless microscope. Unlike other chip-scale microscopy schemes, this method uses ambient illumination as its light source and does not require the incorporation of a dedicated light source. The method is based on the shadow imaging technique where the sample is placed on the surface of the image sensor, which captures direct shadow images under illumination. To improve the imaging resolution beyond the pixel size, we perform pixel super-resolution reconstruction with multiple images at different angles of illumination, which are captured while the user is manually tilting the device around any ambient light source, such as the sun or a lamp. The lensless imaging scheme allows for sub-micron resolution imaging over an ultra-wide field-of-view (FOV). Image acquisition and reconstruction is performed on the device using a custom-built android application, constructing a stand-alone imaging device for field applications. We discuss the construction of the device using a commercial smartphone and demonstrate the imaging capabilities of our system. PMID:24964209

  14. The Southern African Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI 2000): Overview of the Dry Season Field Campaign

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Swap, R. J.; Annegarn, H. J.; Suttles, J. T.; Haywood, J.; Helmlinger, M. C.; Hely, C.; Hobbs, P. V.; Holben, B. N.; Ji, J.; King, M. D.

    2002-01-01

    The Southern African Regional Science Initiative (SAFARI 2000) is an international project investigating the earth atmosphere -human system in southern Africa. The programme was conducted over a two year period from March 1999 to March 2001. The dry season field campaign (August-September 2000) was the most intensive activity involved over 200 scientist from eighteen countries. The main objectives were to characterize and quantify biogenic, pyrogenic and anthropogenic aerosol and trace gas emissions and their transport and transformations in the atmosphere and to validate NASA's Earth Observing System's Satellite Terra within a scientific context. Five aircraft-- two South African Weather Service Aeorcommanders, the University of Washington's CV-880, the U.K. Meteorological Office's C-130, and NASA's ER-2 --with different altitude capabilities, participated in the campaign. Additional airborne sampling of southern African air masses, that had moved downwind of the subcontinent, was conducted by the CSIRO over Australia. Multiple Observations were made in various geographical sections under different synoptic conditions. Airborne missions were designed to optimize the value of synchronous over-flights of the Terra Satellite platform, above regional ground validation and science targets. Numerous smaller scale ground validation activities took place throughout the subcontinent during the campaign period.

  15. Modeling Earth's Ring Current Using The CIMI Model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Craven, J. D., II; Perez, J. D.; Buzulukova, N.; Fok, M. C. H.

    2015-12-01

    Earth's ring current is a result of the injection of charged particles trapped in the magnetosphere from solar storms. The enhancement of the ring current particles produces magnetic depressions and disturbances to the Earth's magnetic field known as geomagnetic storms, which have been modeled using the comprehensive inner magnetosphere-ionosphere (CIMI) model. The purpose of this model is to identify and understand the physical processes that control the dynamics of the geomagnetic storms. The basic procedure was to use the CIMI model for the simulation of 15 storms since 2009. Some of the storms were run multiple times, but with varying parameters relating to the dynamics of the Earth's magnetic field, particle fluxes, and boundary conditions of the inner-magnetosphere. Results and images were placed in the TWINS online catalog page for further analysis and discussion. Particular areas of interest were extreme storm events. A majority of storms simulated had average DST values of -100 nT; these extreme storms exceeded DST values of -200 nT. The continued use of the CIMI model will increase knowledge of the interactions and processes of the inner-magnetosphere as well as lead to a better understanding of extreme solar storm events for the future advancement of space weather physics.

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

    Liu, Jianguo; Hull, Vanessa; Batistella, Mateus

    Interactions between distant places are increasingly widespread and influential, often leading to unexpected outcomes with profound implications for sustainability. Numerous sustainability studies have been conducted within a particular place with little attention to the impacts of distant interactions on sustainability in multiple places. Although distant forces have been studied, they are usually treated as exogenous variables and feedbacks have been rarely considered. To understand and integrate various distant interactions better, we propose an integrated framework based on telecoupling – an umbrella concept that refers to socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances. The concept of telecoupling is a logical extension ofmore » research on coupled human and natural systems, in which human and natural systems interact within particular places. The telecoupling framework contains five major interrelated components (coupled human and natural systems, agents, flows, causes, and effects). We illustrate the framework using two examples of distant interactions, highlight the implications of the framework, and discuss research needs and approaches to move research on telecouplings forward. The framework can help better analyze system components and their interrelationships, identify research gaps, detect hidden costs and untapped benefits, provide a useful means to incorporate feedbacks as well as trade-offs and synergies across multiple places (sending, receiving, and spillover systems), and improve the understanding of distant interactions and the effectiveness of policies for socioeconomic and environmental sustainability from local to global levels.« less

  17. Comparing Chemistry to Outcome: The Development of a Chemical Distance Metric, Coupled with Clustering and Hierarchal Visualization Applied to Macromolecular Crystallography

    PubMed Central

    Bruno, Andrew E.; Ruby, Amanda M.; Luft, Joseph R.; Grant, Thomas D.; Seetharaman, Jayaraman; Montelione, Gaetano T.; Hunt, John F.; Snell, Edward H.

    2014-01-01

    Many bioscience fields employ high-throughput methods to screen multiple biochemical conditions. The analysis of these becomes tedious without a degree of automation. Crystallization, a rate limiting step in biological X-ray crystallography, is one of these fields. Screening of multiple potential crystallization conditions (cocktails) is the most effective method of probing a proteins phase diagram and guiding crystallization but the interpretation of results can be time-consuming. To aid this empirical approach a cocktail distance coefficient was developed to quantitatively compare macromolecule crystallization conditions and outcome. These coefficients were evaluated against an existing similarity metric developed for crystallization, the C6 metric, using both virtual crystallization screens and by comparison of two related 1,536-cocktail high-throughput crystallization screens. Hierarchical clustering was employed to visualize one of these screens and the crystallization results from an exopolyphosphatase-related protein from Bacteroides fragilis, (BfR192) overlaid on this clustering. This demonstrated a strong correlation between certain chemically related clusters and crystal lead conditions. While this analysis was not used to guide the initial crystallization optimization, it led to the re-evaluation of unexplained peaks in the electron density map of the protein and to the insertion and correct placement of sodium, potassium and phosphate atoms in the structure. With these in place, the resulting structure of the putative active site demonstrated features consistent with active sites of other phosphatases which are involved in binding the phosphoryl moieties of nucleotide triphosphates. The new distance coefficient, CDcoeff, appears to be robust in this application, and coupled with hierarchical clustering and the overlay of crystallization outcome, reveals information of biological relevance. While tested with a single example the potential applications related to crystallography appear promising and the distance coefficient, clustering, and hierarchal visualization of results undoubtedly have applications in wider fields. PMID:24971458

  18. Relationships between avian richness and landscape structure at multiple scales using multiple landscapes

    Treesearch

    Michael S. Mitchell; Scott H. Rutzmoser; T. Bently Wigley; Craig Loehle; John A. Gerwin; Patrick D. Keyser; Richard A. Lancia; Roger W. Perry; Christopher L. Reynolds; Ronald E. Thill; Robert Weih; Don White; Petra Bohall Wood

    2006-01-01

    Little is known about factors that structure biodiversity on landscape scales, yet current land management protocols, such as forest certification programs, place an increasing emphasis on managing for sustainable biodiversity at landscape scales. We used a replicated landscape study to evaluate relationships between forest structure and avian diversity at both stand...

  19. Multiple Business Ownership in the Norwegian Farm Sector: Resource Transfer and Performance Consequences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alsos, Gry Agnete; Carter, Sara

    2006-01-01

    This paper examines the case of multiple business ownership in the Norwegian farming sector, focusing on the extent of resource transfer between farms and their newly created ventures and the subsequent effects on the performance of these new ventures. The results demonstrate that substantial resource transfer takes place, mediated both by the…

  20. The Effect of Position and Format on the Difficulty of Assessment Exercises.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burton, Nancy W.; And Others

    Assessment exercises (items) in three different formats--multiple-choice with an "I don't know" (IDK) option, multiple-choice without the IDK, and open-ended--were placed at the beginning, middle and end of 45-minute assessment packages (instruments). A balanced incomplete blocks analysis of variance was computed to determine the biasing…

  1. A Molecular Analysis of Training Multiple versus Single Manipulations to Establish a Generalized Manipulative Imitation Repertoire

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hartley, Breanne K.

    2009-01-01

    This study evaluates the necessity of training multiple versus single manipulative-imitations per object in order to establish generalized manipulative-imitation. Training took place in Croyden Avenue School's Early Childhood Developmental Delay preschool classroom in Kalamazoo, MI. Two groups of 3 children each were trained to imitate in order to…

  2. Design, modeling and simulations of a Cabinet Safe System for a linear particle accelerator of intermediate-low energy by optimization of the beam optics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maidana, Carlos Omar

    As part of an accelerator based Cargo Inspection System, studies were made to develop a Cabinet Safe System by Optimization of the Beam Optics of Microwave Linear Accelerators of the IAC-Varian series working on the S-band and standing wave pi/2 mode. Measurements, modeling and simulations of the main subsystems were done and a Multiple Solenoidal System was designed. This Cabinet Safe System based on a Multiple Solenoidal System minimizes the radiation field generated by the low efficiency of the microwave accelerators by optimizing the RF waveguide system and by also trapping secondaries generated in the accelerator head. These secondaries are generated mainly due to instabilities in the exit window region and particles backscattered from the target. The electron gun was also studied and software for its right mechanical design and for its optimization was developed as well. Besides the standard design method, an optimization of the injection process is accomplished by slightly modifying the gun configuration and by placing a solenoid on the waist position while avoiding threading the cathode with the magnetic flux generated. The Multiple Solenoidal System and the electron gun optimization are the backbone of a Cabinet Safe System that could be applied not only to the 25 MeV IAC-Varian microwave accelerators but, by extension, to machines of different manufacturers as well. Thus, they constitute the main topic of this dissertation.

  3. Self-Sealing Wet Chemistry Cell for Field Analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Beegle, Luther W.; Soto, Juancarlos; Lasnik, James; Roark, Shane

    2012-01-01

    In most analytical investigations, there is a need to process complex field samples for the unique detection of analytes, especially when detecting low concentration organic molecules that may identify extraterrestrial life. Wet chemistry based instruments are the techniques of choice for most laboratory- based analysis of organic molecules due to several factors including less fragmentation of fragile biomarkers, and ability to concentrate target species resulting in much lower limits of detection. Development of an automated wet chemistry preparation system that can operate autonomously on Earth and is also designed to operate under Martian ambient conditions will demonstrate the technical feasibility of including wet chemistry on future missions. An Automated Sample Processing System (ASPS) has recently been developed that receives fines, extracts organics through solvent extraction, processes the extract by removing non-organic soluble species, and delivers sample to multiple instruments for analysis (including for non-organic soluble species). The key to this system is a sample cell that can autonomously function under field conditions. As a result, a self-sealing sample cell was developed that can autonomously hermetically seal fines and powder into a container, regardless of orientation of the apparatus. The cap is designed with a beveled edge, which allows the cap to be self-righted as the capping motor engages. Each cap consists of a C-clip lock ring below a crucible O-ring that is placed into a groove cut into the sample cap.

  4. Alterations of cortical pyramidal neurons in mice lacking high-affinity nicotinic receptors

    PubMed Central

    Ballesteros-Yáñez, Inmaculada; Benavides-Piccione, Ruth; Bourgeois, Jean-Pierre; Changeux, Jean-Pierre; DeFelipe, Javier

    2010-01-01

    The neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are allosteric membrane proteins involved in multiple cognitive processes, including attention, learning, and memory. The most abundant form of heterooligomeric nAChRs in the brain contains the β2- and α4- subunits and binds nicotinic agonists with high affinity. In the present study, we investigated in the mouse the consequences of the deletion of one of the nAChR components: the β2-subunit (β2−/−) on the microanatomy of cortical pyramidal cells. Using an intracellular injection method, complete basal dendritic arbors of 650 layer III pyramidal neurons were sampled from seven cortical fields, including primary sensory, motor, and associational areas, in both β2−/− and WT animals. We observed that the pyramidal cell phenotype shows significant quantitative differences among different cortical areas in mutant and WT mice. In WT mice, the density of dendritic spines was rather similar in all cortical fields, except in the prelimbic/infralimbic cortex, where it was significantly higher. In the absence of the β2-subunit, the most significant reduction in the density of spines took place in this high-order associational field. Our data suggest that the β2-subunit is involved in the dendritic morphogenesis of pyramidal neurons and, in particular, in the circuits that contribute to the high-order functional connectivity of the cerebral cortex. PMID:20534523

  5. Atlanta Rail Yard Study: Evaluation of local-scale air pollution ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Intermodal rail yards are important nodes in the freight transportation network, where freight is organized and moved from one mode of transport to another, critical equipment is serviced, and freight is routed to its next destination. Rail yard environments are also areas with multiple sources of air pollutant emissions (e.g., heavy-duty vehicles, locomotives, cranes), which may affect local air quality in residential areas nearby. In order to understand emissions and related air quality impacts, two field studies took place over the time span of 2010-2012 to measure air pollution trends in close proximity to the Inman and Tilford rail yard complex in Atlanta, GA. One field study involved long-term stationary monitoring of black carbon, fine particles, and carbon dioxide at two stations nearby the rail yard. In addition, a second field study performed intensive mobile air monitoring for a one month period in the summer of 2012 at a roadway network surrounding the rail yard complex and measured a comprehensive array of pollutants. Real-time mobile particulate measurements included particle counts, extinction coefficient, black carbon via light-absorption and particle incandescence, and particle composition derived by aerosol mass spectrometry. Gas-phase measurements included oxides of nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, and air toxics (e.g., benzene). Both sets of measurements determined detectable local influence from rail yard-related emissions.

  6. Multiple frequency backscatter observations of heater-induced field-aligned striations in the auroral E region

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

    Noble, S.T.

    1985-01-01

    In September 1983 a series of HF ionospheric modification experiments were conducted in Scandinavia using the heat facility near Tromosoe Norway. The purpose of these experiments was to examine the mechanisms by which high-power HF radio waves produce geomagnetic field-aligned striations (FAS) in the auroral E region. The vast majority of the backscatter observations were made with radars operating at 47 and 144 MHz (STARE Finland). Additionally, limited observations were conducted at 140 (STARE Norway) and 21 MHz (SAFARI). These radars are sensitive to irregularities having scale lengths between 1 and 7 m across the geomagnetic field lines. During periodsmore » of full power O-mode heating, striations having peak cross sections of 40 to 50 dBsm are observed. Striations are not detected during times of X-mode heating. When the heater output is varied, a corresponding change in the cross section is measured. The magnitude of the change is most pronounced for heater level changes in the range 12.5 to 50% of full power. These cross sections are significantly larger than those measured at midlatitudes using the Arecibo heater (approx.10/sup 1/ m/sup 2/). This is consistent with theoretical studies which indicate that it is easier to excite short-scale FAS at places where the geomagnetic dip angle is large. The growth and decay times of the striations are frequency dependent.« less

  7. Field-portable lensfree tomographic microscope†

    PubMed Central

    Isikman, Serhan O.; Bishara, Waheb; Sikora, Uzair; Yaglidere, Oguzhan; Yeah, John; Ozcan, Aydogan

    2011-01-01

    We present a field-portable lensfree tomographic microscope, which can achieve sectional imaging of a large volume (~20 mm3) on a chip with an axial resolution of <7 μm. In this compact tomographic imaging platform (weighing only ~110 grams), 24 light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that are each butt-coupled to a fibre-optic waveguide are controlled through a cost-effective micro-processor to sequentially illuminate the sample from different angles to record lensfree holograms of the sample that is placed on the top of a digital sensor array. In order to generate pixel super-resolved (SR) lensfree holograms and hence digitally improve the achievable lateral resolution, multiple sub-pixel shifted holograms are recorded at each illumination angle by electromagnetically actuating the fibre-optic waveguides using compact coils and magnets. These SR projection holograms obtained over an angular range of ~50° are rapidly reconstructed to yield projection images of the sample, which can then be back-projected to compute tomograms of the objects on the sensor-chip. The performance of this compact and light-weight lensfree tomographic microscope is validated by imaging micro-beads of different dimensions as well as a Hymenolepis nana egg, which is an infectious parasitic flatworm. Achieving a decent three-dimensional spatial resolution, this field-portable on-chip optical tomographic microscope might provide a useful toolset for telemedicine and high-throughput imaging applications in resource-poor settings. PMID:21573311

  8. The Multiple Doppler Radar Workshop, November 1979.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carbone, R. E.; Harris, F. I.; Hildebrand, P. H.; Kropfli, R. A.; Miller, L. J.; Moninger, W.; Strauch, R. G.; Doviak, R. J.; Johnson, K. W.; Nelson, S. P.; Ray, P. S.; Gilet, M.

    1980-10-01

    The findings of the Multiple Doppler Radar Workshop are summarized by a series of six papers. Part I of this series briefly reviews the history of multiple Doppler experimentation, fundamental concepts of Doppler signal theory, and organization and objectives of the Workshop. Invited presentations by dynamicists and cloud physicists are also summarized.Experimental design and procedures (Part II) are shown to be of critical importance. Well-defined and limited experimental objectives are necessary in view of technological limitations. Specified radar scanning procedures that balance temporal and spatial resolution considerations are discussed in detail. Improved siting for suppression of ground clutter as well as scanning procedures to minimize errors at echo boundaries are discussed. The need for accelerated research using numerically simulated proxy data sets is emphasized.New technology to eliminate various sampling limitations is cited as an eventual solution to many current problems in Part III. Ground clutter contamination may be curtailed by means of full spectral processing, digital filters in real time, and/or variable pulse repetition frequency. Range and velocity ambiguities also may be minimized by various pulsing options as well as random phase transmission. Sidelobe contamination can be reduced through improvements in radomes, illumination patterns, and antenna feed types. Radar volume-scan time can be sharply reduced by means of wideband transmission, phased array antennas, multiple beam antennas, and frequency agility.Part IV deals with synthesis of data from several radars in the context of scientific requirements in cumulus clouds, widespread precipitation, and severe convective storms. The important temporal and spatial scales are examined together with the accuracy required for vertical air motion in each phenomenon. Factors that introduce errors in the vertical velocity field are identified and synthesis techniques are discussed separately for the dual Doppler and multiple Doppler cases. Various filters and techniques, including statistical and variational approaches, are mentioned. Emphasis is placed on the importance of experiment design and procedures, technological improvements, incorporation of all information from supporting sensors, and analysis priority for physically simple cases. Integrated reliability is proposed as an objective tool for radar siting.Verification of multiple Doppler-derived vertical velocity is discussed in Part V. Three categories of verification are defined as direct, deductive, and theoretical/numerical. Direct verification consists of zenith-pointing radar measurements (from either airborne or ground-based systems), air motion sensing aircraft, instrumented towers, and tracking of radar chaff. Deductive sources include mesonetworks, aircraft (thermodynamic and microphysical) measurements, satellite observations, radar reflectivity, multiple Doppler consistency, and atmospheric soundings. Theoretical/numerical sources of verification include proxy data simulation, momentum checking, and numerical cloud models. New technology, principally in the form of wide bandwidth radars, is seen as a development that may reduce the need for extensive verification of multiple Doppler-derived vertical air motions. Airborne Doppler radar is perceived as the single most important source of verification within the bounds of existing technology.Nine stages of data processing and display are identified in Part VI. The stages are identified as field checks, archival, selection, editing, coordinate transformation, synthesis of Cartesian fields, filtering, display, and physical analysis. Display of data is considered to be a problem critical to assimilation of data at all stages. Interactive computing systems and software are concluded to be very important, particularly for the editing stage. Three- and 4-dimensional displays are considered essential for data assimilation, particularly at the physical analysis stage. The concept of common data tape formats is approved both for data in radar spherical space as well as for synthesized Cartesian output.1169

  9. A multiple-fan active control wind tunnel for outdoor wind speed and direction simulation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Jia-Ying; Meng, Qing-Hao; Luo, Bing; Zeng, Ming

    2018-03-01

    This article presents a new type of active controlled multiple-fan wind tunnel. The wind tunnel consists of swivel plates and arrays of direct current fans, and the rotation speed of each fan and the shaft angle of each swivel plate can be controlled independently for simulating different kinds of outdoor wind fields. To measure the similarity between the simulated wind field and the outdoor wind field, wind speed and direction time series of two kinds of wind fields are recorded by nine two-dimensional ultrasonic anemometers, and then statistical properties of the wind signals in different time scales are analyzed based on the empirical mode decomposition. In addition, the complexity of wind speed and direction time series is also investigated using multiscale entropy and multivariate multiscale entropy. Results suggest that the simulated wind field in the multiple-fan wind tunnel has a high degree of similarity with the outdoor wind field.

  10. Multiple abiotic stimuli are integrated in the regulation of rice gene expression under field conditions.

    PubMed

    Plessis, Anne; Hafemeister, Christoph; Wilkins, Olivia; Gonzaga, Zennia Jean; Meyer, Rachel Sarah; Pires, Inês; Müller, Christian; Septiningsih, Endang M; Bonneau, Richard; Purugganan, Michael

    2015-11-26

    Plants rely on transcriptional dynamics to respond to multiple climatic fluctuations and contexts in nature. We analyzed the genome-wide gene expression patterns of rice (Oryza sativa) growing in rainfed and irrigated fields during two distinct tropical seasons and determined simple linear models that relate transcriptomic variation to climatic fluctuations. These models combine multiple environmental parameters to account for patterns of expression in the field of co-expressed gene clusters. We examined the similarities of our environmental models between tropical and temperate field conditions, using previously published data. We found that field type and macroclimate had broad impacts on transcriptional responses to environmental fluctuations, especially for genes involved in photosynthesis and development. Nevertheless, variation in solar radiation and temperature at the timescale of hours had reproducible effects across environmental contexts. These results provide a basis for broad-based predictive modeling of plant gene expression in the field.

  11. Calculation of susceptibility through multiple orientation sampling (COSMOS): a method for conditioning the inverse problem from measured magnetic field map to susceptibility source image in MRI.

    PubMed

    Liu, Tian; Spincemaille, Pascal; de Rochefort, Ludovic; Kressler, Bryan; Wang, Yi

    2009-01-01

    Magnetic susceptibility differs among tissues based on their contents of iron, calcium, contrast agent, and other molecular compositions. Susceptibility modifies the magnetic field detected in the MR signal phase. The determination of an arbitrary susceptibility distribution from the induced field shifts is a challenging, ill-posed inverse problem. A method called "calculation of susceptibility through multiple orientation sampling" (COSMOS) is proposed to stabilize this inverse problem. The field created by the susceptibility distribution is sampled at multiple orientations with respect to the polarization field, B(0), and the susceptibility map is reconstructed by weighted linear least squares to account for field noise and the signal void region. Numerical simulations and phantom and in vitro imaging validations demonstrated that COSMOS is a stable and precise approach to quantify a susceptibility distribution using MRI.

