Tracking Student Transfers: The Perils and Pitfalls of Complying with the New Student Right-To-Know Act (PL 101-542).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Marcia M.

The Student Right-To-Know and Campus Security Act gives community colleges a strong incentive to track transfer students. Westchester Community College (WCC) in New York devised a four-step process to track students who transferred to four-year college before graduating. The method used to track student transfers involved the following steps: (1)…

Energy Tracking Diagrams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scherr, Rachel E.; Harrer, Benedikt W.; Close, Hunter G.; Daane, Abigail R.; DeWater, Lezlie S.; Robertson, Amy D.; Seeley, Lane; Vokos, Stamatis

2016-02-01

Energy is a crosscutting concept in science and features prominently in national science education documents. In the Next Generation Science Standards, the primary conceptual learning goal is for learners to conserve energy as they track the transfers and transformations of energy within, into, or out of the system of interest in complex physical processes. As part of tracking energy transfers among objects, learners should (i) distinguish energy from matter, including recognizing that energy flow does not uniformly align with the movement of matter, and should (ii) identify specific mechanisms by which energy is transferred among objects, such as mechanical work and thermal conduction. As part of tracking energy transformations within objects, learners should (iii) associate specific forms with specific models and indicators (e.g., kinetic energy with speed and/or coordinated motion of molecules, thermal energy with random molecular motion and/or temperature) and (iv) identify specific mechanisms by which energy is converted from one form to another, such as incandescence and metabolism. Eventually, we may hope for learners to be able to optimize systems to maximize some energy transfers and transformations and minimize others, subject to constraints based in both imputed mechanism (e.g., objects must have motion energy in order for gravitational energy to change) and the second law of thermodynamics (e.g., heating is irreversible). We hypothesize that a subsequent goal of energy learning—innovating to meet socially relevant needs—depends crucially on the extent to which these goals have been met.

Servo-hydraulic actuator in controllable canonical form: Identification and experimental validation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maghareh, Amin; Silva, Christian E.; Dyke, Shirley J.

2018-02-01

Hydraulic actuators have been widely used to experimentally examine structural behavior at multiple scales. Real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) is one innovative testing method that largely relies on such servo-hydraulic actuators. In RTHS, interface conditions must be enforced in real time, and controllers are often used to achieve tracking of the desired displacements. Thus, neglecting the dynamics of hydraulic transfer system may result either in system instability or sub-optimal performance. Herein, we propose a nonlinear dynamical model for a servo-hydraulic actuator (a.k.a. hydraulic transfer system) coupled with a nonlinear physical specimen. The nonlinear dynamical model is transformed into controllable canonical form for further tracking control design purposes. Through a number of experiments, the controllable canonical model is validated.

Strain monitoring of a newly developed precast concrete track for high speed railway traffic using embedded fiber optic sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crail, Stephanie; Reichel, D.; Schreiner, U.; Lindner, E.; Habel, Wolfgang R.; Hofmann, Detlef; Basedau, Frank; Brandes, K.; Barner, A.; Ecke, Wolfgang; Schroeder, Kerstin

2002-07-01

In a German slab track system (Feste Fahrbahn FF, system Boegl) for speeds up to 300 km/h and more different fiber optic sensors have been embedded in several levels and locations of the track system. The track system consists of prestressed precast panels of steel fiber concrete which are supported by a cat-in-situ concrete or asphalt base course. The sensors are to measure the bond behavior or the stress transfer in the track system. For that, tiny fiber-optic sensors - fiber Fabry-Perot and Bragg grating sensors - have been embedded very near to the interface of the layers. Measurements were taken on a full scale test sample (slab track panel of 6.45 m length) as well as on a real high speed track. The paper describes the measurement task and discusses aspects with regard to sensor design and prefabrication of the sensor frames as well as the embedding procedure into the concrete track. Results from static and dynamic full scale tests carried out in the testing laboratory of BAM and from measurements on a track are given.

Tracking coherent population transfer and thermal population relaxation in condensed system by broad-band transient grating spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Wei; Liu, Xiaosong; Wu, Honglin; Song, Yunfei; Liu, Weilong; Yang, Yanqiang

2018-04-01

Broad-band transient grating (BB-TG) spectroscopy was proposed to track both coherent population transfer (CPT) and thermal population relaxation processes in a condensed system of solvated molecules in solution (Rhodamine101 in methanol). A broad band around 1500 cm‑1 and a relative narrow band near 2900 cm‑1 emerge in TG and transient absorption contour plots when pump and probe pulses overlap in the sample. The experimental results matched well with the vibrational modes of Rhodamine101 that were obtained by theoretical calculation. In addition, it was found that the population of CPT particles can be evaluated quantitatively through the intensity of the TG signal.

Final design of a space debris removal system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carlson, Erika; Casali, Steve; Chambers, Don; Geissler, Garner; Lalich, Andrew; Leipold, Manfred; Mach, Richard; Parry, John; Weems, Foley

1990-01-01

The objective is the removal of medium sized orbital debris in low Earth orbits. The design incorporates a transfer vehicle and a netting vehicle to capture the medium size debris. The system is based near an operational space station located at 28.5 degrees inclination and 400 km altitude. The system uses ground based tracking to determine the location of a satellite breakup or debris cloud. This data is unloaded to the transfer vehicle, and the transfer vehicle proceeds to rendezvous with the debris at a lower altitude parking orbit. Next, the netting vehicle is deployed, tracks the targeted debris, and captures it. After expending the available nets, the netting vehicle returns to the transfer vehicle for a new netting module and continues to capture more debris in the target area. Once all the netting modules are expended, the transfer vehicle returns to the space station's orbit, where it is resupplied with new netting modules from a space shuttle load. The new modules are launched by the shuttle from the ground, and the expended modules are taken back to Earth for removal of the captured debris, refueling, and repacking of the nets. Once the netting modules are refurbished, they are taken back into orbit for reuse. In a typical mission, the system has the ability to capture 50 pieces of orbital debris. One mission will take about six months. The system is designed to allow for a 30 degree inclination change on the outgoing and incoming trips of the transfer vehicle.

Final design of a space debris removal system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carlson, Erika; Casali, Steve; Chambers, Don; Geissler, Garner; Lalich, Andrew; Leipold, Manfred; Mach, Richard; Parry, John; Weems, Foley

1990-12-01

The objective is the removal of medium sized orbital debris in low Earth orbits. The design incorporates a transfer vehicle and a netting vehicle to capture the medium size debris. The system is based near an operational space station located at 28.5 degrees inclination and 400 km altitude. The system uses ground based tracking to determine the location of a satellite breakup or debris cloud. This data is unloaded to the transfer vehicle, and the transfer vehicle proceeds to rendezvous with the debris at a lower altitude parking orbit. Next, the netting vehicle is deployed, tracks the targeted debris, and captures it. After expending the available nets, the netting vehicle returns to the transfer vehicle for a new netting module and continues to capture more debris in the target area. Once all the netting modules are expended, the transfer vehicle returns to the space station's orbit, where it is resupplied with new netting modules from a space shuttle load. The new modules are launched by the shuttle from the ground, and the expended modules are taken back to Earth for removal of the captured debris, refueling, and repacking of the nets. Once the netting modules are refurbished, they are taken back into orbit for reuse. In a typical mission, the system has the ability to capture 50 pieces of orbital debris. One mission will take about six months. The system is designed to allow for a 30 degree inclination change on the outgoing and incoming trips of the transfer vehicle.

CANISTER TRANSFER SYSTEM DESCRIPTION DOCUMENT

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

B. Gorpani

2000-06-23

The Canister Transfer System receives transportation casks containing large and small disposable canisters, unloads the canisters from the casks, stores the canisters as required, loads them into disposal containers (DCs), and prepares the empty casks for re-shipment. Cask unloading begins with cask inspection, sampling, and lid bolt removal operations. The cask lids are removed and the canisters are unloaded. Small canisters are loaded directly into a DC, or are stored until enough canisters are available to fill a DC. Large canisters are loaded directly into a DC. Transportation casks and related components are decontaminated as required, and empty casks aremore » prepared for re-shipment. One independent, remotely operated canister transfer line is provided in the Waste Handling Building System. The canister transfer line consists of a Cask Transport System, Cask Preparation System, Canister Handling System, Disposal Container Transport System, an off-normal canister handling cell with a transfer tunnel connecting the two cells, and Control and Tracking System. The Canister Transfer System operating sequence begins with moving transportation casks to the cask preparation area with the Cask Transport System. The Cask Preparation System prepares the cask for unloading and consists of cask preparation manipulator, cask inspection and sampling equipment, and decontamination equipment. The Canister Handling System unloads the canister(s) and places them into a DC. Handling equipment consists of a bridge crane hoist, DC loading manipulator, lifting fixtures, and small canister staging racks. Once the cask has been unloaded, the Cask Preparation System decontaminates the cask exterior and returns it to the Carrier/Cask Handling System via the Cask Transport System. After the DC is fully loaded, the Disposal Container Transport System moves the DC to the Disposal Container Handling System for welding. To handle off-normal canisters, a separate off-normal canister handling cell is located adjacent to the canister transfer cell and is interconnected to the transfer cell by means of the off-normal canister transfer tunnel. All canister transfer operations are controlled by the Control and Tracking System. The system interfaces with the Carrier/Cask Handling System for incoming and outgoing transportation casks. The system also interfaces with the Disposal Container Handling System, which prepares the DC for loading and subsequently seals the loaded DC. The system support interfaces are the Waste Handling Building System and other internal Waste Handling Building (WHB) support systems.« less

Reducing Interprocessor Dependence in Recoverable Distributed Shared Memory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Janssens, Bob; Fuchs, W. Kent

1994-01-01

Checkpointing techniques in parallel systems use dependency tracking and/or message logging to ensure that a system rolls back to a consistent state. Traditional dependency tracking in distributed shared memory (DSM) systems is expensive because of high communication frequency. In this paper we show that, if designed correctly, a DSM system only needs to consider dependencies due to the transfer of blocks of data, resulting in reduced dependency tracking overhead and reduced potential for rollback propagation. We develop an ownership timestamp scheme to tolerate the loss of block state information and develop a passive server model of execution where interactions between processors are considered atomic. With our scheme, dependencies are significantly reduced compared to the traditional message-passing model.

Transfer matrix calculation for ion optical elements using real fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra, P. M.; Blaum, K.; George, S.; Grieser, M.; Wolf, A.

2018-03-01

With the increasing importance of ion storage rings and traps in low energy physics experiments, an efficient transport of ion species from the ion source area to the experimental setup becomes essential. Some available, powerful software packages rely on transfer matrix calculations in order to compute the ion trajectory through the ion-optical beamline systems of high complexity. With analytical approaches, so far the transfer matrices are documented only for a few ideal ion optical elements. Here we describe an approach (using beam tracking calculations) to determine the transfer matrix for any individual electrostatic or magnetostatic ion optical element. We verify the procedure by considering the well-known cases and then apply it to derive the transfer matrix of a 90-degree electrostatic quadrupole deflector including its realistic geometry and fringe fields. A transfer line consisting of a quadrupole deflector and a quadrupole doublet is considered, where the results from the standard first order transfer matrix based ion optical simulation program implementing the derived transfer matrix is compared with the real field beam tracking simulations.

A feasibility study of stationary and dual-axis tracking grid-connected photovoltaic systems in the Upper Midwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Warren, Ryan Duwain

Three primary objectives were defined for this work. The first objective was to determine, assess, and compare the performance, heat transfer characteristics, economics, and feasibility of real-world stationary and dual-axis tracking grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems in the Upper Midwest. This objective was achieved by installing two grid-connected PV systems with different mounting schemes in central Iowa, implementing extensive data acquisition systems, monitoring operation of the PV systems for one full year, and performing detailed experimental performance and economic studies. The two PV systems that were installed, monitored, and analyzed included a 4.59 kWp roof-mounted stationary system oriented for maximum annual energy production, and a 1.02 kWp pole-mounted actively controlled dual-axis tracking system. The second objective was to demonstrate the actual use and performance of real-world stationary and dual-axis tracking grid-connected PV systems used for building energy generation applications. This objective was achieved by offering the installed PV systems to the public for demonstration purposes and through the development of three computer-based tools: a software interface that has the ability to display real-time and historical performance and meteorological data of both systems side-by-side, a software interface that shows real-time and historical video and photographs of each system, and a calculator that can predict performance and economics of stationary and dual-axis tracking grid-connected PV systems at various locations in the United States. The final objective was to disseminate this work to social, professional, scientific, and academic communities in a way that is applicable, objective, accurate, accessible, and comprehensible. This final objective will be addressed by publishing the results of this work and making the computer-based tools available on a public website (www.energy.iastate.edu/Renewable/solar). Detailed experimental performance analyses were performed for both systems; results were quantified and compared between systems, focusing on measures of solar resource, energy generation, power production, and efficiency. This work also presents heat transfer characteristics of both arrays and quantifies the affects of operating temperature on PV system performance in terms of overall heat transfer coefficients and temperature coefficients for power. To assess potential performance of PV in the Upper Midwest, models were built to predict performance of the PV systems operating at lower temperatures. Economic analyses were performed for both systems focusing on measures of life-cycle cost, payback period, internal rate of return, and average incremental cost of solar energy. The potential economic feasibility of grid-connected stationary PV systems used for building energy generation in the Upper Midwest was assessed under assumptions of higher utility energy costs, lower initial installed costs, and different metering agreements. The annual average daily solar insolation seen by the stationary and dual-axis tracking systems was found to be 4.37 and 5.95 kWh/m2, respectively. In terms of energy generation, the tracking system outperformed the stationary system on annual, monthly, and often daily bases; normalized annual energy generation for the tracking and stationary systems were found to be 1,779 and 1,264 kWh/kWp, respectively. The annual average conversion efficiencies of the tracking and stationary systems were found to be approximately 11 and 10.7 percent, respectively. Annual performance ratio values of the tracking and stationary system were found to be 0.819 and 0.792, respectively. The net present values of both systems under all assumed discount rates were determined to be negative. Further, neither system was found to have a payback period less than the assumed system life of 25 years. The rate-of-return of the stationary and tracking systems were found to be -3.3 and -4.9 percent, respectively. Furthermore, the average incremental cost of energy provided by the stationary and dual-axis tracking systems over their assumed useful life is projected to be 0.31 and 0.37 dollars per kWh, respectively. Results of this study suggest that grid-connected PV systems used for building energy generation in the Upper Midwest are not yet economically feasible when compared to a range of alternative investments; however, PV systems could show feasibility under more favorable economic scenarios. Throughout the year of monitoring, array operating temperatures ranged from -24.7°C (-12.4°F) to 61.7°C (143.1°F) for the stationary system and -23.9 °C (-11°F) to 52.7°C (126.9°F) for the dual-axis tracking system during periods of system operation. The hourly average overall heat transfer coefficients for solar irradiance levels greater than 200 W/m 2 for the stationary and dual-axis tracking systems were found to be 20.8 and 29.4 W/m2°C, respectively. The experimental temperature coefficients for power for the stationary and dual-axis tracking systems at a solar irradiance level of 1,000 W/m2 were -0.30 and -0.38 %/°C, respectively. Simulations of the stationary and dual-axis tracking systems operating at lower temperatures suggest that annual conversion efficiencies could potentially be increased by to up 4.3 and 4.6 percent, respectively.

The internal model: A study of the relative contribution of proprioception and visual information to failure detection in dynamic systems. [sensitivity of operators versus monitors to failures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kessel, C.; Wickens, C. D.

1978-01-01

The development of the internal model as it pertains to the detection of step changes in the order of control dynamics is investigated for two modes of participation: whether the subjects are actively controlling those dynamics or are monitoring an autopilot controlling them. A transfer of training design was used to evaluate the relative contribution of proprioception and visual information to the overall accuracy of the internal model. Sixteen subjects either tracked or monitored the system dynamics as a 2-dimensional pursuit display under single task conditions and concurrently with a sub-critical tracking task at two difficulty levels. Detection performance was faster and more accurate in the manual as opposed to the autopilot mode. The concurrent tracking task produced a decrement in detection performance for all conditions though this was more marked for the manual mode. The development of an internal model in the manual mode transferred positively to the automatic mode producing enhanced detection performance. There was no transfer from the internal model developed in the automatic mode to the manual mode.

V-ONSET: Introducing turbulent multiphase flow facility focusing on Lagrangian interfacial transfer dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salibindla, Ashwanth; Masuk, Ashik Ullah Mohammad; Ni, Rui

2017-11-01

We have designed and constructed a new vertical water tunnel, V-ONSET, to investigate interfacial mass, momentum and energy transfer between two phases in a Lagrangian frame. This system features an independent control of mean flow and turbulence level. The mean flow opposes the rising/falling velocity of the second phase, ``suspending'' the particles and increasing tracking time in the view area. Strong turbulence is generated by shooting 88 digitally-controlled water jets into the test section. The second phase, either bubbles or oil droplets, can be introduced into the test section through a capillary island. In addition to this flow control system, V-ONSET comes with a 3D two-phase visualization system, consisting of high-speed cameras, two-colored LED system, and in-house Lagrangian particle tracking algorithm. This enables us to acquire the Lagrangian evolution of both phases and the interfacial transfer dynamics in between, paving the way for new closure models for two-phase simulations. Financial support for this project was provided by National Science Foundation under Grant Number: 1653389 and 1705246.

Active disturbance rejection controller of fine tracking system for free space optical communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Ning; Liu, Yang; Chen, Xinglin; Wang, Yan

2013-08-01

Free space optical communication is one of the best approaches in future communications. Laser beam's acquisition, pointing and tracking are crucial technologies of free space optical communication. Fine tracking system is important component of APT (acquisition, pointing and tracking) system. It cooperates with the coarse pointing system in executing the APT mission. Satellite platform vibration and disturbance, which reduce received optical power, increase bit error rate and affect seriously the natural performance of laser communication. For the characteristic of satellite platform, an active disturbance rejection controller was designed to reduce the vibration and disturbance. There are three major contributions in the paper. Firstly, the effects of vibration on the inter satellite optical communications were analyzed, and the reasons and characters of vibration of the satellite platform were summarized. The amplitude-frequency response of a filter was designed according to the power spectral density of platform vibration of SILEX (Semiconductor Inter-satellite Laser Experiment), and then the signals of platform vibration were generated by filtering white Gaussian noise using the filter. Secondly, the fast steering mirror is a key component of the fine tracking system for optical communication. The mechanical design and model analysis was made to the tip/tilt mirror driven by the piezoelectric actuator and transmitted by the flexure hinge. The transfer function of the fast steering mirror, camera, D/A data acquisition card was established, and the theory model of transfer function of this system was further obtained. Finally, an active disturbance rejection control method is developed, multiple parallel extended state observers were designed for estimation of unknown dynamics and external disturbance, and the estimated states were used for nonlinear feedback control and compensation to improve system performance. The simulation results show that the designed controller not only accurately estimates and compensates the disturbances, but also realizes the robustness to estimation of unknown dynamics. The controller can satisfy the requirement of fine tracking accuracy for free space optical communication system.

Closeup view under the track at the center/pivot pier showing ...

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

Close-up view under the track at the center/pivot pier showing the system of distributing girders which transfer all the load of the swing span, both dead, live load, wind, etc., onto the circular drum, thence to the rim bearing 40 20-inch diameter wheels. Note: The track timber ties supported on the bottom truss chord of the swing span truss. - Bridgeport Swing Span Bridge, Spanning Tennessee River, Bridgeport, Jackson County, AL

76 FR 4483 - Privacy Act of 1974; Report of Modified or Altered System of Records

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-01-25

... restricted person by the U.S. Attorney General. The NSAR is also used to track the possession, use, and.... Attorney General. The NSAR is also used to track the possession, use, and transfer of select agents and is...) information designated for local disposition will be placed in a locked container or designated secure storage...

Shuttle communication and tracking systems signal design and interface compatibility analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1986-01-01

Various options for the Dedicated Payload Communication Link (DPCL) were evaluated. Specific subjects addressed include: payload to DPCL power transfer in the proximity of the payload, DPCL antenna pointing considerations, and DPCL transceiver implementations which can be mounted on the deployed antenna boom. Additional analysis of the Space Telescope performance was conducted. The feasibility of using the Global Positioning System (GPS) for attitude determination and control for large spacecraft was examined. The objective of the Shuttle Orbiter Radar Test and Evaluation (SORTE) program was to quantify the Ku-band radar tracking accuracy using White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) radar and optical tracking equipment, with helicopter and balloon targets.

Analysis of spacecraft battery charger systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Seong J.; Cho, Bo H.

In spacecraft battery charger systems, switching regulators are widely used for bus voltage regulation, charge current regulation, and peak power tracking. Small-signal dynamic characteristics of the battery charging subsystem of direct energy transfer (DET) and peak power tracking (PPT) systems are analyzed to facilitate design of the control loop for optimum performance and stability. Control loop designs of the charger in various modes of operation are discussed. Analyses are verified through simulations. It is shown that when the charger operates in the bus voltage regulation mode, the control-to-voltage transfer function has a negative DC gain and two LHP zeros in both the DET and PPT systems. The control-to-inductor current transfer function also has a negative DC gain and a RHP zero. Thus, in the current-mode control, the current loop can no longer be used to stabilize the system. When the system operates in the charge current regulation mode, the charger operates with a fixed duty cycle which is determined by the regulated bus voltage and the battery voltage. Without an input filter, the converter becomes a first-order system. When the peak power tracker is inactive, the operating point of the solar array output moves to the voltage source region. Thus, the solar array behaves as a stiff voltage source to a constant power load.

Track Everything: Limiting Prior Knowledge in Online Multi-Object Recognition.

PubMed

Wong, Sebastien C; Stamatescu, Victor; Gatt, Adam; Kearney, David; Lee, Ivan; McDonnell, Mark D

2017-10-01

This paper addresses the problem of online tracking and classification of multiple objects in an image sequence. Our proposed solution is to first track all objects in the scene without relying on object-specific prior knowledge, which in other systems can take the form of hand-crafted features or user-based track initialization. We then classify the tracked objects with a fast-learning image classifier, that is based on a shallow convolutional neural network architecture and demonstrate that object recognition improves when this is combined with object state information from the tracking algorithm. We argue that by transferring the use of prior knowledge from the detection and tracking stages to the classification stage, we can design a robust, general purpose object recognition system with the ability to detect and track a variety of object types. We describe our biologically inspired implementation, which adaptively learns the shape and motion of tracked objects, and apply it to the Neovision2 Tower benchmark data set, which contains multiple object types. An experimental evaluation demonstrates that our approach is competitive with the state-of-the-art video object recognition systems that do make use of object-specific prior knowledge in detection and tracking, while providing additional practical advantages by virtue of its generality.

Development of a 3D FEM model for concrete tie and fastening systems.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-01-31

This project conducted detailed finite element (FE) modeling of the concrete crosstie and fastening system to better understand the mechanisms through which loads transfer within various track components in the lateral direction. This was completed b...

The Lateral Tracking Control for the Intelligent Vehicle Based on Adaptive PID Neural Network.

PubMed

Han, Gaining; Fu, Weiping; Wang, Wen; Wu, Zongsheng

2017-05-30

The intelligent vehicle is a complicated nonlinear system, and the design of a path tracking controller is one of the key technologies in intelligent vehicle research. This paper mainly designs a lateral control dynamic model of the intelligent vehicle, which is used for lateral tracking control. Firstly, the vehicle dynamics model (i.e., transfer function) is established according to the vehicle parameters. Secondly, according to the vehicle steering control system and the CARMA (Controlled Auto-Regression and Moving-Average) model, a second-order control system model is built. Using forgetting factor recursive least square estimation (FFRLS), the system parameters are identified. Finally, a neural network PID (Proportion Integral Derivative) controller is established for lateral path tracking control based on the vehicle model and the steering system model. Experimental simulation results show that the proposed model and algorithm have the high real-time and robustness in path tracing control. This provides a certain theoretical basis for intelligent vehicle autonomous navigation tracking control, and lays the foundation for the vertical and lateral coupling control.

The Lateral Tracking Control for the Intelligent Vehicle Based on Adaptive PID Neural Network

PubMed Central

Han, Gaining; Fu, Weiping; Wang, Wen; Wu, Zongsheng

2017-01-01

The intelligent vehicle is a complicated nonlinear system, and the design of a path tracking controller is one of the key technologies in intelligent vehicle research. This paper mainly designs a lateral control dynamic model of the intelligent vehicle, which is used for lateral tracking control. Firstly, the vehicle dynamics model (i.e., transfer function) is established according to the vehicle parameters. Secondly, according to the vehicle steering control system and the CARMA (Controlled Auto-Regression and Moving-Average) model, a second-order control system model is built. Using forgetting factor recursive least square estimation (FFRLS), the system parameters are identified. Finally, a neural network PID (Proportion Integral Derivative) controller is established for lateral path tracking control based on the vehicle model and the steering system model. Experimental simulation results show that the proposed model and algorithm have the high real-time and robustness in path tracing control. This provides a certain theoretical basis for intelligent vehicle autonomous navigation tracking control, and lays the foundation for the vertical and lateral coupling control. PMID:28556817

Multicolor Three-Dimensional Tracking for Single-Molecule Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Measurements

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

Keller, Aaron M.; DeVore, Matthew S.; Stich, Dominik G.

Single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) remains a widely utilized and powerful tool for quantifying heterogeneous interactions and conformational dynamics of biomolecules. However, traditional smFRET experiments either are limited to short observation times (typically less than 1 ms) in the case of “burst” confocal measurements or require surface immobilization which usually has a temporal resolution limited by the camera framing rate. We developed a smFRET 3D tracking microscope that is capable of observing single particles for extended periods of time with high temporal resolution. The confocal tracking microscope utilizes closed-loop feedback to follow the particle in solution by recentering itmore » within two overlapping tetrahedral detection elements, corresponding to donor and acceptor channels. We demonstrated the microscope’s multicolor tracking capability via random walk simulations and experimental tracking of 200 nm fluorescent beads in water with a range of apparent smFRET efficiency values, 0.45-0.69. We also demonstrated the microscope’s capability to track and quantify double-stranded DNA undergoing intramolecular smFRET in a viscous glycerol solution. In future experiments, the smFRET 3D tracking system will be used to study protein conformational dynamics while diffusing in solution and native biological environments with high temporal resolution.« less

Multicolor Three-Dimensional Tracking for Single-Molecule Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer Measurements

DOE PAGES

Keller, Aaron M.; DeVore, Matthew S.; Stich, Dominik G.; ...

2018-04-19

Single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (smFRET) remains a widely utilized and powerful tool for quantifying heterogeneous interactions and conformational dynamics of biomolecules. However, traditional smFRET experiments either are limited to short observation times (typically less than 1 ms) in the case of “burst” confocal measurements or require surface immobilization which usually has a temporal resolution limited by the camera framing rate. We developed a smFRET 3D tracking microscope that is capable of observing single particles for extended periods of time with high temporal resolution. The confocal tracking microscope utilizes closed-loop feedback to follow the particle in solution by recentering itmore » within two overlapping tetrahedral detection elements, corresponding to donor and acceptor channels. We demonstrated the microscope’s multicolor tracking capability via random walk simulations and experimental tracking of 200 nm fluorescent beads in water with a range of apparent smFRET efficiency values, 0.45-0.69. We also demonstrated the microscope’s capability to track and quantify double-stranded DNA undergoing intramolecular smFRET in a viscous glycerol solution. In future experiments, the smFRET 3D tracking system will be used to study protein conformational dynamics while diffusing in solution and native biological environments with high temporal resolution.« less

Ultrawideband asynchronous tracking system and method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arndt, G. Dickey (Inventor); Ngo, Phong H. (Inventor); Phan, Chau T. (Inventor); Gross, Julia A. (Inventor); Ni, Jianjun (Inventor); Dusl, John (Inventor)

2012-01-01

A passive tracking system is provided with a plurality of ultrawideband (UWB) receivers that is asynchronous with respect to a UWB transmitter. A geometry of the tracking system may utilize a plurality of clusters with each cluster comprising a plurality of antennas. Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) may be determined for the antennas in each cluster and utilized to determine Angle of Arrival (AOA) based on a far field assumption regarding the geometry. Parallel software communication sockets may be established with each of the plurality of UWB receivers. Transfer of waveform data may be processed by alternately receiving packets of waveform data from each UWB receiver. Cross Correlation Peak Detection (CCPD) is utilized to estimate TDOA information to reduce errors in a noisy, multipath environment.

Tracking Systems for Virtual Rehabilitation: Objective Performance vs. Subjective Experience. A Practical Scenario

PubMed Central

Lloréns, Roberto; Noé, Enrique; Naranjo, Valery; Borrego, Adrián; Latorre, Jorge; Alcañiz, Mariano

2015-01-01

Motion tracking systems are commonly used in virtual reality-based interventions to detect movements in the real world and transfer them to the virtual environment. There are different tracking solutions based on different physical principles, which mainly define their performance parameters. However, special requirements have to be considered for rehabilitation purposes. This paper studies and compares the accuracy and jitter of three tracking solutions (optical, electromagnetic, and skeleton tracking) in a practical scenario and analyzes the subjective perceptions of 19 healthy subjects, 22 stroke survivors, and 14 physical therapists. The optical tracking system provided the best accuracy (1.074 ± 0.417 cm) while the electromagnetic device provided the most inaccurate results (11.027 ± 2.364 cm). However, this tracking solution provided the best jitter values (0.324 ± 0.093 cm), in contrast to the skeleton tracking, which had the worst results (1.522 ± 0.858 cm). Healthy individuals and professionals preferred the skeleton tracking solution rather than the optical and electromagnetic solution (in that order). Individuals with stroke chose the optical solution over the other options. Our results show that subjective perceptions and preferences are far from being constant among different populations, thus suggesting that these considerations, together with the performance parameters, should be also taken into account when designing a rehabilitation system. PMID:25808765

Fuel conditioning facility zone-to-zone transfer administrative controls.

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

Pope, C. L.

2000-06-21

The administrative controls associated with transferring containers from one criticality hazard control zone to another in the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) Fuel Conditioning Facility (FCF) are described. FCF, located at the ANL-West site near Idaho Falls, Idaho, is used to remotely process spent sodium bonded metallic fuel for disposition. The process involves nearly forty widely varying material forms and types, over fifty specific use container types, and over thirty distinct zones where work activities occur. During 1999, over five thousand transfers from one zone to another were conducted. Limits are placed on mass, material form and type, and container typesmore » for each zone. Ml material and containers are tracked using the Mass Tracking System (MTG). The MTG uses an Oracle database and numerous applications to manage the database. The database stores information specific to the process, including material composition and mass, container identification number and mass, transfer history, and the operators involved in each transfer. The process is controlled using written procedures which specify the zone, containers, and material involved in a task. Transferring a container from one zone to another is called a zone-to-zone transfer (ZZT). ZZTs consist of four distinct phases, select, request, identify, and completion.« less

40 CFR 73.35 - Compliance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 16 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Compliance. 73.35 Section 73.35... ALLOWANCE SYSTEM Allowance Tracking System § 73.35 Compliance. (a) Allowance transfer deadline. No allowance shall be deducted for purposes of compliance with an affected source's sulfur dioxide Acid Rain...