  12. LC-lens array with light field algorithm for 3D biomedical applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Yi-Pai; Hsieh, Po-Yuan; Hassanfiroozi, Amir; Martinez, Manuel; Javidi, Bahram; Chu, Chao-Yu; Hsuan, Yun; Chu, Wen-Chun

    2016-03-01

    In this paper, liquid crystal lens (LC-lens) array was utilized in 3D bio-medical applications including 3D endoscope and light field microscope. Comparing with conventional plastic lens array, which was usually placed in 3D endoscope or light field microscope system to record image disparity, our LC-lens array has higher flexibility of electrically changing its focal length. By using LC-lens array, the working distance and image quality of 3D endoscope and microscope could be enhanced. Furthermore, the 2D/3D switching ability could be achieved if we turn off/on the electrical power on LClens array. In 3D endoscope case, a hexagonal micro LC-lens array with 350um diameter was placed at the front end of a 1mm diameter endoscope. With applying electric field on LC-lens array, the 3D specimen would be recorded as from seven micro-cameras with different disparity. We could calculate 3D construction of specimen with those micro images. In the other hand, if we turn off the electric field on LC-lens array, the conventional high resolution 2D endoscope image would be recorded. In light field microscope case, the LC-lens array was placed in front of the CMOS sensor. The main purpose of LC-lens array is to extend the refocusing distance of light field microscope, which is usually very narrow in focused light field microscope system, by montaging many light field images sequentially focusing on different depth. With adjusting focal length of LC-lens array from 2.4mm to 2.9mm, the refocusing distance was extended from 1mm to 11.3mm. Moreover, we could use a LC wedge to electrically shift the optics axis and increase the resolution of light field.

  13. Anisotropic encoding of three-dimensional space by place cells and grid cells

    PubMed Central

    Hayman, R.; Verriotis, M.; Jovalekic, A.; Fenton, A.A.; Jeffery, K.J.

    2011-01-01

    The subjective sense of space may result in part from the combined activity of place cells, in the hippocampus, and grid cells in posterior cortical regions such as entorhinal cortex and pre/parasubiculum. In horizontal planar environments, place cells provide focal positional information while grid cells supply odometric (distance-measuring) information. How these cells operate in three dimensions is unknown, even though the real world is three–dimensional. The present study explored this issue in rats exploring two different kinds of apparatus, a climbing wall (the “pegboard”) and a helix. Place and grid cell firing fields had normal horizontal characteristics but were elongated vertically, with grid fields forming stripes. It appears that grid cell odometry (and by implication path integration) is impaired/absent in the vertical domain, at least when the animal itself remains horizontal. These findings suggest that the mammalian encoding of three-dimensional space is anisotropic. PMID:21822271

  14. TASK COMPLEXITY MODIFIES THE SEARCH STRATEGY OF RATS.

    PubMed

    Ruprecht, Chad M; Taylor, C Drew; Wolf, Joshua E; Leising, Kenneth J

    2013-10-25

    Human and non-human animals exhibit a variety of response strategies (e.g., place responding) when searching for a familiar place or evading predators. We still know little about the conditions that support the use of each strategy. We trained rats to locate a hidden food reward in a small-scale spatial search task. The complexity of the search task was manipulated by reducing the number of search locations (25, 4, and 2) within an open-field apparatus and by comparison to a path-based apparatus (plus maze). After rats were trained to reliably locate the hidden food, each apparatus was shifted to gauge whether rats were searching at the location of the goal relative to extramaze cues (i.e., place responding), or searching in the direction of the goal relative to a combination of intramaze and extramaze cues (i.e., directional responding). The results indicate that the open field supported place responding when more than two response locations were present, whereas, the four-arm plus-maze supported strong directional responding. These results extend prior research into the role of task demands on search strategy, as well as support the use of the four-choice open field as an analog to the Morris water task for future studies targeting the neural underpinnings of place responding. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. On Multiple Reconnection X-lines and Tripolar Perturbations of Strong Guide Magnetic Fields

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eriksson, S.; Lapenta, G.; Newman, D. L.; Phan, T. D.; Gosling, J. T.; Lavraud, B.; Khotyaintsev, Yu. V.; Carr, C. M.; Markidis, S.; Goldman, M. V.

    2015-05-01

    We report new multi-spacecraft Cluster observations of tripolar guide magnetic field perturbations at a solar wind reconnection exhaust in the presence of a guide field BM which is almost four times as strong as the reversing field BL. The novel tripolar field consists of two narrow regions of depressed BM, with an observed 7%-14% ΔBM magnitude relative to the external field, which are found adjacent to a wide region of enhanced BM within the exhaust. A stronger reversing field is associated with each BM depression. A kinetic reconnection simulation for realistic solar wind conditions and the observed strong guide field reveals that tripolar magnetic fields preferentially form across current sheets in the presence of multiple X-lines as magnetic islands approach one another and merge into fewer and larger islands. The simulated ΔBM/ΔXN over the normal width ΔXN between a BM minimum and the edge of the external region agree with the normalized values observed by Cluster. We propose that a tripolar guide field perturbation may be used to identify candidate regions containing multiple X-lines and interacting magnetic islands at individual solar wind current sheets with a strong guide field.

  16. How vision and movement combine in the hippocampal place code.

    PubMed

    Chen, Guifen; King, John A; Burgess, Neil; O'Keefe, John

    2013-01-02

    How do external environmental and internal movement-related information combine to tell us where we are? We examined the neural representation of environmental location provided by hippocampal place cells while mice navigated a virtual reality environment in which both types of information could be manipulated. Extracellular recordings were made from region CA1 of head-fixed mice navigating a virtual linear track and running in a similar real environment. Despite the absence of vestibular motion signals, normal place cell firing and theta rhythmicity were found. Visual information alone was sufficient for localized firing in 25% of place cells and to maintain a local field potential theta rhythm (but with significantly reduced power). Additional movement-related information was required for normally localized firing by the remaining 75% of place cells. Trials in which movement and visual information were put into conflict showed that they combined nonlinearly to control firing location, and that the relative influence of movement versus visual information varied widely across place cells. However, within this heterogeneity, the behavior of fully half of the place cells conformed to a model of path integration in which the presence of visual cues at the start of each run together with subsequent movement-related updating of position was sufficient to maintain normal fields.

  17. Profiles of youth in therapeutic group care: Associations with involuntary psychiatric examinations and readmissions.

    PubMed

    Yampolskaya, Svetlana; Mowery, Debra

    2017-01-01

    The study aims were to identify distinct subgroups among youth placed in therapeutic group care (TGC) and to examine the effect of specific constellations of risk factors on readmission to residential mental health care and involuntary psychiatric examination among youth in TGC. Several administrative databases were merged to examine outcomes for youth placed in TGC during fiscal year FY04-05 through FY07-08 (N = 1,009). Latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted. Two classes were identified: youth with multiple needs (Class 1) and lower risk youth (Class 2). Class 1 represented 45% of youth in TGC. Compared with Class 2, these youth had a greater probability of having physical health problems, parents with substance abuse problems, and more extensive histories of maltreatment. Compared with Class 2, youth with multiple needs were almost twice more likely to exhibit self-injurious behavior leading to involuntary mental health examinations, but they were less likely to be readmitted to a residential mental health care of higher level of restrictiveness, such as state inpatient psychiatric programs (SIPPs). Youth placed in Florida TGC represent a heterogeneous population and services tailored to these youth's needs are important. Youth with multiple risk factors would benefit from interventions that would address multiple areas of risk. Lower risk youth (Class 2) would benefit from interventions that would focus on promoting mental health, especially among those who have experienced threatened harm, and providing services and supports necessary for stabilizing these youth in the community. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  18. Spatial Factors in the Integration of Speed Information

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Verghese, P.; Stone, L. S.; Hargens, Alan R. (Technical Monitor)

    1995-01-01

    We reported that, for a 21FC task with multiple Gabor patches in each interval, thresholds for speed discrimination decreased with the number of patches, while simply increasing the area of a single patch produced no such effect. This result could be explained by multiple patches reducing spatial uncertainty. However, the fact that thresholds decrease with number even when the patches are in fixed positions argues against this explanation. We therefore performed additional experiments to explore the lack of an area effect. Three observers did a 21FC speed discrimination task with 6 Gabor patches in each interval, and were asked to pick the interval in which the gratings moved faster. The 50% contrast patches were placed on a circle at 4 deg. eccentricity, either equally spaced and maximally separated (hexagonal array), or closely-spaced, in consecutive positions (string of pearls). For the string-of-pearls condition, the grating phases were either random, or consistent with a full-field grating viewed through multiple Gaussian windows. When grating phases were random, the thresholds for the hexagonal and string-of-pearls layouts were indistinguishable. For the string-of-pearls layout, thresholds in the consistent-phase condition were higher by 15 +/- 6% than in the random-phase condition. (Thresholds increased by 57 +/- 7% in going from 6 patches to a single patch of equivalent area.). For random-phase patches, the lower thresholds for 6 patches does not depend on a specific spacing or spatial layout. Multiple, closely-spaced, consistent-phase patches that can be interpreted as a single grating, result in thresholds closer to that produced by a single patch. Together, our results suggest that object segmentation may play a role in the integration of speed information.

  19. Type-II Superlattice Avalanche Photodiodes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Jun

    Type-II superlattice avalanche photodiodes have shown advantages compared to conventional mercury cadmium telluride photodiodes for infrared wavelength detection. However, surface or interface leakage current has been a major issue for superlattice avalanche photodiodes, especially in infrared wavelength region. First, passivation of the superlattice device with ammonium sulfide and thioacetamide was carried out, and its surface quality was studied by X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy. The study showed that both ammonium sulfide and thiacetamide passivation can actively remove the native oxide at the surface. Thiacetamide passivation combine more sulfur bonds with III-V elements than that of ammonium sulfide. Another X-ray photoelectron spectra of thiacetamide-treated atomic layer deposited zinc sulfide capped InAs/GaSb superlattice was performed to investigate the interface sulfur bond conditions. Sb--S and As--S bonds disappear while In-S bond gets enhanced, indicating that Indium Sulfide should be the major components at the interface after ZnS deposition. Second, the simulation of electrical characteristics for zinc sulfide, silicon nitride and silicon dioxide passivated superlattice devices was performed by SILVACO software to fit the experimental results and to discover the surface current mechanism. Different surface current mechanism strengths were found. Third, several novel dual-carrier avalanche photodiode structures were designed and simulated. The structures had alternate carrier multiplication regions, placed next to a wider electron multiplication region, creating dual-carrier multiplication feedback systems. Gain and excess noise factor of these structures were simulated and compared based on the dead space multiplication theory under uniform electric field. From the simulation, the applied bias can be greatly lowered or the thickness can be shrunk to achieve the same gain from the conventional device. The width of the thin region was the most critical parameter determining the device performance.

  20. [Comparative analysis of the maternal motivation expression in WAG/Rij and Wistar rats in the place preference and open field tests].

    PubMed

    Dobriakova, Iu V; Tanaeva, K K; Dubynin, V A; Sarkisova, K Iu

    2014-01-01

    Maternal behavior in females of WAG/Rij and Wistar rats was compared in the place preference test from 2 to 8 days after delivery, as well as in the open field test from 4 to 6 days after delivery. In females of WAG/Rij rats compared with females of Wistar rats weaker expression of maternal motivation has been revealed in both tests: they spend less time in the compartment associated with pups. Moreover, in females of WAG/Rij rats, number of approaches to pups, number of pup-carryings and time spent with pups (time of contacts) were less than in females of Wistar rats. Reduced maternal motivation in females of WAG/Rij rats in the place preference test persisted in repeated testing, while in the open field test it was detected only in the first testing, indicating higher reliability of the place preference test for revealing inter-strain differences in the expression of maternal motivation. It is supposed that weaker expression of maternal behavior and preference is due to hypo-function of the mesolimbic dopaminergic bran system in WAG/Rij rats as a genetic model of depression associated with absence epilepsy.

  1. Postcards from the Field: Using the Web to Bring Near-Real Time Field Work to the Public

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Genyuk, J.; Johnson, R. M.; Gardiner, L.; Russell, R.; Bergman, J.; Lagrave, M.; Hatheway, B.; Foster, S.; Araujo-Pradere, E. A.

    2007-12-01

    Field work is one of the aspects of a career in the geosciences that can make it so attractive to students and the public. The chance to go to exciting places, and to see amazing things, while making new discoveries is almost too good to be true. The "Postcards from the Field" capability, developed and implemented in the Windows to the Universe website project in 2006, is now providing a new ability to bring this excitement to a large and global audience online. Windows to the Universe is an extremely popular interdisciplinary Earth and space science educational website, with over 20 million visitors per year, including a large following of students and educators. The website is composed of over 7000 interlinked web pages spanning the geosciences, at three levels of sophistication, in English and Spanish. Our Postcards from the Field capability, which was originally developed in support of a major field campaign in Mexico City in 2006 (the Megacity Initiative: Local and Global Research Observations campaign - MILAGRO), has now been generalized to support submissions from researchers engaged in multiple field campaigns. To date, in addition to postcards submitted during the MILAGRO campaign, we have hosted postcards from researchers and educators studying the life cycle of Adelie penguins in the Antarctic, the East Pacific Rise as a component of the RIDGE2000 program, and storm formation in Europe as a component of the Convective and Orographically- induced Precipitation Study (COPS). We are now expanding our postcard lines to include submissions from researchers engaged in the IPY and educators engaged with the ANDRILL (ANtarctic Geologic DRILLing) Research Immersion for Science Educators program. This presentation will present this new capability, its ease of use, and our vision for how it can be used to bring the excitement of field research to the public, students, and educators online.

  2. Particle acceleration in the dynamic magnetotail: Orbits in self-consistent three-dimensional MHD fields

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Birn, Joachim; Hesse, Michael

    1994-01-01

    The acceleration of protons in a dynamically evolving magnetotail is investigated by tracing particles in the fields obtained from a three-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation. The MHD simulation, representing plasmoid formation and ejection through a near-Earth reconnection process, leads to cross-tail electric fields of up to approximately 4 mV/m with integrated voltages across the tail of up to approximately 200 kV. Energization of particles takes place over a wide range along the tail, due to the large spatial extent of the increased electric field together with the finite cross-tail extent of the electric field region. Such accelerated particles appear earthward of the neutral line over a significant portion of the closed field line region inside of the separatrix, not just in the vicinity of the separatrix. Two different acceleration processes are identified: a 'quasi-potential' acceleration, due to particle motion in the direction of the cross-tail electric field, and a 'quasi-betatron' effect, which consists of multiple energy gains from repeated crossings of the acceleration region, mostly on Speiser-type orbits, in the spatially varying induced electric field. The major source region for accelerated particles in the hundreds of keV range is the central plasma sheet at the dawn flank outside the reconnection site. Since this source plasma is already hot and dense, its moderate energization by a factor of approximately 2 may be sufficient to explain the observed increases in the energetic particle fluxes. Particles from the tail are the source of beams at the plasma sheet/lobe boundary. The temporal increase in the energetic particle fluxes, estimated from the increase in energy gain, occurs on a fast timescale of a few minutes, coincident with a strong increase in B(sub z), despite the fact that the inner boundary ('injection boundary') of the distribution of energized particles is fairly smooth.

  3. From grid cells and visual place cells to multimodal place cell: a new robotic architecture

    PubMed Central

    Jauffret, Adrien; Cuperlier, Nicolas; Gaussier, Philippe

    2015-01-01

    In the present study, a new architecture for the generation of grid cells (GC) was implemented on a real robot. In order to test this model a simple place cell (PC) model merging visual PC activity and GC was developed. GC were first built from a simple “several to one” projection (similar to a modulo operation) performed on a neural field coding for path integration (PI). Robotics experiments raised several practical and theoretical issues. To limit the important angular drift of PI, head direction information was introduced in addition to the robot proprioceptive signal coming from the wheel rotation. Next, a simple associative learning between visual place cells and the neural field coding for the PI has been used to recalibrate the PI and to limit its drift. Finally, the parameters controlling the shape of the PC built from the GC have been studied. Increasing the number of GC obviously improves the shape of the resulting place field. Yet, other parameters such as the discretization factor of PI or the lateral interactions between GC can have an important impact on the place field quality and avoid the need of a very large number of GC. In conclusion, our results show our GC model based on the compression of PI is congruent with neurobiological studies made on rodent. GC firing patterns can be the result of a modulo transformation of PI information. We argue that such a transformation may be a general property of the connectivity from the cortex to the entorhinal cortex. Our model predicts that the effect of similar transformations on other kinds of sensory information (visual, tactile, auditory, etc…) in the entorhinal cortex should be observed. Consequently, a given EC cell should react to non-contiguous input configurations in non-spatial conditions according to the projection from its different inputs. PMID:25904862

  4. Experimental and Monte Carlo measurements of dose perturbation around a non-radioactive brachytherapy seed in external beam radiotherapy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Steinman, James P.

    I-125 seeds used in permanent prostate brachytherapy are composed of high-Z metals and may number from 40 to over 100 in a typical implant. If any supplemental external beam treatment is administered afterward (as for salvaging failed brachytherapy treatment), it is possible that the seeds may cause substantial dose perturbation which will depend on numerous factors (photon energy, depth, field size, number of seeds, etc.) and this effect needs to be thoroughly investigated. Film measurements were primarily done using Kodak XV2 layered above and below a non-radioactive I-125 seed placed in a groove on a Lucite plate with 5 cm buildup and 10 cm backscatter added at 95 cm SSD. The phantom was irradiated with and without seed with 6 MV photons for a 1 x 1 cm2 field size. Monte Carlo simulations were carried out using DOSXYZnrc using the same parameters and compared with Gafchromic EBT2 film. Other comparisons looked at changing energy, depth, and field size in both with and without seeds configuration. This study was further extended to include metals of various Z of the seed's dimensions and also looked into effect of 3 seeds spaced 0.5 cm vertically. Another measurement was done using two opposing fields using single as well as 3 seed configuration to see whether the dose enhancement and attenuation cancel out in multi-field treatments which is the norm clinically in a prostate treatment. For a single I-125 seed, on XV film a localized dose enhancement of 6.3% upstream and -10.9% downstream was noticed. With three seeds, this effect did not change. With two opposing fields, a cold spot around the seed of ~3% was noticed from film measurements. Increasing energy and field size decreased the effect while increase in Z of material greatly increased the effect. Increasing depth appeared to have no effect. DOSXYZnrc and EBT2 film verified maximum dose enhancement of +15% upstream and -20% downstream of the I-125 seed surface. In general, the range of the effect was limited to ~2 mm upstream and ~5 mm downstream with reference to the seed surface in relation to the incident photon beam. As with other heterogeneities in a human body, the dose perturbation due to I-125 seeds in external beam radiotherapy depends on incident beam energy, field size, and the composition of the seed. However, unlike other heterogeneities, no depth dependence of the seed in the material was noted. With multiple seeds spaced apart and multiple fields normally used in prostate treatment, the dose perturbation due to them may not be clinically significant.

  5. Object-Based Image Analysis Beyond Remote Sensing - the Human Perspective

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Blaschke, T.; Lang, S.; Tiede, D.; Papadakis, M.; Györi, A.

    2016-06-01

    We introduce a prototypical methodological framework for a place-based GIS-RS system for the spatial delineation of place while incorporating spatial analysis and mapping techniques using methods from different fields such as environmental psychology, geography, and computer science. The methodological lynchpin for this to happen - when aiming to delineate place in terms of objects - is object-based image analysis (OBIA).

  6. Exploring Place and Practicing Justice: Preparing Pre-Service Teachers for Success in Rural Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Azano, Amy Price; Stewart, Trevor Thomas

    2015-01-01

    This article examines efforts made by a teacher preparation program to provide pre-service teachers with an introduction to the rural context, strategies for place-based pedagogy, and a field experience in rural schools. The study explores the influence of these efforts, along with how students' sense of place and educational upbringing, might be…

  7. The electric field change caused by a ground flash with multiple channels

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nakano, Minoru; Takagi, Nobuyuki; Arima, Izumi; Kawasaki, Zen-Ichiro; Takeuti, Tosio

    1991-01-01

    The electric field and the magnetic flux changes caused by a ground flash with multiple channels are measured near the electric power transmission lines during winter thunderstorms. Triggered lightning strokes and the following associated strokes to the transmission line towers produce characteristic waveforms of the field changes. A few examples of the waveforms and a brief discussion are given.

  8. Impact of electrode sequence on electrochemical removal of trichloroethylene from aqueous solution

    PubMed Central

    Rajic, Ljiljana; Fallahpour, Noushin; Alshawabkeh, Akram N.

    2015-01-01

    The electrode sequence in a mixed flow-through electrochemical cell is evaluated to improve the hydrodechlorination (HDC) of trichloroethylene (TCE) in aqueous solutions. In a mixed (undivided) electrochemical cell, oxygen generated at the anode competes with the transformation of target contaminants at the cathode. In this study, we evaluate the effect of placing the anode downstream from the cathode and using multiple electrodes to promote TCE reduction. Experiments with a cathode followed by an anode (C→A) and an anode followed by a cathode (A→C) were conducted using mixed metal oxide (MMO) and iron as electrode materials. The TCE removal rates when the anode is placed downstream of the cathode (C→A) were 54% by MMO→MMO, 64% by MMO→Fe and 87% by Fe→MMO sequence. Removal rates when the anode is placed upstream of the cathode (A→C) were 38% by MMO→MMO, 58% by Fe→MMO and 69% by MMO→Fe sequence. Placing the anode downstream of the cathode positively improves (by 26%) the degradation of aqueous TCE in a mixed flow-through cell as it minimizes the influence of oxygen generated at the MMO anode on TCE reduction at the cathode. Furthermore, placing the MMO anode downstream of the cathode neutralizes pH and redox potential of the treated solution. Higher flow velocity under the C→A setup increases TCE mass flux reduction rate. Using multiple cathodes and an iron foam cathode up stream of the anode increase the removal rate by 1.6 and 2.4 times, respectively. More than 99% of TCE was removed in the presence of Pd catalyst on carbon and as an iron foam coating. Enhanced reaction rates found in this study imply that a mixed flow-through electrochemical cell with multiple cathodes up stream of an anode is an effective method to promote the reduction of TCE in groundwater. PMID:25931774

  9. Electromagnetic fields in small systems from a multiphase transport model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhao, Xin-Li; Ma, Yu-Gang; Ma, Guo-Liang

    2018-02-01

    We calculate the electromagnetic fields generated in small systems by using a multiphase transport (AMPT) model. Compared to A +A collisions, we find that the absolute electric and magnetic fields are not small in p +Au and d +Au collisions at energies available at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and in p +Pb collisions at energies available at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. We study the centrality dependencies and the spatial distributions of electromagnetic fields. We further investigate the azimuthal fluctuations of the magnetic field and its correlation with the fluctuating geometry using event-by-event simulations. We find that the azimuthal correlation 〈" close="〉cos(ϕα+ϕβ-2 ΨRP)〉">cos2 (ΨB-Ψ2) between the magnetic field direction and the second-harmonic participant plane is almost zero in small systems with high multiplicities, but not in those with low multiplicities. This indicates that the charge azimuthal correlation is not a valid probe to study the chiral magnetic effect (CME) in small systems with high multiplicities. However, we suggest searching for possible CME effects in small systems with low multiplicities.