40 CFR 73.35 - Compliance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 16 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Compliance. 73.35 Section 73.35... ALLOWANCE SYSTEM Allowance Tracking System § 73.35 Compliance. (a) Allowance transfer deadline. No allowance shall be deducted for purposes of compliance with an affected source's sulfur dioxide Acid Rain...

Tracking and data system support for the Viking 1975 mission to Mars. Volume 3: Planetary operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mudgway, D. J.

1977-01-01

The support provided by the Deep Space Network to the 1975 Viking Mission from the first landing on Mars July 1976 to the end of the Prime Mission on November 15, 1976 is described and evaluated. Tracking and data acquisition support required the continuous operation of a worldwide network of tracking stations with 64-meter and 26-meter diameter antennas, together with a global communications system for the transfer of commands, telemetry, and radio metric data between the stations and the Network Operations Control Center in Pasadena, California. Performance of the deep-space communications links between Earth and Mars, and innovative new management techniques for operations and data handling are included.

Breadboard stellar tracker system test report

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kollodge, J. C.; Parrish, K. A.

1984-01-01

BASD has, in the past, developed several unique position tracking algorithms for charge transfer device (CTD) sensors. These algorithms provide an interpixel transfer function with the following characteristics: (1) high linearity; (2) simplified track logic; (3) high gain; and (4) high noise rejection. A previous test program using the GE charge injection device (CID) showed that accuracy for BASD's breadboard was limited to approximately 2% of a pixel (1 sigma) whereas analysis and simulation indicated the limit should be less than 0.5% of a pixel, assuming the limit to be detector response and dark current noise. The test program was conducted under NASA contract No. NAS8-34263. The test approach for that program did not provide sufficient data to identify the sources of error and left open the amount of contribution from parameters such as image distribution, geometric distortion and system alignment errors.

Abbott prism: a multichannel heterogeneous chemiluminescence immunoassay analyzer.

PubMed

Khalil, O S; Zurek, T F; Tryba, J; Hanna, C F; Hollar, R; Pepe, C; Genger, K; Brentz, C; Murphy, B; Abunimeh, N

1991-09-01

We describe a multichannel heterogeneous immunoassay analyzer in which a sample is split between disposable reaction trays in a group of linear tracks. The system's pipettor uses noninvasive sensing of the sample volume and disposable pipet tips. Each assay track has (a) a conveyor belt for moving reaction trays to predetermined functional stations, (b) temperature-controlled tunnels, (c) noncontact transfer of the reaction mixture between incubation and detection wells, and (d) single-photon counting to detect a chemiluminescence (CL) signal from the captured immunochemical product. A novel disposable reaction tray, with separate reaction and detection wells and self-contained fluid removal, is used in conjunction with the transfer device on the track to produce a carryover-free system. The linear immunoassay track has nine predetermined positions for performing individual assay steps. Assay step sequence and timing is selected by changing the location of the assay modules between these predetermined positions. The assay methodology, a combination of microparticle capture and direct detection of a CL signal on a porous matrix, offers excellent sensitivity, specificity, and ease of automation. Immunoassay configurations have been tested for hepatitis B surface antigen and for antibodies to hepatitis B core antigen, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus I and II, and human T-cell leukemia virus I and II.

Optical analysis and thermal management of 2-cell strings linear concentrating photovoltaic system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reddy, K. S.; Kamnapure, Nikhilesh R.

2015-09-01

This paper presents the optical and thermal analyses for a linear concentrating photovoltaic/thermal collector under different operating conditions. Linear concentrating photovoltaic system (CPV) consists of a highly reflective mirror, a receiver and semi-dual axis tracking mechanism. The CPV receiver embodies two strings of triple-junction cells (100 cells in each string) adhered to a mild steel circular tube mounted at the focal length of trough. This system provides 560 W of electricity and 1580 W of heat which needs to be dissipated by active cooling. The Al2O3/Water nanofluid is used as heat transfer fluid (HTF) flowing through circular receiver for CPV cells cooling. Optical analysis of linear CPV system with 3.35 m2 aperture and geometric concentration ratio (CR) of 35 is carried out using Advanced System Analysis Program (ASAP) an optical simulation tool. Non-uniform intensity distribution model of solar disk is used to model the sun in ASAP. The impact of random errors including slope error (σslope), tracking error (σtrack) and apparent change in sun's width (σsun) on optical performance of collector is shown. The result from the optical simulations shows the optical efficiency (ηo) of 88.32% for 2-cell string CPV concentrator. Thermal analysis of CPV receiver is carried out with conjugate heat transfer modeling in ANSYS FLUENT-14. Numerical simulations of Al2O3/Water nanofluid turbulent forced convection are performed for various parameters such as nanoparticle volume fraction (φ), Reynolds number (Re). The addition of the nanoparticle in water enhances the heat transfer in the ranges of 3.28% - 35.6% for φ = 1% - 6%. Numerical results are compared with literature data which shows the reasonable agreement.

Information management system: A summary discussion. [for use in the space shuttle sortie, modular space station and TDR satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sayers, R. S.

1972-01-01

An information management system is proposed for use in the space shuttle sortie, the modular space station, the tracking data relay satellite and associated ground support systems. Several different information management functions, including data acquisition, transfer, storage, processing, control and display are integrated in the system.

Designing a model of patient tracking system for natural disaster in Iran

PubMed Central

Tavakoli, Nahid; Yarmohammadian, Mohammad H.; Safdari, Reza; Keyvanara, Mahmoud

2017-01-01

CONTEXT: Disaster patient tracking consists of identifying and registering patients, recording data on their medical conditions, settings priorities for evacuation of scene, locating the patients from scene to health care centers and then till completion of treatment and discharge. AIM: The aim of this study was to design a model of patient tracking system for natural disaster in Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This applied study was conducted in two steps in 2016. First, data on disaster patient tracking systems used in selected countries were collected from library-printed and electronic references and then compared. Next, a preliminary model of disaster patient tracking system was provided using these systems and validated by Delphi technique and focus group. The data of the first step were analyzed by content analysis and those of the second step by descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Analysis of the comments of key information persons in three Delphi rounds, consisting of national experts, yielded three themes, i.e., content, function, and technology, ten subthemes, and 127 components, with consensus rate of over 75%, to provide a disaster patient tracking system for Iran. CONCLUSION: In Iran, there is no comprehensive process to manage the data on disaster patients. Offering a patient tracking system can be considered a humanitarian and effective measure to promote the process of identifying, caring for, evacuating, and transferring patients as well as documenting and following up their medical and location conditions from scene till completion of the treatment. PMID:28852666

Keeping Track Every Step of the Way

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2001-01-01

Knowledge Sharing Systems, Inc., a producer of intellectual assets management software systems for the federal government, universities, non-profit laboratories, and private companies, constructed and presently manages the NASA Technology Tracking System, also known as TechTracS. Under contract to Langley Research Center, TechTracS identifies and captures all NASA technologies, manages the patent prosecution process, and then tracks their progress en route to commercialization. The system supports all steps involved in various technology transfer activities, and is considered the premier intellectual asset management system used in the federal government today. NASA TechTracS consists of multiple relational databases and web servers, located at each of the 10 field centers, as well as NASA Headquarters. The system is capable of supporting the following functions: planning commercial technologies; commercialization activities; reporting new technologies and inventions; and processing and tracking intellectual property rights, licensing, partnerships, awards, and success stories. NASA TechTracS is critical to the Agency's ongoing mission to commercialize its revolutionary technologies in a variety of sectors within private industry, both aerospace and non- aerospace.

A Mobile Asset Tracking System Architecture under Mobile-Stationary Co-Existing WSNs

PubMed Central

Kim, Tae Hyon; Jo, Hyeong Gon; Lee, Jae Shin; Kang, Soon Ju

2012-01-01

The tracking of multiple wireless mobile nodes is not easy with current legacy WSN technologies, due to their inherent technical complexity, especially when heavy traffic and frequent movement of mobile nodes are encountered. To enable mobile asset tracking under these legacy WSN systems, it is necessary to design a specific system architecture that can manage numerous mobile nodes attached to mobile assets. In this paper, we present a practical system architecture including a communication protocol, a three-tier network, and server-side middleware for mobile asset tracking in legacy WSNs consisting of mobile-stationary co-existing infrastructures, and we prove the functionality of this architecture through careful evaluation in a test bed. Evaluation was carried out in a microwave anechoic chamber as well as on a straight road near our office. We evaluated communication mobility performance between mobile and stationary nodes, location-awareness performance, system stability under numerous mobile node conditions, and the successful packet transfer rate according to the speed of the mobile nodes. The results indicate that the proposed architecture is sufficiently robust for application in realistic mobile asset tracking services that require a large number of mobile nodes. PMID:23242277

Optical phase conjugation by four-wave mixing in Nd:YAG laser oscillator for optical energy transfer to a remote target

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

Kawakami, K., E-mail: k.kawakami@al.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp; Komurasaki, K.; Okamura, H.

2015-02-28

A self-starting phase conjugator was designed for optical energy transfer to a remote target. Saturable-gain four-wave mixing in a laser resonator was achieved using a flash-lamp pumped Nd:YAG crystal and phase-conjugate light (PCL) generation were verified. Wavefront correction experimentation revealed that beam wander caused by air turbulence is compensated. Tracking capability was demonstrated in the range of 9 mrad with tracking accuracy of ±0.04 mrad. The maximum field of view was measured to be 4.7°. Dependence of phase-conjugate light energy on reference light energy was investigated. The maximum output of 320 mJ was obtained. The temporal behavior of PCL ismore » discussed based on the four-wave mixing mechanism. Unlike a conventional loop resonator type phase conjugator, this system is applicable for wireless energy transfer to a remote target.« less

SPECS: Orbital debris removal

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

The debris problem has reached a stage at which the risk to satellites and spacecraft has become substantial in low Earth orbit (LEO). This research discovered that small particles posed little threat to spacecraft because shielding can effectively prevent these particles from damaging the spacecraft. The research also showed that, even though collision with a large piece of debris could destroy the spacecraft, the large pieces of debris pose little danger because they can be tracked and the spacecraft can be maneuvered away from these pieces. Additionally, there are many current designs to capture and remove large debris particles from the space environment. From this analysis, it was decided to concentrate on the removal of medium-sized orbital debris, that is, those pieces ranging from 1 cm to 50 cm in size. The current design incorporates a transfer vehicle and a netting vehicle to capture the medium-sized debris. The system is based near an operational space station located at 28.5 deg inclination and 400 km altitude. The system uses ground-based tracking to determine the location of a satellite breakup or debris cloud. These data are uploaded to the transfer vehicle, which proceeds to rendezvous with the debris at a lower altitude parking orbit. Next, the netting vehicle is deployed, tracks the targeted debris, and captures it. After expending the available nets, the netting vehicle returns to the transfer vehicle for a new netting module and continues to capture more debris in the target area. Once all the netting modules are expended, the transfer vehicle returns to the space station's orbit where it is resupplied with new netting modules from a space shuttle load. The new modules are launched by the shuttle from the ground and the expended modules are taken back to Earth for removal of the captured debris, refueling, and repacking of the nets. Once the netting modules are refurbished, they are taken back into orbit for reuse. In a typical mission, the system has the ability to capture 50 pieces of orbital debris. One mission will take approximately six months and the system is designed to allow for a 30 deg inclination change on the outgoing and incoming trips of the transfer vehicle.

Intercontinental time and frequency transfer using a global positioning system timing receiver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clements, P. A.

1983-01-01

The Deep Space Network (DSN) has a requirement to maintain knowledge of the frequency offset between DSN stations within 3 x 10 to the -13th power and time offset within 10 microseconds. It is further anticipated that in the 1987-1990 era the requirement for knowledge of time offset between DSN stations will be less than 10 nanoseconds. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is using the Global Positioning System (GPS) Space Vehicles, as a development project, to transfer time and frequency over intercontinental distances between stations of the DSN and between the DSN and other agencies. JPL has installed GPS timing receivers at its tracking station near Barstow, California and at its tracking station near Madrid, Spain. The details of the experiment and the data are reported. There is a discussion of the ultimate capabilities of these techniques for meeting the functional requirements of the DSN.

Kinect technology for hand tracking control of surgical robots: technical and surgical skill comparison to current robotic masters.

PubMed

Kim, Yonjae; Leonard, Simon; Shademan, Azad; Krieger, Axel; Kim, Peter C W

2014-06-01

Current surgical robots are controlled by a mechanical master located away from the patient, tracking surgeon's hands by wire and pulleys or mechanical linkage. Contactless hand tracking for surgical robot control is an attractive alternative, because it can be executed with minimal footprint at the patient's bedside without impairing sterility, while eliminating current disassociation between surgeon and patient. We compared technical and technologic feasibility of contactless hand tracking to the current clinical standard master controllers. A hand-tracking system (Kinect™-based 3Gear), a wire-based mechanical master (Mantis Duo), and a clinical mechanical linkage master (da Vinci) were evaluated for technical parameters with strong clinical relevance: system latency, static noise, robot slave tremor, and controller range. Five experienced surgeons performed a skill comparison study, evaluating the three different master controllers for efficiency and accuracy in peg transfer and pointing tasks. da Vinci had the lowest latency of 89 ms, followed by Mantis with 374 ms and 3Gear with 576 ms. Mantis and da Vinci produced zero static error. 3Gear produced average static error of 0.49 mm. The tremor of the robot used by the 3Gear and Mantis system had a radius of 1.7 mm compared with 0.5 mm for da Vinci. The three master controllers all had similar range. The surgeons took 1.98 times longer to complete the peg transfer task with the 3Gear system compared with Mantis, and 2.72 times longer with Mantis compared with da Vinci (p value 2.1e-9). For the pointer task, surgeons were most accurate with da Vinci with average error of 0.72 mm compared with Mantis's 1.61 mm and 3Gear's 2.41 mm (p value 0.00078). Contactless hand-tracking technology as a surgical master can execute simple surgical tasks. Whereas traditional master controllers outperformed, given that contactless hand-tracking is a first-generation technology, clinical potential is promising and could become a reality with some technical improvements.

A Qualitative Study of Two-To-Four-Year Transfer Practices in California Community Colleges: An Analysis of Seven Case Studies Featuring Colleges with Consistently Higher-than-Expected Transfer Rates, Fall 2008

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mery, Pamela; Schiorring, Eva

2008-01-01

Which factors promote transfer from community colleges to four-year colleges and universities? What can individuals learn about transfer from tracking cohorts of students? What can they learn from studying colleges that have a strong track record of transferring students? These questions are at the center of a study funded in 2007 by the…

A Novel Hybrid Mental Spelling Application Based on Eye Tracking and SSVEP-Based BCI

PubMed Central

Stawicki, Piotr; Gembler, Felix; Rezeika, Aya; Volosyak, Ivan

2017-01-01

Steady state visual evoked potentials (SSVEPs)-based Brain-Computer interfaces (BCIs), as well as eyetracking devices, provide a pathway for re-establishing communication for people with severe disabilities. We fused these control techniques into a novel eyetracking/SSVEP hybrid system, which utilizes eye tracking for initial rough selection and the SSVEP technology for fine target activation. Based on our previous studies, only four stimuli were used for the SSVEP aspect, granting sufficient control for most BCI users. As Eye tracking data is not used for activation of letters, false positives due to inappropriate dwell times are avoided. This novel approach combines the high speed of eye tracking systems and the high classification accuracies of low target SSVEP-based BCIs, leading to an optimal combination of both methods. We evaluated accuracy and speed of the proposed hybrid system with a 30-target spelling application implementing all three control approaches (pure eye tracking, SSVEP and the hybrid system) with 32 participants. Although the highest information transfer rates (ITRs) were achieved with pure eye tracking, a considerable amount of subjects was not able to gain sufficient control over the stand-alone eye-tracking device or the pure SSVEP system (78.13% and 75% of the participants reached reliable control, respectively). In this respect, the proposed hybrid was most universal (over 90% of users achieved reliable control), and outperformed the pure SSVEP system in terms of speed and user friendliness. The presented hybrid system might offer communication to a wider range of users in comparison to the standard techniques. PMID:28379187

Development of Fiber Reinforced Track Pad Materials

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-04-01

Transfer and Vulcanization of Rubber , I.R.I. Monograph, Elsevier, 1971. 12 Bergstrom, E.W., " Wear Resistant Rubber Tank Track Pads," Rock Island Arsenal...Fracture Mechanics to Rubber Articles, Including Tyres ," Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A299,,189-202 (1981). 10 Gent, Fielding-Russell, Livingston, and...System for Rubber Bonded to Brass-Plated Steel Tyre Cord," NR Technology, vol 11, Part 2, 1980, pp 21-27. 16 Lindley, P.B., Engineering Design with

CTRANS: A Monte Carlo program for radiative transfer in plane parallel atmospheres with imbedded finite clouds: Development, testing and user's guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

The program called CTRANS is described which was designed to perform radiative transfer computations in an atmosphere with horizontal inhomogeneities (clouds). Since the atmosphere-ground system was to be richly detailed, the Monte Carlo method was employed. This means that results are obtained through direct modeling of the physical process of radiative transport. The effects of atmopheric or ground albedo pattern detail are essentially built up from their impact upon the transport of individual photons. The CTRANS program actually tracks the photons backwards through the atmosphere, initiating them at a receiver and following them backwards along their path to the Sun. The pattern of incident photons generated through backwards tracking automatically reflects the importance to the receiver of each region of the sky. Further, through backwards tracking, the impact of the finite field of view of the receiver and variations in its response over the field of view can be directly simulated.

State-Based Delay Representation and Its Transfer from a Game of Pong to Reaching and Tracking

PubMed Central

Leib, Raz; Pressman, Assaf; Simo, Lucia S.; Karniel, Amir

2017-01-01

Abstract To accurately estimate the state of the body, the nervous system needs to account for delays between signals from different sensory modalities. To investigate how such delays may be represented in the sensorimotor system, we asked human participants to play a virtual pong game in which the movement of the virtual paddle was delayed with respect to their hand movement. We tested the representation of this new mapping between the hand and the delayed paddle by examining transfer of adaptation to blind reaching and blind tracking tasks. These blind tasks enabled to capture the representation in feedforward mechanisms of movement control. A Time Representation of the delay is an estimation of the actual time lag between hand and paddle movements. A State Representation is a representation of delay using current state variables: the distance between the paddle and the ball originating from the delay may be considered as a spatial shift; the low sensitivity in the response of the paddle may be interpreted as a minifying gain; and the lag may be attributed to a mechanical resistance that influences paddle’s movement. We found that the effects of prolonged exposure to the delayed feedback transferred to blind reaching and tracking tasks and caused participants to exhibit hypermetric movements. These results, together with simulations of our representation models, suggest that delay is not represented based on time, but rather as a spatial gain change in visuomotor mapping. PMID:29379875

Design Of Feedforward Controllers For Multivariable Plants

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seraji, Homayoun

1989-01-01

Controllers based on simple low-order transfer functions. Mathematical criteria derived for design of feedforward controllers for class of multiple-input/multiple-output linear plants. Represented by simple low-order transfer functions, obtained without reconstruction of states of commands and disturbances. Enables plant to track command while remaining unresponsive to disturbance in steady state. Feedback controller added independently to stabilize plant or to make control system less susceptible to variations in parameters of plant.

Inter-satellite links: A versatile tool for geodesy and planetary and interplanetary navigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schlicht, Anja; Hugentobler, Urs; Hauk, Markus; Murböck, Michael; Pail, Roland

2016-07-01

With the use of low-low satellite-to-satellite tracking gravity field recovery made a big step forward. Based on this technique the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission delivers monthly gravity field with high precision, allowing to measure effects in Earth water storage basins and variations in ice mass in Greenland and Antarctica from space. GRACE is using a Ka-band inter-satellite ranging technique, GRACE Follow-On will in addition test optical ranging. In fundamental physics high-precision optical inter-satellite tracking will be used to detect gravitational waves in space, as a first step LISA Pathfinder was launched recently. Inter-satellite links are not only used for ranging, also data transfer in space is based on such links. ESA's European Data Relay System will be established in up-coming years to collect data from the low orbiting Sentinel satellites and transfer the high data rate to ground. The same link may be used for ranging, data transfer and time transfer, a functionality that is discussed for next generation Galileo satellites. But to exploit this synergy a common concept for all three tasks has to be developed. In this paper we show that with inter-satellite ranging techniques with µm accuracy the limited accuracy of GNSS based orbit determination of low Earth orbiters (LEO), which is due to the limitations of one-way microwave tracking (unsynchronized clocks, phase center variations and offsets of the sending and receiving antennas) can be overcome. In the ESA study GETRIS the following question is answered: How can a highly accurate and precise GEO-based two-way ranging method support GNSS tracking? The reduction of systematic errors in LEO precise orbit determination (POD) by exploiting the synergy between ranging, data- and time-transfer is assessed in a concept consisting of precise two-way GEO-LEO tracking (as used for data transfer) and an ultra-stable oscillator on-board of the geostationary satellite (GEO) synchronized from ground. We now want to get a step further and design a versatile concept for the use of this synergy in a satellite constellation based on existing and future planned ESA infrastructure and highlight the benefits in different disciplines from geodesy to interplanetary ranging, with emphasis on gravity field recovery.

The Silicon Tracking System of the CBM experiment at FAIR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teklishyn, Maksym

2018-03-01

The Silicon Tracking System (STS) is the central detector in the Compressed Baryonic Matter (CBM) experiment at FAIR. Operating in the 1Tm dipole magnetic field, the STS will enable pile-up free detection and momentum measurement of the charged particles originating from beam-target nuclear interactions at rates up to 10 MHz. The STS consists of 8 tracking stations based on double-sided silicon micro-strip sensors equipped with fast, self-triggering read-out electronics. With about two million read-out channels, the STS will deliver a high-rate stream of time-stamped data that is transferred to a computing farm for on-line event determination and analysis. The functional building block is a detector module consisting of a sensor, micro-cables and two front-end electronics boards. In this contribution, the development status of the STS components and the system integration is discussed and an outlook on the detector construction is given.

Remote Safety Monitoring for Elderly Persons Based on Omni-Vision Analysis

PubMed Central

Xiang, Yun; Tang, Yi-ping; Ma, Bao-qing; Yan, Hang-chen; Jiang, Jun; Tian, Xu-yuan

2015-01-01

Remote monitoring service for elderly persons is important as the aged populations in most developed countries continue growing. To monitor the safety and health of the elderly population, we propose a novel omni-directional vision sensor based system, which can detect and track object motion, recognize human posture, and analyze human behavior automatically. In this work, we have made the following contributions: (1) we develop a remote safety monitoring system which can provide real-time and automatic health care for the elderly persons and (2) we design a novel motion history or energy images based algorithm for motion object tracking. Our system can accurately and efficiently collect, analyze, and transfer elderly activity information and provide health care in real-time. Experimental results show that our technique can improve the data analysis efficiency by 58.5% for object tracking. Moreover, for the human posture recognition application, the success rate can reach 98.6% on average. PMID:25978761

End-to-end communication test on variable length packet structures utilizing AOS testbed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Warner H.; Sank, V.; Fong, Wai; Miko, J.; Powers, M.; Folk, John; Conaway, B.; Michael, K.; Yeh, Pen-Shu

1994-01-01

This paper describes a communication test, which successfully demonstrated the transfer of losslessly compressed images in an end-to-end system. These compressed images were first formatted into variable length Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) packets in the Advanced Orbiting System Testbed (AOST). The CCSDS data Structures were transferred from the AOST to the Radio Frequency Simulations Operations Center (RFSOC), via a fiber optic link, where data was then transmitted through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). The received data acquired at the White Sands Complex (WSC) was transferred back to the AOST where the data was captured and decompressed back to the original images. This paper describes the compression algorithm, the AOST configuration, key flight components, data formats, and the communication link characteristics and test results.

Enhanced condensation heat transfer with wettability patterning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinha Mahapatra, Pallab; Ghosh, Aritra; Ganguly, Ranjan; Megaridis, Constantine

2015-11-01

Condensation of water vapor on metal surfaces is useful for many engineering applications. A facile and scalable method is proposed for removing condensate from a vertical plate during dropwise condensation (DWC) in the presence of non-condensable gases (NCG). We use wettability-patterned superhydrophilic tracks (filmwise condensing domains) on a mirror-finish (hydrophilic) aluminum surface that promotes DWC. Tapered, horizontal ``collection'' tracks are laid to create a Laplace pressure driven flow, which collects condensate from the mirror-finish domains and sends it to vertical ``drainage tracks'' for gravity-induced shedding. An optimal design is achieved by changing the fractional area of superhydrophilic tracks with respect to the overall plate surface, and augmenting capillary-driven condensate-drainage by adjusting the track spatial layout. The design facilitates pump-less condensate drainage and enhances DWC heat transfer on the mirror-finish regions. The study highlights the relative influences of the promoting and retarding effects of dropwise and filmwise condensation zones on the overall heat transfer improvement on the substrate. The study demonstrated ~ 34% heat transfer improvement on Aluminum surface for the optimized design.

Vehicle Dynamics Monitoring and Tracking System (VDMTS): Monitoring Mission Impacts in Support of Installation Land Management

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-06-01

transfer This report will be made accessible through the World Wide Web (WWW) at URLs: http://www.cecer.army.mil http://libweb.erdc.usace.army.mil...conditions (e.g., wetter or dryer conditions). Using the same live event tracking data, predictions can be made for vegetation loss in wet soils, even...WWW World Wide Web ERDC/CERL TR-12-11 107 References Ahlvin, R. B., and P. W. Haley. 1992. NATO reference mobility model edition II, NRMM II

Feasibility of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Item Unique Identification (IUID) in the Marine Corps Small Arms Weapons Tracking System

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-04

tracked. The RFID tag can be of various designs, materials , and/or sizes and hold a variable amount of information. Each tag is composed of three...efficiency in acquiring material from suppliers and in delivering to units in the field (Business Wire, 2005). The military learned an important lesson...RFID Supply-chain applications of RFID are beneficial to both the DoD and suppliers. RFID technology has enabled the recording of material transfer

WRAP low level waste (LLW) glovebox operational test report

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

Kersten, J.K.

1998-02-19

The Low Level Waste (LLW) Process Gloveboxes are designed to: receive a 55 gallon drum in an 85 gallon overpack in the Entry glovebox (GBIOI); and open and sort the waste from the 55 gallon drum, place the waste back into drum and relid in the Sorting glovebox (GB 102). In addition, waste which requires further examination is transferred to the LLW RWM Glovebox via the Drath and Schraeder Bagiess Transfer Port (DO-07-201) or sent to the Sample Transfer Port (STC); crush the drum in the Supercompactor glovebox (GB 104); place the resulting puck (along with other pucks) into anothermore » 85 gallon overpack in the Exit glovebox (GB 105). The status of the waste items is tracked by the Data Management System (DMS) via the Plant Control System (PCS) barcode interface. As an item is moved from the entry glovebox to the exit glovebox, the Operator will track an items location using a barcode reader and enter any required data on the DMS console. The Operational Test Procedure (OTP) will perform evolution`s (described below) using the Plant Operating Procedures (POP) in order to verify that they are sufficient and accurate for controlled glovebox operation.« less

Instantaneous Transfer Entropy for the Study of Cardiovascular and Cardiorespiratory Nonstationary Dynamics.

PubMed

Valenza, Gaetano; Faes, Luca; Citi, Luca; Orini, Michele; Barbieri, Riccardo

2018-05-01

Measures of transfer entropy (TE) quantify the direction and strength of coupling between two complex systems. Standard approaches assume stationarity of the observations, and therefore are unable to track time-varying changes in nonlinear information transfer with high temporal resolution. In this study, we aim to define and validate novel instantaneous measures of TE to provide an improved assessment of complex nonstationary cardiorespiratory interactions. We here propose a novel instantaneous point-process TE (ipTE) and validate its assessment as applied to cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory dynamics. In particular, heartbeat and respiratory dynamics are characterized through discrete time series, and modeled with probability density functions predicting the time of the next physiological event as a function of the past history. Likewise, nonstationary interactions between heartbeat and blood pressure dynamics are characterized as well. Furthermore, we propose a new measure of information transfer, the instantaneous point-process information transfer (ipInfTr), which is directly derived from point-process-based definitions of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov distance. Analysis on synthetic data, as well as on experimental data gathered from healthy subjects undergoing postural changes confirms that ipTE, as well as ipInfTr measures are able to dynamically track changes in physiological systems coupling. This novel approach opens new avenues in the study of hidden, transient, nonstationary physiological states involving multivariate autonomic dynamics in cardiovascular health and disease. The proposed method can also be tailored for the study of complex multisystem physiology (e.g., brain-heart or, more in general, brain-body interactions).

Real-time tracking control of electro-hydraulic force servo systems using offline feedback control and adaptive control.

PubMed

Shen, Gang; Zhu, Zhencai; Zhao, Jinsong; Zhu, Weidong; Tang, Yu; Li, Xiang

2017-03-01

This paper focuses on an application of an electro-hydraulic force tracking controller combined with an offline designed feedback controller (ODFC) and an online adaptive compensator in order to improve force tracking performance of an electro-hydraulic force servo system (EHFS). A proportional-integral controller has been employed and a parameter-based force closed-loop transfer function of the EHFS is identified by a continuous system identification algorithm. By taking the identified system model as a nominal plant model, an H ∞ offline design method is employed to establish an optimized feedback controller with consideration of the performance, control efforts, and robustness of the EHFS. In order to overcome the disadvantage of the offline designed controller and cope with the varying dynamics of the EHFS, an online adaptive compensator with a normalized least-mean-square algorithm is cascaded to the force closed-loop system of the EHFS compensated by the ODFC. Some comparative experiments are carried out on a real-time EHFS using an xPC rapid prototype technology, and the proposed controller yields a better force tracking performance improvement. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Test of an orbiting hydrogen maser clock system using laser time transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vessot, Robert F. C.; Mattison, Edward M.; Nystrom, G. U.; Decher, Rudolph

1992-01-01

We describe a joint Smithsonian Astrophysical Laboratory/National Aeronautics and Space Administration (SAO/NASA) program for flight testing a atomic hydrogen maser clock system designed for long-term operation in space. The clock system will be carried by a shuttle-launched EURECA spacecraft. Comparisons with earth clocks to measure the clock's long-term frequency stability (tau = 10(exp 4) seconds) will be made using laser time transfer from existing NASA laser tracking stations. We describe the design of the maser clock and its control systems, and the laser timing technique. We describe the precision of station time synchronization and the limitations in the comparison between the earth and space time scales owing to gravitational and relativistic effects. We will explore the implications of determining the spacecraft's location by an on-board Global Position System (GPS) receiver, and of using microwave techniques for time and frequency transfer.