  10. Short-Range Temporal Interactions in Sleep; Hippocampal Spike Avalanches Support a Large Milieu of Sequential Activity Including Replay

    PubMed Central

    Mahoney, J. Matthew; Titiz, Ali S.; Hernan, Amanda E.; Scott, Rod C.

    2016-01-01

    Hippocampal neural systems consolidate multiple complex behaviors into memory. However, the temporal structure of neural firing supporting complex memory consolidation is unknown. Replay of hippocampal place cells during sleep supports the view that a simple repetitive behavior modifies sleep firing dynamics, but does not explain how multiple episodes could be integrated into associative networks for recollection during future cognition. Here we decode sequential firing structure within spike avalanches of all pyramidal cells recorded in sleeping rats after running in a circular track. We find that short sequences that combine into multiple long sequences capture the majority of the sequential structure during sleep, including replay of hippocampal place cells. The ensemble, however, is not optimized for maximally producing the behavior-enriched episode. Thus behavioral programming of sequential correlations occurs at the level of short-range interactions, not whole behavioral sequences and these short sequences are assembled into a large and complex milieu that could support complex memory consolidation. PMID:26866597

  11. High speed internal permanent magnet machine and method of manufacturing the same

    DOEpatents

    Alexander, James Pellegrino [Ballston Lake, NY; EL-Refaie, Ayman Mohamed Fawzi [Niskayuna, NY; Lokhandwalla, Murtuza [Clifton Park, NY; Shah, Manoj Ramprasad [Latham, NY; VanDam, Jeremy Daniel [West Coxsackie, NY

    2011-09-13

    An internal permanent magnet (IPM) machine is provided. The IPM machine includes a stator assembly and a stator core. The stator core also includes multiple stator teeth. The stator assembly is further configured with stator windings to generate a magnetic field when excited with alternating currents and extends along a longitudinal axis with an inner surface defining a cavity. The IPM machine also includes a rotor assembly and a rotor core. The rotor core is disposed inside the cavity and configured to rotate about the longitudinal axis. The rotor assembly further includes a shaft. The shaft further includes multiple protrusions alternately arranged relative to multiple bottom structures provided on the shaft. The rotor assembly also includes multiple stacks of laminations disposed on the protrusions and dovetailed circumferentially around the shaft. The rotor assembly further includes multiple permanent magnets for generating a magnetic field, which interacts with the stator magnetic field to produce torque. The permanent magnets are disposed between the stacks. The rotor assembly also includes multiple bottom wedges disposed on the bottom structures of the shaft and configured to hold the multiple stacks and the multiple permanent magnets.

  12. Strategies for Faculty Development.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hynes, William J.

    1984-01-01

    The successful Career Redirection Program of Regis College is described and placed in the context of a multiple-option faculty development program, with its accompanying theoretical rationale. (Author/MLW)

  13. Field evaluations of "ShapeAccelArray" in-place MEMS inclinometer strings for subsurface deformation monitoring.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2012-03-01

    Continuous monitoring of subsurface ground movements is accomplished with in-place instruments utilizing automated data acquisition methods. These typically include TDR (Time Domain Reflectometry) or assemblies of several servo-accelerometer-based, e...

  14. Cold in-place recycle phase III, mix design.

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2014-10-01

    This projects purpose is to revise the UDOT accepted design methods for Cold In-Place Recycling so that they : better reflect field behavior and target the desirable attributes of the material. The previous design process failed to : adequately pr...

  15. Calculation of Pareto-optimal solutions to multiple-objective problems using threshold-of-acceptability constraints

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Giesy, D. P.

    1978-01-01

    A technique is presented for the calculation of Pareto-optimal solutions to a multiple-objective constrained optimization problem by solving a series of single-objective problems. Threshold-of-acceptability constraints are placed on the objective functions at each stage to both limit the area of search and to mathematically guarantee convergence to a Pareto optimum.

  16. Predictive Validity of a Multiple-Choice Test for Placement in a Community College

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Verbout, Mary F.

    2013-01-01

    Multiple-choice tests of punctuation and usage are used throughout the United States to assess the writing skills of new community college students in order to place them in either a basic writing course or first-year composition. To determine whether using the COMPASS Writing Test (CWT) is a valid placement at a community college, student test…

  17. Reframing Notions of Identity, Learning, and Culture through the Use of Performing and Visual Arts within a Detention Center

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Turner, Sean Gregory

    2013-01-01

    This study examines a multimodal arts-based inquiry that took place within a secure detention center. The inquiry was inclusive of design, rehearsal, and production activities that culminated into a final theatre production. The methods for this study included pulling from multiple disciplines to develop multiple perspectives towards the data as…

  18. Relation of Parental Transitions to Boys' Adjustment Problems: I.A. Linear Hypothesis II. Mothers at Risk for Transitions and Unskilled Parenting.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Capaldi, D. M.; Patterson, G. R.

    1991-01-01

    Examined the adjustment of boys from intact, single-mother, stepfather, and multiple-transition families. Boys who had experienced multiple transitions showed the poorest adjustment. The antisocial mother was most at risk for transitions and unskilled parenting practices, which in turn placed her son at risk for poor adjustment. (BC)

  19. Explorative Function in Williams Syndrome Analyzed through a Large-Scale Task with Multiple Rewards

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Foti, F.; Petrosini, L.; Cutuli, D.; Menghini, D.; Chiarotti, F.; Vicari, S.; Mandolesi, L.

    2011-01-01

    This study aimed to evaluate spatial function in subjects with Williams syndrome (WS) by using a large-scale task with multiple rewards and comparing the spatial abilities of WS subjects with those of mental age-matched control children. In the present spatial task, WS participants had to explore an open space to search nine rewards placed in…

  20. Communication: Control of chemical reactions using electric field gradients.

    PubMed

    Deshmukh, Shivaraj D; Tsori, Yoav

    2016-05-21

    We examine theoretically a new idea for spatial and temporal control of chemical reactions. When chemical reactions take place in a mixture of solvents, an external electric field can alter the local mixture composition, thereby accelerating or decelerating the rate of reaction. The spatial distribution of electric field strength can be non-trivial and depends on the arrangement of the electrodes producing it. In the absence of electric field, the mixture is homogeneous and the reaction takes place uniformly in the reactor volume. When an electric field is applied, the solvents separate and the reactants are concentrated in the same phase or separate to different phases, depending on their relative miscibility in the solvents, and this can have a large effect on the kinetics of the reaction. This method could provide an alternative way to control runaway reactions and to increase the reaction rate without using catalysts.

  1. Optical fiber F-P magnetic field sensor based on magnetostrictive effect of magnetic fluid

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shi, Fuquan; Luo, Yan; Che, Jiajia; Ren, Zhijun; peng, Baojin

    2018-07-01

    magnetic field sensor of air-gap Fabry-Perot fiber interferometersis proposed based on magnetostrictive effect. The sensor is consisted of single-model fiber (SMF), air-gap, no-core fiber (NCF) and magnetic fluid. Those are sealed in the capillary, SMF and NCF are connect with air chamber and magnetic fluid column. With the presence of an external magnetic field, air chamber cavity length changes because of the magneto-volume variation of magnetic fluids. This situation causes a change in the optical path difference. Detection of the drift of interference spectrum leads to the detection of the change in magnetic field. When the magnetic field is parallel to the direction in which the capillary is placed, the sensitivity is 0.2347 nm/mT; when the magnetic fluid is perpendicular to the direction in which the capillary is placed, the sensitivity is 0.325 nm/http://mT.%20In.

  2. Compliance with smoke-free legislation and smoking behaviour: observational field study from Punjab, India.

    PubMed

    Goel, Sonu; Sharma, Deepak; Gupta, Rakesh; Mahajan, Vini

    2017-08-10

    Indian smoke-free legislation requires prohibition of smoking at public places and owners of public places to display 'no smoking' signages. The study aims to assess the compliance of public places with smoke-free legislation and determine the factors associated with active smoking in public places. This was a cross-sectional analytic observational quantitative survey conducted by a team of trained field investigators using a structured observational checklist across 6875 public places in Punjab state of India. The study was carried out over a period of 3 years. A total of 6875 public places across 22 districts of Punjab were observed. The overall compliance to smoke-free law in Punjab was 83.8%. The highest overall compliance was observed in healthcare facilities (89.6%) and least in transit stations (78.8%). Less active smoking was observed in public places where display of 'no smoking' signage compliant with smoke-free law of India was present (adjusted OR 0.6). Further, there was a positive association between active smoking and places where the owner of public places smoked (OR 5.2, CI 2.5 to 11.1). More than 80% of the public places in a jurisdiction in north India were compliant with the smoke-free legislation of India. 'No smoking' signages displayed as per legislation have an effect on curbing smoking behaviours at public places. It is recommended that policymakers should focus more on implementing the smoke-free law at transit sites and structured training sessions should be organised for owners of workplaces. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  3. The ecology of vector snail habitats and mosquito breeding-places

    PubMed Central

    Muirhead-Thomson, R. C.

    1958-01-01

    The ecology of freshwater snails—in particular those which act as intermediate hosts of bilharziasis—is reviewed in the light of the much more extensive knowledge available on the breeding-places of anopheline mosquitos. Experimental ecological methods are recommended for the field and laboratory investigation of a number of common problems involved in the study of snail habitats and mosquito breeding-places. Among the environmental factors discussed are temperature, oxygen concentration, water movement, pollution and salinity. Sampling methods for estimating populations of both snails and mosquito larvae are also described. An attempt is made to show how malacologists and entomologists alike would benefit from improved facilities for keeping abreast of general developments in the wider field of freshwater ecology. PMID:13596888

  4. A simple method for multiday imaging of slice cultures.

    PubMed

    Seidl, Armin H; Rubel, Edwin W

    2010-01-01

    The organotypic slice culture (Stoppini et al. A simple method for organotypic cultures of nervous tissue. 1991;37:173-182) has become the method of choice to answer a variety of questions in neuroscience. For many experiments, however, it would be beneficial to image or manipulate a slice culture repeatedly, for example, over the course of many days. We prepared organotypic slice cultures of the auditory brainstem of P3 and P4 mice and kept them in vitro for up to 4 weeks. Single cells in the auditory brainstem were transfected with plasmids expressing fluorescent proteins by way of electroporation (Haas et al. Single-cell electroporation for gene transfer in vivo. 2001;29:583-591). The culture was then placed in a chamber perfused with oxygenated ACSF and the labeled cell imaged with an inverted wide-field microscope repeatedly for multiple days, recording several time-points per day, before returning the slice to the incubator. We describe a simple method to image a slice culture preparation during the course of multiple days and over many continuous hours, without noticeable damage to the tissue or photobleaching. Our method uses a simple, inexpensive custom-built insulator constructed around the microscope to maintain controlled temperature and uses a perfusion chamber as used for in vitro slice recordings. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  5. Long-run growth rate in a random multiplicative model

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

    Pirjol, Dan

    2014-08-01

    We consider the long-run growth rate of the average value of a random multiplicative process x{sub i+1} = a{sub i}x{sub i} where the multipliers a{sub i}=1+ρexp(σW{sub i}₋1/2 σ²t{sub i}) have Markovian dependence given by the exponential of a standard Brownian motion W{sub i}. The average value (x{sub n}) is given by the grand partition function of a one-dimensional lattice gas with two-body linear attractive interactions placed in a uniform field. We study the Lyapunov exponent λ=lim{sub n→∞}1/n log(x{sub n}), at fixed β=1/2 σ²t{sub n}n, and show that it is given by the equation of state of the lattice gas inmore » thermodynamical equilibrium. The Lyapunov exponent has discontinuous partial derivatives along a curve in the (ρ, β) plane ending at a critical point (ρ{sub C}, β{sub C}) which is related to a phase transition in the equivalent lattice gas. Using the equivalence of the lattice gas with a bosonic system, we obtain the exact solution for the equation of state in the thermodynamical limit n → ∞.« less

  6. Similarity of the Jovian satellite footprints: Spots multiplicity and dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bonfond, B.; Grodent, D.; Badman, S. V.; Saur, J.; Gérard, J.-C.; Radioti, A.

    2017-08-01

    In the magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn, the intense interaction of the satellites Io, Europa, Ganymede and Enceladus with their surrounding plasma environment leaves a signature in the aurora of the planet. Called satellite footprints, these auroral features appear either as a single spot (Europa and Enceladus) or as multiple spots (Io and Ganymede). Moreover, they can be followed by extended trailing tails in the case of Io and Europa, while no tail has been reported for Ganymede and Enceladus, yet. Here we show that all Jovian footprints can be made of several spots. Furthermore, the footprints all experience brightness variations on timescale of 2-3 min. We also demonstrate that the satellite location relative to the plasma sheet is not the only driver for the footprint brightness, but that the plasma environment and the magnetic field strength also play a role. These new findings demonstrate that the Europa and Ganymede footprints are very similar to the Io footprint. As a consequence, the processes expected to take place at Io, such as the bi-directional electron acceleration by Alfvén waves or the partial reflection of these waves on plasma density gradients, can most likely be extended to the other footprints, suggesting that they are indeed universal processes.

  7. Development of a 6LiF/ZnS-based Neutron Multiplicity Counter

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

    Stave, Sean C.; Behling, Richard S.; Bernacki, Bruce E.

    2016-10-06

    Abstract–Neutron multiplicity counters are used in safeguards to provide rapid assay of samples which contain an unknown amount of plutonium in a potentially unknown configuration. A project at PNNL is using regular and nickel-quenched 6LiF/ZnS neutron-scintillator sheets and wavelength shifting plastic for light pipes in place of 3He. A combination of laboratory and modeling work predicts a LiF/ZnS-based system to be able to match or exceed the performance of the best 3He-based systems available. Also, the Ni-quenched material is expected to allow for improved neutron/gamma-ray discrimination at twice the event rate relative to the non-Ni-quenched LiF/ZnS. A new system basedmore » on the LiF/ZnS material is under construction and components are being used to optimize the detection efficiency and neutron/gamma-ray discrimination properties. Components of the new system are partially constructed and undergoing performance testing utilizing high-speed digitizers with field programmable gate arrays to perform the neutron/gamma-ray discrimination. The expected performance of the full-scale system is expected to be nearly the same as for 3He-based systems and is due for completion in 2016.« less

  8. Synaptic connectivity and spatial memory: a topological approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Milton, Russell; Babichev, Andrey; Dabaghian, Yuri

    2015-03-01

    In the hippocampus, a network of place cells generates a cognitive map of space, in which each cell is responsive to a particular area of the environment - its place field. The peak response of each cell and the size of each place field have considerable variability. Experimental evidence suggests that place cells encode a topological map of space that serves as a basis of spatial memory and spatial awareness. Using a computational model based on Persistent Homology Theory we demonstrate that if the parameters of the place cells spiking activity fall inside of the physiological range, the network correctly encodes the topological features of the environment. We next introduce parameters of synaptic connectivity into the model and demonstrate that failures in synapses that detect coincident neuronal activity lead to spatial learning deficiencies similar to the ones that are observed in rodent models of neurodegenerative diseases. Moreover, we show that these learning deficiencies may be mitigated by increasing the number of active cells and/or by increasing their firing rate, suggesting the existence of a compensatory mechanism inherent to the cognitive map.

  9. Analysis of peripheral doses for base of tongue treatment by linear accelerator and helical TomoTherapy IMRT

    PubMed Central

    Lamba, Michael A. S.; Elson, Howard R.

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the peripheral doses to various organs from a typical head and neck intensity‐modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment delivered by linear accelerator (linac) and helical TomoTherapy. Multiple human CT data sets were used to segment critical structures and organs at risk, fused and adjusted to an anthropomorphic phantom. Eighteen contours were designated for thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) placement. Following the RTOG IMRT Protocol 0522, treatment of the primary tumor and involved nodes (PTV70) and subclinical disease sites (PTV56) was planned utilizing IMRT to 70 Gy and 56 Gy. Clinically acceptable treatment plans were produced for linac and TomoTherapy treatments. TLDs were placed and each treatment plan was delivered to the anthropomorphic phantom four times. Within 2.5 cm (one helical TomoTherapy field width) superior and inferior to the field edges, normal tissue doses were on average 45% lower using linear accelerator. Beyond 2.5 cm, the helical TomoTherapy normal tissue dose was an average of 52% lower. The majority of points proved to be statistically different using the Student's t‐test with p<0.05. Using one method of calculation, probability of a secondary malignancy was 5.88% for the linear accelerator and 4.08% for helical TomoTherapy. Helical TomoTherapy delivers more dose than a linac immediately above and below the treatment field, contributing to the higher peripheral doses adjacent to the field. At distances beyond one field width (where leakage is dominant), helical TomoTherapy doses are lower than linear accelerator doses. PACS number: 87.50.cm Dosimetry/exposure assessment

  10. Optical magnetic imaging of living cells

    PubMed Central

    Le Sage, D.; Arai, K.; Glenn, D. R.; DeVience, S. J.; Pham, L. M.; Rahn-Lee, L.; Lukin, M. D.; Yacoby, A.; Komeili, A.; Walsworth, R. L.

    2013-01-01

    Magnetic imaging is a powerful tool for probing biological and physical systems. However, existing techniques either have poor spatial resolution compared to optical microscopy and are hence not generally applicable to imaging of sub-cellular structure (e.g., magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]1), or entail operating conditions that preclude application to living biological samples while providing sub-micron resolution (e.g., scanning superconducting quantum interference device [SQUID] microscopy2, electron holography3, and magnetic resonance force microscopy [MRFM]4). Here we demonstrate magnetic imaging of living cells (magnetotactic bacteria) under ambient laboratory conditions and with sub-cellular spatial resolution (400 nm), using an optically-detected magnetic field imaging array consisting of a nanoscale layer of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) colour centres implanted at the surface of a diamond chip. With the bacteria placed on the diamond surface, we optically probe the NV quantum spin states and rapidly reconstruct images of the vector components of the magnetic field created by chains of magnetic nanoparticles (magnetosomes) produced in the bacteria, and spatially correlate these magnetic field maps with optical images acquired in the same apparatus. Wide-field sCMOS acquisition allows parallel optical and magnetic imaging of multiple cells in a population with sub-micron resolution and >100 micron field-of-view. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the bacteria confirm that the correlated optical and magnetic images can be used to locate and characterize the magnetosomes in each bacterium. The results provide a new capability for imaging bio-magnetic structures in living cells under ambient conditions with high spatial resolution, and will enable the mapping of a wide range of magnetic signals within cells and cellular networks5, 6. PMID:23619694

  11. Multiple magnetic transitions in EuNiSi3

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Patil, Sujata M.; Paulose, P. L.

    2018-04-01

    EuNiSi3 undergoes multiple magnetic transitions below 50K. We have studied this system using low field ac susceptibility and 151Eu Mössbauer spectroscopy to understand the nature of multiple magnetic transitions. The estimated hyperfine field (hf) at Eu site at 5K is 45 Tesla which is unusually large compared to the normal observed hf of 33T in most of the Eu intermetallics.

  12. Helicopter noise experiments in an urban environment

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    1974-08-01

    In two series of helicopter noise experiments, soundpressurelevel recordings were made on the ground while a helicopter flew over (i) an array of microphones placed in an open field, and (ii) a similar array placed in the center of a city stree...

  13. The search for multiple populations in Magellanic Cloud Clusters IV: Coeval multiple stellar populations in the young star cluster NGC 1978

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martocchia, S.; Niederhofer, F.; Dalessandro, E.; Bastian, N.; Kacharov, N.; Usher, C.; Cabrera-Ziri, I.; Lardo, C.; Cassisi, S.; Geisler, D.; Hilker, M.; Hollyhead, K.; Kozhurina-Platais, V.; Larsen, S.; Mackey, D.; Mucciarelli, A.; Platais, I.; Salaris, M.

    2018-04-01

    We have recently shown that the ˜2 Gyr old Large Magellanic Cloud star cluster NGC 1978 hosts multiple populations in terms of star-to-star abundance variations in [N/Fe]. These can be seen as a splitting or spread in the sub-giant and red giant branches (SGB and RGB) when certain photometric filter combinations are used. Due to its relative youth, NGC 1978 can be used to place stringent limits on whether multiple bursts of star-formation have taken place within the cluster, as predicted by some models for the origin of multiple populations. We carry out two distinct analyses to test whether multiple star-formation epochs have occurred within NGC 1978. First, we use UV CMDs to select stars from the first and second population along the SGB, and then compare their positions in optical CMDs, where the morphology is dominantly controlled by age as opposed to multiple population effects. We find that the two populations are indistinguishable, with age differences of 1 ± 20 Myr between them. This is in tension with predictions from the AGB scenario for the origin of multiple populations. Second, we estimate the broadness of the main sequence turnoff (MSTO) of NGC 1978 and we report that it is consistent with the observational errors. We find an upper limit of ˜65 Myr on the age spread in the MSTO of NGC 1978. This finding is in conflict with the age spread scenario as origin of the extendend MSTO in intermediate age clusters, while it fully supports predictions from the stellar rotation model.

  14. The search for multiple populations in Magellanic Cloud clusters - IV. Coeval multiple stellar populations in the young star cluster NGC 1978

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martocchia, S.; Niederhofer, F.; Dalessandro, E.; Bastian, N.; Kacharov, N.; Usher, C.; Cabrera-Ziri, I.; Lardo, C.; Cassisi, S.; Geisler, D.; Hilker, M.; Hollyhead, K.; Kozhurina-Platais, V.; Larsen, S.; Mackey, D.; Mucciarelli, A.; Platais, I.; Salaris, M.

    2018-07-01

    We have recently shown that the ˜2 Gyr old Large Magellanic Cloud star cluster NGC 1978 hosts multiple populations in terms of star-to-star abundance variations in [N/Fe]. These can be seen as a splitting or spread in the subgiant and red giant branches (SGB and RGB) when certain photometric filter combinations are used. Because of its relative youth, NGC 1978 can be used to place stringent limits on whether multiple bursts of star formation have taken place within the cluster, as predicted by some models for the origin of multiple populations. We carry out two distinct analyses to test whether multiple star formation epochs have occurred within NGC 1978. First, we use ultraviolet colour-magnitude diagrams (CMDs) to select stars from the first and second population along the SGB, and then compare their positions in optical CMDs, where the morphology is dominantly controlled by age as opposed to multiple population effects. We find that the two populations are indistinguishable, with age differences of 1 ± 20 Myr between them. This is in tension with predictions from the asymptotic giant branch scenario for the origin of multiple populations. Second, we estimate the broadness of the main-sequence turn-off (MSTO) of NGC 1978 and we report that it is consistent with the observational errors. We find an upper limit of ˜65 Myr on the age spread in the MSTO of NGC 1978. This finding is in conflict with the age spread scenario as origin of the extended MSTO in intermediate-age clusters, while it fully supports predictions from the stellar rotation model.