Fast-Track Cleanup at Closing DoD Installations

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The Fast-Track Cleanup program strives to make parcels available for reuse as quickly as possible by the transfer of uncontaminated or remediated parcels, the lease of contaminated parcels where cleanup is underway, or the 'early transfer' of contaminated property undergoing cleanup.

Water pollutant fingerprinting tracks recent industrial transfer from coastal to inland China: A case study

PubMed Central

Zheng, Weiwei; Wang, Xia; Tian, Dajun; Jiang, Songhui; Andersen, Melvin E.; He, Genhsjeng; Crabbe, M. James C.; Zheng, Yuxin; Zhong, Yang; Qu, Weidong

2013-01-01

In recent years, China’s developed regions have transferred industries to undeveloped regions. Large numbers of unlicensed or unregistered enterprises are widespread in these undeveloped regions and they are subject to minimal regulation. Current methods for tracing industrial transfers in these areas, based on enterprise registration information or economic surveys, do not work. We have developed an analytical framework combining water fingerprinting and evolutionary analysis to trace the pollution transfer features between water sources. We collected samples in Eastern China (industrial export) and Central China (industrial acceptance) separately from two water systems. Based on the water pollutant fingerprints and evolutionary trees, we traced the pollution transfer associated with industrial transfer between the two areas. The results are consistent with four episodes of industrial transfers over the past decade. Our results also show likely types of the transferred industries - electronics, plastics, and biomedicines - that contribute to the water pollution transfer. PMID:23301152

Water pollutant fingerprinting tracks recent industrial transfer from coastal to inland China: A case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Weiwei; Wang, Xia; Tian, Dajun; Jiang, Songhui; Andersen, Melvin E.; He, Genhsjeng; Crabbe, M. James C.; Zheng, Yuxin; Zhong, Yang; Qu, Weidong

2013-01-01

In recent years, China's developed regions have transferred industries to undeveloped regions. Large numbers of unlicensed or unregistered enterprises are widespread in these undeveloped regions and they are subject to minimal regulation. Current methods for tracing industrial transfers in these areas, based on enterprise registration information or economic surveys, do not work. We have developed an analytical framework combining water fingerprinting and evolutionary analysis to trace the pollution transfer features between water sources. We collected samples in Eastern China (industrial export) and Central China (industrial acceptance) separately from two water systems. Based on the water pollutant fingerprints and evolutionary trees, we traced the pollution transfer associated with industrial transfer between the two areas. The results are consistent with four episodes of industrial transfers over the past decade. Our results also show likely types of the transferred industries - electronics, plastics, and biomedicines - that contribute to the water pollution transfer.

Assessment of laser tracking and data transfer for underwater optical communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watson, Malcolm A.; Blanchard, Paul M.; Stace, Chris; Bhogul, Priya K.; White, Henry J.; Kelly, Anthony E.; Watson, Scott; Valyrakis, Manousos; Najda, Stephen P.; Marona, Lucja; Perlin, Piotr

2014-10-01

We report on an investigation into optical alignment and tracking for high bandwidth, laser-based underwater optical communication links. Link acquisition approaches (including scanning of narrow laser beams versus a wide-angle `beacon' approach) for different underwater laser-based communications scenarios are discussed. An underwater laserbased tracking system was tested in a large water flume facility using water whose scattering properties resembled that of a turbid coastal or harbour region. The lasers used were state-of-the-art, temperature-controlled, high modulation bandwidth gallium nitride (GaN) devices. These operate at blue wavelengths and can achieve powers up to ~100 mW. The tracking performance and characteristics of the system were studied as the light-scattering properties of the water were increased using commercial antacid (Maalox) solution, and the results are reported here. Optical tracking is expected to be possible even in high scattering water environments, assuming better components are developed commercially; in particular, more sensitive detector arrays. High speed data transmission using underwater optical links, based on blue light sources, is also reported.

W-026, transuranic waste restricted waste management (TRU RWM) glovebox operational test report

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

Leist, K.J.

1998-02-18

The TRU Waste/Restricted Waste Management (LLW/PWNP) Glovebox 401 is designed to accept and process waste from the Transuranic Process Glovebox 302. Waste is transferred to the glovebox via the Drath and Schraeder Bagless Transfer Port (DO-07401) on a transfer stand. The stand is removed with a hoist and the operator inspects the waste (with the aid of the Sampling and Treatment Director) to determine a course of action for each item. The waste is separated into compliant and non compliant. One Trip Port DO-07402A is designated as ``Compliant``and One Trip Port DO-07402B is designated as ``Non Compliant``. As the processingmore » (inspection, bar coding, sampling and treatment) of the transferred items takes place, residue is placed in the appropriate One Trip port. The status of the waste items is tracked by the Data Management System (DMS) via the Plant Control System (PCS) barcode interface. As an item is moved for sampling or storage or it`s state altered by treatment, the Operator will track an items location using a portable barcode reader and entry any required data on the DMS console. The Operational Test Procedure (OTP) will perform evolutions (described here) using the Plant Operating Procedures (POP) in order to verify that they are sufficient and accurate for controlled glovebox operation.« less

Heat transfer phenomena during thermal processing of liquid particulate mixtures-A review.

PubMed

Singh, Anubhav Pratap; Singh, Anika; Ramaswamy, Hosahalli S

2017-05-03

During the past few decades, food industry has explored various novel thermal and non-thermal processing technologies to minimize the associated high-quality loss involved in conventional thermal processing. Among these are the novel agitation systems that permit forced convention in canned particulate fluids to improve heat transfer, reduce process time, and minimize heat damage to processed products. These include traditional rotary agitation systems involving end-over-end, axial, or biaxial rotation of cans and the more recent reciprocating (lateral) agitation. The invention of thermal processing systems with induced container agitation has made heat transfer studies more difficult due to problems in tracking the particle temperatures due to their dynamic motion during processing and complexities resulting from the effects of forced convection currents within the container. This has prompted active research on modeling and characterization of heat transfer phenomena in such systems. This review brings to perspective, the current status on thermal processing of particulate foods, within the constraints of lethality requirements from safety view point, and discusses available techniques of data collection, heat transfer coefficient evaluation, and the critical processing parameters that affect these heat transfer coefficients, especially under agitation processing conditions.

Vibration and noise characteristics of an elevated box girder paved with different track structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiaozhen; Liang, Lin; Wang, Dangxiong

2018-07-01

The vibration and noise of elevated concrete box girders (ECBGs) are now among the most concerned issues in the field of urban rail transit (URT) systems. The track structure, belonging to critical load-transfer components, directly affects the characteristics of loading transmission into bridge, as well as the noise radiation from such system, which further determines the reduction of vibration and noise in ECBGs significantly. In order to investigate the influence of different track structures on the vibration and structure-borne noise of ECBGs, a frequency-domain theoretical model of vehicle-track coupled system, taking into account the effect of multiple wheels, is firstly established in the present work. The analysis of track structures focuses on embedded sleepers, trapezoidal sleepers, and steel-spring floating slabs (SSFS). Next, a vibration and noise field test was performed, with regard to a 30 m simple supported ECBG (with the embedded-sleeper track structure) of an URT system. Based on the tested results, two numerical models, involving a finite element model for the vibration analysis, as well as a statistical energy analysis (SEA) model for the prediction of the noise radiation, are established and validated. The results of the numerical simulations and the field tests are well matched, which offers opportunities to predict the vibration and structure-borne noise of ECBGs by the proposed modelling methodology. From the comparison between the different types of track structures, the spatial distribution and reduction effect of vibration and noise are lastly studied. The force applied on ECBG is substantially determined by both the wheel-rail force (external factor) and the transmission rate of track structure (internal factor). The SSFS track is the most effective for vibration and noise reduction of ECBGs, followed in descending order by the trapezoidal-sleeper and embedded-sleeper tracks. The above result provides a theoretical basis for the vibration and noise reduction design of urban rail transit systems.

The tracking analysis in the Q-weak experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, J.; Androic, D.; Armstrong, D. S.; Asaturyan, A.; Averett, T.; Balewski, J.; Beaufait, J.; Beminiwattha, R. S.; Benesch, J.; Benmokhtar, F.; Birchall, J.; Carlini, R. D.; Cates, G. D.; Cornejo, J. C.; Covrig, S.; Dalton, M. M.; Davis, C. A.; Deconinck, W.; Diefenbach, J.; Dowd, J. F.; Dunne, J. A.; Dutta, D.; Duvall, W. S.; Elaasar, M.; Falk, W. R.; Finn, J. M.; Forest, T.; Gaskell, D.; Gericke, M. T. W.; Grames, J.; Gray, V. M.; Grimm, K.; Guo, F.; Hoskins, J. R.; Johnston, K.; Jones, D.; Jones, M.; Jones, R.; Kargiantoulakis, M.; King, P. M.; Korkmaz, E.; Kowalski, S.; Leacock, J.; Leckey, J.; Lee, A. R.; Lee, J. H.; Lee, L.; MacEwan, S.; Mack, D.; Magee, J. A.; Mahurin, R.; Mammei, J.; Martin, J. W.; McHugh, M. J.; Meekins, D.; Mei, J.; Michaels, R.; Micherdzinska, A.; Mkrtchyan, A.; Mkrtchyan, H.; Morgan, N.; Myers, K. E.; Narayan, A.; Ndukum, L. Z.; Nelyubin, V.; Nuruzzaman; van Oers, W. T. H.; Opper, A. K.; Page, S. A.; Pan, J.; Paschke, K. D.; Phillips, S. K.; Pitt, M. L.; Poelker, M.; Rajotte, J. F.; Ramsay, W. D.; Roche, J.; Sawatzky, B.; Seva, T.; Shabestari, M. H.; Silwal, R.; Simicevic, N.; Smith, G. R.; Solvignon, P.; Spayde, D. T.; Subedi, A.; Subedi, R.; Suleiman, R.; Tadevosyan, V.; Tobias, W. A.; Tvaskis, V.; Waidyawansa, B.; Wang, P.; Wells, S. P.; Wood, S. A.; Yang, S.; Young, R. D.; Zhamkochyan, S.

2016-12-01

The Q-weak experiment at Jefferson Laboratory measured the parity violating asymmetry ( A P V ) in elastic electron-proton scattering at small momentum transfer squared ( Q 2=0.025 ( G e V/ c)2), with the aim of extracting the proton's weak charge ({Q^p_W}) to an accuracy of 5 %. As one of the major uncertainty contribution sources to {Q^p_W}, Q 2 needs to be determined to ˜1 % so as to reach the proposed experimental precision. For this purpose, two sets of high resolution tracking chambers were employed in the experiment, to measure tracks before and after the magnetic spectrometer. Data collected by the tracking system were then reconstructed with dedicated software into individual electron trajectories for experimental kinematics determination. The Q-weak kinematics and the analysis scheme for tracking data are briefly described here. The sources that contribute to the uncertainty of Q 2 are discussed, and the current analysis status is reported.

Tracking Transfer: Measures of Effectiveness in Helping Community College Students to Complete Bachelor's Degrees. (Signature Report No. 13)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shapiro, Doug; Dundar, Afet; Huie, Faye; Wakhungu, Phoebe Khasiala; Yuan, Xin; Nathan, Angel; Hwang, Youngsik

2017-01-01

This report is an update of the January 2016 Transfer Tracking report (see ED563499). It is the first in an annual series from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center that will investigate postsecondary student transfer outcomes. The goal is to provide institutions and states with a set of specific, up-to-date metrics with which to…

10. LOOKING DOWN ON TUG AND CAR FLOAT BEING UNLOADED ...

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

10. LOOKING DOWN ON TUG AND CAR FLOAT BEING UNLOADED AT BRIDGE NO. 11 SHOWING TRACK, LOCKING MECHANISMS, AND MOORING WINCH IN FOREGROUND. LOOKING EAST. - Greenville Yard, Transfer Bridge System, Port of New York/New Jersey, Upper New York Bay, Jersey City, Hudson County, NJ

Apparatus and method to pulverize rock using a superconducting electromagnetic linear motor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ignatiev, Alex (Inventor)

2009-01-01

A rock pulverizer device based on a superconducting linear motor. The superconducting electromagnetic rock pulverizer accelerates a projectile via a superconducting linear motor and directs the projectile at high speed toward a rock structure that is to be pulverized by collision of the speeding projectile with the rock structure. The rock pulverizer is comprised of a trapped field superconducting secondary magnet mounted on a movable car following a track, a wire wound series of primary magnets mounted on the track, and the complete magnet/track system mounted on a vehicle used for movement of the pulverizer through a mine as well as for momentum transfer during launch of the rock breaking projectile.

Biofilms in 3D porous media: Delineating the influence of the pore network geometry, flow and mass transfer on biofilm development.

PubMed

Carrel, Maxence; Morales, Verónica L; Beltran, Mario A; Derlon, Nicolas; Kaufmann, Rolf; Morgenroth, Eberhard; Holzner, Markus

2018-05-01

This study investigates the functional correspondence between porescale hydrodynamics, mass transfer, pore structure and biofilm morphology during progressive biofilm colonization of a porous medium. Hydrodynamics and the structure of both the porous medium and the biofilm are experimentally measured with 3D particle tracking velocimetry and micro X-ray Computed Tomography, respectively. The analysis focuses on data obtained in a clean porous medium after 36 h of biofilm growth. Registration of the particle tracking and X-ray data sets allows to delineate the interplay between porous medium geometry, hydrodynamic and mass transfer processes on the morphology of the developing biofilm. A local analysis revealed wide distributions of wall shear stresses and concentration boundary layer thicknesses. The spatial distribution of the biofilm patches uncovered that the wall shear stresses controlled the biofilm development. Neither external nor internal mass transfer limitations were noticeable in the considered system, consistent with the excess supply of nutrient and electron acceptors. The wall shear stress remained constant in the vicinity of the biofilm but increased substantially elsewhere. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Where do HIV-infected adolescents go after transfer? - Tracking transition/transfer of HIV-infected adolescents using linkage of cohort data to a health information system platform.

PubMed

Davies, Mary-Ann; Tsondai, Priscilla; Tiffin, Nicki; Eley, Brian; Rabie, Helena; Euvrard, Jonathan; Orrell, Catherine; Prozesky, Hans; Wood, Robin; Cogill, Dolphina; Haas, Andreas D; Sohn, Annette H; Boulle, Andrew

2017-05-16

To evaluate long-term outcomes in HIV-infected adolescents, it is important to identify ways of tracking outcomes after transfer to a different health facility. The Department of Health (DoH) in the Western Cape Province (WCP) of South Africa uses a single unique identifier for all patients across the health service platform. We examined adolescent outcomes after transfer by linking data from four International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS Southern Africa (IeDEA-SA) cohorts in the WCP with DoH data. We included adolescents on antiretroviral therapy who transferred out of their original cohort from 10 to 19 years of age between 2004 and 2014. The DoH conducted the linkage separately for each cohort and linked anonymized data were then combined. The primary outcome was successful transfer defined as having a patient record at a facility other than the original facility after the transfer date. Secondary outcomes included the proportion of patients retained, with HIV-RNA <400 copies/ml and CD4 > 500 cells/µl at 1, 2 and 3 years post-transfer. Of 460 adolescents transferred out (53% female), 72% transferred at 10-14 years old, and 79% transferred out of tertiary facilities. Overall, 81% of patients transferred successfully at a median (interquartile range) of 56 (27-134) days following transfer date; 95% reached the transfer site <18 months after transfer out. Among those transferring successfully, the proportion retained decreased from 1 to 3 years post-transfer (90-84%). There was no significant difference between transfer and 1-3 years post-transfer in the proportion of retained adolescents with HIV-RNA <400 copies/ml and CD4 > 500 cells/µl except for HIV-RNA <400 copies/ml at 3 years (86% vs. 75%; p  = 0.007). The proportion virologically suppressed and with CD4 > 500 cells/µl was significantly lower at 1 and 2 years post-transfer in those transferring at 15-19 vs. 10-14 years of age. Using laboratory data alone over-estimated time to successful transfer. Linking cohort data to health information system data allowed efficient assessment of post-transfer outcomes. Although >80% of adolescents transferred successfully with nearly 85% of them retained for 3 years post-transfer, the decline in the proportion virologically suppressed and poorer outcomes in older adolescents are concerns.​.

Relative role of transfer zones in controlling sequence stacking patterns and facies distribution: insights from the Fushan Depression, South China Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Entao; Wang, Hua; Li, Yuan; Huang, Chuanyan

2015-04-01

In sedimentary basins, a transfer zone can be defined as a coordinated system of deformational features which has good prospects for hydrocarbon exploration. Although the term 'transfer zone' has been widely applied to the study of extensional basins, little attention has been paid to its controlling effect on sequence tracking pattern and depositional facies distribution. Fushan Depression is a half-graben rift sub-basin, located in the southeast of the Beibuwan Basin, South China Sea. In this study, comparative analysis of seismic reflection, palaeogeomorphology, fault activity and depositional facies distribution in the southern slope indicates that three different types of sequence stacking patterns (i.e. multi-level step-fault belt in the western area, flexure slope belt in the central area, gentle slope belt in the eastern area) were developed along the southern slope, together with a large-scale transfer zone in the central area, at the intersection of the western and eastern fault systems. Further analysis shows that the transfer zone played an important role in the diversity of sequence stacking patterns in the southern slope by dividing the Fushan Depression into two non-interfering tectonic systems forming different sequence patterns, and leading to the formation of the flexure slope belt in the central area. The transfer zone had an important controlling effect on not only the diversity of sequence tracking patterns, but also the facies distribution on the relay ramp. During the high-stand stage, under the controlling effect of the transfer zone, the sediments contain a significant proportion of coarser material accumulated and distributed along the ramp axis. By contrast, during the low-stand stage, the transfer zone did not seem to contribute significantly to the low-stand fan distribution which was mainly controlled by the slope gradient (palaeogeomorphology). Therefore, analysis of the transfer zone can provide a new perspective for basin analysis. In addition, the transfer zone area demonstrated unique hydrocarbon accumulation models different from the western and eastern areas. It was not only a structural high combined with sufficient coarse-grained reservoir quality sands, but was also associated with large-scale sublacustrine fan deposits with high quality reservoirs, indicating that the recognition of transfer zones can improve the prediction of hydrocarbon occurrences in similar settings.

EVA: laparoscopic instrument tracking based on Endoscopic Video Analysis for psychomotor skills assessment.

PubMed

Oropesa, Ignacio; Sánchez-González, Patricia; Chmarra, Magdalena K; Lamata, Pablo; Fernández, Alvaro; Sánchez-Margallo, Juan A; Jansen, Frank Willem; Dankelman, Jenny; Sánchez-Margallo, Francisco M; Gómez, Enrique J

2013-03-01

The EVA (Endoscopic Video Analysis) tracking system is a new system for extracting motions of laparoscopic instruments based on nonobtrusive video tracking. The feasibility of using EVA in laparoscopic settings has been tested in a box trainer setup. EVA makes use of an algorithm that employs information of the laparoscopic instrument's shaft edges in the image, the instrument's insertion point, and the camera's optical center to track the three-dimensional position of the instrument tip. A validation study of EVA comprised a comparison of the measurements achieved with EVA and the TrEndo tracking system. To this end, 42 participants (16 novices, 22 residents, and 4 experts) were asked to perform a peg transfer task in a box trainer. Ten motion-based metrics were used to assess their performance. Construct validation of the EVA has been obtained for seven motion-based metrics. Concurrent validation revealed that there is a strong correlation between the results obtained by EVA and the TrEndo for metrics, such as path length (ρ = 0.97), average speed (ρ = 0.94), or economy of volume (ρ = 0.85), proving the viability of EVA. EVA has been successfully validated in a box trainer setup, showing the potential of endoscopic video analysis to assess laparoscopic psychomotor skills. The results encourage further implementation of video tracking in training setups and image-guided surgery.

KSC-2009-3665

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-05-01

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, the shipping container with the STSS Demonstrator SV-2spacecraft is secured on a trailer for transfer to the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. The spacecraft is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator, part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors. It will be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency in late summer. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller (Approved for Public Release 09-MDA-4616 [27 May 09])

KSC-2009-3664

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-05-01

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, the shipping container with the STSS Demonstrator SV-2spacecraft is secured on a trailer for transfer to the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. The spacecraft is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator, part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors. It will be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency in late summer. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller (Approved for Public Release 09-MDA-4616 [27 May 09])

KSC-2009-4614

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-06-25

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, the SV-1 cargo of the STSS Demonstrator spacecraft is moved onto a flatbed truck for transfer to the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. The spacecraft is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator, part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors. It will be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency in late summer. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett (Approved for Public Release 09-MDA-4804 [4 Aug 09] )

AFM Imaging of Hybridization Chain Reaction Mediated Signal Transmission between Two DNA Origami Structures.

PubMed

Helmig, Sarah; Gothelf, Kurt Vesterager

2017-10-23

Signal transfer is central to the controlled exchange of information in biology and advanced technologies. Therefore, the development of reliable, long-range signal transfer systems for artificial nanoscale assemblies is of great scientific interest. We have designed such a system for the signal transfer between two connected DNA nanostructures, using the hybridization chain reaction (HCR). Two sets of metastable DNA hairpins, one of which is immobilized at specific points along tracks on DNA origami structures, are polymerized to form a continuous DNA duplex, which is visible using atomic force microscopy (AFM). Upon addition of a designed initiator, the initiation signal is efficiently transferred more than 200 nm from a specific location on one origami structure to an end point on another origami structure. The system shows no significant loss of signal when crossing from one nanostructure to another and, therefore, has the potential to be applied to larger multi-component DNA assemblies. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Kristen Ardani | NREL

Science.gov Websites

Market Research Kristen.Ardani@nrel.gov | 303-384-6461 Kristen is a Solar Program Lead focusing on efforts to reduce soft costs and transfer emerging technologies to market. Her areas of expertise include solar market analysis, PV system price-tracking, and non-hardware cost-reduction strategies. Research

40 CFR 96.54 - Compliance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Compliance. 96.54 Section 96.54... Tracking System § 96.54 Compliance. (a) NO X allowance transfer deadline. The NOX allowances are available to be deducted for compliance with a unit's NOX Budget emissions limitation for a control period in a...

40 CFR 96.54 - Compliance.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Compliance. 96.54 Section 96.54... Tracking System § 96.54 Compliance. (a) NO X allowance transfer deadline. The NOX allowances are available to be deducted for compliance with a unit's NOX Budget emissions limitation for a control period in a...

A review of satellite time-transfer technology: Accomplishments and future applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cooper, R. S.; Chi, A. R.

1978-01-01

The research accomplishments by NASA in meeting the needs of the space program for precise time in satellite tracking are presented. As a major user of precise time signals for clock synchronization of NASA's worldwide satellite tracking networks, the agency provides much of the necessary impetus for the development of stable frequency sources and time synchronization technology. The precision time required for both satellite tracking and space science experiments has increased at a rate of about one order of magnitude per decade from 1 millisecond in the 1950's to 100 microseconds during the Apollo era in the 1960's to 10 microseconds in the 1970's. For the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System, satellite timing requirements will be extended to 1 microsecond and below. These requirements are needed for spacecraft autonomy and data packeting.

Energy optimization for upstream data transfer in 802.15.4 beacon-enabled star formulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Hua; Krishnamachari, Bhaskar

2008-08-01

Energy saving is one of the major concerns for low rate personal area networks. This paper models energy consumption for beacon-enabled time-slotted media accessing control cooperated with sleeping scheduling in a star network formulation for IEEE 802.15.4 standard. We investigate two different upstream (data transfer from devices to a network coordinator) strategies: a) tracking strategy: the devices wake up and check status (track the beacon) in each time slot; b) non-tracking strategy: nodes only wake-up upon data arriving and stay awake till data transmitted to the coordinator. We consider the tradeoff between energy cost and average data transmission delay for both strategies. Both scenarios are formulated as optimization problems and the optimal solutions are discussed. Our results show that different data arrival rate and system parameters (such as contention access period interval, upstream speed etc.) result in different strategies in terms of energy optimization with maximum delay constraints. Hence, according to different applications and system settings, different strategies might be chosen by each node to achieve energy optimization for both self-interested view and system view. We give the relation among the tunable parameters by formulas and plots to illustrate which strategy is better under corresponding parameters. There are two main points emphasized in our results with delay constraints: on one hand, when the system setting is fixed by coordinator, nodes in the network can intelligently change their strategies according to corresponding application data arrival rate; on the other hand, when the nodes' applications are known by the coordinator, the coordinator can tune the system parameters to achieve optimal system energy consumption.

A study of modelling simplifications in ground vibration predictions for railway traffic at grade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Germonpré, M.; Degrande, G.; Lombaert, G.

2017-10-01

Accurate computational models are required to predict ground-borne vibration due to railway traffic. Such models generally require a substantial computational effort. Therefore, much research has focused on developing computationally efficient methods, by either exploiting the regularity of the problem geometry in the direction along the track or assuming a simplified track structure. This paper investigates the modelling errors caused by commonly made simplifications of the track geometry. A case study is presented investigating a ballasted track in an excavation. The soil underneath the ballast is stiffened by a lime treatment. First, periodic track models with different cross sections are analyzed, revealing that a prediction of the rail receptance only requires an accurate representation of the soil layering directly underneath the ballast. A much more detailed representation of the cross sectional geometry is required, however, to calculate vibration transfer from track to free field. Second, simplifications in the longitudinal track direction are investigated by comparing 2.5D and periodic track models. This comparison shows that the 2.5D model slightly overestimates the track stiffness, while the transfer functions between track and free field are well predicted. Using a 2.5D model to predict the response during a train passage leads to an overestimation of both train-track interaction forces and free field vibrations. A combined periodic/2.5D approach is therefore proposed in this paper. First, the dynamic axle loads are computed by solving the train-track interaction problem with a periodic model. Next, the vibration transfer to the free field is computed with a 2.5D model. This combined periodic/2.5D approach only introduces small modelling errors compared to an approach in which a periodic model is used in both steps, while significantly reducing the computational cost.

Space station needs, attributes, and architectural options study. Volume 2: Program options, architecture, and technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1983-01-01

Mission scenarios and space station architectures are discussed. Electrical power subsystems (EPS), environmental control and life support, subsystems (ECLSS), and reaction control subsystem (RCS) architectures are addressed. Thermal control subsystems, (TCS), guidance/navigation and control (GN and C), information management systems IMS), communications and tracking (C and T), and propellant transfer and storage systems architectures are discussed.

Manufacturing process applications team (MATeam)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bangs, E. R.

1980-01-01

The objectives and activities of an aerospace technology transfer group are outlined and programs in various stages of progress are described including the orbital tube flaring device, infrared proximity sensor for robot positioning, laser stripping magnet wire, infrared imaging as welding process tracking system, carbide coating of cutting tools, nondestructive fracture toughness testing of titanium welds, portable solar system for agricultural applications, and an anerobic methane gas generator.

A Fuzzy Aproach For Facial Emotion Recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gîlcă, Gheorghe; Bîzdoacă, Nicu-George

2015-09-01

This article deals with an emotion recognition system based on the fuzzy sets. Human faces are detected in images with the Viola - Jones algorithm and for its tracking in video sequences we used the Camshift algorithm. The detected human faces are transferred to the decisional fuzzy system, which is based on the variable fuzzyfication measurements of the face: eyebrow, eyelid and mouth. The system can easily determine the emotional state of a person.

Autonomous docking system for space structures and satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prasad, Guru; Tajudeen, Eddie; Spenser, James

2005-05-01

Aximetric proposes Distributed Command and Control (C2) architecture for autonomous on-orbit assembly in space with our unique vision and sensor driven docking mechanism. Aximetric is currently working on ip based distributed control strategies, docking/mating plate, alignment and latching mechanism, umbilical structure/cord designs, and hardware/software in a closed loop architecture for smart autonomous demonstration utilizing proven developments in sensor and docking technology. These technologies can be effectively applied to many transferring/conveying and on-orbit servicing applications to include the capturing and coupling of space bound vehicles and components. The autonomous system will be a "smart" system that will incorporate a vision system used for identifying, tracking, locating and mating the transferring device to the receiving device. A robustly designed coupler for the transfer of the fuel will be integrated. Advanced sealing technology will be utilized for isolation and purging of resulting cavities from the mating process and/or from the incorporation of other electrical and data acquisition devices used as part of the overall smart system.

On the role of heat and mass transfer into laser processability during selective laser melting AlSi12 alloy based on a randomly packed powder-bed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Lianfeng; Yan, Biao; Guo, Lijie; Gu, Dongdong

2018-04-01

A newly transient mesoscopic model with a randomly packed powder-bed has been proposed to investigate the heat and mass transfer and laser process quality between neighboring tracks during selective laser melting (SLM) AlSi12 alloy by finite volume method (FVM), considering the solid/liquid phase transition, variable temperature-dependent properties and interfacial force. The results apparently revealed that both the operating temperature and resultant cooling rate were obviously elevated by increasing the laser power. Accordingly, the resultant viscosity of liquid significantly reduced under a large laser power and was characterized with a large velocity, which was prone to result in a more intensive convection within pool. In this case, the sufficient heat and mass transfer occurred at the interface between the previously fabricated tracks and currently building track, revealing a strongly sufficient spreading between the neighboring tracks and a resultant high-quality surface without obvious porosity. By contrast, the surface quality of SLM-processed components with a relatively low laser power notably weakened due to the limited and insufficient heat and mass transfer at the interface of neighboring tracks. Furthermore, the experimental surface morphologies of the top surface were correspondingly acquired and were in full accordance to the calculated results via simulation.

Modeling and Development of INS-Aided PLLs in a GNSS/INS Deeply-Coupled Hardware Prototype for Dynamic Applications

PubMed Central

Zhang, Tisheng; Niu, Xiaoji; Ban, Yalong; Zhang, Hongping; Shi, Chuang; Liu, Jingnan

2015-01-01

A GNSS/INS deeply-coupled system can improve the satellite signals tracking performance by INS aiding tracking loops under dynamics. However, there was no literature available on the complete modeling of the INS branch in the INS-aided tracking loop, which caused the lack of a theoretical tool to guide the selections of inertial sensors, parameter optimization and quantitative analysis of INS-aided PLLs. This paper makes an effort on the INS branch in modeling and parameter optimization of phase-locked loops (PLLs) based on the scalar-based GNSS/INS deeply-coupled system. It establishes the transfer function between all known error sources and the PLL tracking error, which can be used to quantitatively evaluate the candidate inertial measurement unit (IMU) affecting the carrier phase tracking error. Based on that, a steady-state error model is proposed to design INS-aided PLLs and to analyze their tracking performance. Based on the modeling and error analysis, an integrated deeply-coupled hardware prototype is developed, with the optimization of the aiding information. Finally, the performance of the INS-aided PLLs designed based on the proposed steady-state error model is evaluated through the simulation and road tests of the hardware prototype. PMID:25569751

Learning an intrinsic-variable preserving manifold for dynamic visual tracking.