  15. Effect of multiple engine placement on aeroelastic trim and stability of flying wing aircraft

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mardanpour, Pezhman; Richards, Phillip W.; Nabipour, Omid; Hodges, Dewey H.

    2014-01-01

    Effects of multiple engine placement on flutter characteristics of a backswept flying wing resembling the HORTEN IV are investigated using the code NATASHA (Nonlinear Aeroelastic Trim And Stability of HALE Aircraft). Four identical engines with defined mass, inertia, and angular momentum are placed in different locations along the span with different offsets from the elastic axis while fixing the location of the aircraft c.g. The aircraft experiences body freedom flutter along with non-oscillatory instabilities that originate from flight dynamics. Multiple engine placement increases flutter speed particularly when the engines are placed in the outboard portion of the wing (60-70% span), forward of the elastic axis, while the lift to drag ratio is affected negligibly. The behavior of the sub- and supercritical eigenvalues is studied for two cases of engine placement. NATASHA captures a hump body-freedom flutter with low frequency for the clean wing case, which disappears as the engines are placed on the wings. In neither case is there any apparent coalescence between the unstable modes. NATASHA captures other non-oscillatory unstable roots with very small amplitude, apparently originating with flight dynamics. For the clean-wing case, in the absence of aerodynamic and gravitational forces, the regions of minimum kinetic energy density for the first and third bending modes are located around 60% span. For the second mode, this kinetic energy density has local minima around the 20% and 80% span. The regions of minimum kinetic energy of these modes are in agreement with calculations that show a noticeable increase in flutter speed if engines are placed forward of the elastic axis at these regions.

  16. Understanding place and health: a heuristic for using administrative data.

    PubMed

    Frohlich, Katherine L; Dunn, James R; McLaren, Lindsay; Shiell, Alan; Potvin, Louise; Hawe, Penelope; Dassa, Clément; Thurston, Wilfreda E

    2007-06-01

    The increasing availability, use and limitations of administrative data for place-based population health research, and a lack of theory development, created the context for the current paper. We developed a heuristic to interrogate administrative data sets and to help us develop explanatory pathways for linking place and health. Guided by a worked example, we argue that some items in administrative data sets lend themselves to multiple theories, creating problems of inference owing to the implications of using inductive versus deductive reasoning during the research process, and that certain types of theories are privileged when used administrative data bases.

  17. Grounding Service-Learning in the Digital Age: Exploring a Virtual Sense of Geographic Place through Online Collaborative Mapping and Mixed Media

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sandy, Marie G.; Franco, Zeno E.

    2014-01-01

    A sense of place has been an integral part of service-learning since the field's inception; it describes one's attachment to a particular geographic place and is often a precursor to engaging in action to care for localities and their inhabitants. But practicing service-learning in online environments requires reconsidering this core value. Should…

  18. No More Robots: Building Kids' Character, Competence, and Sense of Place. [Re]Thinking Environmental Education. Volume 2

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coulter, Bob

    2014-01-01

    Place-based education offers a compelling opportunity to engage students in the life of their community. More than just taking a field trip, participants in a place-based project make sustained efforts to make a difference and learn basic skills along the way. Academic concepts come to life as real-world problems are investigated from a local…

  19. Learning and teaching for an ecological sense of place: Toward environmental/science education praxis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hug, J. William

    1998-09-01

    This research presents a teaching model designed to enable learners to construct a highly developed ecological perspective and sense of place. The contextually-based research process draws upon scientific and indigenous knowledge from multiple data sources including: autobiographical experiences, environmental literature, science and environmental education research, historical approaches to environmental education, and phenomenological accounts from research participants. Data were analyzed using the theoretical frameworks of qualitative research, hermeneutic phenomenology, heuristics, and constructivism. The resulting model synthesizes and incorporates key educational philosophies and practices from: nature study, resident outdoor education, organized camping, conservation education, environmental education, earth education, outdoor recreation, sustainability, bio-regionalism, deep ecology, ecological and environmental literacy, science and technology in society, and adventure/challenge/experiential education. The model's four components--environmental knowledge, practicing responsible environmental behaviors, community-focused involvement, and direct experience in outdoor settings--contribute in a synergistic way to the development of ecological perspective and a sense of place. The model was honed through experiential use in an environmental science methods course for elementary and secondary prospective science teachers. The instructor/researcher employed individualized instruction, community-based learning, service learning, and the modeling of reflective teaching principles in pursuit of the model's goals. The resulting pedagogical knowledge extends the model's usefulness to such formal and non-formal educational contexts as: elementary/secondary classrooms, nature centers, museums, youth groups, and community organizations. This research has implications for the fields of education, geography, recreation/leisure studies, science teaching, and environmental education. Several aspects of this work make it novel. First, autobiographical and literature-based stories anchor the representations of ecological perspective and sense of place. Second, the dissertation text visually differentiates between story narrative, researcher narrative, and meta-narrative in order to convey the positionality of the researcher's distinct voices. Finally, icons are used throughout the text to visually link the model's multi-dimensional intersections. Oh, and by the way, I hope you read it.

  20. Helical plasma thruster

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

    Beklemishev, A. D., E-mail: bekl@bk.ru

    2015-10-15

    A new scheme of plasma thruster is proposed. It is based on axial acceleration of rotating magnetized plasmas in magnetic field with helical corrugation. The idea is that the propellant ionization zone can be placed into the local magnetic well, so that initially the ions are trapped. The E × B rotation is provided by an applied radial electric field that makes the setup similar to a magnetron discharge. Then, from the rotating plasma viewpoint, the magnetic wells of the helically corrugated field look like axially moving mirror traps. Specific shaping of the corrugation can allow continuous acceleration of trapped plasma ionsmore » along the magnetic field by diamagnetic forces. The accelerated propellant is expelled through the expanding field of magnetic nozzle. By features of the acceleration principle, the helical plasma thruster may operate at high energy densities but requires a rather high axial magnetic field, which places it in the same class as the VASIMR{sup ®} rocket engine.« less

  1. "Contextualizing Context": Reconciling Environmental Exposures, Social Networks, and Location Preferences in Health Research.

    PubMed

    Kestens, Yan; Wasfi, Rania; Naud, Alexandre; Chaix, Basile

    2017-03-01

    The aim of this paper is to review the recent advances in health and place research and discuss concepts useful to explore how context affects health. More specifically, it reviews measures and tools used to account for place; concepts relating to daily mobility and multiple exposure to places, and further points to the intertwining between social and spatial networks to help further our understanding of how context translates into health profiles. Significant advances in environmental or neighborhood effects have been made in the last decades. Specifically, conceptual and methodological developments have improved our consideration of spatial processes, shifting from a residential-based view of context to a more dynamic activity space and daily mobility paradigm. Yet, such advances have led to overlooking other potentially important aspects related to social networks and decision-making processes. With an increasing capacity to collect high-precision data on daily mobility and behavior, new possibilities in understanding how environments relate to behavior and health inequalities arise. Two overlooked aspects need to be addressed: the questions of "with or for whom", and "why". While the former calls for a better consideration of social networks and social interactions, the latter calls for refining our understanding of place preference and decision-making leading to daily mobility and multiple exposures.

  2. "I think I use them, but I'm not sure what each one is called": Integration of multiple literacies in secondary social studies and science classes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lickteig, Amanda D.

    In the past, literacy was viewed solely as the basic, functional skills of reading and writing. However, with the New London Group's (1996) proposal of multiliteracies and the more recent push for a plurality of literacies (NCTE, 2011), teachers have been urged to expand their definitions of literacy. This qualitative study explores how secondary-level social studies and science teachers perceive literacies and identifies their instructional literacies practices. Data were collected through a pre- and post-questionnaire, three focus group sessions, classroom observations, field notes, and artifacts. This study solicited nearly one hundred secondary social studies and science teachers from three Midwestern school districts. Eight educators (four social studies and four science) participated in the study that took place in the spring of 2015. Furthermore, a generous grant from a local chapter of Phi Delta Kappa partially funded this research. After applying initial and holistic codes to the data, nine themes emerged: conventional, progressive, hesitant/emerging, collaborate, calibrate, perform, practice, interdisciplinary, and intradisciplinary. The nine themes were further classified by how they appeared in the data: dispositional themes, behavioral themes, and bridge themes. Throughout the data analysis, contemporary genre theory guided the study (Devitt, 2004). Descriptive codes, derived from contemporary genre theory, further revealed that the situational, social, historical, and individual aspects of genre influence teachers' pedagogical practices related to multiple literacies across disciplines. Therefore, the ways in which teachers perceived multiple literacies and implemented them into classroom instruction are multifaceted and vary depending on grade level, content area, and teaching location. However, teachers' dispositions regarding literacy move beyond a traditional mindset of functional reading and writing as they engage in professional learning opportunities and collaborate within and across disciplines and grade levels. This study provides secondary educators insight into the prominence of multiple literacies present across content areas while also revealing the teaching methods and instructional strategies that foster multiple literacies.

  3. Influence of an electric field on photostimulated states in NH4BPh4 films

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Antonova, O. V.; Nadolinny, V. A.; Il'inchik, E. A.; Trubin, S. V.

    2012-10-01

    The influence of an electric field on stable photostimulated triplet states of NH4BPh4 at a temperature of 77 K have been studied by EPR spectroscopy. It has been established that, on exposure to UV radiation, electron capture by traps in the band gaps takes place with formation of triplet state. After application of an electric field, triplet states are destructed because, with an increase in the applied voltage, a gradual inclination of energy bands takes place and electrons found in traps on different energy levels are released. The assumption that captured electrons are found in traps on different energy levels is confirmed by earlier studies of thermoluminescence spectra.

  4. Spontaneous and electrically modulated spatiotemporal dynamics of the neocortical slow oscillation and associated local fast activity.

    PubMed

    Greenberg, Anastasia; Dickson, Clayton T

    2013-12-01

    The neocortical slow oscillation (SO; ~1Hz) of non-REM sleep and anesthesia reflects synchronized network activity composed of alternating active and silent (ON/OFF) phases at the local network and cellular level. The SO itself shows self-organized spatiotemporal dynamics as it appears to originate at unique foci on each cycle and then propagates across the cortical surface. During sleep, this rhythm is relevant for neuroplastic processes mediating memory consolidation especially since its enhancement by slow, rhythmic electrical fields improves subsequent recall. However, the neurobiological mechanism by which spontaneous or enhanced SO activity might operate on memory traces is unknown. Here we show a series of original results, using cycle to cycle tracking across multiple neocortical sites in urethane anesthetized rats: The spontaneous spatiotemporal dynamics of the SO are complex, showing interfering propagation patterns in the anterior-to-posterior plane. These patterns compete for expression and tend to alternate following phase resets that take place during the silent OFF phase of the SO. Applying sinusoidal electrical field stimulation to the anterior pole of the cerebral cortex progressively entrained local field, gamma, and multi-unit activity at all sites, while disrupting the coordination of endogenous SO activity. Field stimulation also biased propagation in the anterior-to-posterior direction and more notably, enhanced the long-range gamma synchrony between cortical regions. These results are the first to show that changes to slow wave dynamics cause enhancements in high frequency cortico-cortical communication and provide mechanistic clues into how the SO is relevant for sleep-dependent memory consolidation. © 2013.

  5. Static Magnetic Field Therapy: A Critical Review of Treatment Parameters

    PubMed Central

    Wahbeh, Helané; Harling, Noelle; Connelly, Erin; Schiffke, Heather C.; Forsten, Cora; Gregory, William L.; Markov, Marko S.; Souder, James J.; Elmer, Patricia; King, Valerie

    2009-01-01

    Static magnetic field (SMF) therapy, applied via a permanent magnet attached to the skin, is used by people worldwide for self-care. Despite a lack of established SMF dosage and treatment regimens, multiple studies are conducted to evaluate SMF therapy effectiveness. Our objectives in conducting this review are to:(i) summarize SMF research conducted in humans; (ii) critically evaluate reporting quality of SMF dosages and treatment parameters and (iii) propose a set of criteria for reporting SMF treatment parameters in future clinical trials. We searched 27 electronic databases and reference lists. Only English language human studies were included. Excluded were studies of electromagnetic fields, transcranial magnetic stimulation, magnets placed on acupuncture points, animal studies, abstracts, posters and editorials. Data were extracted on clinical indication, study design and 10 essential SMF parameters. Three reviewers assessed quality of reporting and calculated a quality assessment score for each of the 10 treatment parameters. Fifty-six studies were reviewed, 42 conducted in patient populations and 14 in healthy volunteers. The SMF treatment parameters most often and most completely described were site of application, magnet support device and frequency and duration of application. Least often and least completely described were characteristics of the SMF: magnet dimensions, measured field strength and estimated distance of the magnet from the target tissue. Thirty-four (61%) of studies failed to provide enough detail about SMF dosage to permit protocol replication by other investigators. Our findings highlight the need to optimize SMF dosing parameters for individual clinical conditions before proceeding to a full-scale clinical trial. PMID:18955243

  6. Open questions on prominences from coordinated observations by IRIS, Hinode, SDO/AIA, THEMIS, and the Meudon/MSDP

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schmieder, B.; Tian, H.; Kucera, T.; López Ariste, A.; Mein, N.; Mein, P.; Dalmasse, K.; Golub, L.

    2014-09-01

    Context. A large prominence was observed by multiple instruments on the ground and in space during an international campaign on September 24, 2013, for three hours (12:12 UT -15:12 UT). Instruments used in the campaign included the newly launched (June 2013) Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), THEMIS (Tenerife), the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope (SOT), the Solar Dynamic Observatory's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA), and the Multichannel Subtractive Double Pass spectrograph (MSDP) in the Meudon Solar Tower. The movies obtained in 304 Å with the EUV imager SDO/AIA, and in Ca II line by SOT show the dynamic nature of the prominence. Aims: The aim of this work is to study the dynamics of the prominence fine structures in multiple wavelengths to understand their formation. Methods: The spectrographs IRIS and MSDP provided line profiles with a high cadence in Mg II h (2803.5 Å) and k (2796.4 Å) lines along four slit positions (IRIS), and in Hα in a 2D field of view (MSDP). The spectropolarimetry of THEMIS (Tenerife) allowed us to derive the magnetic field of the prominence using the He D3 line depolarization (Hanle effect combined with the Zeeman effect). Results: The magnetic field is found to be globally horizontal with a relatively weak field strength (8-15 Gauss). On the other hand, the Ca II movie reveals turbulent-like motion that is not organized in specific parts of the prominence. We tested the addition of a turbulent magnetic component. This model is compatible with the polarimetric observations at those places where the plasma turbulence peaks. On the other hand, the Mg II line profiles show multiple peaks well separated in wavelength. This is interpreted by the existence of small threads along the line of sight with a large dispersion of discrete values of Doppler shifts, from 5 km s-1 (a quasi-steady component) to 60-80 km s-1. Each peak corresponds to a Gaussian profile, and not to a reversed profile as was expected by the present non-LTE radiative transfer modeling. This is a very surprising behavior for the Mg II line observed in prominences. Conclusions: Turbulent fields on top of the macroscopic horizontal component of the magnetic field supporting the prominence give rise to the complex dynamics of the plasma. The plasma with the high velocities (70 km s-1 to 100 km s-1 if we take into account the transverse velocities) may correspond to condensation of plasma along more or less horizontal threads of the arch-shape structure visible in 304 Å. The steady flows (5 km s-1) would correspond to a more quiescent plasma (cool and prominence-corona transition region) of the prominence packed into dips in horizontal magnetic field lines. The very weak secondary peaks in the Mg II profiles may reflect the turbulent nature of parts of the prominence. Movies are available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org

  7. Pair Cascades and Deathlines in Magnetic Fields with Offset Polar Caps

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Harding, Alice K.; Muslimov, Alex G.

    2012-01-01

    We present results of electron-positron pair cascade simulations in a dipole magnetic field whose polar cap is offset from the dipole axis. In such a field geometry, the polar cap is displaced a small fraction of the neutron star radius from the star symmetry axis and the field line radius of curvature is modified. Using the modified parallel electric field near the offset polar cap, we simulate pair cascades to determine the pair deathlines and pair multiplicities as a function of the offset. We find that the pair multiplicity can change dr;unatically with a modest offset, with a significant increase on one side of the polar cap. Lower pair deathlines allow a larger fraction of the pulsar population, that include old and millisecond pulsars, to produce cascades with high multiplicity. The results have some important implications for pulsar particle production, high-energy emission and cosmic-ray contribution.

  8. Assessment of radio frequency exposures in schools, homes, and public places in Belgium.

    PubMed

    Verloock, Leen; Joseph, Wout; Goeminne, Francis; Martens, Luc; Verlaek, Mart; Constandt, Kim

    2014-12-01

    Characterization of exposure from emerging radio frequency (RF) technologies in areas where children are present is important. Exposure to RF electromagnetic fields (EMF) was assessed in three "sensitive" microenvironments; namely, schools, homes, and public places located in urban environments and compared to exposure in offices. In situ assessment was conducted by performing spatial broadband and accurate narrowband measurements, providing 6-min averaged electric-field strengths. A distinction between internal (transmitters that are located indoors) and external (outdoor sources from broadcasting and telecommunication) sources was made. Ninety-four percent of the broadband measurements were below 1 V m(-1). The average and maximal total electric-field values in schools, homes, and public places were 0.2 and 3.2 V m(-1) (WiFi), 0.1 and 1.1 V m(-1) (telecommunication), and 0.6 and 2.4 V m(-1) (telecommunication), respectively, while for offices, average and maximal exposure were 0.9 and 3.3 V m(-1) (telecommunication), satisfying the ICNIRP reference levels. In the schools considered, the highest maximal and average field values were due to internal signals (WiFi). In the homes, public places, and offices considered, the highest maximal and average field values originated from telecommunication signals. Lowest exposures were obtained in homes. Internal sources contributed on average more indoors (31.2%) than outdoors (2.3%), while the average contributions of external sources (broadcast and telecommunication sources) were higher outdoors (97.7%) than at indoor positions (68.8%). FM, GSM, and UMTS dominate the total downlink exposure in the outdoor measurements. In indoor measurements, FM, GSM, and WiFi dominate the total exposure. The average contribution of the emerging technology LTE was only 0.6%.

  9. Near-field spatial mapping of strongly interacting multiple plasmonic infrared antennas.

    PubMed

    Grefe, Sarah E; Leiva, Daan; Mastel, Stefan; Dhuey, Scott D; Cabrini, Stefano; Schuck, P James; Abate, Yohannes

    2013-11-21

    Near-field dipolar plasmon interactions of multiple infrared antenna structures in the strong coupling limit are studied using scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscope (s-SNOM) and theoretical finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) calculations. We monitor in real-space the evolution of plasmon dipolar mode of a stationary antenna structure as multiple resonantly matched dipolar plasmon particles are closely approaching it. Interparticle separation, length and polarization dependent studies show that the cross geometry structure favors strong interparticle charge-charge, dipole-dipole and charge-dipole Coulomb interactions in the nanometer scale gap region, which results in strong field enhancement in cross-bowties and further allows these structures to be used as polarization filters. The nanoscale local field amplitude and phase maps show that due to strong interparticle Coulomb coupling, cross-bowtie structures redistribute and highly enhance the out-of-plane (perpendicular to the plane of the sample) plasmon near-field component at the gap region relative to ordinary bowties.

  10. Multiple abiotic stimuli are integrated in the regulation of rice gene expression under field conditions

    PubMed Central

    Plessis, Anne; Hafemeister, Christoph; Wilkins, Olivia; Gonzaga, Zennia Jean; Meyer, Rachel Sarah; Pires, Inês; Müller, Christian; Septiningsih, Endang M; Bonneau, Richard; Purugganan, Michael

    2015-01-01

    Plants rely on transcriptional dynamics to respond to multiple climatic fluctuations and contexts in nature. We analyzed the genome-wide gene expression patterns of rice (Oryza sativa) growing in rainfed and irrigated fields during two distinct tropical seasons and determined simple linear models that relate transcriptomic variation to climatic fluctuations. These models combine multiple environmental parameters to account for patterns of expression in the field of co-expressed gene clusters. We examined the similarities of our environmental models between tropical and temperate field conditions, using previously published data. We found that field type and macroclimate had broad impacts on transcriptional responses to environmental fluctuations, especially for genes involved in photosynthesis and development. Nevertheless, variation in solar radiation and temperature at the timescale of hours had reproducible effects across environmental contexts. These results provide a basis for broad-based predictive modeling of plant gene expression in the field. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.08411.001 PMID:26609814

  11. What about Place? Considering the Role of Physical Environment on Youth Imagining of Future Possible Selves.

    PubMed

    Prince, Dana

    2014-07-01

    Identity research indicates that development of well elaborated cognitions about oneself in the future, or one's possible selves, is consequential for youths' developmental trajectories, influencing a range of social, health, and educational outcomes. Although the theory of possible selves considers the role of social contexts in identity development, the potential influence of the physical environment is understudied. At the same time, a growing body of work spanning multiple disciplines points to the salience of place , or the meaningful physical environments of people's everyday lives, as an active contributor to self-identity. Bridging these two lines of inquiry, I provide evidence to show how place-based experiences, such as belonging, aversion, and entrapment, may be internalized and encoded into possible selves, thus producing emplaced future self-concept. I suggest that for young people, visioning self in the future is inextricably bound with place; place is an active contributor both in the present development of future self-concept and in enabling young people to envision different future possible places. Implications for practice and future research include place-making interventions and conceptualizing place beyond "neighborhood effects."

  12. Measuring and interpreting borehole strainmeter data to improve CO2 storage

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Murdoch, L. C.; DeWolf, S.; Germanovich, L. N.; Moysey, S. M.; Hanna, A. C.; Hu, J.; Plunkett, G.; Blais, R.; Johnson, W.