PubMed

Qiao, Hong; Zhang, Peng; Zhang, Bo; Zheng, Suiwu

2010-06-01

Manifold learning is a hot topic in the field of computer science, particularly since nonlinear dimensionality reduction based on manifold learning was proposed in Science in 2000. The work has achieved great success. The main purpose of current manifold-learning approaches is to search for independent intrinsic variables underlying high dimensional inputs which lie on a low dimensional manifold. In this paper, a new manifold is built up in the training step of the process, on which the input training samples are set to be close to each other if the values of their intrinsic variables are close to each other. Then, the process of dimensionality reduction is transformed into a procedure of preserving the continuity of the intrinsic variables. By utilizing the new manifold, the dynamic tracking of a human who can move and rotate freely is achieved. From the theoretical point of view, it is the first approach to transfer the manifold-learning framework to dynamic tracking. From the application point of view, a new and low dimensional feature for visual tracking is obtained and successfully applied to the real-time tracking of a free-moving object from a dynamic vision system. Experimental results from a dynamic tracking system which is mounted on a dynamic robot validate the effectiveness of the new algorithm.

Application of a single area array detector for acquistion, tracking and point-ahead in space optical communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clark, D. L.; Cosgrove, M.; Vanvranken, R.; Park, H.; Fitzmaurice, M.

1989-01-01

Functions of acquisition, tracking, and point-ahead in space optical communications are being combined into a single system utilizing an area array detector. An analysis is presented of the feasibility concept. The key parameters are: optical power less than 1 pW at 0.86 micrometer, acquisition in less than 30 seconds in an acquisition field of view (FOV) of 1 mrad, tracking with 0.5 microrad rms noise at 1000 Hz update rate, and point ahead transfer function precision of 0.25 microrad over a region of 150 microrad. Currently available array detectors were examined. The most demanding specifications are low output noise, a high detection efficiency, a large number of pixels, and frame rates over 1kHz. A proof of concept (POC) demonstration system is currently being built utilizing the Kodak HS-40 detector (a 128 x 128 photodiode array with a 64 channel CCD readout architecture which can be operated at frame rates as high as 40,000/sec). The POC system implements a windowing scheme and special purpose digital signal processing electronic for matched filter acquisition and tracking algorithms.

The Cassini gravitational wave experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbate, Salvatore F.; Armstrong, John W.; Asmar, Sami W.; Barbinis, Elias; Bertotti, Bruno; Fleischman, Don U.; Gatti, Mark S.; Goltz, Gene L.; Herrera, R. G.; Iess, L.; Lee, Kyong J.; Ray, Trina L.; Tinto, Massimo; Tortora, P.; Wahlquist, Hugo D.

2003-03-01

Doppler tracking experiments using the earth and a distant spacecraft as separated test masses have been used for gravitational wave (GW) searches in the low-frequency band(~0.0001-0.1 Hz). The precision microwave tracking link continuously measures the relative dimensionless velocity, Δv/c, between the earth and the spacecraft. A GW incident of the systems produces a characteristic signature in the data, different from the signatures of the principal noises. For 40 days centered about its solar opposition in December 2001, the Cassini spacecraft was tracked in a search for low-frequncy GWs. Here we describe the GW experiment, including transfer functions of the signals and noises to the Doppler observable, and present noise statistics and compare them with the pre-experiment noise budget.

40 CFR 96.255 - Banking.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... TRADING PROGRAM AND CAIR NOX AND SO2 TRADING PROGRAMS FOR STATE IMPLEMENTATION PLANS CAIR SO2 Allowance Tracking System § 96.255 Banking. (a) CAIR SO2 allowances may be banked for future use or transfer in a compliance account or a general account in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section. (b) Any CAIR SO2...

40 CFR 97.254 - Compliance with CAIR SO2 emissions limitation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Compliance with CAIR SO2 emissions... PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) FEDERAL NOX BUDGET TRADING PROGRAM AND CAIR NOX AND SO2 TRADING PROGRAMS CAIR SO2 Allowance Tracking System § 97.254 Compliance with CAIR SO2 emissions limitation. (a) Allowance transfer...

40 CFR 96.257 - Closing of general accounts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... (CONTINUED) NOX BUDGET TRADING PROGRAM AND CAIR NOX AND SO2 TRADING PROGRAMS FOR STATE IMPLEMENTATION PLANS CAIR SO2 Allowance Tracking System § 96.257 Closing of general accounts. (a) The CAIR authorized..., which shall include a correctly submitted allowance transfer under §§ 96.260 and 96.261 for any CAIR SO2...

Manual control analysis of drug effects on driving performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Smiley, A.; Ziedman, K.; Moskowitz, H.

1981-01-01

The effects of secobarbital, diazepam, alcohol, and marihuana on car-driver transfer functions obtained using a driving simulator were studied. The first three substances, all CNS depressants, reduced gain, crossover frequency, and coherence which resulted in poorer tracking performance. Marihuana also impaired tracking performance but the only effect on the transfer function parameters was to reduce coherence.

The tracking analysis in the Q-weak experiment

DOE PAGES

Pan, J.; Androic, D.; Armstrong, D. S.; ...

2016-11-21

Here, the Q-weak experiment at Jefferson Laboratory measured the parity violating asymmetry (Amore » $$_{PV}$$ ) in elastic electron-proton scattering at small momentum transfer squared (Q$$^{2}$$=0.025 (G e V/c)$$^{2}$$), with the aim of extracting the proton’s weak charge ( $${Q^p_W}$$ ) to an accuracy of 5 %. As one of the major uncertainty contribution sources to $${Q^p_W}$$ , Q$$^{2}$$ needs to be determined to ~1 % so as to reach the proposed experimental precision. For this purpose, two sets of high resolution tracking chambers were employed in the experiment, to measure tracks before and after the magnetic spectrometer. Data collected by the tracking system were then reconstructed with dedicated software into individual electron trajectories for experimental kinematics determination. The Q-weak kinematics and the analysis scheme for tracking data are briefly described here. The sources that contribute to the uncertainty of Q$$^{2}$$ are discussed, and the current analysis status is reported.« less

Navy Controls for Invoice, Receipt, Acceptance, and Property Transfer System Need Improvement

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-02-25

iR APT as a web-based system to electronically invoice, receipt, and accept ser vices and product s from its contractors and vendors. The iR APT system...electronically shares document s bet ween DoD and it s contractors and vendors to eliminate redundant data entr y, increase data accuracy, and reduce...The iR APT system allows contractors to submit and track invoices and receipt and acceptance documents over the web and allows government personnel to

Spacecraft system study: A study to define the impact of laser communication systems on their host spacecraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1984-01-01

The mutual influence of a laser communication system and its host spacecraft and the degree to which the mutual influence limited acquisition, tracking and pointing processes were investigated. A laser klink between a low earth orbiting (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbiting (GEO) satellite was used as a baseline. The laser link between satellites was a generic channel transferring 500 Mbps data from the LEO to GEO using the GaAlAs laser as the laser light source. Major aspects of pointing and tracking with a satelliteborne optical system were evaluated including: (1) orbital aspects such as spacecraft relative motions, point ahead, and Sun snd Moon optical noise; (2) burst errors introduced by the electronic and optical noise levels; (3) servo system design and configurations, and the noise sources such as, sensor noise, base motion disturbances, gimbal friction torque noise; (4) an evaluation of the tracking and beacon link and the type of sensors used; (5) the function of the acquisition procedure and an evaluation of the sensors employed; and (6) an estimate of the size, weight and power needed for the satellite system.

A review of satellite time transfer technology - Accomplishments and future applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cooper, R. S.; Chi, A. R.

1979-01-01

A brief review of the research accomplishments by NASA in meeting the needs of the space program for precise time in satellite tracking is presented. As a major user of precise time signals for clock synchronization of NASA's worldwide satellite tracking networks, the agency provided much of the necessary impetus for the development of stable frequency sources and time synchronization technology. The precision in time required for both satellite tracking and space science experiments has increased at a rate of about 1 order of magnitude per decade from 1 ms in the 1950's to 100 microsec during the Apollo era in the 1960's to 10 microsec in the 1970's. In the 1980's, when the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) comes into operation, satellite timing requirements will be extended to 1 microsec and below. These requirements are needed for spacecraft autonomy and data packeting which are now in active planning stages.

Acquisition and tracking for underwater optical communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, Andrew J.; Laycock, Leslie L.; Griffith, Michael S.; McCarthy, Andrew G.; Rowe, Duncan P.

2017-10-01

There is a growing requirement to transfer large volumes of data between underwater platforms. As seawater is transmissive in the visible band, underwater optical communications is an active area of interest since it offers the potential for power efficient, covert and high bandwidth datalinks at short to medium ranges. Short range systems have been successfully demonstrated using sources with low directionality. To realise higher data rates and/or longer ranges, the use of more efficient directional beams is required; by necessity, these must be sufficiently aligned to achieve the required link margin. For mobile platforms, the acquisition and tracking of each node is therefore critical in order to establish and maintain an optical datalink. This paper describes work undertaken to demonstrate acquisition and tracking in a 3D underwater environment. A range of optical sources, beam steering technologies, and tracking sensors have been assessed for suitability. A novel scanning strategy exploiting variable beam divergence was developed to provide robust acquisition whilst minimising acquisition time. A prototype system was assembled and demonstrated in a large water tank. This utilised custom quadrant detectors based on Silicon PhotoMultiplier (SiPM) arrays for fine tracking, and a Wide Field of View (WFoV) sCMOS camera for link acquisition. Fluidic lenses provided dynamic control of beam divergence, and AC modulation/filtering enabled background rejection. The system successfully demonstrated robust optical acquisition and tracking between two nodes with only nanowatt received optical powers. The acquisition time was shown to be dependent on the initial conditions and the transmitted optical power.

Modeling human target acquisition in ground-to-air weapon systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Phatak, A. V.; Mohr, R. L.; Vikmanis, M.; Wei, K. C.

1982-01-01

The problems associated with formulating and validating mathematical models for describing and predicting human target acquisition response are considered. In particular, the extension of the human observer model to include the acquisition phase as well as the tracking segment is presented. Relationship of the Observer model structure to the more complex Standard Optimal Control model formulation and to the simpler Transfer Function/Noise representation is discussed. Problems pertinent to structural identifiability and the form of the parameterization are elucidated. A systematic approach toward the identification of the observer acquisition model parameters from ensemble tracking error data is presented.

KSC-2009-3662

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-05-01

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, the shipping container with the STSS Demonstrator SV-2spacecraft moves out of the U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft. The spacecraft will be transferred to the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. The spacecraft is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator, part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors. It will be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency in late summer. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller (Approved for Public Release 09-MDA-4616 [27 May 09])

KSC-2009-3658

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-05-01

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft arrives at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility with its cargo of the STSS Demonstrator SV-2 spacecraft. The spacecraft will be transferred to the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. The spacecraft is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator, part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors. It will be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency in late summer. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller (Approved for Public Release 09-MDA-4616 [27 May 09])

KSC-2009-4611

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-06-25

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft arrives at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility with its SV-1 cargo of the STSS Demonstrator spacecraft. The cargo will be transferred to the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. The spacecraft is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator, part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors. It will be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency in late summer. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett (Approved for Public Release 09-MDA-4804 [4 Aug 09] )

KSC-2009-4612

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-06-25

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, the SV-1 cargo of the STSS Demonstrator spacecraft moves out of the U.S. Air Force C-17. The cargo will be transferred to the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. The spacecraft is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator, part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors. It will be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency in late summer. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett (Approved for Public Release 09-MDA-4804 [4 Aug 09] )

KSC-2009-3660

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-05-01

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, more equipment for the STSS Demonstrator SV-2 spacecraft is offloaded from the U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft. The spacecraft will be transferred to the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla.The spacecraft is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator, part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors. It will be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency in late summer. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller (Approved for Public Release 09-MDA-4616 [27 May 09])

KSC-2009-4613

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-06-25

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, the SV-1 cargo of the STSS Demonstrator spacecraft moves out of the U.S. Air Force C-17. The cargo will be transferred to the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. The spacecraft is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator, part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors. It will be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency in late summer. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett (Approved for Public Release 09-MDA-4804 [4 Aug 09] )

Feasibility study of using a Microsoft Kinect for virtual coaching of wheelchair transfer techniques.

PubMed

Hwang, Seonhong; Tsai, Chung-Ying; Koontz, Alicia M

2017-05-24

The purpose of this study was to test the concurrent validity and test-retest reliability of the Kinect skeleton tracking algorithm for measurement of trunk, shoulder, and elbow joint angle measurement during a wheelchair transfer task. Eight wheelchair users were recruited for this study. Joint positions were recorded simultaneously by the Kinect and Vicon motion capture systems while subjects transferred from their wheelchairs to a level bench. Shoulder, elbow, and trunk angles recorded with the Kinect system followed a similar trajectory as the angles recorded with the Vicon system with correlation coefficients that are larger than 0.71 on both sides (leading arm and trailing arm). The root mean square errors (RMSEs) ranged from 5.18 to 22.46 for the shoulder, elbow, and trunk angles. The 95% limits of agreement (LOA) for the discrepancy between the two systems exceeded the clinical significant level of 5°. For the trunk, shoulder, and elbow angles, the Kinect had very good relative reliability for the measurement of sagittal, frontal and horizontal trunk angles, as indicated by the high intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values (>0.90). Small standard error of the measure (SEM) values, indicating good absolute reliability, were observed for all joints except for the leading arm's shoulder joint. Relatively large minimal detectable changes (MDCs) were observed in all joint angles. The Kinect motion tracking has promising performance levels for some upper limb joints. However, more accurate measurement of the joint angles may be required. Therefore, understanding the limitations in precision and accuracy of Kinect is imperative before utilization of Kinect.

Chemogenetic manipulation of ventral pallidal neurons impairs acquisition of sign-tracking in rats.

PubMed

Chang, Stephen E; Todd, Travis P; Bucci, David J; Smith, Kyle S

2015-12-01

Cues associated with rewarding events acquire value themselves as a result of the incentive value of the reward being transferred to the cue. Consequently, presentation of a reward-paired cue can trigger reward-seeking behaviours towards the cue itself (i.e. sign-tracking). The ventral pallidum (VP) has been demonstrated to be involved in a number of motivated behaviours, both conditioned and unconditioned. However, its contribution to the acquisition of incentive value is unknown. Using a discriminative autoshaping procedure with levers, the effects of disrupting VP activity in rats on the emergence of sign-tracking was investigated using chemogenetics, i.e. Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs). Transient disruption of VP neurons [activation of the inhibitory hM4D(Gi) DREADD through systemic injections of clozapine N-oxide (CNO) prior to each autoshaping session] impaired acquisition of sign-tracking (lever press rate) without having any effect on approach to the site of reward delivery (i.e. goal-tracking) or on the expression of sign-tracking after it was acquired. In addition, electrophysiological recordings were conducted in freely behaving rats following VP DREADD activation. The majority of VP units that were responsive to CNO injections exhibited rapid inhibition relative to baseline, a subset of CNO-responsive units showed delayed excitation, and a smaller subset displayed a mixed response of inhibition and excitation following CNO injections. It is argued that disruption of VP during autoshaping specifically disrupted the transfer of incentive value that was attributed to the lever cue, suggesting a surprisingly fundamental role for the VP in acquiring, compared with expressing, Pavlovian incentive values. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Selective visual scaling of time-scale processes facilitates broadband learning of isometric force frequency tracking.

PubMed

King, Adam C; Newell, Karl M

2015-10-01

The experiment investigated the effect of selectively augmenting faster time scales of visual feedback information on the learning and transfer of continuous isometric force tracking tasks to test the generality of the self-organization of 1/f properties of force output. Three experimental groups tracked an irregular target pattern either under a standard fixed gain condition or with selectively enhancement in the visual feedback display of intermediate (4-8 Hz) or high (8-12 Hz) frequency components of the force output. All groups reduced tracking error over practice, with the error lowest in the intermediate scaling condition followed by the high scaling and fixed gain conditions, respectively. Selective visual scaling induced persistent changes across the frequency spectrum, with the strongest effect in the intermediate scaling condition and positive transfer to novel feedback displays. The findings reveal an interdependence of the timescales in the learning and transfer of isometric force output frequency structures consistent with 1/f process models of the time scales of motor output variability.

40 CFR 97.357 - Closing of general accounts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... (CONTINUED) FEDERAL NOX BUDGET TRADING PROGRAM AND CAIR NOX AND SO2 TRADING PROGRAMS CAIR NOX Ozone Season... include a correctly submitted allowance transfer under §§ 97.360 and 97.361 for any CAIR NOX Ozone Season allowances in the account to one or more other CAIR NOX Ozone Season Allowance Tracking System accounts. (b...

40 CFR 97.255 - Banking.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... BUDGET TRADING PROGRAM AND CAIR NOX AND SO2 TRADING PROGRAMS CAIR SO2 Allowance Tracking System § 97.255 Banking. (a) CAIR SO2 allowances may be banked for future use or transfer in a compliance account or a general account in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section. (b) Any CAIR SO2 allowance that is held...

40 CFR 97.257 - Closing of general accounts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... (CONTINUED) FEDERAL NOX BUDGET TRADING PROGRAM AND CAIR NOX AND SO2 TRADING PROGRAMS CAIR SO2 Allowance... correctly submitted allowance transfer under §§ 97.260 and 97.261 for any CAIR SO2 allowances in the account to one or more other CAIR SO2 Allowance Tracking System accounts. (b) If a general account has no...

Implementation and testing of a Neighborhood Office Center (NOC) and integration of the NOC with an administrative correspondence management information system. [for NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1977-01-01

The application of telecommunications and telecomputing was investigated as a means of reducing NASA's consumption of natural resources and the proliferation of paper copies of correspondence. The feasibility, operational advantages, and limitations of decentralized (remote) neighborhood offices (NOC) linked through an electronic network are demonstrated. These offices are joined to a management information system for correspondence tracking, and to an administrative office center service based on the use of magnetic medium word processing typewriters which handle the daily typing load. In connection with an augmented teleconference network, a uniform means is provided for creating, storing, and retrieving administrative documents, records, and data, while simultaneously permitting users of the system to track their status. Information will be transferred without using paper - merely through digital electronic communication and display, as a step toward the establishment of an agency-wide electronic mail system.

The use of precise ephemerides, ionospheric data, and corrected antenna coordinates in a long-distance GPS time transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewandowski, Wlodzimierz W.; Petit, Gerard; Thomas, Claudine; Weiss, Marc A.

1990-01-01

Over intercontinental distances, the accuracy of The Global Positioning System (GPS) time transfers ranges from 10 to 20 ns. The principal error sources are the broadcast ionospheric model, the broadcast ephemerides and the local antenna coordinates. For the first time, the three major error sources for GPS time transfer can be reduced simultaneously for a particular time link. Ionospheric measurement systems of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) type are now operating on a regular basis at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder and at the Paris Observatory in Paris. Broadcast ephemerides are currently recorded for time-transfer tracks between these sites, this being necessary for using precise ephemerides. At last, corrected local GPS antenna coordinates are now introduced in GPS receivers at both sites. Shown here is the improvement in precision for this long-distance time comparison resulting from the reduction of these three error sources.

Maglev-rail intermodal equipment and suspension study. Final report, July 1991-February 1993

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

Gilcrease, E.E.; Gillam, C.M.

1993-02-01

The physical and operational characteristics of four existing and planned maglev systems were surveyed pertinent to the intermodal interface for each system. The maglev systems investigated were: Grumman New York State' (Configuration 002) Maglev; Transrapid Intercity (Transrapid 07) Maglev; HSST Passive Intermediate Speed (HSST-300) Maglev; and Japan Railways Vertical Magnet (Configuration MLU 002) Maglev. The focus of the study was to investigate the feasibility of using existing railroad right-of-way to access center-city terminals in one of three possible methods: Maglev vehicles traveling over existing railroad tracks with the use of steel guide wheels and some means of exterior propulsion; maglevmore » vehicles transferred onto modified railroad flatcars and transported over existing railroad tracks with locomotive power; or new grade-separated maglev guideways on existing railroad rights-of-way.« less

USNO GPS program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Putkovich, K.

1981-01-01

Initial test results indicated that the Global Positioning System/Time Transfer Unit (GPS/TTU) performed well within the + or - 100 nanosecond range required by the original system specification. Subsequent testing involved the verification of GPS time at the master control site via portable clocks and the acquisition and tracking of as many passes of the space vehicles currently in operation as possible. A description and discussion of the testing, system modifications, test results obtained, and an evaluation of both GPS and the GPS/TTU are presented.

The Inherent Limitations of Spacepower: Fact or Fiction?

DTIC Science & Technology

1995-01-01

advantageously to affect near-earth space, as well as the Earth, itself. These are termed the libration points . Collins writes: The five so-called libration ... Libration points allow for little or no energy expense for station keeping, while operating from atop the "gravity well" allows for high potential energy...navigation, communica- tions, earth resources, lift orbit transfer , and tracking and control systems. Integrating many aspects of these systems to serve both

Automatic bone detection and soft tissue aware ultrasound-CT registration for computer-aided orthopedic surgery.

PubMed

Wein, Wolfgang; Karamalis, Athanasios; Baumgartner, Adrian; Navab, Nassir

2015-06-01

The transfer of preoperative CT data into the tracking system coordinates within an operating room is of high interest for computer-aided orthopedic surgery. In this work, we introduce a solution for intra-operative ultrasound-CT registration of bones. We have developed methods for fully automatic real-time bone detection in ultrasound images and global automatic registration to CT. The bone detection algorithm uses a novel bone-specific feature descriptor and was thoroughly evaluated on both in-vivo and ex-vivo data. A global optimization strategy aligns the bone surface, followed by a soft tissue aware intensity-based registration to provide higher local registration accuracy. We evaluated the system on femur, tibia and fibula anatomy in a cadaver study with human legs, where magnetically tracked bone markers were implanted to yield ground truth information. An overall median system error of 3.7 mm was achieved on 11 datasets. Global and fully automatic registration of bones aquired with ultrasound to CT is feasible, with bone detection and tracking operating in real time for immediate feedback to the surgeon.

Analysis on Tracking Schedule and Measurements Characteristics for the Spacecraft on the Phase of Lunar Transfer and Capture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Young-Joo; Choi, Su-Jin; Ahn, Sang-il; Sim, Eun-Sup

2014-03-01

In this work, the preliminary analysis on both the tracking schedule and measurements characteristics for the spacecraft on the phase of lunar transfer and capture is performed. To analyze both the tracking schedule and measurements characteristics, lunar transfer and capture phases¡¯ optimized trajectories are directly adapted from former research, and eleven ground tracking facilities (three Deep Space Network sties, seven Near Earth Network sites, one Daejeon site) are assumed to support the mission. Under these conceptual mission scenarios, detailed tracking schedules and expected measurement characteristics during critical maneuvers (Trans Lunar Injection, Lunar Orbit Insertion and Apoapsis Adjustment Maneuver), especially for the Deajeon station, are successfully analyzed. The orders of predicted measurements' variances during lunar capture phase according to critical maneuvers are found to be within the order of mm/s for the range and micro-deg/s for the angular measurements rates which are in good agreement with the recommended values of typical measurement modeling accuracies for Deep Space Networks. Although preliminary navigation accuracy guidelines are provided through this work, it is expected to give more practical insights into preparing the Korea's future lunar mission, especially for developing flight dynamics subsystem.

Interference of interchromophoric energy-transfer pathways in π-conjugated macrocycles

DOE PAGES

Alfonso Hernandez, Laura; Nelson, Tammie Renee; Gelin, Maxim F.; ...

2016-11-10

The interchromophoric energy-transfer pathways between weakly coupled units in a π-conjugated phenylene–ethynylene macrocycle and its half-ring analogue have been investigated using the nonadiabatic excited-state molecular dynamics approach. To track the flow of electronic transition density between macrocycle units, we formulate a transition density flux analysis adapted from the statistical minimum flow method previously developed to investigate vibrational energy flow. Following photoexcitation, transition density is primarily delocalized on two chromophore units and the system undergoes ultrafast energy transfer, creating a localized excited state on a single unit. In the macrocycle, distinct chromophore units donate transition density to a single acceptor unitmore » but do not interchange transition density among each other. We find that energy transfer in the macrocycle is slower than in the corresponding half ring because of the presence of multiple interfering energy-transfer pathways. Finally, simulation results are validated by modeling the fluorescence anisotropy decay.« less

Development of intelligent surveillance system (ISS) in region of interest (ROI) using Kalman filter and camshift on Raspberry Pi 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Junghun; Hong, Kicheon

2017-06-01

Due to the improvement of the picture quality of closed-circuit television (CCTV), the demand for CCTV has increased rapidly and its market size has also increased. The current system structure of CCTV transfers compressed images without analysis received from CCTV to a control center. The compressed images are suitable for the evidence required for a criminal arrest, but they cannot prevent crime in real time, which has been considered a limitation. Thus, the present paper proposes a system implementation that can prevent crimes by applying a situation awareness system at the back end of the CCTV cameras for image acquisition to prevent crimes efficiently. In the system implemented in the present paper, the region of interest (ROI) is set virtually within the image data when a barrier, such as fence, cannot be installed in actual sites and unauthorized intruders are tracked constantly through data analysis and recognized in the ROI via the developed algorithm. Additionally, a searchlight or alarm sound is activated to prevent crime in real time and the urgent information is transferred to the control center. The system was implemented in the Raspberry Pi 2 board to be run in real time. The experiment results showed that the recognition success rate was 85% or higher and the track accuracy was 90% or higher. By utilizing the system, crime prevention can be achieved by implementing a social safety network.

International data transfer for space very long baseline interferometry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wiercigroch, Alexandria B.

1994-01-01

Space very long baseline interferometry (SVLBI) experiments using a TDRSS satellite have successfully demonstrated the capability of using spacecraft to extend the effective baseline length of VLBI observations beyond the diameter of the Earth, thereby improving the resolution for imaging of active galactic nuclei at centimeter wavelengths. As a result, two spacecraft dedicated to SVLBI, VSOP (Japan) and RadioAstron (Russia), are scheduled to be launched into high Earth orbit in 1996 and 1997. The success of these missions depends on the cooperation of the international community in providing support from ground tracking stations, ground radio telescopes, and correlation facilities. The timely exchange and monitoring of data among the participants requires a well-designed and automated international data transfer system. In this paper, we will discuss the design requirements, data types and flows, and the operational responsibilities associated with the SVLBI data transfer system.

Electronic tracking system and wandering in Alzheimer's disease: a case study.

PubMed

Faucounau, V; Riguet, M; Orvoen, G; Lacombe, A; Rialle, V; Extra, J; Rigaud, A-S

2009-01-01

Wandering is a behavioural disorder, which occurs in Alzheimer's disease or other dementia. People who wander are at risk of physical harm and untimely death. Moreover, wandering behaviour causes a lot of stress to the caregivers. In the last few years, different geolocation devices have been developed in order to minimise risk and manage unsafe wandering. These detection systems rarely meet patients and caregivers' needs because they are not involved in the devices building process. The aim is to explore the needs and perceptions of wandering persons and their caregivers towards existing tracking devices as well as their acceptability and usability. This paper reports a dyad case. The tracking system tested is presented as a mobile Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver-shaped, including function of telephony and data transfer via GSM/GPRS. Dyad patient/caregiver expressed their needs and perceptions towards tracking devices and gave their impressions about the functioning of the tested device at the end of the test. The patient focused on the device's shape which he found too voluminous and unaesthetic, and was unable to give an opinion about the device's functioning. The spouse highlighted malfunctions and usage difficulties, which made the device not appropriate to her needs. Involving end-users in the co-design of new technologies is necessary for building tailored devices. Moreover, in this area of dementia care, the person-centred approach is essential to a tailored wandering management.

Performance characteristics of solar-photovoltaic flywheel-storage systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jarvinen, P. O.; Brench, B. L.; Rasmussen, N. E.

A solar photovoltaic energy flywheel storage and conversion system for residential applications was tested. Performance and efficiency measurements were conducted on the system, which utilizes low loss magnetic bearings, maximum power point tracking of the photovoltaic array, integrated permanent magnet motor generator, and output power conditioning sections of either the stand alone cycloconverter or utility interactive inverter type. The overall in/out electrical storage efficiency of the flywheel system was measured along with the power transfer efficiencies of the individual components and the system spin down tare losses. The system compares favorably with systems which use batteries and inverters.

Performance Technology Program (PTP-S 2). Volume 9: Evaluation of reentry vehicle nosetip transition and heat transfer in the AEDC hyperballistics track G

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wassel, A. T.; Shih, W. C. L.; Curtis, R. J.

1981-01-01

Boundary layer transition and surface heating distributions on graphite fine weave carbon-carbon, and metallic nosetip materials were derived from surface temperature responses measured in nitrogen environments during both free-flight and track-guided testing in the AEDC Hyperballistics Range/Track G. Innovative test procedures were developed, and heat transfer results were validated against established theory through experiments using a super-smooth tungsten model. Quantitative definitions of mean transition front locations were established by deriving heat flux distributions from measured temperatures, and comparisons made with existing nosetip transition correlations. Qualitative transition locations were inferred directly from temperature distributions to investigate preferred orientations on fine weave nosetips. Levels of roughness augmented heat transfer were generally shown to be below values predicted by state of the art methods.

Real-time Avatar Animation from a Single Image.

PubMed

Saragih, Jason M; Lucey, Simon; Cohn, Jeffrey F

2011-01-01

A real time facial puppetry system is presented. Compared with existing systems, the proposed method requires no special hardware, runs in real time (23 frames-per-second), and requires only a single image of the avatar and user. The user's facial expression is captured through a real-time 3D non-rigid tracking system. Expression transfer is achieved by combining a generic expression model with synthetically generated examples that better capture person specific characteristics. Performance of the system is evaluated on avatars of real people as well as masks and cartoon characters.

Real-time Avatar Animation from a Single Image

PubMed Central

Saragih, Jason M.; Lucey, Simon; Cohn, Jeffrey F.

2014-01-01

A real time facial puppetry system is presented. Compared with existing systems, the proposed method requires no special hardware, runs in real time (23 frames-per-second), and requires only a single image of the avatar and user. The user’s facial expression is captured through a real-time 3D non-rigid tracking system. Expression transfer is achieved by combining a generic expression model with synthetically generated examples that better capture person specific characteristics. Performance of the system is evaluated on avatars of real people as well as masks and cartoon characters. PMID:24598812

Transfer of Learning between Hemifields in Multiple Object Tracking: Memory Reduces Constraints of Attention

PubMed Central

Lapierre, Mark; Howe, Piers D. L.; Cropper, Simon J.

2013-01-01

Many tasks involve tracking multiple moving objects, or stimuli. Some require that individuals adapt to changing or unfamiliar conditions to be able to track well. This study explores processes involved in such adaptation through an investigation of the interaction of attention and memory during tracking. Previous research has shown that during tracking, attention operates independently to some degree in the left and right visual hemifields, due to putative anatomical constraints. It has been suggested that the degree of independence is related to the relative dominance of processes of attention versus processes of memory. Here we show that when individuals are trained to track a unique pattern of movement in one hemifield, that learning can be transferred to the opposite hemifield, without any evidence of hemifield independence. However, learning is not influenced by an explicit strategy of memorisation of brief periods of recognisable movement. The findings lend support to a role for implicit memory in overcoming putative anatomical constraints on the dynamic, distributed spatial allocation of attention involved in tracking multiple objects. PMID:24349555

Characterization of the LANDSAT sensors' spatial responses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Markham, B. L.