    2017-12-01

    Injecting fluids into a well deforms the enveloping rocks in a complex pattern that increases in magnitude and expands outward with time, and measurements of this strain field may be useful for monitoring the injection process. A pair of instruments capable of measuring four components of strain and two components of tilt has been developed. One instrument is designed to be removeable, whereas the other one is grouted in place. The removeable strainmeter provides versatility and lower cost because it can be relocated, whereas the grout-in instrument provides better coupling to the formation, which should improve the strain signal. The new strainmeters have been deployed along with a Gladwin strainmeter at the Avant Field, an oil field north of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Oil and water are being pumped out, and water is being injected in multiple boreholes that intersect the Bartlesville formation at a depth of approximately 500 m at the Avant Field. The strainmeters have been deployed at a depth of 30 m near well 9A, an injection well near the edge of the field. Results from a brief, 4-hr-long injection test into well 9A show that the radial and circumferential strain increase (become tensile) with time during injection, reaching a maximum of several 10s of nanostrain. In another example, data from the Gladwin strainmeter showed the strain field changing with time when an injection well 1 km away was shut-in. This caused the strain along a radial direction to become tensile, while the circumferential strain became compressive. This trend reversed a week later when injection into the well resumed. The major axis of the principle strain aligned with the shut-in well. The observed strain signals are similar to results from poroelastic analyses, and preliminary inverse analyses sugest that strain signals can be used to estimate reservoir characteristics at the Avant Field.

  13. Termiticide field test report: New termiticides & emerging technologies

    Treesearch

    Bradford M. Kard

    2000-01-01

    Testing at our nationwide field sites detemines the years-of-effectiveness of currently marketed and potentially new termiticides as treatments to soil under long-term field conditions. Several new termiticide candidates and formulations have been placed in the field during the past four years and will be reported on after they complete five years of testing.

  14. Questions Students Ask: Why Not Bend Light with an Electric Field?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Van Heuvelen, Alan

    1983-01-01

    In response to a question, "Why not use a magnetic or electric field to deflect light?," reviews the relation between electric charge and electric/magnetic fields. Discusses the Faraday effect, (describing matter as an intermediary in the rotation of the place of polarization) and other apparent interactions of light with electric/magnetic fields.…

  15. SYSTEMS FOR EXPOSING MICE TO 2,450-MHZ ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS

    EPA Science Inventory

    Two systems for exposing mice to 2,450-MHz electromagnetic fields are described. In a waveguide system, four mice were placed in a Styrofoam cage and exposed dorsally to circularly polarized electromagnetic fields. The temperature and humidity in the mouse holder were kept consta...

  16. 75 FR 39668 - Intent To Grant a Field of Use Exclusive License of a U.S. Government-Owned Patent Application

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-07-12

    ... intent to grant a field of use exclusive, revocable license for the field of shigella vaccine development... related foreign patent applications (PCT/US2007,007482) to Sanofi Pasteur S.A., with its principal place...

  17. Acquisition of Cooperative Small Unmanned Aerial Systems for Advancing Man Machine Interface Research

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-08-24

    global sensor field of views (FOVs), mimicking biological systems such as an insect fly eye , but allowing multiple aperture configurations. Due to...synthetic, global sensor field of views (FOVs), mimicking biological systems such as an insect fly eye , but allowing multiple aperture configurations. Due to...such as an insect fly eye , but allowing multiple aperture configurations. Due to the desired nature of distributed networked aerial vehicles (for the

  18. Changing cultural landscape in post-productivism of rice field in Nyuh Kuning Village Bali

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maulidi, C.; Wulandari, L. D.

    2017-06-01

    Natural landscape in developing countries is facing a challenge due to economic growth, a cultural shift, and population dynamics. Farm land where is close to urban areas tending to be converted into more economically valuable spaces. Watershed Pakerisan listed as World Heritage of UNESCO, rich of cultural value on its landscape, especially the Subak, a traditional irrigation system, has a close relationship to the philosophy of Hindu-Bali culture. Nyuh Kuning, a village (local terms is Banjar) located adjacent to the Pakerisan Watershed, and has a spatial pattern in synergic ally connected with tradition, culture, and their religion. Rice field not only for economical but also its place to worship the Goddess (Dewi Sri). Rice Field in Nyuh Kuning declined significantly along past 10 years. The changing landscape of Nyuh Kuning traced through serial of aerial photographs from 2005 until 2015. Along with the broad decline of rice field, villager’s attachment on their cultural space is also changing. An economic motive pronounces a winner in the bargaining between the motives of economic value and cultural value in the Nyuh Kuning. Villagers revealed arguments that necessities nowadays prosecute high consumption, both for household and for education. Therefore conversion of rice fields to become more economical is understandable among communities. Villagers rent the rice fields to foreigners (migrants), and then foreigners take rice-fields as personal assets, not for the villagers (ritual activities and the cultural traditions) any longer. In theoritical term, villager’s emotional bond to the cultural landscape in post—productivism of rice field, is weakened. Wawedangan Desa and its complex cultural values are not part of their identity anymore. However, place dependence become the reason why the shifting place attachment is happening. Functional economic bond is mentioned as place dependence dominats in villager’s attachment. Certainly it’s not a sustainable way in conserving cultural landscape. Learning from Nyuh Kuning case, new ideas need to conserve cultural landscape and at the same time increased the economic villagers. Through considering rice fields renters preferences and attachment land in Nyuh Kuning, rice field is an important element for their preferences to stay at Nyuh Kuning. Villas in Nyuh Kuning retaining rice field map as part of the villa’s character. Here we can see rice field not only culturally valuable but also as a tourist attraction, which can be sustained if the communities themselves manage it.

  19. Near-Field Diffraction Imaging from Multiple Detection Planes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Loetgering, L.; Golembusch, M.; Hammoud, R.; Wilhein, T.

    2017-06-01

    We present diffraction imaging results obtained from multiple near-field diffraction constraints. An iterative phase retrieval algorithm was implemented that uses data redundancy achieved by measuring near-field diffraction intensities at various sample-detector distances. The procedure allows for reconstructing the exit surface wave of a sample within a multiple constraint satisfaction framework neither making use of a priori knowledge as enforced in coherent diffraction imaging (CDI) nor exact scanning grid knowledge as required in ptychography. We also investigate the potential of the presented technique to deal with polychromatic radiation as important for potential application in diffraction imaging by means of tabletop EUV and X-ray sources.

  20. Aggregating Student Achievement Trends across States with Different Tests: Using Standardized Slopes as Effect Sizes

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yin, Robert K.; Schmidt, R. James; Besag, Frank

    2006-01-01

    The study of federal education initiatives that takes place over multiple years in multiple settings often calls for aggregating and comparing data-in particular, student achievement data-across a broad set of schools, districts, and states. The need to track the trends over time is complicated by the fact that the data from the different schools,…

  1. Wide-field Astronomy Projects at the UKATC

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hawarden, T. G.; Casali, M. M.; Holland, W. S.; Ivison, R. J.; Wright, G. S.

    2001-12-01

    The UK Astronomy Technology Centre is engaged on a number of projects which are defining the stare of the art in several areas of wide-field astronomy. The most advanced of these will equip the UK Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) with a wide-field NIR (1 - 2.5 um) imager, WFCAM, in 2003. WFCAM will use 4 2k-square HgCdTe arrays to cover 0.19 square degrees in a single exposure. It will have 0."4 pixels and will employ multiple exposures (16 in the basic case) and microstepping to obtain full sampling of the PSF. WFCAM will reach K=19.4 at 5 sigma over 1 sq. deg. in 1 hour. Several deep surveys are planned; details are at http://www.roe.ac.uk/atc/projects/wfcam/science/. The project is in collaboration with the SUBARU telescope of the National Astronomy Observatory of Japan. Major data centres and archives will be established within the UK widefield astronomy groups and at SUBARU. SCUBA, on the JCMT, is currently the most-cited facility in Astronomy after the HST. Plans and technology development are well advanced for its replacement, SCUBA-2. This ambitious instrument is also an imager working at 450 and 850 um, but with greatly enlarged FOV and improved sensitivity. Technical developments at the NIST, Boulder, Co. are aimed at producing 2 6400-pixel arrays of Transition Edge Sensors, covering 8' x 8', with a system NEFD of 30mJy at 850 and 100 mJy at 450um. The 850 um FOV will be fully sampled; the 450 um FOV will be 2X undersampled. SCUBA-2 will be able to make a confusion-limited survey of 1 ° 2 of sky in just 24 hours of observing; indeed it will map large areas of sky up to an order of magnitude faster than ALMA in compact mode; it will make major new contributions to all areas of astronomy, from the solar system to Z=10 galaxies. Lastly, designs are well advanced for a powerful multiple cryogenic Integral Field spectroscopic facility. The design is well suited to VLTs or ELTs and will employ up to 8 unit spectrometers, each with a 2k2 array fed by four cryogenic deployable optical feed arms. These use a simple design to maintain a constant optical path length while placing the input apertures for the Integral Field Units anywhere in a 10' field of view.

  2. Far-field potentials in cylindrical and rectangular volume conductors.

    PubMed

    Dumitru, D; King, J C; Rogers, W E

    1993-07-01

    The occurrence of a transient dipole is one method of producing a far-field potential. This investigation qualitatively defines the characteristics of the near-field and far-field electrical potentials produced by a transient dipole in both cylindrical and rectangular volume conductors. Most body segments of electrophysiologic interest such as arms, legs, thorax, and neck are roughly cylindrical in shape. A centrally located dipole generator produces a nonzero equipotential region which is found to occur along the cylindrical wall at a distance from the dipole of approximately 1.4 times the cylinder's radius and 1.9 times the cylinder's radius for the center of the cylinder. This distance to the equi-potential zone along the surface wall expands but remains less than 3.0 times the cylindrical radius when the dipole is eccentrically placed. The magnitude of the equipotential region resulting from an asymmetrically placed dipole remains identical to that when the dipole is centrally located. This behavior is found to be very similar in rectangular shallow conducting volumes that model a longitudinal slice of the cylinder, thus allowing a simple experimental model of the cylinder to be utilized. Amplitudes of the equipotential region are inversely proportional to the cylindrical or rectangular volume's cross-sectional area at the location of dipolar imbalance. This study predicts that referential electrode montages, when placed at 3.0 times the radius or greater from a dipolar axially aligned far-field generator in cylindrical homogeneous volume conductors, will record only equipotential far-field effects.

  3. 29 CFR 1450.10 - Collection by administrative offset.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... performance, offset will normally be inappropriate. This concept generally does not apply, however, where... this section has taken place. (g) When collecting multiple debts by administrative offset, FMCS will...

  4. New Source Code: Spelman Women Transforming the Grid of Science and Technology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Okonkwo, Holly

    From a seminary for newly freedwomen in the 19th century "Deep South" of the United States to a "Model Institution for Excellence" in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and math education, the narrative of Spelman College is a critical piece to understanding the overall history and socially constructed nature of science and higher education in the U.S. Making a place for science at Spelman College, disrupts and redefines the presumed and acceptable roles of African American women in science and their social, political and economic engagements in U.S society as a whole. Over the course of 16 months, I explore the narrative experiences of members of the Spelman campus community and immerse myself in the environment to experience becoming of member of a scientific community that asserts a place for women of African descent in science and technology and perceives this positionality as positive, powerful and the locus of agency. My intention is to offer this research as an in-depth ethnographic presentation of intentional science learning, knowledge production and practice as lived experiences at the multiple intersections of the constructs of race, gender, positionality and U.S science itself. In this research, I am motivated to move the contemporary discourse of diversifying science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields in the U.S. academy, beyond the chronicling of women of African descent as statistical rarities over time, as subjectivities and the deficit frameworks that theoretically encapsulate their narratives. The findings of this research demonstrate that Spelman students, staff and alumni are themselves, the cultural capital that validates Spelman's identity as a place, its institutional mission and are at the core of the institutional success of the college. It is a personal mission as much as it is an institutional mission, which is precisely what makes it powerful.

  5. 76 FR 24893 - National Institute on Drug Abuse; Notice of Meeting

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-03

    ... applications. Place: National Institutes of Health, Neuroscience Center, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Conference... developments in the drug abuse field. Place: National Institutes of Health, Neuroscience Center, 6001 Executive... Federal Domestic Assistance Program Nos.: 93.279, Drug Abuse and Addiction Research Programs, National...

  6. Teaching students in place: the languages of third space learning

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morawski, Cynthia M.

    2017-09-01

    With a perceptive eye cast on geoscience pedagogy for students labeled as disabled, Martinez-Álvarez makes important contributions to the existing conversation on placed-based learning. It is in our local backyards, from the corner basketball court, to the mud bank of a city lake, to the adjacent field where rocky outcrops spill down to a forgotten farmer's field, that we find rich working material for connecting self and community, moving students' out-of-school experiences that feature their cultural and linguistic knowledge, from misconceptions to "alternative conceptions." Informed by her insights regarding the learning of students whose literacy does not match conventional classroom practice, geoscience learning in the place of third space can act as a model of meaning making across the entire curriculum. In the pages that follow, I transact, both aesthetically and efferently, with Martinez-Álvarez's text as she presents her research on special ways of learning in placed-based geoscience explorations with bilingual children experiencing disabilities.

  7. Field Trip.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sanders, Bill

    1993-01-01

    Reports the results of a field trip to measure the intensity of electromagnetic fields generated by electronic devices in the home, in cars, at work, outside, and in places people visit during the day. Found that a person gets more intense exposure while working at a computer than by living next to an electrical substation. (MDH)

  8. The most massive galaxies and black holes allowed by ΛCDM

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Behroozi, Peter; Silk, Joseph

    2018-07-01

    Given a galaxy's stellar mass, its host halo mass has a lower limit from the cosmic baryon fraction and known baryonic physics. At z> 4, galaxy stellar mass functions place lower limits on halo number densities that approach expected Lambda Cold Dark Matter halo mass functions. High-redshift galaxy stellar mass functions can thus place interesting limits on number densities of massive haloes, which are otherwise very difficult to measure. Although halo mass functions at z < 8 are consistent with observed galaxy stellar masses if galaxy baryonic conversion efficiencies increase with redshift, JWST(James Webb Space Telescope) and WFIRST(Wide-Field InfraRed Survey Telescope) will more than double the redshift range over which useful constraints are available. We calculate maximum galaxy stellar masses as a function of redshift given expected halo number densities from ΛCDM. We apply similar arguments to black holes. If their virial mass estimates are accurate, number density constraints alone suggest that the quasars SDSS J1044-0125 and SDSS J010013.02+280225.8 likely have black hole mass to stellar mass ratios higher than the median z = 0 relation, confirming the expectation from Lauer bias. Finally, we present a public code to evaluate the probability of an apparently ΛCDM-inconsistent high-mass halo being detected given the combined effects of multiple surveys and observational errors.

  9. Physician-based smoking intervention: a rededication to a five-step strategy to smoking research.

    PubMed

    Ockene, J K; Zapka, J G

    1997-01-01

    It is well established that physicians can have a significant effect on the smoking behavior of their patients. To do this, attention must be paid to putting in place multiple strategies or mechanisms in the organization where the physician practices, as well as in the macroenvironment (i.e., social and public policy). It has been questioned whether or not there is stagnation in the field of clinical smoking intervention requiring a rededication to basic research regarding smoking. With respect to physician-based smoking intervention, we alternatively suggest that recommitment to all phases of research is essential for moving forward physician-based smoking interventions in the rapidly changing health services and social environment. In this article, we first review the essential framework of the National Cancer Institute's research science approach to cancer prevention and control. Evidence concerning physician-based interventions is then reviewed, followed by a schematic of a comprehensive framework for thinking about the process and intervention components needed for physician-based smoking intervention to take place in the health-care setting, the impact they have, and the eventual outcome of such interventions. There is a discussion of the challenges for the delivery of smoking-cessation services presented by the rapidly changing healthy delivery system of the 1990s. Finally, we present recommendations concerning research priorities for physician-based smoking intervention and the research funding process.

  10. [Effects of different multiple cropping systems on paddy field weed community under long term paddy-upland rotation].

    PubMed

    Yang, Bin-Juan; Huang, Guo-Qin; Xu, Ning; Wang, Shu-Bin

    2013-09-01

    Based on a long term field experiment, this paper studied the effects of different multiple cropping systems on the weed community composition and species diversity under paddy-upland rotation. The multiple cropping rotation systems could significantly decrease weed density and inhibited weed growth. Among the rotation systems, the milk vetch-early rice-late maize --> milk vetchearly maize intercropped with early soybean-late rice (CCSR) had the lowest weed species dominance, which inhibited the dominant weeds and decreased their damage. Under different multiple cropping systems, the main weed community was all composed of Monochoia vaginalis, Echinochloa crusgalli, and Sagittaria pygmae, and the similarity of weed community was higher, with the highest similarity appeared in milk vetch-early rice-late maize intercropped with late soybean --> milk vetch-early maize-late rice (CSCR) and in CCSR. In sum, the multiple cropping rotations in paddy field could inhibit weeds to a certain extent, but attentions should be paid to the damage of some less important weeds.

  11. Hippocampal place cell encoding of sloping terrain.

    PubMed

    Porter, Blake S; Schmidt, Robert; Bilkey, David K

    2018-05-21

    Effective navigation relies on knowledge of one's environment. A challenge to effective navigation is accounting for the time and energy costs of routes. Irregular terrain in ecological environments poses a difficult navigational problem as organisms ought to avoid effortful slopes to minimize travel costs. Route planning and navigation have previously been shown to involve hippocampal place cells and their ability to encode and store information about an organism's environment. However, little is known about how place cells may encode the slope of space and associated energy costs as experiments are traditionally carried out in flat, horizontal environments. We set out to investigate how dorsal-CA1 place cells in rats encode systematic changes to the slope of an environment by tilting a shuttle box from flat to 15° and 25° while minimizing external cue change. Overall, place cell encoding of tilted space was as robust as their encoding of flat ground as measured by traditional place cell metrics such as firing rates, spatial information, coherence, and field size. A large majority of place cells did, however, respond to slope by undergoing partial, complex remapping when the environment was shifted from one tilt angle to another. The propensity for place cells to remap did not, however, depend on the vertical distance the field shifted. Changes in slope also altered the temporal coding of information as measured by the rate of theta phase precession of place cell spikes, which decreased with increasing tilt angles. Together these observations indicate that place cells are sensitive to relatively small changes in terrain slope and that terrain slope may be an important source of information for organizing place cell ensembles. The terrain slope information encoded by place cells could be utilized by efferent regions to determine energetically advantageous routes to goal locations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. The Seven Silos of Accountability in Higher Education: Systematizing Multiple Logics and Fields

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Joshua Travis

    2017-01-01

    Higher education accountability is a field characterized by complexity. Prior frameworks grounded in psychometrics, economics, and history fall short in explaining the persistence and composition of its complexity. This article employs organizational theory to identify the multiple conflicting approaches of higher education accountability and…

  13. Slat Heater Boxes for Thermal Vacuum Testing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ungar, Eugene

    2003-01-01

    Slat heater boxes have been invented for controlling the sink temperatures of objects under test in a thermal vacuum chamber, the walls of which are cooled to the temperature of liquid nitrogen. A slat heater box (see Figure 1) includes a framework of struts that support electrically heated slats that are coated with a high-emissivity optically gray paint. The slats can be grouped together into heater zones for the purpose of maintaining an even temperature within each side. The sink temperature of an object under test is defined as the steady-state temperature of the object in the vacuum/ radiative environment during the absence of any internal heat source or sink. The slat heater box makes it possible to closely control the radiation environment to obtain a desired sink temperature. The slat heater box is placed inside the cold thermal vacuum chamber, and the object under test is placed inside (but not in contact with) the slat heater box. The slat heaters occupy about a third of the field of view from any point on the surface of the object under test, the remainder of the field of view being occupied by the cold chamber wall. Thus, the radiation environment is established by the combined effects of the slat heater box and the cold chamber wall. Given (1) the temperature of the chamber wall, (2) the fractions of the field of view occupied by the chamber wall and the slat heater box, and (3) the emissivities of the slats, chamber wall, and the surface of object under test, the slat temperature required to maintain a desired sink temperature can be calculated by solving the equations of gray-body radiation for the steady-state adiabatic case (equal absorption and emission by the object under test). Slat heater boxes offer an important advantage over the infrared lamps that have been previously used to obtain desired sink temperatures: In comparison with an infrared lamp, a slat heater box provides a greater degree of sink temperature uniformity for a test-object surface that includes multiple areas with differing optical properties.

  14. Cogenerating fluency in urban science classrooms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lavan, Sarah-Kate

    This critical ethnographic study employed the use of cogenerative dialogue (Roth & Tobin, 2002) as a means to allow participants of a science classroom to reflect on and transform classroom structures while at the same time create opportunities for all stakeholders to develop collective responsibility for teaching and learning. The research was situated in a science classroom in an inner city charter high school that was both a challenging place for the teacher (Jen Beers) and an oppressive place for the students as all struggled to reconcile issues related to power hierarchies and significant differences in social and cultural histories. As a result, cultural misinterpretations and the undervaluing of students' cultural capital served as a foundation for learning. This study examined the various fields and forms of practice that created opportunities for refining teaching practices and at the same time afforded the development of collective responsibility by addressing the roles, identities and agency of all classroom participants. Specifically, I asked the following questions: (1) How can co-generative dialogue can be used to involve all classroom participants in creating a learning community? (2) How does this shape the identities and roles of the participants who were involved? and (3) How do the changed roles and practices lead toward science fluency? The framework of cultural sociology, specifically the dialectical relationship of structure and agency, interaction ritual theory (Collins, 2003) and research on dispositions (Boykin, 1986), provided analytic tools to investigate the practices of the various stakeholders and the classroom structures as well as the historical and cultural contexts surrounding them. Multiple data resources such as field notes, videotape, interviews and artifacts were drawn on from two fields (the science classroom and cogenerative dialogues) to elicit and support findings at micro, meso and macroscopic levels. The major findings of the study reveal that the transformation of the classroom, and consequently teacher and student practices, were recursively tied to the conversations members held in the cogenerative dialogues. The evolving classroom structures afforded individuals and community members a variety of dispositions (e.g., orality, affect, communalism, verve, movement, and expressive individualism) from which to access and employ in producing, reproducing, and transforming culture in and out of the science classroom.

  15. Engaging in science inquiry: Prospective elementary teachers' learning in an innovative life science course

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Haefner, Leigh Boardman

    2001-10-01

    This study examined prospective elementary teachers' learning about science inquiry in the context of an innovative life science course that engaged them in an original science investigation. Eleven elementary education majors participated in the study. A multiple case study approach that was descriptive, interpretive, and framed by grounded theory was employed. Primary data sources included transcripts of semi-structured interviews, text associated with online threaded discussions, and course project documents, such as lesson plans and written reflections. Secondary data sources included videotaped class sessions and field notes. Data were analyzed using analytical induction techniques, and trustworthiness was developed through the use of multiple data sources, triangulation of data, and the use of counterexamples to the assertions. Three major findings emerged from the cross-case analysis. First, engaging in an original science investigation assisted prospective teachers in becoming more attentive to the processes of science and developing more elaborated and data-driven explanations of how science is practiced. Second, when prospective teachers struggled with particular aspects of their investigations, those aspects became foci of change in their thinking about science and doing science. Third, as prospective teachers came to place a greater emphasis on questions, observations, and experimentation as fundamental aspects of doing science, they became more accepting of approaches to teaching science that encourage children's questions about science phenomena. Implications include the need to re-conceptualize teacher preparation programs to include multiple opportunities to engage prospective teachers in learning science as inquiry, and attend to connections among subject matter knowledge, subject-specific pedagogy and experiences with children.