1984-01-01

The characteristics of the thematic mapper (TM) and multispectral scanner (MSS) sensors on LANDSATs 4 and 5 affecting their spatial responses are described, and functions defining the response of the system to an arbitrary input spatial pattern are derived, i.e., transfer functions (TF) and line spread functions (LSF). These design LSF's and TF's were modified based on prelaunch component and system measurements to provide improved estimates. Prelaunch estimates of LSF/FT's are compared to in-orbit estimates. For the MSS instruments, only limited prelaunch scan direction square-wave response (SWR) data were available. Design estimates were modified by convolving in Gaussian blur till the derived LSF/TF's produced SWR's comparable to the measurements. The two MSS instruments were comparable at their temperatures of best focus; separate calculations were performed for bands 1 and 3, band 2 and band 4. The pre-sample nadir effective instantaneous field's of view (EIFOV's) based on the .5 modulation transfer function (MTF) criteria vary from 70 to 75 meters in the track direction and 79 to 82 meters in the scan direction. For the TM instruments more extensive prelaunch measurements were available. Bands 1 to 4, 5 and 7, and 6 were handled separately as were the two instruments. Derived MTF's indicate nadir pre-sample EIFOV's of 32 to 33 meter track (bands 1 to 5, 7) and 36 meter scan (bands 1 to 5, 7) and 1245 meter track (band 6) and 141 meter scan (band 6) for both TM's.

KSC-2009-3663

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-05-01

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, the shipping container with the STSS Demonstrator SV-2spacecraft has been moved out of the U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft. The spacecraft will be transferred to the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. The spacecraft is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator, part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors. It will be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency in late summer. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller (Approved for Public Release 09-MDA-4616 [27 May 09])

KSC-2009-3661

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-05-01

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, the shipping container with the STSS Demonstrator SV-2spacecraft waits to be offloaded from the U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft. The spacecraft will be transferred to the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. The spacecraft is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator, part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors. It will be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency in late summer. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller (Approved for Public Release 09-MDA-4616 [27 May 09])

KSC-2009-3659

NASA Image and Video Library

2009-05-01

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, workers move STSS Demonstrator SV-2 spacecraft equipment out of the cargo hold of the U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft. The spacecraft will be transferred to the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Fla. The spacecraft is a midcourse tracking technology demonstrator, part of an evolving ballistic missile defense system. STSS is capable of tracking objects after boost phase and provides trajectory information to other sensors. It will be launched by NASA for the Missile Defense Agency in late summer. Photo credit: NASA/Jack Pfaller (Approved for Public Release 09-MDA-4616 [27 May 09])

33. VIEW OF BASEMENT UNDER EAST BOILER ROOM LOOKING TOWARD ...

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

33. VIEW OF BASEMENT UNDER EAST BOILER ROOM LOOKING TOWARD WEST BOILER ROOM BASEMENT THROUGH THE ASH TRANSFER TUNNEL. ASH HOPPER FOR BOILER 900 IS ON THE RIGHT. NOTE THE TRACKS ALONG THE FLOOR OF THE TUNNEL. A SMALL ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE HAULED CARS FOR TRANSFERRING ASH FROM BOILERS TO DISPOSAL SITES OUTSIDE THE BUILDING. THIS SYSTEM BECAME OBSOLETE IN 1938 WHEN BOILERS IN THE WEST BOILER ROOM WERE REMOVED AND PULVERIZED COAL WAS ADOPTED AS THE FUEL. - New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, Cos Cob Power Plant, Sound Shore Drive, Greenwich, Fairfield County, CT

Network control processor for a TDMA system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suryadevara, Omkarmurthy; Debettencourt, Thomas J.; Shulman, R. B.

Two unique aspects of designing a network control processor (NCP) to monitor and control a demand-assigned, time-division multiple-access (TDMA) network are described. The first involves the implementation of redundancy by synchronizing the databases of two geographically remote NCPs. The two sets of databases are kept in synchronization by collecting data on both systems, transferring databases, sending incremental updates, and the parallel updating of databases. A periodic audit compares the checksums of the databases to ensure synchronization. The second aspect involves the use of a tracking algorithm to dynamically reallocate TDMA frame space. This algorithm detects and tracks current and long-term load changes in the network. When some portions of the network are overloaded while others have excess capacity, the algorithm automatically calculates and implements a new burst time plan.

MW 08-multi-beam air and surface surveillance radar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1989-09-01

Signal of the Netherlands has developed and is marketing the MW 08, a 3-D radar to be used for short to medium range surveillance, target acquisition, and tracking. MW 08 is a fully automated detecting and tracking radar. It is designed to counter threats from aircraft and low flying antiship missiles. It can also deal with the high level missile threat. MW 08 operates in the 5 cm band using one antenna for both transmitting and receiving. The antenna is an array, consisting of 8 stripline antennas. The received radar energy is processed by 8 receiver channels. These channels come together in the beam forming network, in which 8 virtual beams are formed. From this beam pattern, 6 beams are used for the elevation coverage of 0-70 degrees. MW 08's output signals of the beam former are further handled by FFT and plot processors for target speed information, clutter rejection, and jamming suppression. A general purpose computer handles target track initiation, and tracking. Tracking data are transferred to the command and control systems with 3-D target information for fastest possible lockon.

Direct numerical simulations of fluid flow, heat transfer and phase changes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Juric, D.; Tryggvason, G.; Han, J.

1997-01-01

Direct numerical simulations of fluid flow, heat transfer, and phase changes are presented. The simulations are made possible by a recently developed finite difference/front tracking method based on the one-field formulation of the governing equations where a single set of conservation equations is written for all the phases involved. The conservation equations are solved on a fixed rectangular grid, but the phase boundaries are kept sharp by tracking them explicitly by a moving grid of lower dimension. The method is discussed and applications to boiling heat transfer and the solidification of drops colliding with a wall are shown.

Subnanosecond GPS-based clock synchronization and precision deep-space tracking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunn, C. E.; Lichten, S. M.; Jefferson, D. C.; Border, J. S.

1992-01-01

Interferometric spacecraft tracking is accomplished by the Deep Space Network (DSN) by comparing the arrival time of electromagnetic spacecraft signals at ground antennas separated by baselines on the order of 8000 km. Clock synchronization errors within and between DSN stations directly impact the attainable tracking accuracy, with a 0.3-nsec error in clock synchronization resulting in an 11-nrad angular position error. This level of synchronization is currently achieved by observing a quasar which is angularly close to the spacecraft just after the spacecraft observations. By determining the differential arrival times of the random quasar signal at the stations, clock offsets and propagation delays within the atmosphere and within the DSN stations are calibrated. Recent developments in time transfer techniques may allow medium accuracy (50-100 nrad) spacecraft tracking without near-simultaneous quasar-based calibrations. Solutions are presented for a worldwide network of Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers in which the formal errors for DSN clock offset parameters are less than 0.5 nsec. Comparisons of clock rate offsets derived from GPS measurements and from very long baseline interferometry (VLBI), as well as the examination of clock closure, suggest that these formal errors are a realistic measure of GPS-based clock offset precision and accuracy. Incorporating GPS-based clock synchronization measurements into a spacecraft differential ranging system would allow tracking without near-simultaneous quasar observations. The impact on individual spacecraft navigation-error sources due to elimination of quasar-based calibrations is presented. System implementation, including calibration of station electronic delays, is discussed.

Automated target recognition and tracking using an optical pattern recognition neural network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chao, Tien-Hsin

1991-01-01

The on-going development of an automatic target recognition and tracking system at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is presented. This system is an optical pattern recognition neural network (OPRNN) that is an integration of an innovative optical parallel processor and a feature extraction based neural net training algorithm. The parallel optical processor provides high speed and vast parallelism as well as full shift invariance. The neural network algorithm enables simultaneous discrimination of multiple noisy targets in spite of their scales, rotations, perspectives, and various deformations. This fully developed OPRNN system can be effectively utilized for the automated spacecraft recognition and tracking that will lead to success in the Automated Rendezvous and Capture (AR&C) of the unmanned Cargo Transfer Vehicle (CTV). One of the most powerful optical parallel processors for automatic target recognition is the multichannel correlator. With the inherent advantages of parallel processing capability and shift invariance, multiple objects can be simultaneously recognized and tracked using this multichannel correlator. This target tracking capability can be greatly enhanced by utilizing a powerful feature extraction based neural network training algorithm such as the neocognitron. The OPRNN, currently under investigation at JPL, is constructed with an optical multichannel correlator where holographic filters have been prepared using the neocognitron training algorithm. The computation speed of the neocognitron-type OPRNN is up to 10(exp 14) analog connections/sec that enabling the OPRNN to outperform its state-of-the-art electronics counterpart by at least two orders of magnitude.

Vision for a Global Registry of Anticipated Public Health Studies

PubMed Central

Choi, Bernard C.K.; Frank, John; Mindell, Jennifer S.; Orlova, Anna; Lin, Vivian; Vaillancourt, Alain D.M.G.; Puska, Pekka; Pang, Tikki; Skinner, Harvey A.; Marsh, Marsha; Mokdad, Ali H.; Yu, Shun-Zhang; Lindner, M. Cristina; Sherman, Gregory; Barreto, Sandhi M.; Green, Lawrence W.; Svenson, Lawrence W.; Sainsbury, Peter; Yan, Yongping; Zhang, Zuo-Feng; Zevallos, Juan C.; Ho, Suzanne C.; de Salazar, Ligia M.

2007-01-01

In public health, the generation, management, and transfer of knowledge all need major improvement. Problems in generating knowledge include an imbalance in research funding, publication bias, unnecessary studies, adherence to fashion, and undue interest in novel and immediate issues. Impaired generation of knowledge, combined with a dated and inadequate process for managing knowledge and an inefficient system for transferring knowledge, mean a distorted body of evidence available for decisionmaking in public health. This article hopes to stimulate discussion by proposing a Global Registry of Anticipated Public Health Studies. This prospective, comprehensive system for tracking research in public health could help enhance collaboration and improve efficiency. Practical problems must be discussed before such a vision can be further developed. PMID:17413073

Voltage-based device tracking in a 1.5 Tesla MRI during imaging: initial validation in swine models.

PubMed

Schmidt, Ehud J; Tse, Zion T H; Reichlin, Tobias R; Michaud, Gregory F; Watkins, Ronald D; Butts-Pauly, Kim; Kwong, Raymond Y; Stevenson, William; Schweitzer, Jeffrey; Byrd, Israel; Dumoulin, Charles L

2014-03-01

Voltage-based device-tracking (VDT) systems are commonly used for tracking invasive devices in electrophysiological cardiac-arrhythmia therapy. During electrophysiological procedures, electro-anatomic mapping workstations provide guidance by integrating VDT location and intracardiac electrocardiogram information with X-ray, computerized tomography, ultrasound, and MR images. MR assists navigation, mapping, and radiofrequency ablation. Multimodality interventions require multiple patient transfers between an MRI and the X-ray/ultrasound electrophysiological suite, increasing the likelihood of patient-motion and image misregistration. An MRI-compatible VDT system may increase efficiency, as there is currently no single method to track devices both inside and outside the MRI scanner. An MRI-compatible VDT system was constructed by modifying a commercial system. Hardware was added to reduce MRI gradient-ramp and radiofrequency unblanking pulse interference. VDT patches and cables were modified to reduce heating. Five swine cardiac VDT electro-anatomic mapping interventions were performed, navigating inside and thereafter outside the MRI. Three-catheter VDT interventions were performed at >12 frames per second both inside and outside the MRI scanner with <3 mm error. Catheters were followed on VDT- and MRI-derived maps. Simultaneous VDT and imaging was possible in repetition time >32 ms sequences with <0.5 mm errors, and <5% MRI signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) loss. At shorter repetition times, only intracardiac electrocardiogram was reliable. Radiofrequency heating was <1.5°C. An MRI-compatible VDT system is feasible. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Voltage-based Device Tracking in a 1.5 Tesla MRI during Imaging: Initial validation in swine models

PubMed Central

Schmidt, Ehud J; Tse, Zion TH; Reichlin, Tobias R; Michaud, Gregory F; Watkins, Ronald D; Butts-Pauly, Kim; Kwong, Raymond Y; Stevenson, William; Schweitzer, Jeffrey; Byrd, Israel; Dumoulin, Charles L

2013-01-01

Purpose Voltage-based device-tracking (VDT) systems are commonly used for tracking invasive devices in electrophysiological (EP) cardiac-arrhythmia therapy. During EP procedures, electro-anatomic-mapping (EAM) workstations provide guidance by integrating VDT location and intra-cardiac-ECG information with X-ray, CT, Ultrasound, and MR images. MR assists navigation, mapping and radio-frequency-ablation. Multi-modality interventions require multiple patient transfers between an MRI and the X-ray/ultrasound EP suite, increasing the likelihood of patient-motion and image mis-registration. An MRI-compatible VDT system may increase efficiency, since there is currently no single method to track devices both inside and outside the MRI scanner. Methods An MRI-compatible VDT system was constructed by modifying a commercial system. Hardware was added to reduce MRI gradient-ramp and radio-frequency-unblanking-pulse interference. VDT patches and cables were modified to reduce heating. Five swine cardiac VDT EAM-mapping interventions were performed, navigating inside and thereafter outside the MRI. Results Three-catheter VDT interventions were performed at >12 frames-per-second both inside and outside the MRI scanner with <3mm error. Catheters were followed on VDT- and MRI-derived maps. Simultaneous VDT and imaging was possible in repetition-time (TR) >32 msec sequences with <0.5mm errors, and <5% MRI SNR loss. At shorter TRs, only intra-cardiac-ECG was reliable. RF Heating was <1.5C°. Conclusion An MRI-compatible VDT system is feasible. PMID:23580479

Aspects of Student Transfer and Post-Transfer Success at Virginia Public Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, 2016

2016-01-01

This report provides a snapshot of certain aspects of transfer student success and costs using data from four transfer cohorts matriculating at four-year institutions between 2006-07 and 2009-10. These cohorts allowed for the tracking of students post-transfer for up to six years. Transfer efficiency can have a direct and significant effect on the…

Mass transfer processes in a post eruption hydrothermal system: Parameterisation of microgravity changes at Te Maari craters, New Zealand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Craig A.; Currenti, Gilda; Hamling, Ian; Williams-Jones, Glyn

2018-05-01

Fluid transfer and ground deformation at hydrothermal systems occur both as a precursor to, or as a result of, an eruption. Typically studies focus on pre-eruption changes to understand the likelihood of unrest leading to eruption; however, monitoring post-eruption changes is important for tracking the return of the system towards background activity. Here we describe processes occurring in a hydrothermal system following the 2012 eruption of Upper Te Maari crater on Mt Tongariro, New Zealand, from observations of microgravity change and deformation. Our aim is to assess the post-eruption recovery of the system, to provide a baseline for long-term monitoring. Residual microgravity anomalies of up to 92 ± 11 μGal per year are accompanied by up to 0.037 ± 0.01 m subsidence. We model microgravity changes using analytic solutions to determine the most likely geometry and source location. A multiobjective inversion tests whether the gravity change models are consistent with the observed deformation. We conclude that the source of subsidence is separate from the location of mass addition. From this unusual combination of observations, we develop a conceptual model of fluid transfer within a condensate layer, occurring in response to eruption-driven pressure changes. We find that depressurisation drives the evacuation of pore fluid, either exiting the system completely as vapour through newly created vents and fumaroles, or migrating to shallower levels where it accumulates in empty pore space, resulting in positive gravity changes. Evacuated pores then collapse, causing subsidence. In addition we find that significant mass addition occurs from influx of meteoric fluids through the fractured hydrothermal seal. Long-term combined microgravity and deformation monitoring will allow us to track the resealing and re-pressurisation of the hydrothermal system and assess what hazard it presents to thousands of hikers who annually traverse the volcano, within 2 km of the eruption site.

A single dynamic observer-based module for design of simultaneous fault detection, isolation and tracking control scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davoodi, M.; Meskin, N.; Khorasani, K.

2018-03-01

The problem of simultaneous fault detection, isolation and tracking (SFDIT) control design for linear systems subject to both bounded energy and bounded peak disturbances is considered in this work. A dynamic observer is proposed and implemented by using the H∞/H-/L1 formulation of the SFDIT problem. A single dynamic observer module is designed that generates the residuals as well as the control signals. The objective of the SFDIT module is to ensure that simultaneously the effects of disturbances and control signals on the residual signals are minimised (in order to accomplish the fault detection goal) subject to the constraint that the transfer matrix from the faults to the residuals is equal to a pre-assigned diagonal transfer matrix (in order to accomplish the fault isolation goal), while the effects of disturbances, reference inputs and faults on the specified control outputs are minimised (in order to accomplish the fault-tolerant and tracking control goals). A set of linear matrix inequality (LMI) feasibility conditions are derived to ensure solvability of the problem. In order to illustrate and demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed design methodology, the developed and proposed schemes are applied to an autonomous unmanned underwater vehicle (AUV).

The Use of a Gain Monitoring System in the G0 Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakos, Melissa T.

2001-11-01

The main goal of the G0 experiment is to find the contributions of the three light quark flavors to the electromagnetic properties of the nucleon by comparing the electromagnetic and neutral weak form factors, measured through the observation of parity-violating asymmetries in elastic electron-nucleon scattering. The experiment will measure the time of flight and the momentum transfer of protons (at forward scattering angles) and electrons (at backward scattering angles). The detectors used in this experiment are plastic scintillators placed in the focal plane of a magnetic spectrometer such that the momentum transfer is directly measured. A gain monitoring system has been designed to track the timing and gain of the photomultiplier tubes at the end of each scintillator. The system is made of a pulsed ultraviolet laser, pure silica fiber optic cables, and a masking system to mimic a real event.

An artificial molecular machine that builds an asymmetric catalyst

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Bo, Guillaume; Gall, Malcolm A. Y.; Kuschel, Sonja; De Winter, Julien; Gerbaux, Pascal; Leigh, David A.

2018-05-01

Biomolecular machines perform types of complex molecular-level tasks that artificial molecular machines can aspire to. The ribosome, for example, translates information from the polymer track it traverses (messenger RNA) to the new polymer it constructs (a polypeptide)1. The sequence and number of codons read determines the sequence and number of building blocks incorporated into the biomachine-synthesized polymer. However, neither control of sequence2,3 nor the transfer of length information from one polymer to another (which to date has only been accomplished in man-made systems through template synthesis)4 is easily achieved in the synthesis of artificial macromolecules. Rotaxane-based molecular machines5-7 have been developed that successively add amino acids8-10 (including β-amino acids10) to a growing peptide chain by the action of a macrocycle moving along a mono-dispersed oligomeric track derivatized with amino-acid phenol esters. The threaded macrocycle picks up groups that block its path and links them through successive native chemical ligation reactions11 to form a peptide sequence corresponding to the order of the building blocks on the track. Here, we show that as an alternative to translating sequence information, a rotaxane molecular machine can transfer the narrow polydispersity of a leucine-ester-derivatized polystyrene chain synthesized by atom transfer radical polymerization12 to a molecular-machine-made homo-leucine oligomer. The resulting narrow-molecular-weight oligomer folds to an α-helical secondary structure13 that acts as an asymmetric catalyst for the Juliá-Colonna epoxidation14,15 of chalcones.

High-efficiency resonant coupled wireless power transfer via tunable impedance matching

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anowar, Tanbir Ibne; Barman, Surajit Das; Wasif Reza, Ahmed; Kumar, Narendra

2017-10-01

For magnetic resonant coupled wireless power transfer (WPT), the axial movement of near-field coupled coils adversely degrades the power transfer efficiency (PTE) of the system and often creates sub-resonance. This paper presents a tunable impedance matching technique based on optimum coupling tuning to enhance the efficiency of resonant coupled WPT system. The optimum power transfer model is analysed from equivalent circuit model via reflected load principle, and the adequate matching are achieved through the optimum tuning of coupling coefficients at both the transmitting and receiving end of the system. Both simulations and experiments are performed to evaluate the theoretical model of the proposed matching technique, and results in a PTE over 80% at close coil proximity without shifting the original resonant frequency. Compared to the fixed coupled WPT, the extracted efficiency shows 15.1% and 19.9% improvements at the centre-to-centre misalignment of 10 and 70 cm, respectively. Applying this technique, the extracted S21 parameter shows more than 10 dB improvements at both strong and weak couplings. Through the developed model, the optimum coupling tuning also significantly improves the performance over matching techniques using frequency tracking and tunable matching circuits.

Data storage and retrieval system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nakamoto, Glen

1991-01-01

The Data Storage and Retrieval System (DSRS) consists of off-the-shelf system components integrated as a file server supporting very large files. These files are on the order of one gigabyte of data per file, although smaller files on the order of one megabyte can be accommodated as well. For instance, one gigabyte of data occupies approximately six 9 track tape reels (recorded at 6250 bpi). Due to this large volume of media, it was desirable to shrink the size of the proposed media to a single portable cassette. In addition to large size, a key requirement was that the data needs to be transferred to a (VME based) workstation at very high data rates. One gigabyte (GB) of data needed to be transferred from an archiveable media on a file server to a workstation in less than 5 minutes. Equivalent size, on-line data needed to be transferred in less than 3 minutes. These requirements imply effective transfer rates on the order of four to eight megabytes per second (4-8 MB/s). The DSRS also needed to be able to send and receive data from a variety of other sources accessible from an Ethernet local area network.

Data storage and retrieval system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nakamoto, Glen

1992-01-01

The Data Storage and Retrieval System (DSRS) consists of off-the-shelf system components integrated as a file server supporting very large files. These files are on the order of one gigabyte of data per file, although smaller files on the order of one megabyte can be accommodated as well. For instance, one gigabyte of data occupies approximately six 9-track tape reels (recorded at 6250 bpi). Due to this large volume of media, it was desirable to 'shrink' the size of the proposed media to a single portable cassette. In addition to large size, a key requirement was that the data needs to be transferred to a (VME based) workstation at very high data rates. One gigabyte (GB) of data needed to be transferred from an archiveable media on a file server to a workstation in less than 5 minutes. Equivalent size, on-line data needed to be transferred in less than 3 minutes. These requirements imply effective transfer rates on the order of four to eight megabytes per second (4-8 MB/s). The DSRS also needed to be able to send and receive data from a variety of other sources accessible from an Ethernet local area network.

Supplying the power requirements to a sensor network using radio frequency power transfer.

PubMed

Percy, Steven; Knight, Chris; Cooray, Francis; Smart, Ken

2012-01-01

Wireless power transmission is a method of supplying power to small electronic devices when there is no wired connection. One way to increase the range of these systems is to use a directional transmitting antenna, the problem with this approach is that power can only be transmitted through a narrow beam and directly forward, requiring the transmitter to always be aligned with the sensor node position. The work outlined in this article describes the design and testing of an autonomous radio frequency power transfer system that is capable of rotating the base transmitter to track the position of sensor nodes and transferring power to that sensor node. The system's base station monitors the node's energy levels and forms a charge queue to plan charging order and maintain energy levels of the nodes. Results show a radio frequency harvesting circuit with a measured S11 value of -31.5 dB and a conversion efficiency of 39.1%. Simulation and experimentation verified the level of power transfer and efficiency. The results of this work show a small network of three nodes with different storage types powered by a central base node.

Competition in Defense Acquisitions

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-05-14

NASA employees to maintain desktop assets No way to track costs, no standardization, not tracking service quality NASA’s Outsourcing Desktop...assets to the private sector. ODIN Goals Cut desktop computing costs Increase service quality Achieve interoperability and standardization Focus...not tracking service quality NASA’s Outsourcing Desktop Initiative (ODIN) transferred the responsibility for providing and managing the vast

Identification of human operator performance models utilizing time series analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Holden, F. M.; Shinners, S. M.

1973-01-01

The results of an effort performed by Sperry Systems Management Division for AMRL in applying time series analysis as a tool for modeling the human operator are presented. This technique is utilized for determining the variation of the human transfer function under various levels of stress. The human operator's model is determined based on actual input and output data from a tracking experiment.

Third NASA Workshop on Wiring for Space Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hammoud, Ahmad (Compiler); Stavnes, Mark (Compiler)

1995-01-01

This workshop addressed key technology issues in the field of electrical power wiring for space applications, and transferred information and technology related to space wiring for use in government and commercial applications. Speakers from space agencies, U.S. Federal labs, industry, and academia presented program overviews and discussed topics on arc tracking phenomena, advancements in insulation materials and constructions, and new wiring system topologies.

Advanced Physiological Estimation of Cognitive Status. Part 2

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-05-24

Neurofeedback Algorithms and Gaze Controller EEG Sensor System g.USBamp *, ** • internal 24-bit ADC and digital signal processor • 16 channels (expandable...SUBJECT TERMS EEG eye-tracking mental state estimation machine learning Leonard J. Trejo Pacific Development and Technology LLC 999 Commercial St. Palo...fatigue, overload) Technology Transfer Opportunity Technology from PDT – Methods to acquire various physiological signals ( EEG , EOG, EMG, ECG, etc

High accuracy time transfer synchronization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wheeler, Paul J.; Koppang, Paul A.; Chalmers, David; Davis, Angela; Kubik, Anthony; Powell, William M.

1995-01-01

In July 1994, the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) Time Service System Engineering Division conducted a field test to establish a baseline accuracy for two-way satellite time transfer synchronization. Three Hewlett-Packard model 5071 high performance cesium frequency standards were transported from the USNO in Washington, DC to Los Angeles, California in the USNO's mobile earth station. Two-Way Satellite Time Transfer links between the mobile earth station and the USNO were conducted each day of the trip, using the Naval Research Laboratory(NRL) designed spread spectrum modem, built by Allen Osborne Associates(AOA). A Motorola six channel GPS receiver was used to track the location and altitude of the mobile earth station and to provide coordinates for calculating Sagnac corrections for the two-way measurements, and relativistic corrections for the cesium clocks. This paper will discuss the trip, the measurement systems used and the results from the data collected. We will show the accuracy of using two-way satellite time transfer for synchronization and the performance of the three HP 5071 cesium clocks in an operational environment.

NASA Records Database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Callac, Christopher; Lunsford, Michelle

2005-01-01

The NASA Records Database, comprising a Web-based application program and a database, is used to administer an archive of paper records at Stennis Space Center. The system begins with an electronic form, into which a user enters information about records that the user is sending to the archive. The form is smart : it provides instructions for entering information correctly and prompts the user to enter all required information. Once complete, the form is digitally signed and submitted to the database. The system determines which storage locations are not in use, assigns the user s boxes of records to some of them, and enters these assignments in the database. Thereafter, the software tracks the boxes and can be used to locate them. By use of search capabilities of the software, specific records can be sought by box storage locations, accession numbers, record dates, submitting organizations, or details of the records themselves. Boxes can be marked with such statuses as checked out, lost, transferred, and destroyed. The system can generate reports showing boxes awaiting destruction or transfer. When boxes are transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the system can automatically fill out NARA records-transfer forms. Currently, several other NASA Centers are considering deploying the NASA Records Database to help automate their records archives.

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

Alfonso Hernandez, Laura; Nelson, Tammie Renee; Gelin, Maxim F.

The interchromophoric energy-transfer pathways between weakly coupled units in a π-conjugated phenylene–ethynylene macrocycle and its half-ring analogue have been investigated using the nonadiabatic excited-state molecular dynamics approach. To track the flow of electronic transition density between macrocycle units, we formulate a transition density flux analysis adapted from the statistical minimum flow method previously developed to investigate vibrational energy flow. Following photoexcitation, transition density is primarily delocalized on two chromophore units and the system undergoes ultrafast energy transfer, creating a localized excited state on a single unit. In the macrocycle, distinct chromophore units donate transition density to a single acceptor unitmore » but do not interchange transition density among each other. We find that energy transfer in the macrocycle is slower than in the corresponding half ring because of the presence of multiple interfering energy-transfer pathways. Finally, simulation results are validated by modeling the fluorescence anisotropy decay.« less

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

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

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

2010-10-01

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

Optoelectronic devices product assurance guideline for space application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bensoussan, A.; Vanzi, M.

2017-11-01

New opportunities are emerging for the implementation of hardware sub-systems based on OptoElectronic Devices (OED) for space application. Since the end of this decade the main players for space systems namely designers and users including Industries, Agencies, Manufacturers and Laboratories are strongly demanding of adequate strategies to qualify and validate new optoelectronics products and sub-systems [1]. The long term space application mission will require to address either inter-satellite link (free space communication, positioning systems, tracking) or intra-satellite connectivity/flexibility/reconfigurability or high volume of data transfer between equipment installed into payload.

Assessment of input-output properties and control of neuroprosthetic hand grasp.

PubMed

Hines, A E; Owens, N E; Crago, P E

1992-06-01

Three tests have been developed to evaluate rapidly and quantitatively the input-output properties and patient control of neuroprosthetic hand grasp. Each test utilizes a visual pursuit tracking task during which the subject controls the grasp force and grasp opening (position) of the hand. The first test characterizes the static input-output properties of the hand grasp, where the input is a slowly changing patient generated command signal and the outputs are grasp force and grasp opening. Nonlinearities and inappropriate slopes have been documented in these relationships, and in some instances the need for system returning has been indicated. For each subject larger grasp forces were produced when grasping larger objects, and for some subjects the shapes of the relationships also varied with object size. The second test quantifies the ability of the subject to control the hand grasp outputs while tracking steps and ramps. Neuroprosthesis users had rms errors two to three times larger when tracking steps versus ramps, and had rms errors four to five times larger than normals when tracking ramps. The third test provides an estimate of the frequency response of the hand grasp system dynamics, from input and output data collected during a random tracking task. Transfer functions were estimated by spectral analysis after removal of the static input-output nonlinearities measured in the first test. The dynamics had low-pass filter characteristics with 3 dB cutoff frequencies from 1.0 to 1.4 Hz. The tests developed in this study provide a rapid evaluation of both the system and the user. They provide information to 1) help interpret subject performance of functional tasks, 2) evaluate the efficacy of system features such as closed-loop control, and 3) screen the neuroprosthesis to indicate the need for retuning.

Single particle tracking reveals spatial and dynamic organization of the Escherichia coli biofilm matrix

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Birjiniuk, Alona; Billings, Nicole; Nance, Elizabeth; Hanes, Justin; Ribbeck, Katharina; Doyle, Patrick S.

2014-08-01

Biofilms are communities of surface-adherent bacteria surrounded by secreted polymers known as the extracellular polymeric substance. Biofilms are harmful in many industries, and thus it is of great interest to understand their mechanical properties and structure to determine ways to destabilize them. By performing single particle tracking with beads of varying surface functionalization it was found that charge interactions play a key role in mediating mobility within biofilms. With a combination of single particle tracking and microrheological concepts, it was found that Escherichia coli biofilms display height dependent charge density that evolves over time. Statistical analyses of bead trajectories and confocal microscopy showed inter-connecting micron scale channels that penetrate throughout the biofilm, which may be important for nutrient transfer through the system. This methodology provides significant insight into a particular biofilm system and can be applied to many others to provide comparisons of biofilm structure. The elucidation of structure provides evidence for the permeability of biofilms to microscale objects, and the ability of a biofilm to mature and change properties over time.

An analysis of particle track effects on solid mammalian tissues

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Todd, P.; Clarkson, T. W. (Principal Investigator)

1992-01-01

Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) and quality factor (Q) at extreme values of linear energy transfer (LET) have been determined on the basis of experiments with single-cell systems and specific tissue responses. In typical single-cell systems, each heavy particle (Ar or Fe) passes through a single cell or no cell. In experiments on animal tissues, however, each heavy particle passes through several cells, and the LET can exceed 200 keV micrometers-1 in every cell. In most laboratory animal tissue systems, however, only a small portion of the hit cells are capable of expressing the end-point being measured, such as cell killing, mutation or carcinogenesis. The following question was therefore addressed: do RBEs and Q factors derived from single-cell experiments properly account for the damage at high LET when multiple cells are hit by HZE tracks? A review is offered in which measured radiation effects and known tissue properties are combined to estimate on the one hand, the number of cells at risk, p3n, per track, where n is the number of cells per track based on tissue and organ geometry, and p3 is the probability that a cell in the track is capable of expressing the experimental end-point. On the other hand, the tissue and single-cell responses are compared by determining the ratio RBE in tissue/RBE in corresponding single cells. Experimental data from the literature indicate that tissue RBEs at very high LET (Fe and Ar ions) are higher than corresponding single-cell RBEs, especially in tissues in which p3n is high.

Implementation of SAP Waste Management System

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

Frost, M.L.; LaBorde, C.M.; Nichols, C.D.

2008-07-01

The Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12) assumed responsibility for newly generated waste on October 1, 2005. To ensure effective management and accountability of newly generated waste, Y-12 has opted to utilize SAP, Y-12's Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tool, to track low-level radioactive waste (LLW), mixed waste (MW), hazardous waste, and non-regulated waste from generation through acceptance and disposal. SAP Waste will include the functionality of the current waste tracking system and integrate with the applicable modules of SAP already in use. The functionality of two legacy systems, the Generator Entry System (GES) and the Waste Information Tracking System (WITS), andmore » peripheral spreadsheets, databases, and e-mail/fax communications will be replaced by SAP Waste. Fundamentally, SAP Waste will promote waste acceptance for certification and disposal, not storage. SAP Waste will provide a one-time data entry location where waste generators can enter waste container information, track the status of their waste, and maintain documentation. A benefit of the new system is that it will provide a single data repository where Y-12's Waste Management organization can establish waste profiles, verify and validate data, maintain inventory control utilizing hand-held data transfer devices, schedule and ship waste, manage project accounting, and report on waste handling activities. This single data repository will facilitate the production of detailed waste generation reports for use in forecasting and budgeting, provide the data for required regulatory reports, and generate metrics to evaluate the performance of the Waste Management organization and its subcontractors. SAP Waste will replace the outdated and expensive legacy system, establish tools the site needs to manage newly generated waste, and optimize the use of the site's ERP tool for integration with related business processes while promoting disposition of waste. (authors)« less

Tracking Transfer: New Measures of Institutional and State Effectiveness in Helping Community College Students Attain Bachelor's Degrees

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jenkins, Davis; Fink, John

2016-01-01

Increasing the effectiveness of two- to four-year college transfer is critical for meeting national goals for college attainment and promoting upward social mobility. Efforts to improve institutional effectiveness in serving transfer students and state transfer policy have been hampered by a lack of comparable metrics for measuring transfer…

Research on the error model of airborne celestial/inertial integrated navigation system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Xiaoqiang; Deng, Xiaoguo; Yang, Xiaoxu; Dong, Qiang

2015-02-01

Celestial navigation subsystem of airborne celestial/inertial integrated navigation system periodically correct the positioning error and heading drift of the inertial navigation system, by which the inertial navigation system can greatly improve the accuracy of long-endurance navigation. Thus the navigation accuracy of airborne celestial navigation subsystem directly decides the accuracy of the integrated navigation system if it works for long time. By building the mathematical model of the airborne celestial navigation system based on the inertial navigation system, using the method of linear coordinate transformation, we establish the error transfer equation for the positioning algorithm of airborne celestial system. Based on these we built the positioning error model of the celestial navigation. And then, based on the positioning error model we analyze and simulate the positioning error which are caused by the error of the star tracking platform with the MATLAB software. Finally, the positioning error model is verified by the information of the star obtained from the optical measurement device in range and the device whose location are known. The analysis and simulation results show that the level accuracy and north accuracy of tracking platform are important factors that limit airborne celestial navigation systems to improve the positioning accuracy, and the positioning error have an approximate linear relationship with the level error and north error of tracking platform. The error of the verification results are in 1000m, which shows that the model is correct.

A Smart Wirelessly Powered Homecage for Long-Term High-Throughput Behavioral Experiments

PubMed Central

Lee, Byunghun; Kiani, Mehdi

2015-01-01

A wirelessly powered homecage system, called the EnerCage-HC, that is equipped with multicoil wireless power transfer, closed-loop power control, optical behavioral tracking, and a graphic user interface is presented for longitudinal electrophysiology and behavioral neuroscience experiments. The EnerCage-HC system can wirelessly power a mobile unit attached to a small animal subject and also track its behavior in real-time as it is housed inside a standard homecage. The EnerCage-HC system is equipped with one central and four overlapping slanted wire-wound coils with optimal geometries to form three- and four-coil power transmission links while operating at 13.56 MHz. Utilizing multicoil links increases the power transfer efficiency (PTE) compared with conventional two-coil links and also reduces the number of power amplifiers to only one, which significantly reduces the system complexity, cost, and heat dissipation. A Microsoft Kinect installed 90 cm above the homecage localizes the animal position and orientation with 1.6-cm accuracy. Moreover, a power management ASIC, including a high efficiency active rectifier and automatic coil resonance tuning, was fabricated in a 0.35-μm 4M2P standard CMOS process for the mobile unit. The EnerCage-HC achieves a max/min PTE of 36.3%/16.1% at the nominal height of 7 cm. In vivo experiments were conducted on freely behaving rats by continuously delivering 24 mW to the mobile unit for >7 h inside a standard homecage. PMID:26257586

Earth Sciences Push Radiative Transfer Theory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, Anthony; Mishchenko, Michael

2009-12-01

2009 International Conference on Advances in Mathematics, Computational Methods, and Reactor Physics; Saratoga Springs, New York, 4-7 May 2009; The theories of radiative transfer and particle—particularly neutron—transport are grounded in distinctive microscale physics that deals with either optics or particle dynamics. However, it is not practical to track every wave or particle in macroscopic systems, nor do all of these details matter. That is why Newton's laws, which describe individual particles, are replaced by those of Euler, Navier-Stokes, Maxwell, Boltzmann, Gibbs, and others, which describe the collective behavior of vast numbers of particles. And that is why the radiative transfer (RT) equation is used to describe the flow of radiation through geophysical-scale systems, leaving to Maxwell's wave equations only the task of providing the optical properties of the medium, be it air, water, snow, ice, or biomass. Interestingly, particle transport is determined by the linear transport equation, which is mathematically identical to the RT equation, so geophysicists and nuclear scientists are interested in the same mathematics and computational techniques.

40 CFR 74.42 - Limitation on transfers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 16 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Limitation on transfers. 74.42 Section 74.42 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) SULFUR DIOXIDE OPT-INS Allowance Tracking and Transfer and End of Year Compliance § 74.42 Limitation on...

40 CFR 74.42 - Limitation on transfers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 16 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Limitation on transfers. 74.42 Section 74.42 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) SULFUR DIOXIDE OPT-INS Allowance Tracking and Transfer and End of Year Compliance § 74.42 Limitation on...

Looking southwest at dualtrack transfer table, with Machine Shop (Bldg. ...

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

Looking southwest at dual-track transfer table, with Machine Shop (Bldg. 163) in background - Atchison, Topeka, Santa Fe Railroad, Albuquerque Shops, 908 Second Street, Southwest, Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, NM

Random Walk Particle Tracking For Multiphase Heat Transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lattanzi, Aaron; Yin, Xiaolong; Hrenya, Christine

2017-11-01

As computing capabilities have advanced, direct numerical simulation (DNS) has become a highly effective tool for quantitatively predicting the heat transfer within multiphase flows. Here we utilize a hybrid DNS framework that couples the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) to the random walk particle tracking (RWPT) algorithm. The main challenge of such a hybrid is that discontinuous fields pose a significant challenge to the RWPT framework and special attention must be given to the handling of interfaces. We derive a method for addressing discontinuities in the diffusivity field, arising at the interface between two phases. Analytical means are utilized to develop an interfacial tracer balance and modify the RWPT algorithm. By expanding the modulus of the stochastic (diffusive) step and only allowing a subset of the tracers within the high diffusivity medium to undergo a diffusive step, the correct equilibrium state can be restored (globally homogeneous tracer distribution). The new RWPT algorithm is implemented within the SUSP3D code and verified against a variety of systems: effective diffusivity of a static gas-solids mixture, hot sphere in unbounded diffusion, cooling sphere in unbounded diffusion, and uniform flow past a hot sphere.

Semi-Supervised Tensor-Based Graph Embedding Learning and Its Application to Visual Discriminant Tracking.

PubMed

Hu, Weiming; Gao, Jin; Xing, Junliang; Zhang, Chao; Maybank, Stephen

2017-01-01

An appearance model adaptable to changes in object appearance is critical in visual object tracking. In this paper, we treat an image patch as a two-order tensor which preserves the original image structure. We design two graphs for characterizing the intrinsic local geometrical structure of the tensor samples of the object and the background. Graph embedding is used to reduce the dimensions of the tensors while preserving the structure of the graphs. Then, a discriminant embedding space is constructed. We prove two propositions for finding the transformation matrices which are used to map the original tensor samples to the tensor-based graph embedding space. In order to encode more discriminant information in the embedding space, we propose a transfer-learning- based semi-supervised strategy to iteratively adjust the embedding space into which discriminative information obtained from earlier times is transferred. We apply the proposed semi-supervised tensor-based graph embedding learning algorithm to visual tracking. The new tracking algorithm captures an object's appearance characteristics during tracking and uses a particle filter to estimate the optimal object state. Experimental results on the CVPR 2013 benchmark dataset demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed tracking algorithm.

Climate Data Provenance Tracking for Just-In-Time Computation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fries, S.; Nadeau, D.; Doutriaux, C.; Williams, D. N.

2016-12-01

The "Climate Data Management System" (CDMS) was created in 1996 as part of the Climate Data Analysis Tools suite of software. It provides a simple interface into a wide variety of climate data formats, and creates NetCDF CF-Compliant files. It leverages the NumPy framework for high performance computation, and is an all-in-one IO and computation package. CDMS has been extended to track manipulations of data, and trace that data all the way to the original raw data. This extension tracks provenance about data, and enables just-in-time (JIT) computation. The provenance for each variable is packaged as part of the variable's metadata, and can be used to validate data processing and computations (by repeating the analysis on the original data). It also allows for an alternate solution for sharing analyzed data; if the bandwidth for a transfer is prohibitively expensive, the provenance serialization can be passed in a much more compact format and the analysis rerun on the input data. Data provenance tracking in CDMS enables far-reaching and impactful functionalities, permitting implementation of many analytical paradigms.

Temperature and composition profile during double-track laser cladding of H13 tool steel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, X.; Yu, G.; Mazumder, J.

2010-01-01

Multi-track laser cladding is now applied commercially in a range of industries such as automotive, mining and aerospace due to its diversified potential for material processing. The knowledge of temperature, velocity and composition distribution history is essential for a better understanding of the process and subsequent microstructure evolution and properties. Numerical simulation not only helps to understand the complex physical phenomena and underlying principles involved in this process, but it can also be used in the process prediction and system control. The double-track coaxial laser cladding with H13 tool steel powder injection is simulated using a comprehensive three-dimensional model, based on the mass, momentum, energy conservation and solute transport equation. Some important physical phenomena, such as heat transfer, phase changes, mass addition and fluid flow, are taken into account in the calculation. The physical properties for a mixture of solid and liquid phase are defined by treating it as a continuum media. The velocity of the laser beam during the transition between two tracks is considered. The evolution of temperature and composition of different monitoring locations is simulated.

Development and testing of Parabolic Dish Concentrator No. 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dennison, E. W.; Thostesen, T. O.

1984-01-01

Parabolic Dish Concentrator No. 1 (PDC-1) is a 12-m-diameter prototype concentrator with low life-cycle costs for use with thermal-to-electric energy conversion devices. The concentrator assembly features panels made of a resin transfer molded balsa core/fiberglass sandwich with plastic reflective film as the reflective surface and a ribbed framework to hold the panels in place. The concentrator assembly tracks in azimuth and elevation on a base frame riding on a circular track. It is shown that the panels do not exhibit the proper parabolic contour. However, thermal gradients were discovered in the panels with daily temperature changes. The PDC-1 has sufficient optical quality to operate satisfactorily in a dish-electric system. The PDC-1 development provides the impetus for creating innovative optical testing methods and valuable information for use in designing and fabricating concentrators of future dish-electric systems.

Prediction of Ground Vibration from Freight Trains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, C. J. C.; Block, J. R.

1996-05-01

Heavy freight trains emit ground vibration with predominant frequency components in the range 4-30 Hz. If the amplitude is sufficient, this may be felt by lineside residents, giving rise to disturbance and concern over possible damage to their property. In order to establish the influence of parameters of the track and rolling stock and thereby enable the design of a low vibration railway, a theoretical model of both the generation and propagation of vibration is required. The vibration is generated as a combination of the effects of dynamic forces, due to the unevenness of the track, and the effects of the track deformation under successive axle loads. A prediction scheme, which combines these effects, has been produced. A vehicle model is used to predict the dynamic forces at the wheels. This includes the non-linear effects of friction damped suspensions. The loaded track profile is measured by using a track recording coach. The dynamic loading and the effects of the moving axles are combined in a track response model. The predicted track vibration is compared to measurements. The transfer functions from the track to a point in the ground can be calculated by using a coupled track and a three-dimensional layered ground model. The propagation effects of the ground layers are important but the computation of the transfer function from each sleeper, which would be required for a phase coherent summation of the vibration in the ground, would be prohibitive. A compromise summation is used and results are compared with measurements.

ACC Effectiveness Review, 1999-2002.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wallace, Roslyn, Ed.

2002-01-01

These newsletters on Institutional Effectiveness (IE) at Austin Community College (ACC) in Texas include the following articles: (1) "The 'Fast Track'...Students Say It Works!" (2) "Are Students Successfully Completing Distance Learning Courses at ACC?" (3) "Tracking Transfers"; (4) "Math Pilot: Study Skills…

An expert system for scheduling requests for communications Links between TDRSS and ERBS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mclean, David R.; Littlefield, Ronald G.; Beyer, David S.

1987-01-01

An ERBS-TDRSS Contact Planning System (ERBS-TDRSS CPS) is described which uses a graphics interface and the NASA Transportable Interference Engine. The procedure involves transfer of the ERBS-TDRSS Ground Track Orbit Prediction data to the ERBS flight operations area, where the ERBS-TDRSS CPS automatically generates requests for TDRSS service. As requested events are rejected, alternative context sensitive strategies are employed to generate new requested events until a schedule is completed. A report generator builds schedule requests for separate ERBS-TDRSS contacts.

Spectral analysis for nonstationary and nonlinear systems: a discrete-time-model-based approach.

PubMed

He, Fei; Billings, Stephen A; Wei, Hua-Liang; Sarrigiannis, Ptolemaios G; Zhao, Yifan

2013-08-01

A new frequency-domain analysis framework for nonlinear time-varying systems is introduced based on parametric time-varying nonlinear autoregressive with exogenous input models. It is shown how the time-varying effects can be mapped to the generalized frequency response functions (FRFs) to track nonlinear features in frequency, such as intermodulation and energy transfer effects. A new mapping to the nonlinear output FRF is also introduced. A simulated example and the application to intracranial electroencephalogram data are used to illustrate the theoretical results.

Integrated flight/propulsion control - Subsystem specifications for performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Neighbors, W. K.; Rock, Stephen M.

1993-01-01

A procedure is presented for calculating multiple subsystem specifications given a number of performance requirements on the integrated system. This procedure applies to problems where the control design must be performed in a partitioned manner. It is based on a structured singular value analysis, and generates specifications as magnitude bounds on subsystem uncertainties. The performance requirements should be provided in the form of bounds on transfer functions of the integrated system. This form allows the expression of model following, command tracking, and disturbance rejection requirements. The procedure is demonstrated on a STOVL aircraft design.

Three Orbital Burns to Molniya Orbit Via Shuttle_Centaur G Upper Stage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, Craig H.

2015-01-01

An unclassified analytical trajectory design, performance, and mission study was done for the 1982 to 1986 joint National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-United States Air Force (USAF) Shuttle/Centaur G upper stage development program to send performance-demanding payloads to high orbits such as Molniya using an unconventional orbit transfer. This optimized three orbital burn transfer to Molniya orbit was compared to the then-baselined two burn transfer. The results of the three dimensional trajectory optimization performed include powered phase steering data and coast phase orbital element data. Time derivatives of the orbital elements as functions of thrust components were evaluated and used to explain the optimization's solution. Vehicle performance as a function of parking orbit inclination was given. Performance and orbital element data was provided for launch windows as functions of launch time. Ground track data was given for all burns and coasts including variation within the launch window. It was found that a Centaur with fully loaded propellant tanks could be flown from a 37 deg inclination low Earth parking orbit and achieve Molniya orbit with comparable performance to the baselined transfer which started from a 57 deg inclined orbit: 9,545 versus 9,552 lb of separated spacecraft weight, respectively. There was a significant reduction in the need for propellant launch time reserve for a 1 hr window: only 78 lb for the three burn transfer versus 320 lb for the two burn transfer. Conversely, this also meant that longer launch windows over more orbital revolutions could be done for the same amount of propellant reserve. There was no practical difference in ground tracking station or airborne assets needed to secure telemetric data, even though the geometric locations of the burns varied considerably. There was a significant adverse increase in total mission elapsed time for the three versus two burn transfer (12 vs. 1-1/4 hr), but could be accommodated by modest modifications to Centaur systems. Future applications were discussed. The three burn transfer was found to be a viable, arguably preferable, alternative to the two burn transfer.

Three Orbital Burns to Molniya Orbit via Shuttle Centaur G Upper Stage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Williams, Craig H.

2014-01-01

An unclassified analytical trajectory design, performance, and mission study was done for the 1982-86 joint NASA-USAF Shuttle/Centaur G upper stage development program to send performance-demanding payloads to high orbits such as Molniya using an unconventional orbit transfer. This optimized three orbital burn transfer to Molniya orbit was compared to the then-baselined two burn transfer. The results of the three dimensional trajectory optimization performed include powered phase steering data and coast phase orbital element data. Time derivatives of the orbital elements as functions of thrust components were evaluated and used to explain the optimization's solution. Vehicle performance as a function of parking orbit inclination was given. Performance and orbital element data was provided for launch windows as functions of launch time. Ground track data was given for all burns and coasts including variation within the launch window. It was found that a Centaur with fully loaded propellant tanks could be flown from a 37deg inclination low Earth parking orbit and achieve Molniya orbit with comparable performance to the baselined transfer which started from a 57deg inclined orbit: 9,545 lb vs. 9,552 lb of separated spacecraft weight respectively. There was a significant reduction in the need for propellant launch time reserve for a one hour window: only 78 lb for the three burn transfer vs. 320 lb for the two burn transfer. Conversely, this also meant that longer launch windows over more orbital revolutions could be done for the same amount of propellant reserve. There was no practical difference in ground tracking station or airborne assets needed to secure telemetric data, even though the geometric locations of the burns varied considerably. There was a significant adverse increase in total mission elapsed time for the three vs. two burn transfer (12 vs. 11/4 hrs), but could be accommodated by modest modifications to Centaur systems. Future applications were discussed. The three burn transfer was found to be a viable, arguably preferable, alternative to the two burn transfer.

Switching coordination of distributed dc-dc converters for highly efficient photovoltaic power plants

DOEpatents

Agamy, Mohammed; Elasser, Ahmed; Sabate, Juan Antonio; Galbraith, Anthony William; Harfman Todorovic, Maja

2014-09-09

A distributed photovoltaic (PV) power plant includes a plurality of distributed dc-dc converters. The dc-dc converters are configured to switch in coordination with one another such that at least one dc-dc converter transfers power to a common dc-bus based upon the total system power available from one or more corresponding strings of PV modules. Due to the coordinated switching of the dc-dc converters, each dc-dc converter transferring power to the common dc-bus continues to operate within its optimal efficiency range as well as to optimize the maximum power point tracking in order to increase the energy yield of the PV power plant.

The Role of Electronic and Phononic Excitation in the Optical Response of Monolayer WS 2 after Ultrafast Excitation

DOE PAGES

Ruppert, Claudia; Chernikov, Alexey; Hill, Heather M.; ...

2017-01-06

We study transient changes of the optical response of WS 2 monolayers by femtosecond broadband pump–probe spectroscopy. Time-dependent absorption spectra are analyzed by tracking the line width broadening, bleaching, and energy shift of the main exciton resonance as a function of time delay after the excitation. Two main sources for the pump-induced changes of the optical response are identified. Specifically, we find an interplay between modifications induced by many-body interactions from photoexcited carriers and by the subsequent transfer of the excitation to the phonon system followed by cooling of the material through the heat transfer to the substrate.

The Role of Electronic and Phononic Excitation in the Optical Response of Monolayer WS 2 after Ultrafast Excitation

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

Ruppert, Claudia; Chernikov, Alexey; Hill, Heather M.

We study transient changes of the optical response of WS 2 monolayers by femtosecond broadband pump–probe spectroscopy. Time-dependent absorption spectra are analyzed by tracking the line width broadening, bleaching, and energy shift of the main exciton resonance as a function of time delay after the excitation. Two main sources for the pump-induced changes of the optical response are identified. Specifically, we find an interplay between modifications induced by many-body interactions from photoexcited carriers and by the subsequent transfer of the excitation to the phonon system followed by cooling of the material through the heat transfer to the substrate.

Association of Myosin Va and Schwann cells-derived RNA in mammal myelinated axons, analyzed by immunocytochemistry and confocal FRET microscopy.

PubMed

Canclini, Lucía; Wallrabe, Horst; Di Paolo, Andrés; Kun, Alejandra; Calliari, Aldo; Sotelo-Silveira, José Roberto; Sotelo, José Roberto

2014-03-15

Evidence from multiple sources supports the hypothesis that Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system transfer messenger RNA and ribosomes to the axons they ensheath. Several technical and methodological difficulties exist for investigators to unravel this process in myelinated axons - a complex two-cell unit. We present an experimental design to demonstrate that newly synthesized RNA is transferred from Schwann cells to axons in association with Myosin Va. The use of quantitative confocal FRET microscopy to track newly-synthesized RNA and determine the molecular association with Myosin Va, is described in detail. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

GPS NAVSTAR-4 and NTS-2 Long Term Frequency Stability and Time Transfer Analysis.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-06-30

delta pseudo-range, are taken every 6 s. NTS Tracking Network Figure 4 presents the four station network employed for tracking the NTS spacecraft. Thc ...limits of visibility for the NRL CBD (Chesapeake Bay Division), Panama, Australia, and Eng- land tracking stations are depicted by the symbols C, P...GIAT and, in Australia, with the Division of National Mapping. The CBD tracking station had port- able clock and TV links to the U.S. Naval Observatory

Analysis of the human operator subsystems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Lynette A.; Hunter, Ian W.

1991-01-01

Except in low-bandwidth systems, knowledge of the human operator transfer function is essential for high-performance telerobotic systems. This information has usually been derived from detailed analyses of tracking performance, in which the human operator is considered as a complete system rather than as a summation of a number of subsystems, each of which influences the operator's output. Studies of one of these subsystems, the limb mechanics system, demonstrate that large parameter variations can occur that can have a profound effect on the stability of force-reflecting telerobot systems. An objective of this research was to decompose the performance of the human operator system in order to establish how the dynamics of each of the elements influence the operator's responses.

Optical Jitter Effects on Target Detection and Tracking of Overhead Persistent Infrared Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-01

infrared CdSe cadmium selenide DSP Defense Support Program FIR far-infrared FPA focal plane array Ge germanium GEO geostationary earth orbit...HBCRT High Energy Laser Beam Control Research Testbed HEL high energy laser HgCdTe mercury cadmium telluride IR infrared InSb indium antimonide...MOD model MTF modulation transfer function MWIR mid-wave infrared NIR near infrared OPIR overhead persistent infrared PbSe lead selenide

BC Transfer Students: Profile and Performance Report (2008/09-2012/13)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tikina, Anna

2015-01-01

The British Columbia (BC) Council on Admissions and Transfer has been periodically publishing BC College Transfer Student Profile reports for almost 25 years. Historically, these reports tracked the mobility of students from colleges and institutes to degree granting research-intensive universities in BC, the pathway which is often referred to as…

Tracking the Transfers: State Policy and Practice.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Arthur M.

1992-01-01

In an effort to standardize the definition of the two-year college student transfer rate and to collect national transfer data, the Center for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC) has solicited data annually since 1989 from a sample of 240 public and private two-year colleges nationwide. The CSCC has standardized the definition of "transfer…

Numerical Modeling of the Transient Chilldown Process of a Cryogenic Propellant Transfer Line

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hartwig, Jason; Vera, Jerry

2015-01-01

Before cryogenic fuel depots can be fully realized, efficient methods with which to chill down the spacecraft transfer line and receiver tank are required. This paper presents numerical modeling of the chilldown of a liquid hydrogen tank-to-tank propellant transfer line using the Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP). To compare with data from recently concluded turbulent LH2 chill down experiments, seven different cases were run across a range of inlet liquid temperatures and mass flow rates. Both trickle and pulse chill down methods were simulated. The GFSSP model qualitatively matches external skin mounted temperature readings, but large differences are shown between measured and predicted internal stream temperatures. Discrepancies are attributed to the simplified model correlation used to compute two-phase flow boiling heat transfer. Flow visualization from testing shows that the initial bottoming out of skin mounted sensors corresponds to annular flow, but that considerable time is required for the stream sensor to achieve steady state as the system moves through annular, churn, and bubbly flow. The GFSSP model does adequately well in tracking trends in the data but further work is needed to refine the two-phase flow modeling to better match observed test data.

40 CFR 279.46 - Tracking.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 26 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Tracking. 279.46 Section 279.46 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) STANDARDS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF USED OIL Standards for Used Oil Transporter and Transfer Facilities § 279.46...

40 CFR 279.46 - Tracking.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 28 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Tracking. 279.46 Section 279.46 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) STANDARDS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF USED OIL Standards for Used Oil Transporter and Transfer Facilities § 279.46...

40 CFR 279.46 - Tracking.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 27 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Tracking. 279.46 Section 279.46 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) STANDARDS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF USED OIL Standards for Used Oil Transporter and Transfer Facilities § 279.46...

40 CFR 279.46 - Tracking.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 28 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Tracking. 279.46 Section 279.46 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) STANDARDS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF USED OIL Standards for Used Oil Transporter and Transfer Facilities § 279.46...

40 CFR 279.46 - Tracking.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 27 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Tracking. 279.46 Section 279.46 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) SOLID WASTES (CONTINUED) STANDARDS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF USED OIL Standards for Used Oil Transporter and Transfer Facilities § 279.46...

Solar receiver with integrated optics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Lun; Winston, Roland

2012-10-01

The current challenge for PV/Thermal (PV/T) systems is the reduction of radiation heat loss. Compared to solar thermal selective coating, the solar cells cannot be used as an efficient thermal absorber due to their large emissivity of the encapsulation material. Many commercial PV/T products therefore require a high concentration (more than 10x) to reach an acceptable thermal efficiency for their receivers. Such a concentration system inevitably has to track or semi-track, which induces additional cost and collects only the direct radiation from the sun. We propose a new PV/T design using a vacuum encapsulated thin film cell to solve this problem. The proposed design also collects the diffuse sun light efficiently by using an external compound parabolic concentrator (XCPC). Since the transparent electrode (TCO) of thin film cell is inherently transparent in visible light and reflective beyond infrared, this design uses this layer instead of the conventional solar cell encapsulation as the outmost heat loss surface. By integrating such a vacuum design with a tube shaped absorber, we reduce the complexity of conducting the heat energy and electricity out of the device. A low concentration standalone non-tracking solar collector is proposed in this paper. We also analyzed the thermosyphon system configuration using heat transfer and ray tracing models. The economics of such a receiver are presented.

Investigation of Control Inceptor Dynamics and Effect on Human Subject Performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stanco, Anthony A.; Cardullo, Frank M.; Houck, Jacob A.; Grube, Richard C.; Kelly, Lon C.

2013-01-01

The control inceptor used in a vehicle simulation is an important part of adequately representing the dynamics of the vehicle. The inceptor characteristics are typically based on a second order spring mass damper system with damping, force gradient, breakout force, and natural frequency parameters. Changing these parameters can have a great effect on pilot control of the vehicle. A quasi transfer of training experiment was performed employing a high fidelity and a low fidelity control inceptor. A disturbance compensatory task was employed which involved a simple horizon line disturbed in roll by a sum of sinusoids presented in an out-the-window display. Vehicle dynamics were modeled as 1/s and 1/s2. The task was to maintain level flight. Twenty subjects were divided between the high and the low fidelity training groups. Each group was trained to a performance asymptote, and then transferred to the high fidelity simulation. RMS tracking error, a PSD analysis, and a workload analysis were performed to quantify the transfer of training effect. Quantitative results of the experiments show that there is no significant difference between the high and low fidelity training groups for 1/s plant dynamics. For 1/s2 plant dynamics there is a greater difference in tracking performance and PSD; and the subjects are less correlated with the input disturbance function

Visualizing the non-equilibrium dynamics of photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer with femtosecond X-ray pulses

PubMed Central

Canton, Sophie E.; Kjær, Kasper S.; Vankó, György; van Driel, Tim B.; Adachi, Shin-ichi; Bordage, Amélie; Bressler, Christian; Chabera, Pavel; Christensen, Morten; Dohn, Asmus O.; Galler, Andreas; Gawelda, Wojciech; Gosztola, David; Haldrup, Kristoffer; Harlang, Tobias; Liu, Yizhu; Møller, Klaus B.; Németh, Zoltán; Nozawa, Shunsuke; Pápai, Mátyás; Sato, Tokushi; Sato, Takahiro; Suarez-Alcantara, Karina; Togashi, Tadashi; Tono, Kensuke; Uhlig, Jens; Vithanage, Dimali A.; Wärnmark, Kenneth; Yabashi, Makina; Zhang, Jianxin; Sundström, Villy; Nielsen, Martin M.