  16. The modified hole board--measuring behavior, cognition and social interaction in mice and rats.

    PubMed

    Labots, Maaike; Van Lith, Hein A; Ohl, Frauke; Arndt, Saskia S

    2015-04-08

    This protocol describes the modified hole board (mHB), which combines features from a traditional hole board and open field and is designed to measure multiple dimensions of unconditioned behavior in small laboratory mammals (e.g., mice, rats, tree shrews and small primates). This paradigm is a valuable alternative for the use of a behavioral test battery, since a broad behavioral spectrum of an animal's behavioral profile can be investigated in one single test. The apparatus consists of a box, representing the 'protected' area, separated from a group compartment. A board, on which small cylinders are staggered in three lines, is placed in the center of the box, representing the 'unprotected' area of the set-up. The cognitive abilities of the animals can be measured by baiting some cylinders on the board and measuring the working and reference memory. Other unconditioned behavior, such as activity-related-, anxiety-related- and social behavior, can be observed using this paradigm. Behavioral flexibility and the ability to habituate to a novel environment can additionally be observed by subjecting the animals to multiple trials in the mHB, revealing insight into the animals' adaptive capacities. Due to testing order effects in a behavioral test battery, naïve animals should be used for each individual experiment. By testing multiple behavioral dimensions in a single paradigm and thereby circumventing this issue, the number of experimental animals used is reduced. Furthermore, by avoiding social isolation during testing and without the need to food deprive the animals, the mHB represents a behavioral test system, inducing if any, very low amount of stress.

  17. Multiple tectonic mode switches indicate short-duration heat pulses in a Mio-Pliocene metamorphic core complex, West Papua, Indonesia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    White, L. T.; Hall, R.; Gunawan, I.

    2017-12-01

    The Wandaman Peninsula is a narrow (<20 km), but mountainous (>2 km) promontory in remote western New Guinea. The peninsula is almost entirely composed of medium- to high-grade metamorphic rocks considered to be associated with a Mio-Pliocene metamorphic core complex. Previous work has shown that the uplift and exhumation of the core complex has potentially brought some extremely young eclogite to the surface. These might be comparable to the world's youngest (4.3 Ma) eclogites found in the D'Entrecasteaux Islands at the opposite end of New Guinea. We show that tectonic history of this region is complex. This is because the metamorphic sequences in the Wandaman Peninsula record multiple phases of deformation, all within the last few million years. This is demonstrated through methodical collation of cross-cutting relations from field and microstructural studies across the peninsula. The first phase of deformation and metamorphism is associated with crustal extension and partial melting that took place at 5-7 Ma according to new U-Pb data from metamorphic zircons. This extensional phase ceased after a tectonic mode switch and the region was shortened. This is demonstrated by two phases of folding (1. recumbent and 2. open) that overprint the earlier extensional fabrics. All previous structures were later overprinted by brittle extensional faults and uplift. This extensional phase is still taking place today, as is indicated by submerged forests exposed along the coastline associated with recent earthquakes and hot springs. The sequence of metamorphic rocks that are exposed in the Wandaman Peninsula show that stress and thermal conditions can change rapidly. If we consider that the present is a key to the past, then such results can identify the duration of deformation and metamorphic events more accurately than in much older orogenic systems.

  18. Multifield-graphs: an approach to visualizing correlations in multifield scalar data.

    PubMed

    Sauber, Natascha; Theisel, Holger; Seidel, Hans-Peter

    2006-01-01

    We present an approach to visualizing correlations in 3D multifield scalar data. The core of our approach is the computation of correlation fields, which are scalar fields containing the local correlations of subsets of the multiple fields. While the visualization of the correlation fields can be done using standard 3D volume visualization techniques, their huge number makes selection and handling a challenge. We introduce the Multifield-Graph to give an overview of which multiple fields correlate and to show the strength of their correlation. This information guides the selection of informative correlation fields for visualization. We use our approach to visually analyze a number of real and synthetic multifield datasets.

  19. Simultaneous imaging of cellular morphology and multiple biomarkers using an acousto-optic tunable filter-based bright field microscope.

    PubMed

    Wachman, Elliot S; Geyer, Stanley J; Recht, Joel M; Ward, Jon; Zhang, Bill; Reed, Murray; Pannell, Chris

    2014-05-01

    An acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF)-based multispectral imaging microscope system allows the combination of cellular morphology and multiple biomarker stainings on a single microscope slide. We describe advances in AOTF technology that have greatly improved spectral purity, field uniformity, and image quality. A multispectral imaging bright field microscope using these advances demonstrates pathology results that have great potential for clinical use.

  20. Perspectives of LGBTQ Older Adults on Aging in Place: A Qualitative Investigation.

    PubMed

    Boggs, Jennifer M; Dickman Portz, Jennifer; King, Diane K; Wright, Leslie A; Helander, Kenneth; Retrum, Jessica H; Gozansky, Wendolyn S

    2017-01-01

    This qualitative study conducted by a community-research partnership used multiple types of data collection to examine variables relevant for LGBTQ older adults who wished to age in place in their urban Denver neighborhood. Focus groups, interviews, and a town hall meeting were used to identify barriers and supports to aging in place. Participants (N = 73) identified primarily as lesbian or gay, aged 50-69, and lived with a partner. Ageism, heterosexism, and cisgenderism emerged as cross-cutting themes that negatively impact access to health care, housing, social support, home assistance, and legal services. Resilience from weathering a lifetime of discrimination was identified as a strength to handle aging challenges. Recommendations for establishing an aging in place model included establishing welcoming communities and resource centers and increasing cultural competence of service providers. This study provides a unique contribution to understanding the psychosocial, medical, and legal barriers for successfully aging in place.

  1. Using Virtual Field Trips to Connect Students with University Scientists: Core Elements and Evaluation of zipTrips[TM

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adedokun, Omolola A.; Hetzel, Kristin; Parker, Loran Carleton; Loizzo, Jamie; Burgess, Wilella D.; Robinson, J. Paul

    2012-01-01

    Physical field trips to scientists' work places have been shown to enhance student perceptions of science, scientists and science careers. Although virtual field trips (VFTs) have emerged as viable alternatives (or supplements) to traditional physical fieldtrips, little is known about the potential of virtual field trips to provide the same or…

  2. Geochemistry and geophysics field maps used during the USGS 2011 field season in southwest Alaska

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Giles, Stuart A.

    2013-01-01

    The US Geological Survey (USGS) has been studying a variety of geochemical and geophyscial assessment techniques for concealed mineral deposits. The 2011 field season for this project took place in southwest Alaska, northeast of Bristol Bay between Dillingham and Iliamna Lake. Four maps were created for the geochemistry and geophysics teams to use during field activities.

  3. Development of Teacher Attitude Scale towards the Field Trip

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tortop, Hasan Said

    2012-01-01

    A field trip is an excursion by group of students with teachers to a place away from classroom such as natural field, science center, and zoo. So, it is an important tool for renewable energy education. This study was carried out to develop a new scale for measuring teacher attitudes towards the field trip. Teacher attitude scale towards the field…

  4. Multiparticle azimuthal correlations in p -Pb and Pb-Pb collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

    DOE PAGES

    Abelev, B.; Adam, J.; Adamová, D.; ...

    2014-11-03

    Our measurements of multiparticle azimuthal correlations (cumulants) for charged particles in p-Pb at √s NN=5.02 TeV and Pb-Pb at √s NN=2.76 TeV collisions are presented. They help address the question of whether there is evidence for global, flowlike, azimuthal correlations in the p-Pb system. These comparisons are made to measurements from the larger Pb-Pb system, where such evidence is established. In particular, the second harmonic two-particle cumulants are found to decrease with multiplicity, characteristic of a dominance of few-particle correlations in p-Pb collisions. However, when a |Δη| gap is placed to suppress such correlations, the two-particle cumulants begin to risemore » at high multiplicity, indicating the presence of global azimuthal correlations. The Pb-Pb values are higher than the p-Pb values at similar multiplicities. In both systems, the second harmonic four-particle cumulants exhibit a transition from positive to negative values when the multiplicity increases. Furthermore, the negative values allow for a measurement of v 2{4} to be made, which is found to be higher in Pb-Pb collisions at similar multiplicities. The second harmonic six-particle cumulants are also found to be higher in Pb-Pb collisions. In Pb-Pb collisions, we generally find v 2{4}≃v 2{6}≠0 which is indicative of a Bessel-Gaussian function for the v 2 distribution. For very high-multiplicity Pb-Pb collisions, we observe that the four- and six-particle cumulants become consistent with 0. Finally, third harmonic two-particle cumulants in p-Pb and Pb-Pb are measured. These are found to be similar for overlapping multiplicities, when a |Δη|>1.4 gap is placed.« less

  5. Multiparticle azimuthal correlations in p -Pb and Pb-Pb collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abelev, B.; Adam, J.; Adamová, D.; Aggarwal, M. M.; Aglieri Rinella, G.; Agnello, M.; Agostinelli, A.; Agrawal, N.; Ahammed, Z.; Ahmad, N.; Ahmed, I.; Ahn, S. U.; Ahn, S. A.; Aimo, I.; Aiola, S.; Ajaz, M.; Akindinov, A.; Alam, S. N.; Aleksandrov, D.; Alessandro, B.; Alexandre, D.; Alici, A.; Alkin, A.; Alme, J.; Alt, T.; Altinpinar, S.; Altsybeev, I.; Alves Garcia Prado, C.; Andrei, C.; Andronic, A.; Anguelov, V.; Anielski, J.; Antičić, T.; Antinori, F.; Antonioli, P.; Aphecetche, L.; Appelshäuser, H.; Arcelli, S.; Armesto, N.; Arnaldi, R.; Aronsson, T.; Arsene, I. C.; Arslandok, M.; Augustinus, A.; Averbeck, R.; Awes, T. C.; Azmi, M. D.; Bach, M.; Badalà, A.; Baek, Y. W.; Bagnasco, S.; Bailhache, R.; Bala, R.; Baldisseri, A.; Baltasar Dos Santos Pedrosa, F.; Baral, R. C.; Barbera, R.; Barile, F.; Barnaföldi, G. G.; Barnby, L. S.; Barret, V.; Bartke, J.; Basile, M.; Bastid, N.; Basu, S.; Bathen, B.; Batigne, G.; Batista Camejo, A.; Batyunya, B.; Batzing, P. C.; Baumann, C.; Bearden, I. G.; Beck, H.; Bedda, C.; Behera, N. K.; Belikov, I.; Bellini, F.; Bellwied, R.; Belmont-Moreno, E.; Belmont, R.; Belyaev, V.; Bencedi, G.; Beole, S.; Berceanu, I.; Bercuci, A.; Berdnikov, Y.; Berenyi, D.; Berger, M. E.; Bertens, R. A.; Berzano, D.; Betev, L.; Bhasin, A.; Bhat, I. R.; Bhati, A. K.; Bhattacharjee, B.; Bhom, J.; Bianchi, L.; Bianchi, N.; Bianchin, C.; Bielčík, J.; Bielčíková, J.; Bilandzic, A.; Bjelogrlic, S.; Blanco, F.; Blau, D.; Blume, C.; Bock, F.; Bogdanov, A.; Bøggild, H.; Bogolyubsky, M.; Böhmer, F. V.; Boldizsár, L.; Bombara, M.; Book, J.; Borel, H.; Borissov, A.; Bossú, F.; Botje, M.; Botta, E.; Böttger, S.; Braun-Munzinger, P.; Bregant, M.; Breitner, T.; Broker, T. A.; Browning, T. A.; Broz, M.; Bruna, E.; Bruno, G. E.; Budnikov, D.; Buesching, H.; Bufalino, S.; Buncic, P.; Busch, O.; Buthelezi, Z.; Caffarri, D.; Cai, X.; Caines, H.; Calero Diaz, L.; Caliva, A.; Calvo Villar, E.; Camerini, P.; Carena, F.; Carena, W.; Castillo Castellanos, J.; Casula, E. A. R.; Catanescu, V.; Cavicchioli, C.; Ceballos Sanchez, C.; Cepila, J.; Cerello, P.; Chang, B.; Chapeland, S.; Charvet, J. L.; Chattopadhyay, S.; Chattopadhyay, S.; Chelnokov, V.; Cherney, M.; Cheshkov, C.; Cheynis, B.; Chibante Barroso, V.; Chinellato, D. D.; Chochula, P.; Chojnacki, M.; Choudhury, S.; Christakoglou, P.; Christensen, C. H.; Christiansen, P.; Chujo, T.; Chung, S. U.; Cicalo, C.; Cifarelli, L.; Cindolo, F.; Cleymans, J.; Colamaria, F.; Colella, D.; Collu, A.; Colocci, M.; Conesa Balbastre, G.; Conesa Del Valle, Z.; Connors, M. E.; Contreras, J. G.; Cormier, T. M.; Corrales Morales, Y.; Cortese, P.; Cortés Maldonado, I.; Cosentino, M. R.; Costa, F.; Crochet, P.; Cruz Albino, R.; Cuautle, E.; Cunqueiro, L.; Dainese, A.; Dang, R.; Danu, A.; Das, D.; Das, I.; Das, K.; Das, S.; Dash, A.; Dash, S.; de, S.; Delagrange, H.; Deloff, A.; Dénes, E.; D'Erasmo, G.; de Caro, A.; de Cataldo, G.; de Cuveland, J.; de Falco, A.; de Gruttola, D.; De Marco, N.; de Pasquale, S.; de Rooij, R.; Diaz Corchero, M. A.; Dietel, T.; Dillenseger, P.; Divià, R.; di Bari, D.; di Liberto, S.; di Mauro, A.; di Nezza, P.; Djuvsland, Ø.; Dobrin, A.; Dobrowolski, T.; Domenicis Gimenez, D.; Dönigus, B.; Dordic, O.; Dørheim, S.; Dubey, A. K.; Dubla, A.; Ducroux, L.; Dupieux, P.; Dutta Majumdar, A. K.; Hilden, T. E.; Ehlers, R. J.; Elia, D.; Engel, H.; Erazmus, B.; Erdal, H. A.; Eschweiler, D.; Espagnon, B.; Esposito, M.; Estienne, M.; Esumi, S.; Evans, D.; Evdokimov, S.; Fabris, D.; Faivre, J.; Falchieri, D.; Fantoni, A.; Fasel, M.; Fehlker, D.; Feldkamp, L.; Felea, D.; Feliciello, A.; Feofilov, G.; Ferencei, J.; Fernández Téllez, A.; Ferreiro, E. G.; Ferretti, A.; Festanti, A.; Figiel, J.; Figueredo, M. A. S.; Filchagin, S.; Finogeev, D.; Fionda, F. M.; Fiore, E. M.; Floratos, E.; Floris, M.; Foertsch, S.; Foka, P.; Fokin, S.; Fragiacomo, E.; Francescon, A.; Frankenfeld, U.; Fuchs, U.; Furget, C.; Furs, A.; Fusco Girard, M.; Gaardhøje, J. J.; Gagliardi, M.; Gago, A. M.; Gallio, M.; Gangadharan, D. R.; Ganoti, P.; Garabatos, C.; Garcia-Solis, E.; Gargiulo, C.; Garishvili, I.; Gerhard, J.; Germain, M.; Gheata, A.; Gheata, M.; Ghidini, B.; Ghosh, P.; Ghosh, S. K.; Gianotti, P.; Giubellino, P.; Gladysz-Dziadus, E.; Glässel, P.; Gomez Ramirez, A.; González-Zamora, P.; Gorbunov, S.; Görlich, L.; Gotovac, S.; Graczykowski, L. K.; Grelli, A.; Grigoras, A.; Grigoras, C.; Grigoriev, V.; Grigoryan, A.; Grigoryan, S.; Grinyov, B.; Grion, N.; Grosse-Oetringhaus, J. F.; Grossiord, J.-Y.; Grosso, R.; Guber, F.; Guernane, R.; Guerzoni, B.; Guilbaud, M.; Gulbrandsen, K.; Gulkanyan, H.; Gumbo, M.; Gunji, T.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, R.; Khan, K. H.; Haake, R.; Haaland, Ø.; Hadjidakis, C.; Haiduc, M.; Hamagaki, H.; Hamar, G.; Hanratty, L. D.; Hansen, A.; Harris, J. W.; Hartmann, H.; Harton, A.; Hatzifotiadou, D.; Hayashi, S.; Heckel, S. T.; Heide, M.; Helstrup, H.; Herghelegiu, A.; Herrera Corral, G.; Hess, B. A.; Hetland, K. F.; Hippolyte, B.; Hladky, J.; Hristov, P.; Huang, M.; Humanic, T. J.; Hussain, N.; Hutter, D.; Hwang, D. S.; Ilkaev, R.; Ilkiv, I.; Inaba, M.; Innocenti, G. M.; Ionita, C.; Ippolitov, M.; Irfan, M.; Ivanov, M.; Ivanov, V.; Jachołkowski, A.; Jacobs, P. M.; Jahnke, C.; Jang, H. J.; Janik, M. A.; Jayarathna, P. H. S. Y.; Jena, C.; Jena, S.; Jimenez Bustamante, R. T.; Jones, P. G.; Jung, H.; Jusko, A.; Kadyshevskiy, V.; Kalcher, S.; Kalinak, P.; Kalweit, A.; Kamin, J.; Kang, J. H.; Kaplin, V.; Kar, S.; Karasu Uysal, A.; Karavichev, O.; Karavicheva, T.; Karpechev, E.; Kebschull, U.; Keidel, R.; Keijdener, D. L. D.; Keil Svn, M.; Khan, M. M.; Khan, P.; Khan, S. A.; Khanzadeev, A.; Kharlov, Y.; Kileng, B.; Kim, B.; Kim, D. W.; Kim, D. J.; Kim, J. S.; Kim, M.; Kim, M.; Kim, S.; Kim, T.; Kirsch, S.; Kisel, I.; Kiselev, S.; Kisiel, A.; Kiss, G.; Klay, J. L.; Klein, J.; Klein-Bösing, C.; Kluge, A.; Knichel, M. L.; Knospe, A. G.; Kobdaj, C.; Kofarago, M.; Köhler, M. K.; Kollegger, T.; Kolojvari, A.; Kondratiev, V.; Kondratyeva, N.; Konevskikh, A.; Kovalenko, V.; Kowalski, M.; Kox, S.; Koyithatta Meethaleveedu, G.; Kral, J.; Králik, I.; Kravčáková, A.; Krelina, M.; Kretz, M.; Krivda, M.; Krizek, F.; Kryshen, E.; Krzewicki, M.; Kučera, V.; Kucheriaev, Y.; Kugathasan, T.; Kuhn, C.; Kuijer, P. G.; Kulakov, I.; Kumar, J.; Kurashvili, P.; Kurepin, A.; Kurepin, A. B.; Kuryakin, A.; Kushpil, S.; Kweon, M. J.; Kwon, Y.; Ladron de Guevara, P.; Lagana Fernandes, C.; Lakomov, I.; Langoy, R.; Lara, C.; Lardeux, A.; Lattuca, A.; La Pointe, S. L.; La Rocca, P.; Lea, R.; Leardini, L.; Lee, G. R.; Legrand, I.; Lehnert, J.; Lemmon, R. C.; Lenti, V.; Leogrande, E.; Leoncino, M.; León Monzón, I.; Lévai, P.; Li, S.; Lien, J.; Lietava, R.; Lindal, S.; Lindenstruth, V.; Lippmann, C.; Lisa, M. A.; Ljunggren, H. M.; Lodato, D. F.; Loenne, P. I.; Loggins, V. R.; Loginov, V.; Lohner, D.; Loizides, C.; Lopez, X.; López Torres, E.; Lu, X.-G.; Luettig, P.; Lunardon, M.; Luparello, G.; Ma, R.; Maevskaya, A.; Mager, M.; Mahapatra, D. P.; Mahmood, S. M.; Maire, A.; Majka, R. D.; Malaev, M.; Maldonado Cervantes, I.; Malinina, L.; Mal'Kevich, D.; Malzacher, P.; Mamonov, A.; Manceau, L.; Manko, V.; Manso, F.; Manzari, V.; Marchisone, M.; Mareš, J.; Margagliotti, G. V.; Margotti, A.; Marín, A.; Markert, C.; Marquard, M.; Martashvili, I.; Martin, N. A.; Martinengo, P.; Martínez, M. I.; Martínez García, G.; Martin Blanco, J.; Martynov, Y.; Mas, A.; Masciocchi, S.; Masera, M.; Masoni, A.; Massacrier, L.; Mastroserio, A.; Matyja, A.; Mayer, C.; Mazer, J.; Mazzoni, M. A.; Meddi, F.; Menchaca-Rocha, A.; Meninno, E.; Mercado Pérez, J.; Meres, M.; Miake, Y.; Mikhaylov, K.; Milano, L.; Milosevic, J.; Mischke, A.; Mishra, A. N.; Miśkowiec, D.; Mitra, J.; Mitu, C. M.; Mlynarz, J.; Mohammadi, N.; Mohanty, B.; Molnar, L.; Montaño Zetina, L.; Montes, E.; Morando, M.; Moreira de Godoy, D. A.; Moretto, S.; Morreale, A.; Morsch, A.; Muccifora, V.; Mudnic, E.; Mühlheim, D.; Muhuri, S.; Mukherjee, M.; Müller, H.; Munhoz, M. G.; Murray, S.; Musa, L.; Musinsky, J.; Nandi, B. K.; Nania, R.; Nappi, E.; Nattrass, C.; Nayak, K.; Nayak, T. K.; Nazarenko, S.; Nedosekin, A.; Nicassio, M.; Niculescu, M.; Nielsen, B. S.; Nikolaev, S.; Nikulin, S.; Nikulin, V.; Nilsen, B. S.; Noferini, F.; Nomokonov, P.; Nooren, G.; Norman, J.; Nyanin, A.; Nystrand, J.; Oeschler, H.; Oh, S.; Oh, S. K.; Okatan, A.; Olah, L.; Oleniacz, J.; Oliveira da Silva, A. C.; Onderwaater, J.; Oppedisano, C.; Ortiz Velasquez, A.; Oskarsson, A.; Otwinowski, J.; Oyama, K.; Ozdemir, M.; Sahoo, P.; Pachmayer, Y.; Pachr, M.; Pagano, P.; Paić, G.; Painke, F.; Pajares, C.; Pal, S. K.; Palmeri, A.; Pant, D.; Papikyan, V.; Pappalardo, G. S.; Pareek, P.; Park, W. J.; Parmar, S.; Passfeld, A.; Patalakha, D. I.; Paticchio, V.; Paul, B.; Pawlak, T.; Peitzmann, T.; Pereira da Costa, H.; Pereira de Oliveira Filho, E.; Peresunko, D.; Pérez Lara, C. E.; Pesci, A.; Peskov, V.; Pestov, Y.; Petráček, V.; Petran, M.; Petris, M.; Petrovici, M.; Petta, C.; Piano, S.; Pikna, M.; Pillot, P.; Pinazza, O.; Pinsky, L.; Piyarathna, D. B.; Płoskoń, M.; Planinic, M.; Pluta, J.; Pochybova, S.; Podesta-Lerma, P. L. M.; Poghosyan, M. G.; Pohjoisaho, E. H. O.; Polichtchouk, B.; Poljak, N.; Pop, A.; Porteboeuf-Houssais, S.; Porter, J.; Potukuchi, B.; Prasad, S. K.; Preghenella, R.; Prino, F.; Pruneau, C. A.; Pshenichnov, I.; Puddu, G.; Pujahari, P.; Punin, V.; Putschke, J.; Qvigstad, H.; Rachevski, A.; Raha, S.; Rak, J.; Rakotozafindrabe, A.; Ramello, L.; Raniwala, R.; Raniwala, S.; Räsänen, S. S.; Rascanu, B. T.; Rathee, D.; Rauf, A. W.; Razazi, V.; Read, K. F.; Real, J. S.; Redlich, K.; Reed, R. J.; Rehman, A.; Reichelt, P.; Reicher, M.; Reidt, F.; Renfordt, R.; Reolon, A. R.; Reshetin, A.; Rettig, F.; Revol, J.-P.; Reygers, K.; Riabov, V.; Ricci, R. A.; Richert, T.; Richter, M.; Riedler, P.; Riegler, W.; Riggi, F.; Rivetti, A.; Rocco, E.; Rodríguez Cahuantzi, M.; Rodriguez Manso, A.; Røed, K.; Rogochaya, E.; Rohni, S.; Rohr, D.; Röhrich, D.; Romita, R.; Ronchetti, F.; Ronflette, L.; Rosnet, P.; Rossi, A.; Roukoutakis, F.; Roy, A.; Roy, C.; Roy, P.; Rubio Montero, A. J.; Rui, R.; Russo, R.; Ryabinkin, E.; Ryabov, Y.; Rybicki, A.; Sadovsky, S.; Šafařík, K.; Sahlmuller, B.; Sahoo, R.; Sahu, P. K.; Saini, J.; Sakai, S.; Salgado, C. A.; Salzwedel, J.; Sambyal, S.; Samsonov, V.; Sanchez Castro, X.; Sánchez Rodríguez, F. J.; Šándor, L.; Sandoval, A.; Sano, M.; Santagati, G.; Sarkar, D.; Scapparone, E.; Scarlassara, F.; Scharenberg, R. P.; Schiaua, C.; Schicker, R.; Schmidt, C.; Schmidt, H. R.; Schuchmann, S.; Schukraft, J.; Schulc, M.; Schuster, T.; Schutz, Y.; Schwarz, K.; Schweda, K.; Scioli, G.; Scomparin, E.; Scott, R.; Segato, G.; Seger, J. E.; Sekiguchi, Y.; Selyuzhenkov, I.; Seo, J.; Serradilla, E.; Sevcenco, A.; Shabetai, A.; Shabratova, G.; Shahoyan, R.; Shangaraev, A.; Sharma, N.; Sharma, S.; Shigaki, K.; Shtejer, K.; Sibiriak, Y.; Siddhanta, S.; Siemiarczuk, T.; Silvermyr, D.; Silvestre, C.; Simatovic, G.; Singaraju, R.; Singh, R.; Singha, S.; Singhal, V.; Sinha, B. C.; Sinha, T.; Sitar, B.; Sitta, M.; Skaali, T. B.; Skjerdal, K.; Slupecki, M.; Smirnov, N.; Snellings, R. J. M.; Søgaard, C.; Soltz, R.; Song, J.; Song, M.; Soramel, F.; Sorensen, S.; Spacek, M.; Spiriti, E.; Sputowska, I.; Spyropoulou-Stassinaki, M.; Srivastava, B. K.; Stachel, J.; Stan, I.; Stefanek, G.; Steinpreis, M.; Stenlund, E.; Steyn, G.; Stiller, J. H.; Stocco, D.; Stolpovskiy, M.; Strmen, P.; Suaide, A. A. P.; Sugitate, T.; Suire, C.; Suleymanov, M.; Sultanov, R.; Šumbera, M.; Susa, T.; Symons, T. J. M.; Szabo, A.; Szanto de Toledo, A.; Szarka, I.; Szczepankiewicz, A.; Szymanski, M.; Takahashi, J.; Tangaro, M. A.; Tapia Takaki, J. D.; Tarantola Peloni, A.; Tarazona Martinez, A.; Tarzila, M. G.; Tauro, A.; Tejeda Muñoz, G.; Telesca, A.; Terrevoli, C.; Thäder, J.; Thomas, D.; Tieulent, R.; Timmins, A. R.; Toia, A.; Trubnikov, V.; Trzaska, W. H.; Tsuji, T.; Tumkin, A.; Turrisi, R.; Tveter, T. S.; Ullaland, K.; Uras, A.; Usai, G. L.; Vajzer, M.; Vala, M.; Valencia Palomo, L.; Vallero, S.; Vande Vyvre, P.; van der Maarel, J.; van Hoorne, J. W.; van Leeuwen, M.; Vargas, A.; Vargyas, M.; Varma, R.; Vasileiou, M.; Vasiliev, A.; Vechernin, V.; Veldhoen, M.; Velure, A.; Venaruzzo, M.; Vercellin, E.; Vergara Limón, S.; Vernet, R.; Verweij, M.; Vickovic, L.; Viesti, G.; Viinikainen, J.; Vilakazi, Z.; Villalobos Baillie, O.; Vinogradov, A.; Vinogradov, L.; Vinogradov, Y.; Virgili, T.; Viyogi, Y. P.; Vodopyanov, A.; Völkl, M. A.; Voloshin, K.; Voloshin, S. A.; Volpe, G.; von Haller, B.; Vorobyev, I.; Vranic, D.; Vrláková, J.; Vulpescu, B.; Vyushin, A.; Wagner, B.; Wagner, J.; Wagner, V.; Wang, M.; Wang, Y.; Watanabe, D.; Weber, M.; Wessels, J. P.; Westerhoff, U.; Wiechula, J.; Wikne, J.; Wilde, M.; Wilk, G.; Wilkinson, J.; Williams, M. C. S.; Windelband, B.; Winn, M.; Yaldo, C. G.; Yamaguchi, Y.; Yang, H.; Yang, P.; Yang, S.; Yano, S.; Yasnopolskiy, S.; Yi, J.; Yin, Z.; Yoo, I.-K.; Yushmanov, I.; Zaccolo, V.; Zach, C.; Zaman, A.; Zampolli, C.; Zaporozhets, S.; Zarochentsev, A.; Závada, P.; Zaviyalov, N.; Zbroszczyk, H.; Zgura, I. S.; Zhalov, M.; Zhang, H.; Zhang, X.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhigareva, N.; Zhou, D.; Zhou, F.; Zhou, Y.; Zhou, Zhuo; Zhu, H.; Zhu, J.; Zhu, X.; Zichichi, A.; Zimmermann, A.; Zimmermann, M. B.; Zinovjev, G.; Zoccarato, Y.; Zyzak, M.; Alice Collaboration