2015-01-01

Ultrafast photoinduced electron transfer preceding energy equilibration still poses many experimental and conceptual challenges to the optimization of photoconversion since an atomic-scale description has so far been beyond reach. Here we combine femtosecond transient optical absorption spectroscopy with ultrafast X-ray emission spectroscopy and diffuse X-ray scattering at the SACLA facility to track the non-equilibrated electronic and structural dynamics within a bimetallic donor–acceptor complex that contains an optically dark centre. Exploiting the 100-fold increase in temporal resolution as compared with storage ring facilities, these measurements constitute the first X-ray-based visualization of a non-equilibrated intramolecular electron transfer process over large interatomic distances. Experimental and theoretical results establish that mediation through electronically excited molecular states is a key mechanistic feature. The present study demonstrates the extensive potential of femtosecond X-ray techniques as diagnostics of non-adiabatic electron transfer processes in synthetic and biological systems, and some directions for future studies, are outlined. PMID:25727920

Visualizing the non-equilibrium dynamics of photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer with femtosecond X-ray pulses

DOE PAGES

Canton, Sophie E.; Kjær, Kasper S.; Vankó, György; ...

2015-03-02

Ultrafast photoinduced electron transfer preceding energy equilibration still poses many experimental and conceptual challenges to the optimization of photoconversion since an atomic-scale description has so far been beyond reach. Here we combine femtosecond transient optical absorption spectroscopy with ultrafast X-ray emission spectroscopy and diffuse X-ray scattering at the SACLA facility to track the non-equilibrated electronic and structural dynamics within a bimetallic donor–acceptor complex that contains an optically dark centre. Exploiting the 100-fold increase in temporal resolution as compared with storage ring facilities, these measurements constitute the first X-ray-based visualization of a non-equilibrated intramolecular electron transfer process over large interatomic distances.more » Thus experimental and theoretical results establish that mediation through electronically excited molecular states is a key mechanistic feature. The present study demonstrates the extensive potential of femtosecond X-ray techniques as diagnostics of non-adiabatic electron transfer processes in synthetic and biological systems, and some directions for future studies, are outlined.« less

Comparison of Computed Condon Loci with Franck-Condon Factors in Deslandres Tables of Molecular Band Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hefferlin, R.; Clark, B.; Tatum, J.

2012-06-01

The literature often shows a Condon parabola not quite tracking the Franck-Condon factors for the strongest bands in the Deslandres table for a diatomic molecular band system; often the parabola appears to have been hand-drawn. We have calculated Condon loci, assuming originally that the lower and upper electronic potentials are simple harmonic potentials, and assuming now that they are Morse potentials. In the harmonic case the Condon loci are parabolas. These calculations are for small vibrational quantum numbers, where the Morse loci also begin as parabolas. We will present these loci for representative molecular band systems and discuss the extent to which the loci track the strongest Franck-Condon factors. In the event that neither does, calculations for arbitrary potentials are available. The importance of this study is that we have previously calculated the latera recta and the symmetry-axis angles of the harmonic oscillator parabolas in Deslandres tables appropriate to molecules in several isoelectronic sequences. We have found that the angle increases along the sequence until the species one proton-shift away from “rare-gas” molecules, such as LiNe, is reached. This phenomenon is a suggestion that diatomic molecules are periodic with respect to each of their two atoms. G. Herzberg, Molecular Spectra and Molecular Structure, 1950, pg. 197 D. J. Flynn, R. J. Spindler; S. Fifer; M. Kelly, J. Quant. Spectr. Radiat. Transfer 4, 271-282, (1964) R. W. Nicholls, J. Quant. Spectr. Radiat. Transfer 28, 481-492, (1982).

10 CFR 32.201 - Serialization of nationally tracked sources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Serialization of nationally tracked sources. 32.201 Section 32.201 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION SPECIFIC DOMESTIC LICENSES TO MANUFACTURE OR TRANSFER CERTAIN ITEMS CONTAINING BYPRODUCT MATERIAL Specifically Licensed Items § 32.201 Serialization of...

10 CFR 32.201 - Serialization of nationally tracked sources.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Serialization of nationally tracked sources. 32.201 Section 32.201 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION SPECIFIC DOMESTIC LICENSES TO MANUFACTURE OR TRANSFER CERTAIN ITEMS CONTAINING BYPRODUCT MATERIAL Specifically Licensed Items § 32.201 Serialization of...

Joint-action coordination in transferring objects

PubMed Central

Bosga, Jurjen; Hulstijn, Majken; Miedl, Stephan

2007-01-01

Here we report a study of joint-action coordination in transferring objects. Fourteen dyads were asked to repeatedly reposition a cylinder in a shared workspace without using dialogue. Variations in task constraints concerned the size of the two target regions in which the cylinder had to be (re)positioned and the size and weight of the transferred cylinder. Movements of the wrist, index finger and thumb of both actors were recorded by means of a 3D motion-tracking system. Data analyses focused on the interpersonal transfer of lifting-height and movement-speed variations. Whereas the analyses of variance did not reveal any interpersonal transfer effects targeted data comparisons demonstrated that the actor who fetched the cylinder from where the other actor had put it was systematically less surprised by cylinder-weight changes than the actor who was first confronted with such changes. In addition, a moderate, accuracy-constraint independent adaptation to each other’s movement speed was found. The current findings suggest that motor resonance plays only a moderate role in collaborative motor control and confirm the independency between sensorimotor and cognitive processing of action-related information. PMID:17256158

Evaluation of GPUs as a level-1 track trigger for the High-Luminosity LHC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohr, H.; Dritschler, T.; Ardila, L. E.; Balzer, M.; Caselle, M.; Chilingaryan, S.; Kopmann, A.; Rota, L.; Schuh, T.; Vogelgesang, M.; Weber, M.

2017-04-01

In this work, we investigate the use of GPUs as a way of realizing a low-latency, high-throughput track trigger, using CMS as a showcase example. The CMS detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will undergo a major upgrade after the long shutdown from 2024 to 2026 when it will enter the high luminosity era. During this upgrade, the silicon tracker will have to be completely replaced. In the High Luminosity operation mode, luminosities of 5-7 × 1034 cm-2s-1 and pileups averaging at 140 events, with a maximum of up to 200 events, will be reached. These changes will require a major update of the triggering system. The demonstrated systems rely on dedicated hardware such as associative memory ASICs and FPGAs. We investigate the use of GPUs as an alternative way of realizing the requirements of the L1 track trigger. To this end we implemeted a Hough transformation track finding step on GPUs and established a low-latency RDMA connection using the PCIe bus. To showcase the benefits of floating point operations, made possible by the use of GPUs, we present a modified algorithm. It uses hexagonal bins for the parameter space and leads to a more truthful representation of the possible track parameters of the individual hits in Hough space. This leads to fewer duplicate candidates and reduces fake track candidates compared to the regular approach. With data-transfer latencies of 2 μs and processing times for the Hough transformation as low as 3.6 μs, we can show that latencies are not as critical as expected. However, computing throughput proves to be challenging due to hardware limitations.

The outlook of innovative optical-electronic technologies implementation in transportation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shilina, Elena V.; Ryabichenko, Roman B.

2005-06-01

Information and telecommunication technologies (ITT) are already tool economic development of society and their role will grow. The first task is providing of information security of ITT that is necessary for it distribution in "information" society. The state policy of the leading world countries (USA, France, Japan, Great Britain and China) is focused on investment huge funds in innovative technologies development. Within the next 4-6 years the main fiber-optic transfer lines will have data transfer speed 40 Gbit/s, number of packed channels 60-200 that will provide effective data transfer speed 2,4-8 Tbit/s. Photonic-crystalline fibers will be promising base of new generation fiber-optic transfer lines. The market of information imaging devices and digital photo cameras will be grown in 3-5 times. Powerful lasers based on CO2 and Nd:YAG will be actively used in transport machinery construction when producing aluminum constructions of light rolling-stock. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) will be base for energy saving and safety light sources used for vehicles and indoor lighting. For example, in the USA cost reducing for lighting will be 200 billion dollars. Implementation analysis of optic electronic photonic technologies (OPT) in ground and aerospace systems shows that they provide significant increasing of traffic safety, crew and passengers comfort with help of smart vehicles construction and non-contact dynamic monitoring both transport facilities (for example, wheel flanges) and condition of rail track (road surface), equipping vehicles with night vision equipment. Scientific-technical programs of JSC "RZD" propose application of OPT in new generation systems: axle-box units for coaches and freight cars monitoring when they are moved, track condition analysis, mechanical stress and permanent way irregularity detection, monitoring geometric parameters of aerial contact wire, car truck, rail and wheel pair roll surface, light signals automatic detection from locomotive, video monitoring, gyroscopes based on fiber optic.

The readout chain for the bar PANDA MVD strip detector

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schnell, R.; Brinkmann, K.-Th.; Di Pietro, V.; Kleines, H.; Goerres, A.; Riccardi, A.; Rivetti, A.; Rolo, M. D.; Sohlbach, H.; Zaunick, H.-G.

2015-02-01

The bar PANDA (antiProton ANnihilation at DArmstadt) experiment will study the strong interaction in annihilation reactions between an antiproton beam and a stationary gas jet target. The detector will comprise different sub-detectors for tracking, particle identification and calorimetry. The Micro-Vertex Detector (MVD) as the innermost part of the tracking system will allow precise tracking and detection of secondary vertices. For the readout of the double-sided silicon strip sensors a custom-made ASIC is being developed, employing the Time-over-Threshold (ToT) technique for digitization and utilize time-to-digital converters (TDC) to provide a high-precision time stamp of the hit. A custom-made Module Data Concentrator ASIC (MDC) will multiplex the data of all front-ends of one sensor towards the CERN-developed GBT chip set (GigaBit Transceiver). The MicroTCA-based MVD Multiplexer Board (MMB) at the off-detector site will receive and concentrate the data from the GBT links and transfer it to FPGA-based compute nodes for global event building.

Acid Rain Data System: Progressive application of information technology for operation of a market-based environmental program

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

Price, D.A.

1995-12-31

Under the Acid Rain Program, by statute and regulation, affected utility units are allocated annual allowances. Each allowance permits a unit to emit one ton of SO{sub 2} during or after a specified year. At year end, utilities must hold allowances equal to or greater than the cumulative SO{sub 2} emissions throughout the year from their affected units. The program has been developing, on a staged basis, two major computer-based information systems: the Allowance Tracking System (ATS) for tracking creation, transfer, and ultimate use of allowances; and the Emissions Tracking System (ETS) for transmission, receipt, processing, and inventory of continuousmore » emissions monitoring (CEM) data. The systems collectively form a logical Acid Rain Data System (ARDS). ARDS will be the largest information system ever used to operate and evaluate an environmental program. The paper describes the progressive software engineering approach the Acid Rain Program has been using to develop ARDS. Iterative software version releases, keyed to critical program deadlines, add the functionality required to support specific statutory and regulatory provisions. Each software release also incorporates continual improvements for efficiency, user-friendliness, and lower life-cycle costs. The program is migrating the independent ATS and ETS systems into a logically coordinated True-Up processing model, to support the end-of-year reconciliation for balancing allowance holdings against annual emissions and compliance plans for Phase 1 affected utility units. The paper provides specific examples and data to illustrate exciting applications of today`s information technology in ARDS.« less

Virtual groundwater transfers from overexploited aquifers in the United States

PubMed Central

Marston, Landon; Konar, Megan; Cai, Ximing; Troy, Tara J.

2015-01-01

The High Plains, Mississippi Embayment, and Central Valley aquifer systems within the United States are currently being overexploited for irrigation water supplies. The unsustainable use of groundwater resources in all three aquifer systems intensified from 2000 to 2008, making it imperative that we understand the consumptive processes and forces of demand that are driving their depletion. To this end, we quantify and track agricultural virtual groundwater transfers from these overexploited aquifer systems to their final destination. Specifically, we determine which US metropolitan areas, US states, and international export destinations are currently the largest consumers of these critical aquifers. We draw upon US government data on agricultural production, irrigation, and domestic food flows, as well as modeled estimates of agricultural virtual water contents to quantify domestic transfers. Additionally, we use US port-level trade data to trace international exports from these aquifers. In 2007, virtual groundwater transfers from the High Plains, Mississippi Embayment, and Central Valley aquifer systems totaled 17.93 km3, 9.18 km3, and 6.81 km3, respectively, which is comparable to the capacity of Lake Mead (35.7 km3), the largest surface reservoir in the United States. The vast majority (91%) of virtual groundwater transfers remains within the United States. Importantly, the cereals produced by these overexploited aquifers are critical to US food security (contributing 18.5% to domestic cereal supply). Notably, Japan relies upon cereals produced by these overexploited aquifers for 9.2% of its domestic cereal supply. These results highlight the need to understand the teleconnections between distant food demands and local agricultural water use. PMID:26124137

Virtual groundwater transfers from overexploited aquifers in the United States.

PubMed

Marston, Landon; Konar, Megan; Cai, Ximing; Troy, Tara J

2015-07-14

The High Plains, Mississippi Embayment, and Central Valley aquifer systems within the United States are currently being overexploited for irrigation water supplies. The unsustainable use of groundwater resources in all three aquifer systems intensified from 2000 to 2008, making it imperative that we understand the consumptive processes and forces of demand that are driving their depletion. To this end, we quantify and track agricultural virtual groundwater transfers from these overexploited aquifer systems to their final destination. Specifically, we determine which US metropolitan areas, US states, and international export destinations are currently the largest consumers of these critical aquifers. We draw upon US government data on agricultural production, irrigation, and domestic food flows, as well as modeled estimates of agricultural virtual water contents to quantify domestic transfers. Additionally, we use US port-level trade data to trace international exports from these aquifers. In 2007, virtual groundwater transfers from the High Plains, Mississippi Embayment, and Central Valley aquifer systems totaled 17.93 km(3), 9.18 km(3), and 6.81 km(3), respectively, which is comparable to the capacity of Lake Mead (35.7 km(3)), the largest surface reservoir in the United States. The vast majority (91%) of virtual groundwater transfers remains within the United States. Importantly, the cereals produced by these overexploited aquifers are critical to US food security (contributing 18.5% to domestic cereal supply). Notably, Japan relies upon cereals produced by these overexploited aquifers for 9.2% of its domestic cereal supply. These results highlight the need to understand the teleconnections between distant food demands and local agricultural water use.

Transfer of Expertise: An Eye Tracking and Think Aloud Study Using Dynamic Medical Visualizations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gegenfurtner, Andreas; Seppanen, Marko

2013-01-01

Expertise research has produced mixed results regarding the problem of transfer of expertise. Is expert performance context-bound or can the underlying processes be applied to more general situations? The present study tests whether expert performance and its underlying processes transfer to novel tasks within a domain. A mixed method study using…

Academic Technology Transfer: Tracking, Measuring and Enhancing Its Impact

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fraser, John

2010-01-01

Since the 1980 passage of the US Bayh-Dole Act, academic technology transfer has gained profile globally as a key component of knowledge-driven economic development. Research universities are seen as key contributors. In this article, focusing on the USA and drawing on over twenty years of experience in the field of academic technology transfer in…

Interannual variability of the North Pacific winter storm track and its relationship with extratropical atmospheric circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Xiaojiao; Zhang, Yaocun

2018-01-01

Interannual variability of the North Pacific storm track and the three-dimensional atmosphere circulation during winter are investigated using NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data during 1950-2015. Results show that year-to-year variations of the storm track exhibit two principal modes, i.e. the monopole intensity change and the meridional shift of the storm track, respectively. The intensity change mode is linked to weakening of the Siberian high, northward shift of the western Pacific jet stream and Aleutian Low, and well corresponding to the Western Pacific teleconnection. The meridional shift mode is related to intensification and south-eastward extension of western Pacific jet stream and Aleutian Low, and linked to the Pacific-North America teleconnection. The internal atmospheric dynamics responsible for the storm track variability is further investigated from the perspective of wave-flow energy conversion. For the intensity change mode, accompanied by the enhanced baroclinity over the entrance region of the storm track, more energy is converted from mean available potential energy to eddy available potential energy and then transferred to eddy kinetic energy, which is favorable for the overall enhancement of the storm track intensity. For the meridional shift mode, more energy is transformed from mean available potential energy to eddy available potential energy and further transferred to eddy kinetic energy over the southern (northern) areas of the storm track, contributing to the southward (northward) shift of the storm track. Additionally, the increased (decreased) conversion from mean-flow kinetic energy to eddy kinetic energy over the north-eastern Pacific region is also in favor of the southward (northward) shift of the storm track.

Fast Deep Tracking via Semi-Online Domain Adaptation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiaoping; Luo, Wenbing; Zhu, Yi; Li, Hanxi; Wang, Mingwen

2018-04-01

Deep tracking has been illustrating overwhelming superiorities over the shallow methods. Unfortunately, it also suffers from low FPS rates. To alleviate the problem, a number of real-time deep trackers have been proposed via removing the online updating procedure on the CNN model. However, the absent of the online update leads to a significant drop on tracking accuracy. In this work, we propose to perform the domain adaptation for visual tracking in two stages for transferring the information from the visual tracking domain and the instance domain respectively. In this way, the proposed visual tracker achieves comparable tracking accuracy to the state-of-the-art trackers and runs at real-time speed on an average consuming GPU.

A Transfer of Training Study of Control Loader Dynamics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cardullo, Frank M.; Stanco, Anthony A.; Kelly, Lon C.; Houck, Jacob A.; Grube, Richard C.

2011-01-01

The control inceptor used in a simulated vehicle is an important part in maintaining the fidelity of a simulation. The force feedback provided by the control inceptor gives the operator important cues to maintain adequate performance. The dynamics of a control inceptor are typically based on a second order spring mass damper system with damping, force gradient, breakout force, and natural frequency parameters. Changing these parameters can have a great effect on pilot or driver control of the vehicle. The neuromuscular system has a very important role in manipulating the control inceptor within a vehicle. Many studies by McRuer, Aponso, and Hess have dealt with modeling the neuromuscular system and quantifying the effects of a high fidelity control loader as compared to a low fidelity control loader. Humans are adaptive in nature and their control behavior changes based on different control loader dynamics. Humans will change their control behavior to maintain tracking bandwidth and minimize tracking error. This paper reports on a quasi-transfer of training experiment which was performed at the NASA Langley Research Center. The quasi transfer of training study used a high fidelity control loader and a low fidelity control loader. Subjects trained in both simulations and then were transferred to the high fidelity control loader simulation. The parameters for the high fidelity control loader were determined from the literature. The low fidelity control loader parameters were found through testing of a simple computer joystick. A disturbance compensatory task is employed. The compensatory task involves implementing a simple horizon out the window display. A disturbance consisting of a sum of sines is used. The task consists of the subject compensating for the disturbance on the roll angle of the aircraft. The vehicle dynamics are represented as 1/s and 1/s2. The subject will try to maintain level flight throughout the experiment. The subjects consist of non-pilots to remove any effects of pilot experience. First, this paper discusses the implementation of the disturbance compensation task. Second, the high and low fidelity parameters used within the experiment are presented. Finally, an explanation of results from the experiments is presented.

Geophysical monitoring of solute transport in dual-domain environments through laboratory experiments, field-scale solute tracer tests, and numerical simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Swanson, Ryan David

The advection-dispersion equation (ADE) fails to describe non-Fickian solute transport breakthrough curves (BTCs) in saturated porous media in both laboratory and field experiments, necessitating the use of other models. The dual-domain mass transfer (DDMT) model partitions the total porosity into mobile and less-mobile domains with an exchange of mass between the two domains, and this model can reproduce better fits to BTCs in many systems than ADE-based models. However, direct experimental estimation of DDMT model parameters remains elusive and model parameters are often calculated a posteriori by an optimization procedure. Here, we investigate the use of geophysical tools (direct-current resistivity, nuclear magnetic resonance, and complex conductivity) to estimate these model parameters directly. We use two different samples of the zeolite clinoptilolite, a material shown to demonstrate solute mass transfer due to a significant internal porosity, and provide the first evidence that direct-current electrical methods can track solute movement into and out of a less-mobile pore space in controlled laboratory experiments. We quantify the effects of assuming single-rate DDMT for multirate mass transfer systems. We analyze pore structures using material characterization methods (mercury porosimetry, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray computer tomography), and compare these observations to geophysical measurements. Nuclear magnetic resonance in conjunction with direct-current resistivity measurements can constrain mobile and less-mobile porosities, but complex conductivity may have little value in relation to mass transfer despite the hypothesis that mass transfer and complex conductivity lengths scales are related. Finally, we conduct a geoelectrical monitored tracer test at the Macrodispersion Experiment (MADE) site in Columbus, MS. We relate hydraulic and electrical conductivity measurements to generate a 3D hydraulic conductivity field, and compare to hydraulic conductivity fields estimated through ordinary kriging and sequential Gaussian simulation. Time-lapse electrical measurements are used to verify or dismiss aspects of breakthrough curves for different hydraulic conductivity fields. Our results quantify the potential for geophysical measurements to infer on single-rate DDMT parameters, show site-specific relations between hydraulic and electrical conductivity, and track solute exchange into and out of less-mobile domains.

SU-D-207-05: Real-Time Intrafractional Motion Tracking During VMAT Delivery Using a Conventional Elekta CBCT System

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

Park, Yang-Kyun; Sharp, Gregory C.; Gierga, David P.

2015-06-15

Purpose: Real-time kV projection streaming capability has become recently available for Elekta XVI version 5.0. This study aims to investigate the feasibility and accuracy of real-time fiducial marker tracking during CBCT acquisition with or without simultaneous VMAT delivery using a conventional Elekta linear accelerator. Methods: A client computer was connected to an on-board kV imaging system computer, and receives and processes projection images immediately after image acquisition. In-house marker tracking software based on FFT normalized cross-correlation was developed and installed in the client computer. Three gold fiducial markers with 3 mm length were implanted in a pelvis-shaped phantom with 36more » cm width. The phantom was placed on a programmable motion platform oscillating in anterior-posterior and superior-inferior directions simultaneously. The marker motion was tracked in real-time for (1) a kV-only CBCT scan with treatment beam off and (2) a kV CBCT scan during a 6-MV VMAT delivery. The exposure parameters per projection were 120 kVp and 1.6 mAs. Tracking accuracy was assessed by comparing superior-inferior positions between the programmed and tracked trajectories. Results: The projection images were successfully transferred to the client computer at a frequency of about 5 Hz. In the kV-only scan, highly accurate marker tracking was achieved over the entire range of cone-beam projection angles (detection rate / tracking error were 100.0% / 0.6±0.5 mm). In the kV-VMAT scan, MV-scatter degraded image quality, particularly for lateral projections passing through the thickest part of the phantom (kV source angle ranging 70°-110° and 250°-290°), resulting in a reduced detection rate (90.5%). If the lateral projections are excluded, tracking performance was comparable to the kV-only case (detection rate / tracking error were 100.0% / 0.8±0.5 mm). Conclusion: Our phantom study demonstrated a promising Result for real-time motion tracking using a conventional Elekta linear accelerator. MV-scatter suppression is needed to improve tracking accuracy during MV delivery. This research is funded by Motion Management Research Grant from Elekta.« less

Elucidating light-induced charge accumulation in an artificial analogue of methane monooxygenase enzymes using time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy

DOE PAGES

Moonshiram, Dooshaye; Picon, Antonio; Vazquez-Mayagoitia, Alvaro; ...

2017-02-08

Here, we report the use of time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy in the ns–μs time scale to track the light induced two electron transfer processes in a multi-component photocatalytic system, consisting of [Ru(bpy) 3] 2+/ a diiron(III,III) model/triethylamine. EXAFS analysis with DFT calculations confirms the structural configurations of the diiron(III,III) and reduced diiron(II,II) states.

Contamination of RR Lyrae stars from Binary Evolution Pulsators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karczmarek, Paulina; Pietrzyński, Grzegorz; Belczyński, Krzysztof; Stępień, Kazimierz; Wiktorowicz, Grzegorz; Iłkiewicz, Krystian

2016-06-01

Binary Evolution Pulsator (BEP) is an extremely low-mass member of a binary system, which pulsates as a result of a former mass transfer to its companion. BEP mimics RR Lyrae-type pulsations but has different internal structure and evolution history. We present possible evolution channels to produce BEPs, and evaluate the contamination value, i.e. how many objects classified as RR Lyrae stars can be undetected BEPs. In this analysis we use population synthesis code StarTrack.

Communications Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1990-01-01

The Multi-Compatible Network Interface Unit (MCNIU) is intended to connect the space station's communications and tracking, guidance and navigation, life support, electric power, payload data, hand controls, display consoles and other systems, and also communicate with diverse processors. Honeywell is now marketing MCNIU commercially. It has applicability in certain military operations or civil control centers. It has nongovernment utility among large companies, universities and research organizations that transfer large amounts of data among workstations and computers. *This product is no longer commercially available.

Elucidating light-induced charge accumulation in an artificial analogue of methane monooxygenase enzymes using time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy

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

Moonshiram, Dooshaye; Picon, Antonio; Vazquez-Mayagoitia, Alvaro

Here, we report the use of time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy in the ns–μs time scale to track the light induced two electron transfer processes in a multi-component photocatalytic system, consisting of [Ru(bpy) 3] 2+/ a diiron(III,III) model/triethylamine. EXAFS analysis with DFT calculations confirms the structural configurations of the diiron(III,III) and reduced diiron(II,II) states.

Research Studies on Advanced Optical Module/Head Designs for Optical Data Storage

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1992-01-01

Preprints are presented from the recent 1992 Optical Data Storage meeting in San Jose. The papers are divided into the following topical areas: Magneto-optical media (Modeling/design and fabrication/characterization/testing); Optical heads (holographic optical elements); and Optical heads (integrated optics). Some representative titles are as follow: Diffraction analysis and evaluation of several focus and track error detection schemes for magneto-optical disk systems; Proposal for massively parallel data storage system; Transfer function characteristics of super resolving systems; Modeling and measurement of a micro-optic beam deflector; Oxidation processes in magneto-optic and related materials; and A modal analysis of lamellar diffraction gratings in conical mountings.

Advanced Solar Power Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Atkinson, J. H.; Hobgood, J. M.

1984-01-01

The Advanced Solar Power System (ASPS) concentrator uses a technically sophisticated design and extensive tooling to produce very efficient (80 to 90%) and versatile energy supply equipment which is inexpensive to manufacture and requires little maintenance. The advanced optical design has two 10th order, generalized aspheric surfaces in a Cassegrainian configuration which gives outstanding performance and is relatively insensitive to temperature changes and wind loading. Manufacturing tolerances also have been achieved. The key to the ASPS is the direct absorption of concentrated sunlight in the working fluid by radiative transfers in a black body cavity. The basic ASPS design concepts, efficiency, optical system, and tracking and focusing controls are described.

The TOTEM T1 read out card motherboard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Minutoli, S.; Lo Vetere, M.; Robutti, E.

2010-12-01

This article describes the Read Out Card (ROC) motherboard, which is the main component of the T1 forward telescope front-end electronic system. The ROC main objectives are to acquire tracking data and trigger information from the detector. It performs data conversion from electrical to optical format and transfers the data streams to the next level of the system and it implements Slow Control modules which are able to receive, decode and distribute the LHC machine low jitter clock and fast command. The ROC also provides a spy mezzanine connection based on programmable FPGA and USB2.0 for laboratory and portable DAQ debugging system.

An automatic eye detection and tracking technique for stereo video sequences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paduru, Anirudh; Charalampidis, Dimitrios; Fouts, Brandon; Jovanovich, Kim

2009-05-01

Human-computer interfacing (HCI) describes a system or process with which two information processors, namely a human and a computer, attempt to exchange information. Computer-to-human (CtH) information transfer has been relatively effective through visual displays and sound devices. On the other hand, the human-tocomputer (HtC) interfacing avenue has yet to reach its full potential. For instance, the most common HtC communication means are the keyboard and mouse, which are already becoming a bottleneck in the effective transfer of information. The solution to the problem is the development of algorithms that allow the computer to understand human intentions based on their facial expressions, head motion patterns, and speech. In this work, we are investigating the feasibility of a stereo system to effectively determine the head position, including the head rotation angles, based on the detection of eye pupils.

Dawn Orbit Determination Team: Trajectory Modeling and Reconstruction Processes at Vesta

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abrahamson, Matthew J.; Ardito, Alessandro; Han, Dongsuk; Haw, Robert; Kennedy, Brian; Mastrodemos, Nick; Nandi, Sumita; Park, Ryan; Rush, Brian; Vaughan, Andrew

2013-01-01

The Dawn spacecraft spent over a year in orbit around Vesta from July 2011 through August 2012. In order to maintain the designated science reference orbits and enable the transfers between those orbits, precise and timely orbit determination was required. Challenges included low-thrust ion propulsion modeling, estimation of relatively unknown Vesta gravity and rotation models, track-ing data limitations, incorporation of real-time telemetry into dynamics model updates, and rapid maneuver design cycles during transfers. This paper discusses the dynamics models, filter configuration, and data processing implemented to deliver a rapid orbit determination capability to the Dawn project.

Studying NASA's Transition to Ka-Band Communications for Low Earth Orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chelmins, David; Reinhart, Richard; Mortensen, Dale; Welch, Bryan; Downey, Joseph; Evans, Mike

2014-01-01

As the S-band spectrum becomes crowded, future space missions will need to consider moving command and telemetry services to Ka-band. NASAs Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Testbed provides a software-defined radio (SDR) platform that is capable of supporting investigation of this service transition. The testbed contains two S-band SDRs and one Ka-band SDR. Over the past year, SCaN Testbed has demonstrated Ka-band communications capabilities with NASAs Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) using both open- and closed-loop antenna tracking profiles. A number of technical areas need to be addressed for successful transition to Ka-band. The smaller antenna beamwidth at Ka-band increases the criticality of antenna pointing, necessitating closed loop tracking algorithms and new techniques for received power estimation. Additionally, the antenna pointing routines require enhanced knowledge of spacecraft position and attitude for initial acquisition, versus an S-band antenna. Ka-band provides a number of technical advantages for bulk data transfer. Unlike at S-band, a larger bandwidth may be available for space missions, allowing increased data rates. The potential for high rate data transfer can also be extended for direct-to-ground links through use of variable or adaptive coding and modulation. Specific examples of Ka-band research from SCaN Testbeds first year of operation will be cited, such as communications link performance with TDRSS, and the effects of truss flexure on antenna pointing.