    2014-11-01

    Measurements of multiparticle azimuthal correlations (cumulants) for charged particles in p -Pb at √{sNN}=5.02 TeV and Pb-Pb at √{sNN}=2.76 TeV collisions are presented. They help address the question of whether there is evidence for global, flowlike, azimuthal correlations in the p -Pb system. Comparisons are made to measurements from the larger Pb-Pb system, where such evidence is established. In particular, the second harmonic two-particle cumulants are found to decrease with multiplicity, characteristic of a dominance of few-particle correlations in p -Pb collisions. However, when a |Δ η | gap is placed to suppress such correlations, the two-particle cumulants begin to rise at high multiplicity, indicating the presence of global azimuthal correlations. The Pb-Pb values are higher than the p -Pb values at similar multiplicities. In both systems, the second harmonic four-particle cumulants exhibit a transition from positive to negative values when the multiplicity increases. The negative values allow for a measurement of v2{4 } to be made, which is found to be higher in Pb-Pb collisions at similar multiplicities. The second harmonic six-particle cumulants are also found to be higher in Pb-Pb collisions. In Pb-Pb collisions, we generally find v2{4 } ≃v2{6 } ≠0 which is indicative of a Bessel-Gaussian function for the v2 distribution. For very high-multiplicity Pb-Pb collisions, we observe that the four- and six-particle cumulants become consistent with 0. Finally, third harmonic two-particle cumulants in p -Pb and Pb-Pb are measured. These are found to be similar for overlapping multiplicities, when a |Δ η |>1.4 gap is placed.

  6. Statistical Power in Evaluations That Investigate Effects on Multiple Outcomes: A Guide for Researchers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Porter, Kristin E.

    2016-01-01

    In education research and in many other fields, researchers are often interested in testing the effectiveness of an intervention on multiple outcomes, for multiple subgroups, at multiple points in time, or across multiple treatment groups. The resulting multiplicity of statistical hypothesis tests can lead to spurious findings of effects. Multiple…

  7. An Evaluation of Oceanographic Optical Instruments and Deployment Methodologies

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hooker, Stanford B.; Maritorena, Stephane

    1999-01-01

    The primary objective of the Sea-viewing, Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) Project is to produce water- leaving radiances with an uncertainty of 5% in clear-water regions and chlorophyll a concentrations within +/- 35% over the range of 0.05-50 mg/cu m. Any global mission, like SeaWiFS, requires validation data be submitted from a wide variety of investigators which places a significant challenge on quantifying the total uncertainty associated with the in situ measurements, because each investigator follows slightly different practices when it comes to implementing all of the steps associated with collecting field data, even those with a prescribed set of protocols. This study uses data from multiple cruises to quantify the uncertainties associated with implementing data collection procedures while utilizing differing in-water optical instruments and deployment methods. A comprehensive approach is undertaken and includes: (1) the use of a portable light source and in-water intercomparisons to monitor the stability of the field radiometers, (2) alternative methods for acquiring reference measurements, and (3) different techniques for making in-water profiles. The only system to meet the 5% radiometric objective of the SeaWiFS Project was a free-fall profiler using (relatively inexpensive) modular components, although a more sophisticated (and comparatively expensive) profiler using integral components was very close and only 1% higher. A relatively inexpensive system deployed with a winch and crane was also close, but the ship shadow contamination problem increased the total uncertainty to approximately 6.5%.

  8. Spatio-temporal hierarchical modeling of rates and variability of Holocene sea-level changes in the western North Atlantic and the Caribbean

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ashe, E.; Kopp, R. E.; Khan, N.; Horton, B.; Engelhart, S. E.

    2016-12-01

    Sea level varies over of both space and time. Prior to the instrumental period, the sea-level record depends upon geological reconstructions that contain vertical and temporal uncertainty. Spatio-temporal statistical models enable the interpretation of RSL and rates of change as well as the reconstruction of the entire sea-level field from such noisy data. Hierarchical models explicitly distinguish between a process level, which characterizes the spatio-temporal field, and a data level, by which sparse proxy data and its noise is recorded. A hyperparameter level depicts prior expectations about the structure of variability in the spatio-temporal field. Spatio-temporal hierarchical models are amenable to several analysis approaches, with tradeoffs regarding computational efficiency and comprehensiveness of uncertainty characterization. A fully-Bayesian hierarchical model (BHM), which places prior probability distributions upon the hyperparameters, is more computationally intensive than an empirical hierarchical model (EHM), which uses point estimates of hyperparameters, derived from the data [1]. Here, we assess the sensitivity of posterior estimates of relative sea level (RSL) and rates to different statistical approaches by varying prior assumptions about the spatial and temporal structure of sea-level variability and applying multiple analytical approaches to Holocene sea-level proxies along the Atlantic coast of North American and the Caribbean [2]. References: 1. N Cressie, Wikle CK (2011) Statistics for spatio-temporal data (John Wiley & Sons). 2. Kahn N et al. (2016). Quaternary Science Reviews (in revision).

  9. Field-portable lensfree tomographic microscope.

    PubMed

    Isikman, Serhan O; Bishara, Waheb; Sikora, Uzair; Yaglidere, Oguzhan; Yeah, John; Ozcan, Aydogan

    2011-07-07

    We present a field-portable lensfree tomographic microscope, which can achieve sectional imaging of a large volume (∼20 mm(3)) on a chip with an axial resolution of <7 μm. In this compact tomographic imaging platform (weighing only ∼110 grams), 24 light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that are each butt-coupled to a fibre-optic waveguide are controlled through a cost-effective micro-processor to sequentially illuminate the sample from different angles to record lensfree holograms of the sample that is placed on the top of a digital sensor array. In order to generate pixel super-resolved (SR) lensfree holograms and hence digitally improve the achievable lateral resolution, multiple sub-pixel shifted holograms are recorded at each illumination angle by electromagnetically actuating the fibre-optic waveguides using compact coils and magnets. These SR projection holograms obtained over an angular range of ±50° are rapidly reconstructed to yield projection images of the sample, which can then be back-projected to compute tomograms of the objects on the sensor-chip. The performance of this compact and light-weight lensfree tomographic microscope is validated by imaging micro-beads of different dimensions as well as a Hymenolepis nana egg, which is an infectious parasitic flatworm. Achieving a decent three-dimensional spatial resolution, this field-portable on-chip optical tomographic microscope might provide a useful toolset for telemedicine and high-throughput imaging applications in resource-poor settings. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011

  10. A novel electrostatic ion-energy spectrometer by the use of a proposed ``self-collection'' method for secondary-electron emission from a metal collector

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hirata, M.; Nagashima, S.; Cho, T.; Kohagura, J.; Yoshida, M.; Ito, H.; Numakura, T.; Minami, R.; Kondoh, T.; Nakashima, Y.; Yatsu, K.; Miyoshi, S.

    2003-03-01

    For the purpose of end-loss-ion energy analyses in open-field plasmas, a newly developed electrostatic ion-energy spectrometer is proposed on the basis of a "self-collection" principle for secondary-electron emission from a metal collector. The ion-energy spectrometer is designed with multiple grids for analyzing incident ion energies, and a set of parallelly placed metal plates with respect to lines of ambient magnetic forces in an open-ended device. One of the most important characteristic properties of this spectrometer is the use of our proposed principle of a "self-collection" mechanism due to E×B drifts for secondary electrons emitted from the grounded metal-plate collector by the use of no further additional magnetic systems except the ambient open-ended fields B. The proof-of-principle and characterization experiments are carried out by the use of a test-ion-beam line along with an additional use of a Helmholtz coil system for the formation of open magnetic fields similar to those in the GAMMA 10 end region. The applications of the developed ion-energy spectrometer for end-loss-ion diagnostics in the GAMMA 10 plasma experiments are demonstrated under the conditions with simultaneous incidence of energetic electrons produced by electron-cyclotron heatings for end-loss-plugging potential formation, since these electrons have contributed to disturb these ion signals from conventional end-loss-ion detectors.

  11. Measurement uncertainties in quantifying aeolian mass flux: evidence from wind tunnel and field site data

    PubMed Central

    Keijsers, Joep G.S.; Maroulis, Jerry; Visser, Saskia M.

    2014-01-01

    Aeolian sediment traps are widely used to estimate the total volume of wind-driven sediment transport, but also to study the vertical mass distribution of a saltating sand cloud. The reliability of sediment flux estimations from such measurements are dependent upon the specific configuration of the measurement compartments and the analysis approach used. In this study, we analyse the uncertainty of these measurements by investigating the vertical cumulative distribution and relative sediment flux derived from both wind tunnel and field studies. Vertical flux data was examined using existing data in combination with a newly acquired dataset; comprising meteorological data and sediment fluxes from six different events, using three customized catchers at Ameland beaches in northern Netherlands. Fast-temporal data collected in a wind tunnel shows that the median transport height has a scattered pattern between impact and fluid threshold, that increases linearly with shear velocities above the fluid threshold. For finer sediment, a larger proportion was transported closer to the surface compared to coarser sediment fractions. It was also shown that errors originating from the distribution of sampling compartments, specifically the location of the lowest sediment trap relative to the surface, can be identified using the relative sediment flux. In the field, surface conditions such as surface moisture, surface crusts or frozen surfaces have a more pronounced but localized effect than shear velocity. Uncertainty in aeolian mass flux estimates can be reduced by placing multiple compartments in closer proximity to the surface. PMID:25071984

  12. ON MULTIPLE RECONNECTION X-LINES AND TRIPOLAR PERTURBATIONS OF STRONG GUIDE MAGNETIC FIELDS

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

    Eriksson, S.; Gosling, J. T.; Lapenta, G.

    We report new multi-spacecraft Cluster observations of tripolar guide magnetic field perturbations at a solar wind reconnection exhaust in the presence of a guide field B{sub M} {sub  }which is almost four times as strong as the reversing field B{sub L}. The novel tripolar field consists of two narrow regions of depressed B{sub M}, with an observed 7%–14% ΔB{sub M} magnitude relative to the external field, which are found adjacent to a wide region of enhanced B{sub M} within the exhaust. A stronger reversing field is associated with each B{sub M} depression. A kinetic reconnection simulation for realistic solar windmore » conditions and the observed strong guide field reveals that tripolar magnetic fields preferentially form across current sheets in the presence of multiple X-lines as magnetic islands approach one another and merge into fewer and larger islands. The simulated ΔB{sub M}/ΔX{sub N} over the normal width ΔX{sub N} between a B{sub M} minimum and the edge of the external region agree with the normalized values observed by Cluster. We propose that a tripolar guide field perturbation may be used to identify candidate regions containing multiple X-lines and interacting magnetic islands at individual solar wind current sheets with a strong guide field.« less

  13. Simple method for the generation of multiple homogeneous field volumes inside the bore of superconducting magnets.

    PubMed

    Chou, Ching-Yu; Ferrage, Fabien; Aubert, Guy; Sakellariou, Dimitris

    2015-07-17

    Standard Magnetic Resonance magnets produce a single homogeneous field volume, where the analysis is performed. Nonetheless, several modern applications could benefit from the generation of multiple homogeneous field volumes along the axis and inside the bore of the magnet. In this communication, we propose a straightforward method using a combination of ring structures of permanent magnets in order to cancel the gradient of the stray field in a series of distinct volumes. These concepts were demonstrated numerically on an experimentally measured magnetic field profile. We discuss advantages and limitations of our method and present the key steps required for an experimental validation.

  14. Sparse orthogonal population representation of spatial context in the retrosplenial cortex.

    PubMed

    Mao, Dun; Kandler, Steffen; McNaughton, Bruce L; Bonin, Vincent

    2017-08-15

    Sparse orthogonal coding is a key feature of hippocampal neural activity, which is believed to increase episodic memory capacity and to assist in navigation. Some retrosplenial cortex (RSC) neurons convey distributed spatial and navigational signals, but place-field representations such as observed in the hippocampus have not been reported. Combining cellular Ca 2+ imaging in RSC of mice with a head-fixed locomotion assay, we identified a population of RSC neurons, located predominantly in superficial layers, whose ensemble activity closely resembles that of hippocampal CA1 place cells during the same task. Like CA1 place cells, these RSC neurons fire in sequences during movement, and show narrowly tuned firing fields that form a sparse, orthogonal code correlated with location. RSC 'place' cell activity is robust to environmental manipulations, showing partial remapping similar to that observed in CA1. This population code for spatial context may assist the RSC in its role in memory and/or navigation.Neurons in the retrosplenial cortex (RSC) encode spatial and navigational signals. Here the authors use calcium imaging to show that, similar to the hippocampus, RSC neurons also encode place cell-like activity in a sparse orthogonal representation, partially anchored to the allocentric cues on the linear track.

  15. Multiplicity in Early Stellar Evolution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reipurth, B.; Clarke, C. J.; Boss, A. P.; Goodwin, S. P.; Rodríguez, L. F.; Stassun, K. G.; Tokovinin, A.; Zinnecker, H.

    Observations from optical to centimeter wavelengths have demonstrated that multiple systems of two or more bodies is the norm at all stellar evolutionary stages. Multiple systems are widely agreed to result from the collapse and fragmentation of cloud cores, despite the inhibiting influence of magnetic fields. Surveys of class 0 protostars with millimeter interferometers have revealed a very high multiplicity frequency of about 2/3, even though there are observational difficulties in resolving close protobinaries, thus supporting the possibility that all stars could be born in multiple systems. Near-infrared adaptive optics observations of class I protostars show a lower binary frequency relative to the class 0 phase, a declining trend that continues through the class II/III stages to the field population. This loss of companions is a natural consequence of dynamical interplay in small multiple systems, leading to ejection of members. We discuss observational consequences of this dynamical evolution, and its influence on circumstellar disks, and we review the evolution of circumbinary disks and their role in defining binary mass ratios. Special attention is paid to eclipsing PMS binaries, which allow for observational tests of evolutionary models of early stellar evolution. Many stars are born in clusters and small groups, and we discuss how interactions in dense stellar environments can significantly alter the distribution of binary separations through dissolution of wider binaries. The binaries and multiples we find in the field are the survivors of these internal and external destructive processes, and we provide a detailed overview of the multiplicity statistics of the field, which form a boundary condition for all models of binary evolution. Finally, we discuss various formation mechanisms for massive binaries, and the properties of massive trapezia.

  16. Working Memory, Age, Crew Downsizing, System Design and Training

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2000-08-01

    Radvansky and Zacks, 1997). As authors have noted perceived demand. Accurate "Situation Models " (Johnson- when attempting to make sense of a... models of cognitive function and workload (cf. Baddeley bodies of information to be processed or multiple results and Gathercole, 1993). The ability to...major bottleneck in human performance. Some models of multiple traces from different headings and the human information processing (Pashler, 1998) place

  17. How School Leaders Prioritize and Allocate Resources to Improve Teacher Quality through Teacher Professional Development: A Multiple Case Study in Suburban North Carolina

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tyson, Deonte Rashawn

    2017-01-01

    This multiple case study examined the methods by which school leaders determined and planned teacher professional development, as well as what teachers perceived as their professional development needs and how they believe school leaders take those needs into account. The study took place at two suburban elementary schools (1 traditional public, 1…

  18. Exploration of Configuration Options for a Large Civil Compound Helicopter

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Russell, Carl; Johnson, Wayne

    2013-01-01

    Multiple compound helicopter configurations are designed using a combination of rotorcraft sizing and comprehensive analysis codes. Results from both the conceptual design phase and rotor comprehensive analysis are presented. The designs are evaluated for their suitability to a short-to-medium-haul civil transport mission carrying a payload of 90 passengers. Multiple metrics are used to determine the best configuration, with heavy emphasis placed on minimizing fuel burn.

  19. Adolescents' multiple versus single primary attachment figures, reorganization of attachment hierarchy, and adjustments: the important people interview approach.

    PubMed

    Umemura, Tomotaka; Lacinová, Lenka; Kraus, Jakub; Horská, Eliška; Pivodová, Lenka

    2018-04-20

    Using 212 adolescents from a central-European country (mean age = 14.02, SD = 2.05, ranged from 11 to 18 years; females = 54%) and a multi-informant method to measure adolescents' behavioral and emotional adjustments, the present study explored three aspects regarding the attachment hierarchy. (1) The three types of behavioral systems of Rosenthal and Kobak's important people interview (IPI) were initially validated using an exploratory factor analysis with a US sample. Using a confirmatory factor analysis with a Czech sample, we replicated these three behavioral systems: attachment bond, support seeking, and affiliation. (2) We found that adolescents who developed attachment bond to multiple primary attachment figures were likely to score lower on both teacher-rated and parent-rated internalizing problems compared to those who had a single primary attachment figure. These multiple primary attachment figures tended to be family members (not peers). (3) Early adolescents who placed parents low in their attachment hierarchy scored higher on self-reported negative affect and lower on self-reported positive affect compared to early adolescents who placed parents high. The present study highlights multiple (vs. single) primary attachment figures as a protective factor and the premature reorganization of attachment hierarchy as a risk factor for adolescents' emotional and affective adjustments.

  20. Field Evaluation of Whole Airliner Decontamination Technologies for Narrow-Body Aircraft

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-01-01

    eight Apex 6 log G. Stearothermophilus biological indicators (BIs) were placed throughout the cabin for the formal evaluation; 20 were placed in...Twenty-eight 6 log G. Stearothermophilus biological indicators (BIs) were placed throughout the cabin, and all of these were deactivated, except in...Corporation has indicated to the authors of this report that STERIS makes no label claims for Vaprox® sterilant , STERIS’s brand of 35% liquid hydrogen

  1. Silica biomineralization via the self-assembly of helical biomolecules.

    PubMed

    Liu, Ben; Cao, Yuanyuan; Huang, Zhehao; Duan, Yingying; Che, Shunai

    2015-01-21

    The biomimetic synthesis of relevant silica materials using biological macromolecules as templates via silica biomineralization processes attract rapidly rising attention toward natural and artificial materials. Biomimetic synthesis studies are useful for improving the understanding of the formation mechanism of the hierarchical structures found in living organisms (such as diatoms and sponges) and for promoting significant developments in the biotechnology, nanotechnology and materials chemistry fields. Chirality is a ubiquitous phenomenon in nature and is an inherent feature of biomolecular components in organisms. Helical biomolecules, one of the most important types of chiral macromolecules, can self-assemble into multiple liquid-crystal structures and be used as biotemplates for silica biomineralization, which renders them particularly useful for fabricating complex silica materials under ambient conditions. Over the past two decades, many new silica materials with hierarchical structures and complex morphologies have been created using helical biomolecules. In this review, the developments in this field are described and the recent progress in silica biomineralization templating using several classes of helical biomolecules, including DNA, polypeptides, cellulose and rod-like viruses is summarized. Particular focus is placed on the formation mechanism of biomolecule-silica materials (BSMs) with hierarchical structures. Finally, current research challenges and future developments are discussed in the conclusion. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  2. Diffusion Tensor Image Registration Using Hybrid Connectivity and Tensor Features

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Qian; Yap, Pew-Thian; Wu, Guorong; Shen, Dinggang

    2014-01-01

    Most existing diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) registration methods estimate structural correspondences based on voxelwise matching of tensors. The rich connectivity information that is given by DTI, however, is often neglected. In this article, we propose to integrate complementary information given by connectivity features and tensor features for improved registration accuracy. To utilize connectivity information, we place multiple anchors representing different brain anatomies in the image space, and define the connectivity features for each voxel as the geodesic distances from all anchors to the voxel under consideration. The geodesic distance, which is computed in relation to the tensor field, encapsulates information of brain connectivity. We also extract tensor features for every voxel to reflect the local statistics of tensors in its neighborhood. We then combine both connectivity features and tensor features for registration of tensor images. From the images, landmarks are selected automatically and their correspondences are determined based on their connectivity and tensor feature vectors. The deformation field that deforms one tensor image to the other is iteratively estimated and optimized according to the landmarks and their associated correspondences. Experimental results show that, by using connectivity features and tensor features simultaneously, registration accuracy is increased substantially compared with the cases using either type of features alone. PMID:24293159

  3. Assessing the potential of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations to probe reversible protein-protein recognition and binding

    PubMed Central

    Abriata, Luciano A.; Dal Peraro, Matteo

    2015-01-01

    Protein-protein recognition and binding are governed by diffusion, noncovalent forces and conformational flexibility, entangled in a way that only molecular dynamics simulations can dissect at high resolution. Here we exploited ubiquitin’s noncovalent dimerization equilibrium to assess the potential of atomistic simulations to reproduce reversible protein-protein binding, by running submicrosecond simulations of systems with multiple copies of the protein at millimolar concentrations. The simulations essentially fail because they lead to aggregates, yet they reproduce some specificity in the binding interfaces as observed in known covalent and noncovalent ubiquitin dimers. Following similar observations in literature we hint at electrostatics and water descriptions as the main liable force field elements, and propose that their optimization should consider observables relevant to multi-protein systems and unfolded proteins. Within limitations, analysis of binding events suggests salient features of protein-protein recognition and binding, to be retested with improved force fields. Among them, that specific configurations of relative direction and orientation seem to trigger fast binding of two molecules, even over 50 Å distances; that conformational selection can take place within surface-to-surface distances of 10 to 40 Å i.e. well before actual intermolecular contact; and that establishment of contacts between molecules further locks their conformations and relative orientations. PMID:26023027

  4. The August 1975 Flood over Central China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Long; Smith, James; Liu, Maofeng; Baeck, MaryLynn

    2016-04-01

    The August 1975 flood in Central China was one of the most destructive floods in history, resulting in 26 000 fatalities, leaving about 10 million people with insufficient shelter, and producing long-lasting famine and disease. Extreme rainfall responsible for this flood event was associated with typhoon Nina during 5-7 August 1975. Despite the prominence of the August 1975 flood, analyses of the storms producing the flood and the resulting flood are sparse. Even fewer attempts were made from the perspective of numerical simulations. We examine details of extreme rainfall for the August 1975 flood based on downscaling simulations using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model driven by 20th Century Reanalysis fields. We further placed key hydrometeorological features for the flood event in a climatological context through the analyses of the 20th Century Reanalysis fields. Results indicate interrelated roles of multiple mesoscale ingredients for deep, moist convection in producing extreme rainfall for the August 1975 flood, superimposed over an anomalous synoptic environment. Attribution analyses on the source of water vapor for this flood event will be conducted based on a Lagrangian parcel tracking algorithm LAGRANTO. Analytical framework developed in this study aims to explore utilization of hydrometeorological approach in flood-control engineering designs by providing details on key elements of flood-producing storms.

  5. Multiscale Processes in Magnetic Reconnection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Surjalal Sharma, A.; Jain, Neeraj

    The characteristic scales of the plasma processes in magnetic reconnection range from the elec-tron skin-depth to the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) scale, and cross-scale coupling among them play a key role. Modeling these processes requires different physical models, viz. kinetic, electron-magnetohydrodynamics (EMHD), Hall-MHD, and MHD. The shortest scale processes are at the electron scale and these are modeled using an EMHD code, which provides many features of the multiscale behavior. In simulations using initial conditions consisting of pertur-bations with many scale sizes the reconnection takes place at many sites and the plasma flows from these interact with each other. This leads to thin current sheets with length less than 10 electron skin depths. The plasma flows also generate current sheets with multiple peaks, as observed by Cluster. The quadrupole structure of the magnetic field during reconnection starts on the electron scale and the interaction of inflow to the secondary sites and outflow from the dominant site generates a nested structure. In the outflow regions, the interaction of the electron outflows generated at the neighboring sites lead to the development of electron vortices. A signature of the nested structure of the Hall field is seen in Cluster observations, and more details of these features are expected from MMS.

  6. Localization of MEG human brain responses to retinotopic visual stimuli with contrasting source reconstruction approaches

    PubMed Central

    Cicmil, Nela; Bridge, Holly; Parker, Andrew J.; Woolrich, Mark W.; Krug, Kristine

    2014-01-01

    Magnetoencephalography (MEG) allows the physiological recording of human brain activity at high temporal resolution. However, spatial localization of the source of the MEG signal is an ill-posed problem as the signal alone cannot constrain a unique solution and additional prior assumptions must be enforced. An adequate source reconstruction method for investigating the human visual system should place the sources of early visual activity in known locations in the occipital cortex. We localized sources of retinotopic MEG signals from the human brain with contrasting reconstruction approaches (minimum norm, multiple sparse priors, and beamformer) and compared these to the visual retinotopic map obtained with fMRI in the same individuals. When reconstructing brain responses to visual stimuli that differed by angular position, we found reliable localization to the appropriate retinotopic visual field quadrant by a minimum norm approach and by beamforming. Retinotopic map eccentricity in accordance with the fMRI map could not consistently be localized using an annular stimulus with any reconstruction method, but confining eccentricity stimuli to one visual field quadrant resulted in significant improvement with the minimum norm. These results inform the application of source analysis approaches for future MEG studies of the visual system, and indicate some current limits on localization accuracy of MEG signals. PMID:24904268

  7. The Representation of Three-Dimensional Space in Fish

    PubMed Central

    Burt de Perera, Theresa; Holbrook, Robert I.; Davis, Victoria

    2016-01-01

    In mammals, the so-called “seat of the cognitive map” is located in place cells within the hippocampus. Recent work suggests that the shape of place cell fields might be defined by the animals’ natural movement; in rats the fields appear to be laterally compressed (meaning that the spatial map of the animal is more highly resolved in the horizontal dimensions than in the vertical), whereas the place cell fields of bats are statistically spherical (which should result in a spatial map that is equally resolved in all three dimensions). It follows that navigational error should be equal in the horizontal and vertical dimensions in animals that travel freely through volumes, whereas in surface-bound animals would demonstrate greater vertical error. Here, we describe behavioral experiments on pelagic fish in which we investigated the way that fish encode three-dimensional space and we make inferences about the underlying processing. Our work suggests that fish, like mammals, have a higher order representation of space that assembles incoming sensory information into a neural unit that can be used to determine position and heading in three-dimensions. Further, our results are consistent with this representation being encoded isotropically, as would be expected for animals that move freely through volumes. Definitive evidence for spherical place fields in fish will not only reveal the neural correlates of space to be a deep seated vertebrate trait, but will also help address the questions of the degree to which environment spatial ecology has shaped cognitive processes and their underlying neural mechanisms. PMID:27014002

  8. The meaning of "aging in place" to older people.

    PubMed

    Wiles, Janine L; Leibing, Annette; Guberman, Nancy; Reeve, Jeanne; Allen, Ruth E S

    2012-06-01

    This study illuminates the concept of "aging in place" in terms of functional, symbolic, and emotional attachments and meanings of homes, neighbourhoods, and communities. It investigates how older people understand the meaning of "aging in place," a term widely used in aging policy and research but underexplored with older people themselves. Older people (n = 121), ranging in age from 56 to 92 years, participated in focus groups and interviews in 2 case study communities of similar size in Aotearoa New Zealand, both with high ratings on deprivation indices. The question, "What is the ideal place to grow older?" was explored, including reflections on aging in place. Thematic and narrative analyses on the meaning of aging in place are presented in this paper. Older people want choices about where and how they age in place. "Aging in place" was seen as an advantage in terms of a sense of attachment or connection and feelings of security and familiarity in relation to both homes and communities. Aging in place related to a sense of identity both through independence and autonomy and through caring relationships and roles in the places people live. Aging in place operates in multiple interacting ways, which need to be taken into account in both policy and research. The meanings of aging in place for older people have pragmatic implications beyond internal "feel good" aspects and operate interactively far beyond the "home" or housing.

  9. Shielded capacitive electrode

    DOEpatents

    Kireeff Covo, Michel

    2013-07-09

    A device is described, which is sensitive to electric fields, but is insensitive to stray electrons/ions and unlike a bare, exposed conductor, it measures capacitively coupled current while rejecting currents due to charged particle collected or emitted. A charged particle beam establishes an electric field inside the beam pipe. A grounded metallic box with an aperture is placed in a drift region near the beam tube radius. The produced electric field that crosses the aperture generates a fringe field that terminates in the back surface of the front of the box and induces an image charge. An electrode is placed inside the grounded box and near the aperture, where the fringe fields terminate, in order to couple with the beam. The electrode is negatively biased to suppress collection of electrons and is protected behind the front of the box, so the beam halo cannot directly hit the electrode and produce electrons. The measured signal shows the net potential (positive ion beam plus negative electrons) variation with time, as it shall be observed from the beam pipe wall.

  10. Thermonuclear dynamo inside ultracentrifuge with supersonic plasma flow stabilization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Winterberg, F.

    2016-01-01

    Einstein's general theory of relativity implies the existence of virtual negative masses in the rotational reference frame of an ultracentrifuge with the negative mass density of the same order of magnitude as the positive mass density of a neutron star. In an ultracentrifuge, the repulsive gravitational field of this negative mass can simulate the attractive positive mass of a mini-neutron star, and for this reason can radially confine a dense thermonuclear plasma placed inside the centrifuge, very much as the positive mass of a star confines its plasma by its own attractive gravitational field. If the centrifuge is placed in an externally magnetic field to act as the seed field of a magnetohydrodynamic generator, the configuration resembles a magnetar driven by the release of energy through nuclear fusion, accelerating the plasma to supersonic velocities, with the magnetic field produced by the thermomagnetic Nernst effect insulating the hot plasma from the cold wall of the centrifuge. Because of the supersonic flow and the high plasma density the configuration is stable.

  11. Synchronized excitability in a network enables generation of internal neuronal sequences

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Yingxue; Roth, Zachary; Pastalkova, Eva

    2016-01-01

    Hippocampal place field sequences are supported by sensory cues and network internal mechanisms. In contrast, sharp-wave (SPW) sequences, theta sequences, and episode field sequences are internally generated. The relationship of these sequences to memory is unclear. SPW sequences have been shown to support learning and have been assumed to also support episodic memory. Conversely, we demonstrate these SPW sequences were present in trained rats even after episodic memory was impaired and after other internal sequences – episode field and theta sequences – were eliminated. SPW sequences did not support memory despite continuing to ‘replay’ all task-related sequences – place- field and episode field sequences. Sequence replay occurred selectively during synchronous increases of population excitability -- SPWs. Similarly, theta sequences depended on the presence of repeated synchronized waves of excitability – theta oscillations. Thus, we suggest that either intermittent or rhythmic synchronized changes of excitability trigger sequential firing of neurons, which in turn supports learning and/or memory. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.20697.001 PMID:27677848

  12. Field Monitoring of Experimental Hot Mix Asphalt Projects Placed in Massachusetts

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2017-06-30

    Since 2000, Massachusetts has been involved with numerous field trials of experimental hot mix asphalt mixtures. These experimental mixtures included several pilot projects using the Superpave mixture design methodology, utilization of warm mix aspha...

  13. Heat flow control and segregation in directional solidification: Development of an experimental and theoretical basis for Bridgman-type growth experiments in a microgravity environment

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Witt, A. F.

    1986-01-01

    Within the framework of the proposed research, emphasis was placed on application of magnetic fields to semiconductor growth systems. It was found that magnetic fields up to 3 kGauss do not affect the growth behavior nor the macro-segregation behavior in the system Ge(Ga). Applied fields are found to significantlty alter the radial dopant distribution, which is attributed to alterations in the spatial orientation of convective cells. Increasing the magnetic field to 30 kGauss is found to have a fundamental effect on dopant segregation. Emphasis is also placed on the potential of KC-135 flights for preliminary studies on the effects of reduced gravity environments on the wetting behavior of semiconductor systems in growth configuration. The limited number of experiments conducted does not allow any conclusions on the merits of KC-135 flights for semiconductor processing research.

  14. Starbugs: focal plane fiber positioning technology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Goodwin, Michael; Heijmans, Jeroen; Saunders, Ian; Brzeski, Jurek; Saunders, Will; Muller, Rolf; Haynes, Roger; Gilbert, James

    2010-07-01

    We report on the technological achievements of our latest Starbug prototypes and their implications for smart focal plane fiber positioning applications for wide-field astronomy. The Starbugs are innovative self-motile miniature robotic devices that can simultaneously and independently position fibers or payloads over a field plate located at the telescope's focal plane. The Starbugs concept overcomes many of the limitations associated with the traditional 'pick and place' positioners where a robot places fixed buttons onto the field plate. The new Starbug prototypes use piezoelectric actuators and have the following features: (i) new 'lift-and-step' method (discrete step) for accurate positioning over different surfaces; and (ii) operate in an inverted hanging position underneath a transparent field plate, removing the need for fibercable retractors. In this paper, we present aspects of the Starbug prototypes, including the theoretical model, mechanical design, experimental setup, algorithms, performance and applications for astronomical instrumentation.

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

    Deshmukh, Shivaraj D.; Tsori, Yoav, E-mail: tsori@bgu.ac.il

    We examine theoretically a new idea for spatial and temporal control of chemical reactions. When chemical reactions take place in a mixture of solvents, an external electric field can alter the local mixture composition, thereby accelerating or decelerating the rate of reaction. The spatial distribution of electric field strength can be non-trivial and depends on the arrangement of the electrodes producing it. In the absence of electric field, the mixture is homogeneous and the reaction takes place uniformly in the reactor volume. When an electric field is applied, the solvents separate and the reactants are concentrated in the same phasemore » or separate to different phases, depending on their relative miscibility in the solvents, and this can have a large effect on the kinetics of the reaction. This method could provide an alternative way to control runaway reactions and to increase the reaction rate without using catalysts.« less

  16. Resonant coupling through a slot to a loaded cylindrical cavity: Experimental results

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Norgard, John D.; Sega, Ronald M.

    1990-03-01

    The effect of cavity geometry on the energy coupled through a slot aperture is investigated through the use of planar mappings of the internal cavity field. A copper cylinder, closed at both ends, is constructed with copper mesh sections incorporated at the ends of the cylinder and in the cylinder wall opposite a thin slot aperture placed in the wall. The frequencies used for testing are 2 to 4 GHz. Internal field mapping is accomplished by placing thin carbon-loaded sheets in the plane of interest and recording the digitized temperature distribution using an infrared scanning system. The sheets are calibrated such that the temperature data is transformed to current densities or electric field strengths. Using several positions for the detection material, a three-dimensional field profile is obtained. The onset of the internal cavity resonance is studied as it is related to the energy coupled through small apertures.

  17. Assimilating Flow Data into Complex Multiple-Point Statistical Facies Models Using Pilot Points Method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ma, W.; Jafarpour, B.

    2017-12-01

    We develop a new pilot points method for conditioning discrete multiple-point statistical (MPS) facies simulation on dynamic flow data. While conditioning MPS simulation on static hard data is straightforward, their calibration against nonlinear flow data is nontrivial. The proposed method generates conditional models from a conceptual model of geologic connectivity, known as a training image (TI), by strategically placing and estimating pilot points. To place pilot points, a score map is generated based on three sources of information:: (i) the uncertainty in facies distribution, (ii) the model response sensitivity information, and (iii) the observed flow data. Once the pilot points are placed, the facies values at these points are inferred from production data and are used, along with available hard data at well locations, to simulate a new set of conditional facies realizations. While facies estimation at the pilot points can be performed using different inversion algorithms, in this study the ensemble smoother (ES) and its multiple data assimilation variant (ES-MDA) are adopted to update permeability maps from production data, which are then used to statistically infer facies types at the pilot point locations. The developed method combines the information in the flow data and the TI by using the former to infer facies values at select locations away from the wells and the latter to ensure consistent facies structure and connectivity where away from measurement locations. Several numerical experiments are used to evaluate the performance of the developed method and to discuss its important properties.

  18. Charged particle dynamics in multiple colliding electromagnetic waves. Survey of random walk, Lévy flights, limit circles, attractors and structurally determinate patterns

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bulanov, S. V.; Esirkepov, T. Zh.; Koga, J. K.; Bulanov, S. S.; Gong, Z.; Yan, X. Q.; Kando, M.

    2017-04-01

    The multiple colliding laser pulse concept formulated by Bulanov et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 104, 2010b, 220404) is beneficial for achieving an extremely high amplitude of coherent electromagnetic field. Since the topology of electric and magnetic fields of multiple colliding laser pulses oscillating in time is far from trivial and the radiation friction effects are significant in the high field limit, the dynamics of charged particles interacting with the multiple colliding laser pulses demonstrates remarkable features corresponding to random walk trajectories, limit circles, attractors, regular patterns and Lévy flights. Under extremely high intensity conditions the nonlinear dissipation mechanism stabilizes the particle motion resulting in the charged particle trajectory being located within narrow regions and in the occurrence of a new class of regular patterns made by the particle ensembles.

  19. Dynamics of multiple double layers in high pressure glow discharge in a simple torus

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

    Kumar Paul, Manash, E-mail: manashkr@gmail.com; Sharma, P. K.; Thakur, A.

    2014-06-15

    Parametric characterization of multiple double layers is done during high pressure glow discharge in a toroidal vessel of small aspect ratio. Although glow discharge (without magnetic field) is known to be independent of device geometry, but the toroidal boundary conditions are conducive to plasma growth and eventually the plasma occupy the toroidal volume partially. At higher anode potential, the visibly glowing spots on the body of spatially extended anode transform into multiple intensely luminous spherical plasma blob structures attached to the tip of the positive electrode. Dynamics of multiple double layers are observed in argon glow discharge plasma in presencemore » of toroidal magnetic field. The radial profiles of plasma parameters measured at various toroidal locations show signatures of double layer formation in our system. Parametric dependence of double layer dynamics in presence of toroidal magnetic field is presented here.« less

  20. Charged particle dynamics in multiple colliding electromagnetic waves. Survey of random walk, Lévy flights, limit circles, attractors and structurally determinate patterns

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

    Bulanov, S. V.; Esirkepov, T. Zh.; Koga, J. K.

    The multiple colliding laser pulse concept formulated by Bulanovet al.(Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 104, 2010b, 220404) is beneficial for achieving an extremely high amplitude of coherent electromagnetic field. Since the topology of electric and magnetic fields of multiple colliding laser pulses oscillating in time is far from trivial and the radiation friction effects are significant in the high field limit, the dynamics of charged particles interacting with the multiple colliding laser pulses demonstrates remarkable features corresponding to random walk trajectories, limit circles, attractors, regular patterns and Lévy flights. Lastly, under extremely high intensity conditions the nonlinear dissipation mechanism stabilizes the particle motionmore » resulting in the charged particle trajectory being located within narrow regions and in the occurrence of a new class of regular patterns made by the particle ensembles.« less

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