Studying NASA's Transition to Ka-Band Communications for Low Earth Orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chelmins, David T.; Reinhart, Richard C.; Mortensen, Dale; Welch, Bryan; Downey, Joseph; Evans, Michael

2014-01-01

As the S-band spectrum becomes crowded, future space missions will need to consider moving command and telemetry services to Ka-band. NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Testbed provides a software-defined radio (SDR) platform that is capable of supporting investigation of this service transition. The testbed contains two S-band SDRs and one Ka-band SDR. Over the past year, SCaN Testbed has demonstrated Ka-band communications capabilities with NASAs Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) using both open- and closed-loop antenna tracking profiles. A number of technical areas need to be addressed for successful transition to Ka-band. The smaller antenna beamwidth at Ka-band increases the criticality of antenna pointing, necessitating closed loop tracking algorithms and new techniques for received power estimation. Additionally, the antenna pointing routines require enhanced knowledge of spacecraft position and attitude for initial acquisition, versus an S-band antenna. Ka-band provides a number of technical advantages for bulk data transfer. Unlike at S-band, a larger bandwidth may be available for space missions, allowing increased data rates. The potential for high rate data transfer can also be extended for direct-to-ground links through use of variable or adaptive coding and modulation. Specific examples of Ka-band research from SCaN Testbeds first year of operation will be cited, such as communications link performance with TDRSS, and the effects of truss flexure on antenna pointing.

Optical diagnostic techniques in tribological analysis: Applications to wear film characterization, solid lubricant chemical transition, and electrical sliding contacts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Windom, Bret C.

Friction and wear have undisputedly huge macroscopic effects on the cost and lifetime of many mechanical systems. The cost to replace parts and the cost to overcome the energy losses associated with friction, although small in nature, can be enormous over long operating times. The understanding of wear and friction begins with the understanding of the physics and chemistry between the reacting surfaces on a microscopic level. Light as a diagnostic tool is a good candidate to perform the very sensitive microscopic measurements needed to help understand the fundamental science occurring in friction/wear systems. Light's small length scales provide the capabilities to characterize very local surface phenomena, including thin transfer films and surface chemical transitions. Light-based diagnostic techniques provide nearly instantaneous results, enabling one to make in situ/real time measurements which could be used to track wear events and associated chemical kinetics. In the present study, two optical diagnostic techniques were investigated for the analysis of tribological systems. The first technique employed was Raman spectroscopy. Raman spectroscopy was investigated as a possible means for in situ measurement of thin transfer films in order to track the wear kinetics and structural transitions of bulk polymers. A micro-Raman system was designed, built, and characterized to track fresh wear films created from a pin-on-disk tribometer. The system proved capable of characterizing and tracking wear film thicknesses of ˜2 mum and greater. In addition, the system provided results indicating structural changes in the wear film as compared to the bulk when sliding speeds were increased. The spectral changes due to the altering of molecular vibrations can be attributed to the increase in temperature during high sliding speeds. Raman spectroscopy was also used to characterize the oxidation of molybdenum disulphide, a solid lubricant used in many applications, including high vacuum sliding. Resonance Raman effects were observed when an excitation wavelength of 632.8 nm was used. Raman spectroscopy was carried out on amorphous MoS2 while its temperature was increased to track the thermally induced oxidation of the MoS2 surface. In addition, other forms of MoS2 were investigated through Raman spectroscopy in which key distinctions between spectra were made. The second technique employed was atomic emission spectroscopy (AES) used to measure constituent species present in arcs created during electrical sliding contacts. Spectra indicated the presence of copper and zinc in the arcs created between copper fiber bundled brushes and a copper rotor. Atomic emission was used to measure the arc duration with a photo-multiplier tube (PMT) while the collected spectra were processed to assess arc temperature. The results suggest arcing in high-current electrical sliding contacts may be at least partially responsible for the high asymmetrical wear measured during tribology tests.

Looking north through Machine Shop (Bldg. 163) Track 409 Doors ...

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

Looking north through Machine Shop (Bldg. 163) Track 409 Doors at transfer table, with Boiler Shop (Bldg. 152) at left and C.W.E. Shop No. 2 (Bldg. 47) at right - Atchison, Topeka, Santa Fe Railroad, Albuquerque Shops, 908 Second Street, Southwest, Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, NM

Learning by Brewing: Beer Production Experiments in the Chemical Engineering Laboratory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cerretani, Colin; Kelkile, Esayas; Landry, Alexandra

2017-01-01

We discuss the successful creation and implementation of a biotechnology track within the chemical engineering unit operations course. The track focuses on engineering principles relevant to brewing. Following laboratory modules investigating heat transfer processes and yeast fermentation kinetics, student groups design and implement a project to…

A vector radiative transfer model for coupled atmosphere and ocean systems based on successive order of scattering method.

PubMed

Zhai, Peng-Wang; Hu, Yongxiang; Trepte, Charles R; Lucker, Patricia L

2009-02-16

A vector radiative transfer model has been developed for coupled atmosphere and ocean systems based on the Successive Order of Scattering (SOS) Method. The emphasis of this study is to make the model easy-to-use and computationally efficient. This model provides the full Stokes vector at arbitrary locations which can be conveniently specified by users. The model is capable of tracking and labeling different sources of the photons that are measured, e.g. water leaving radiances and reflected sky lights. This model also has the capability to separate florescence from multi-scattered sunlight. The delta - fit technique has been adopted to reduce computational time associated with the strongly forward-peaked scattering phase matrices. The exponential - linear approximation has been used to reduce the number of discretized vertical layers while maintaining the accuracy. This model is developed to serve the remote sensing community in harvesting physical parameters from multi-platform, multi-sensor measurements that target different components of the atmosphere-oceanic system.

A gimbal platform stabilization for topographic applications

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

Michele, Mangiameli, E-mail: michele.mangiameli@dica.unict.it; Giuseppe, Mussumeci

2015-03-10

The aim of this work is the stabilization of a Gimbal platform for optical sensors acquisitions in topographic applications using mobile vehicles. The stabilization of the line of sight (LOS) consists in tracking the command velocity in presence of nonlinear noise due to the external environment. The hardware architecture is characterized by an Ardupilot platform that allows the control of both the mobile device and the Gimbal. Here we developed a new approach to stabilize the Gimbal platform, which is based on neural network. For the control system, we considered a plant that represents the transfer function of the servomore » system control model for an inertial stabilized Gimbal platform. The transductor used in the feed-back line control is characterized by the Rate Gyro transfer function installed onboard of Ardupilot. For the simulation and investigation of the system performance, we used the Simulink tool of Matlab. Results show that the hardware/software approach is efficient, reliable and cheap for direct photogrammetry, as well as for general purpose applications using mobile vehicles.« less

User guide to a command and control system; a part of a prelaunch wind monitoring program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cowgill, G. R.

1976-01-01

A set of programs called Command and Control System (CCS), intended as a user manual, is described for the operation of CCS by the personnel supporting the wind monitoring portion of the launch mission. Wind data obtained by tracking balloons is sent by electronic means using telephone lines to other locations. Steering commands are computed from a system called ADDJUST for the on-board computer and relays this data. Data are received and automatically stored in a microprocessor, then via a real time program transferred to the UNIVAC 1100/40 computer. At this point the data is available to be used by the Command and Control system.

Standardizing Navigation Data: A Status Update

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

VanEepoel, John M.; Berry, David S.; Pallaschke, Siegmar; Foliard, Jacques; Kiehling, Reinhard; Ogawa, Mina; Showell, Avanaugh; Fertig, Juergen; Castronuovo, Marco

2007-01-01

This paper presents the work of the Navigation Working Group of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) on development of standards addressing the transfer of orbit, attitude and tracking data for space objects. Much progress has been made since the initial presentation of the standards in 2004, including the progression of the orbit data standard to an accepted standard, and the near completion of the attitude and tracking data standards. The orbit, attitude and tracking standards attempt to address predominant parameterizations for their respective data, and create a message format that enables communication of the data across space agencies and other entities. The messages detailed in each standard are built upon a keyword = value paradigm, where a fixed list of keywords is provided in the standard where users specify information about their data, and also use keywords to encapsulate their data. The paper presents a primer on the CCSDS standardization process to put in context the state of the message standards, and the parameterizations supported in each standard, then shows examples of these standards for orbit, attitude and tracking data. Finalization of the standards is expected by the end of calendar year 2007.

The need for GPS standardization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewandowski, Wlodzimierz W.; Petit, Gerard; Thomas, Claudine

1992-01-01

A desirable and necessary step for improvement of the accuracy of Global Positioning System (GPS) time comparisons is the establishment of common GPS standards. For this reason, the CCDS proposed the creation of a special group of experts with the objective of recommending procedures and models for operational time transfer by GPS common-view method. Since the announcement of the implementation of Selective Availability at the end of last spring, action has become much more urgent and this CCDS Group on GPS Time Transfer Standards has now been set up. It operates under the auspices of the permanent CCDS Working Group on TAI and works in close cooperation with the Sub-Committee on Time of the Civil GPS Service Interface Committee (CGSIC). Taking as an example the implementation of SA during the first week of July 1991, this paper illustrates the need to develop urgently at least two standardized procedures in GPS receiver software: monitoring GPS tracks with a common time scale and retaining broadcast ephemeris parameters throughout the duration of a track. Other matters requiring action are the adoption of common models for atmospheric delay, a common approach to hardware design and agreement about short-term data processing. Several examples of such deficiencies in standardization are presented.

Conformal needle-based ultrasound ablation using EM-tracked conebeam CT image guidance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burdette, E. Clif; Banovac, Filip; Diederich, Chris J.; Cheng, Patrick; Wilson, Emmanuel; Cleary, Kevin R.

2011-03-01

Numerous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of interstitial ablative approaches for the treatment of renal and hepatic tumors. Despite these promising results, current systems remain highly dependent on operator skill, and cannot treat many tumors because there is little control of the size and shape of the zone of necrosis, and no control over ablator trajectory within tissue once insertion has taken place. Additionally, tissue deformation and target motion make it extremely difficult to accurately place the ablator device into the target. Irregularly shaped target volumes typically require multiple insertions and several sequential thermal ablation procedures. This study demonstrated feasibility of spatially tracked image-guided conformal ultrasound (US) ablation for percutaneous directional ablation of diseased tissue. Tissue was prepared by suturing the liver within a pig belly and 1mm BBs placed to serve as needle targets. The image guided system used integrated electromagnetic tracking and cone-beam CT (CBCT) with conformable needlebased high-intensity US ablation in the interventional suite. Tomographic images from cone beam CT were transferred electronically to the image-guided tracking system (IGSTK). Paired-point registration was used to register the target specimen to CT images and enable navigation. Path planning is done by selecting the target BB on the GUI of the realtime tracking system and determining skin entry location until an optimal path is selected. Power was applied to create the desired ablation extent within 7-10 minutes at a thermal dose (>300eqm43). The system was successfully used to place the US ablator in planned target locations within ex-vivo kidney and liver through percutaneous access. Targeting accuracy was 3-4 mm. Sectioned specimens demonstrated uniform ablation within the planned target zone. Subsequent experiments were conducted for multiple ablator positions based upon treatment planning simulations. Ablation zones in liver were 73cc, 84cc, and 140cc for 3, 4, and 5 placements, respectively. These experiments demonstrate the feasibility of combining real-time spatially tracked image guidance with directional interstitial ultrasound ablation. Interstitial ultrasound ablation delivered on multiple needles permit the size and shape of the ablation zone to be "sculpted" by modifying the angle and intensity of the active US elements in the array. This paper summarizes the design and development of the first system incorporating thermal treatment planning and integration of a novel interstitial acoustic ablation device with integrated 3D electromagnetic tracking and guidance strategy.

An improved data transfer and storage technique for hybrid computation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hansing, A. M.

1972-01-01

Improved technique was developed for transferring and storing data at faster than real time speeds on hybrid computer. Predominant advantage is combined use of electronic relays, track and store units, and analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion units of hybrid computer.

Interlimb transfer of motor skill learning during walking: No evidence for asymmetric transfer.

PubMed

Krishnan, Chandramouli; Ranganathan, Rajiv; Tetarbe, Manik

2017-07-01

Several studies have shown that learning a motor skill in one limb can transfer to the opposite limb-a phenomenon called as interlimb transfer. The transfer of motor skills between limbs, however, has shown to be asymmetric, where one side benefits to a greater extent than the other. While this phenomenon has been well-documented in the upper-extremity, evidence for interlimb transfer in the lower-extremity is limited and mixed. This study investigated the extent of interlimb transfer during walking, and tested whether this transfer was asymmetric using a foot trajectory-tracking paradigm that has been specifically used for gait rehabilitation. The paradigm involved learning a new gait pattern which required greater hip and knee flexion during the swing phase of the gait while walking on a treadmill. Twenty young adults were randomized into two equal groups, where one group (right-to-left: RL) practiced the task initially with the dominant right leg and the other group (left-to-right: LR) practiced the task initially with their non-dominant left leg. After training, both groups practiced the task with their opposite leg to test the transfer effects. The changes in tracking error on each leg were computed to quantify learning and transfer effects. The results indicated that practice with one leg improved the motor performance of the other leg; however, the amount of transfer was similar across groups, indicating that there was no asymmetry in transfer. This finding is contradictory to most upper-extremity studies (where asymmetric transfer has been reported) and points out that both differences in neural processes and types of tasks may mediate interlimb transfer. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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

Casella, R.

RESTful (REpresentational State Transfer) web services are an alternative implementation to SOAP/RPC web services in a client/server model. BNLs IT Division has started deploying RESTful Web Services for enterprise data retrieval and manipulation. Data is currently used by system administrators for tracking configuration information and as it is expanded will be used by Cyber Security for vulnerability management and as an aid to cyber investigations. This talk will describe the implementation and outstanding issues as well as some of the reasons for choosing RESTful over SOAP/RPC and future directions.

NASA to launch second business communications satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

The two stage Delta 3910 launch vehicle was chosen to place the second small business satellite (SBS-B) into a transfer orbit with an apogee of 36,619 kilometers and a perigee of 167 km, at an inclination of 27.7 degrees to Earth's equator. The firing and separation sequence and the inertial guidance system are described as well as the payload assist module. Facilities and services for tracking and control by NASA, COMSAT, Intelsat, and SBS are outlined and prelaunch operations are summarized.

Radio Frequency Identification for Space Habitat Inventory and Stowage Allocation Management

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wagner, Carole Y.

2015-01-01

To date, the most extensive space-based inventory management operation has been the International Space Station (ISS). Approximately 20,000 items are tracked with the Inventory Management System (IMS) software application that requires both flight and ground crews to update the database daily. This audit process is manually intensive and laborious, requiring the crew to open cargo transfer bags (CTBs), then Ziplock bags therein, to retrieve individual items. This inventory process contributes greatly to the time allocated for general crew tasks.

Feasibility of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and Item Unique Identification (IUID) in the Marine Corps Small Arms Weapons Tracking System

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

The RFID tag can be of various designs, materials , and/or sizes and hold a variable amount of information. Each tag is composed 11 of three...acquiring material from suppliers and in delivering to units in the field (Business Wire, 2005). The military learned an important lesson during...recording of material transfer and enhanced TAV. In the limited implementations of RFID to date, the DoD has seen benefits in inventory management

Mass balance evaluation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers in landfill leachate and potential for transfer from e-waste.

PubMed

Danon-Schaffer, Monica N; Mahecha-Botero, Andrés; Grace, John R; Ikonomou, Michael

2013-09-01

Previous research on brominated flame retardants (BFRs), including polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) has largely focussed on their concentrations in the environment and their adverse effects on human health. This paper explores their transfer from waste streams to water and soil. A comprehensive mass balance model is developed to track polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), originating from e-waste and non-e-waste solids leaching from a landfill. Stepwise debromination is assumed to occur in three sub-systems (e-waste, aqueous leachate phase, and non-e-waste solids). Analysis of landfill samples and laboratory results from a solid-liquid contacting chamber are used to estimate model parameters to simulate an urban landfill system, for past and future scenarios. Sensitivity tests to key model parameters were conducted. Lower BDEs require more time to disappear than high-molecular weight PBDEs, since debromination takes place in a stepwise manner, according to the simplified reaction scheme. Interphase mass transfer causes the decay pattern to be similar in all three sub-systems. The aqueous phase is predicted to be the first sub-system to eliminate PBDEs if their input to the landfill were to be stopped. The non-e-waste solids would be next, followed by the e-waste sub-system. The model shows that mass transfer is not rate-limiting, but the evolution over time depends on the kinetic degradation parameters. Experimental scatter makes model testing difficult. Nevertheless, the model provides qualitative understanding of the influence of key variables. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Technology development of the Space Transportation System mission and terrestrial applications of satellite technology

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1981-01-01

The Space Transportation System (STS) is discussed, including the launch processing system, the thermal protection subsystem, meteorological research, sound supression water system, rotating service structure, improved hypergol or removal systems, fiber optics research, precision positioning, remote controlled solid rocket booster nozzle plugs, ground operations for Centaur orbital transfer vehicle, parachute drying, STS hazardous waste disposal and recycle, toxic waste technology and control concepts, fast analytical densitometry study, shuttle inventory management system, operational intercommunications system improvement, and protective garment ensemble. Terrestrial applications are also covered, including LANDSAT applications to water resources, satellite freeze forecast system, application of ground penetrating radar to soil survey, turtle tracking, evaluating computer drawn ground cover maps, sparkless load pulsar, and coupling a microcomputer and computing integrator with a gas chromatograph.

Self-Tracking: Reflections from the BodyTrack Project.

PubMed

Wright, Anne

2016-07-06

Based on the author's experiences the practice of self-tracking can empower individuals to explore and address issues in their lives. This work is inspired by examples of people who have reclaimed their wellness through an iterative process of noticing patterns of ups and downs, trying out new ideas and strategies, and observing the results. In some cases, individuals have realized that certain foods, environmental exposures, or practices have unexpected effects for them, and that adopting custom strategies can greatly improve quality of life, overcoming chronic problems. Importantly, adopting the role of investigator of their own situation appears to be transformative: people who embarked on this path changed their relationship to their health situation even before making discoveries that helped lead to symptom improvement. The author co-founded the BodyTrack project in 2010 with the goal of empowering a broader set of people to embrace this investigator role in their own lives and better address their health and wellness concerns, particularly those with complex environmental or behavioral components. The core of the BodyTrack system is an open source web service called Fluxtream ( https://fluxtream.org ) that allows users to aggregate, visualize, and reflect on data from myriad sources on a common timeline. The project is also working to develop and spread peer coaching practices to help transfer the culture and skills of self-tracking while mentoring individuals in how to self-assess their own situation and guide the process for themselves.

Time-lapse cinematography-compatible polystyrene-based microwell culture system: a novel tool for tracking the development of individual bovine embryos.

PubMed

Sugimura, Satoshi; Akai, Tomonori; Somfai, Tamás; Hirayama, Muneyuki; Aikawa, Yoshio; Ohtake, Masaki; Hattori, Hideshi; Kobayashi, Shuji; Hashiyada, Yutaka; Konishi, Kazuyuki; Imai, Kei

2010-12-01

We have developed a polystyrene-based well-of-the-well (WOW) system using injection molding to track individual embryos throughout culture using time-lapse cinematography (TLC). WOW culture of bovine embryos following in vitro fertilization was compared with conventional droplet culture (control). No differences between control- and WOW-cultured embryos were observed during development to the blastocyst stage. Morphological quality and inner cell mass (ICM) and trophectoderm (TE) cell numbers were not different between control- and WOW-derived blastocysts; however, apoptosis in both the ICM and TE cells was reduced in WOW culture (P < 0.01). Oxygen consumption in WOW-derived blastocysts was closer to physiological level than that of control-derived blastocysts. Moreover, WOW culture improved embryo viability, as indicated by increased pregnancy rates at Days 30 and 60 after embryo transfer (P < 0.05). TLC monitoring was performed to evaluate the cleavage pattern and the duration of the first cell cycle of embryos from oocytes collected by ovum pickup; correlations with success of pregnancy were determined. Logistic regression analysis indicated that the cleavage pattern correlated with success of pregnancy (P < 0.05), but cell cycle length did not. Higher pregnancy rates (66.7%) were observed for animals in which transferred blastocysts had undergone normal cleavage, identified by the presence of two blastomeres of the same size without fragmentation, than among those with abnormal cleavage (33.3%). These results suggest that our microwell culture system is a powerful tool for producing and selecting healthy embryos and for identifying viability biomarkers.

Comparison of the frequency estimation of the DORIS/Jason2 oscillator thanks to the onboard DIODE and Time Transfer by Laser Link experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jayles, C.; Exertier, P.; Martin, N.; Chauveau, J. P.; Samain, E.; Tourain, C.; Auriol, A.; Guillemot, P.

2016-12-01

The main applications for DORIS are precise orbit determination, and precise Geodesy. Onboard Jason-2 for instance, the DORIS tracking component is the French contribution to the precise orbit determination capability, a key capability for altimetry product scientific result accuracy. T2L2 is a time transfer technique based on the propagation of light pulses for synchronization between two clocks. Hosting T2L2 on-board Jason-2 was to allow for very fine DORIS USO (Ultra-Stable Oscillator) frequency monitoring, and for this purpose T2L2 was connected to the DORIS USO. Thanks to the continuous tracking of T2L2/Jason-2 by the Laser Ranging network it is possible to monitor the USO for several days, weeks, and even much longer, and thus to also compare with the DIODE (the DORIS on-board orbit determination software) frequency bias estimates. The DORIS USO frequency biases estimate comparison between two independent systems, T2L2 and DIODE, can be of benefit to both, allowing the accuracies of both systems to be better understood, and for improvements to be made to both systems. Such comparison is the central topic of the present paper. T2L2 monitors the DORIS on-board USO frequency with an accuracy of much better than 10-12 which is the specification for the Doppler instrumentation. The paper investigates the limits of the DORIS-DIODE frequency bias estimates using T2L2, showing that USO frequency compliance accuracy of 10-12 has been reached.

Sub-nanosecond clock synchronization and precision deep space tracking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunn, Charles; Lichten, Stephen; Jefferson, David; Border, James S.

1992-01-01

Interferometric spacecraft tracking is accomplished at the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) by comparing the arrival time of electromagnetic spacecraft signals to ground antennas separated by baselines on the order of 8000 km. Clock synchronization errors within and between DSN stations directly impact the attainable tracking accuracy, with a 0.3 ns error in clock synchronization resulting in an 11 nrad angular position error. This level of synchronization is currently achieved by observing a quasar which is angularly close to the spacecraft just after the spacecraft observations. By determining the differential arrival times of the random quasar signal at the stations, clock synchronization and propagation delays within the atmosphere and within the DSN stations are calibrated. Recent developments in time transfer techniques may allow medium accuracy (50-100 nrad) spacecraft observations without near-simultaneous quasar-based calibrations. Solutions are presented for a global network of GPS receivers in which the formal errors in clock offset parameters are less than 0.5 ns. Comparisons of clock rate offsets derived from GPS measurements and from very long baseline interferometry and the examination of clock closure suggest that these formal errors are a realistic measure of GPS-based clock offset precision and accuracy. Incorporating GPS-based clock synchronization measurements into a spacecraft differential ranging system would allow tracking without near-simultaneous quasar observations. The impact on individual spacecraft navigation error sources due to elimination of quasar-based calibrations is presented. System implementation, including calibration of station electronic delays, is discussed.

FAST TRACK COMMUNICATION Heat transfer between graphene and amorphous SiO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Persson, B. N. J.; Ueba, H.

2010-11-01

We study the heat transfer between graphene and amorphous SiO2. We include both the heat transfer from the area of real contact, and between the surfaces in the non-contact region. We consider the radiative heat transfer associated with the evanescent electromagnetic waves which exist outside of all bodies, and the heat transfer by the gas in the non-contact region. We find that the dominant contribution to the heat transfer results from the area of real contact, and the calculated value of the heat transfer coefficient is in good agreement with the value deduced from experimental data.

Calculation of Heavy Ion Inactivation and Mutation Rates in Radial Dose Model of Track Structure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cucinotta, Francis A.; Wilson, John W.; Shavers, Mark R.; Katz, Robert

1997-01-01

In the track structure model, the inactivation cross section is found by summing an inactivation probability over all impact parameters from the ion to the sensitive sites within the cell nucleus. The inactivation probability is evaluated by using the dose response of the system to gamma rays and the radial dose of the ions and may be equal to unity at small impact parameters. We apply the track structure model to recent data with heavy ion beams irradiating biological samples of E. Coli, B. Subtilis spores, and Chinese hamster (V79) cells. Heavy ions have observed cross sections for inactivation that approach and sometimes exceed the geometric size of the cell nucleus. We show how the effects of inactivation may be taken into account in the evaluation of the mutation cross sections in the track structure model through correlation of sites for gene mutation and cell inactivation. The model is fit to available data for HPRT (hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase) mutations in V79 cells, and good agreement is found. Calculations show the high probability for mutation by relativistic ions due to the radial extension of ions track from delta rays. The effects of inactivation on mutation rates make it very unlikely that a single parameter such as LET (linear energy transfer) can be used to specify radiation quality for heavy ion bombardment.

Impact of a transfer center on interhospital referrals and transfers to a tertiary care center.

PubMed

Southard, Patricia A; Hedges, Jerris R; Hunter, John G; Ungerleider, Ross M

2005-07-01

The partnership of faculty physicians and senior clinical hospital administrators in the decision to accept interhospital transfers has not been fully studied. Transfers to academic medical centers on the basis of economics have been of particular concern. To evaluate the impact of joint decision making on transfer acceptance, and to evaluate the basis for decisions to transfer patients to an academic medical center. This was a database study of requested adult interhospital transfers, excluding psychiatric transfers, occurring between January 1, 2003, and December 31, 2003, by using data from a computerized patient-tracking system. Where possible, comparisons with the prior calendar year (i.e., prior to implementation of the administrative review process) were made. Incidence of refusal to accept requested transfers and payer mix of transfer patients were the main outcomes of interest. More than 90% of the adult patients were transferred for conditions that required tertiary care or met Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) requirements. The patient conditions that did not meet tertiary care needs included obstetric patients who did not have prenatal care, patients who had hand and facial trauma, and patients who weighed more than 300 pounds. The payer mix of transfer patients remained stable when using the administrator and physician team to determine acceptance of transfers. During the evaluation period, approximately 91,500 patients statewide lost some level of Medicaid coverage. The value of an administrator and physician team as partners in the interhospital transfer process was demonstrated. Active management of interhospital transfers supports transfer of patients who require tertiary care or who meet EMTALA criteria, thus conserving limited bed capacity and ensuring financial equity, while caring for the uninsured and underinsured patients throughout the state.

Cross Support Transfer Service (CSTS) Framework Library

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ray, Timothy

2014-01-01

Within the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS), there is an effort to standardize data transfer between ground stations and control centers. CCSDS plans to publish a collection of transfer services that will each address the transfer of a particular type of data (e.g., tracking data). These services will be called Cross Support Transfer Services (CSTSs). All of these services will make use of a common foundation that is called the CSTS Framework. This library implements the User side of the CSTS Framework. "User side" means that the library performs the role that is typically expected of the control center. This library was developed in support of the Goddard Data Standards program. This technology could be applicable for control centers, and possibly for use in control center simulators needed to test ground station capabilities. The main advantages of this implementation are its flexibility and simplicity. It provides the framework capabilities, while allowing the library user to provide a wrapper that adapts the library to any particular environment. The main purpose of this implementation was to support the inter-operability testing required by CCSDS. In addition, it is likely that the implementation will be useful within the Goddard mission community (for use in control centers).

GPU-accelerated track reconstruction in the ALICE High Level Trigger

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rohr, David; Gorbunov, Sergey; Lindenstruth, Volker; ALICE Collaboration

2017-10-01

ALICE (A Large Heavy Ion Experiment) is one of the four major experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. The High Level Trigger (HLT) is an online compute farm which reconstructs events measured by the ALICE detector in real-time. The most compute-intensive part is the reconstruction of particle trajectories called tracking and the most important detector for tracking is the Time Projection Chamber (TPC). The HLT uses a GPU-accelerated algorithm for TPC tracking that is based on the Cellular Automaton principle and on the Kalman filter. The GPU tracking has been running in 24/7 operation since 2012 in LHC Run 1 and 2. In order to better leverage the potential of the GPUs, and speed up the overall HLT reconstruction, we plan to bring more reconstruction steps (e.g. the tracking for other detectors) onto the GPUs. There are several tasks running so far on the CPU that could benefit from cooperation with the tracking, which is hardly feasible at the moment due to the delay of the PCI Express transfers. Moving more steps onto the GPU, and processing them on the GPU at once, will reduce PCI Express transfers and free up CPU resources. On top of that, modern GPUs and GPU programming APIs provide new features which are not yet exploited by the TPC tracking. We present our new developments for GPU reconstruction, both with a focus on the online reconstruction on GPU for the online offline computing upgrade in ALICE during LHC Run 3, and also taking into account how the current HLT in Run 2 can profit from these improvements.

Internal Transfer and Articulation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prager, Carolyn

In 1989, a descriptive study was conducted of internal transfer and articulation within the context of two-year branch campuses of four-year institutions. Data were gathered from a survey sent to the chief executive officers (CEO's) of 408 campuses delivering two-year tracks within a four-year college or university. Study findings, based on…

Circulating plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein activity and blood pressure tracking in the community

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Clinical trials using cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) inhibitors to raise high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations reported an 'off-target' blood pressure (BP) raising effect. We evaluated the relations of baseline plasma CETP activity and longitudinal BP change. One tho...

Track/train dynamics test procedure transfer function test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vigil, R. A.

1975-01-01

A transfer function vibration test was made on an 80 ton open hopper freight car in an effort to obtain validation data on the car's nonlinear elastic model. Test configuration, handling, test facilities, test operations, and data acquisition/reduction activities necessary to meet the conditions of test requirements are given.

NHEXAS PHASE I ARIZONA STUDY--STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR KEYPUNCH TRACKING, CUSTODY AND DATA TRANSFER (UA-C-6.0)

EPA Science Inventory

The purpose of this SOP is to describe this sub-routine within the overall field data flow and custody plan. Its purpose is to establish a uniform procedure for the tracking of physical field forms and questionnaires while at keypunch. It applies to all data processing batches ...

Registration using natural features for augmented reality systems.

PubMed

Yuan, M L; Ong, S K; Nee, A Y C

2006-01-01

Registration is one of the most difficult problems in augmented reality (AR) systems. In this paper, a simple registration method using natural features based on the projective reconstruction technique is proposed. This method consists of two steps: embedding and rendering. Embedding involves specifying four points to build the world coordinate system on which a virtual object will be superimposed. In rendering, the Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi (KLT) feature tracker is used to track the natural feature correspondences in the live video. The natural features that have been tracked are used to estimate the corresponding projective matrix in the image sequence. Next, the projective reconstruction technique is used to transfer the four specified points to compute the registration matrix for augmentation. This paper also proposes a robust method for estimating the projective matrix, where the natural features that have been tracked are normalized (translation and scaling) and used as the input data. The estimated projective matrix will be used as an initial estimate for a nonlinear optimization method that minimizes the actual residual errors based on the Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) minimization method, thus making the results more robust and stable. The proposed registration method has three major advantages: 1) It is simple, as no predefined fiducials or markers are used for registration for either indoor and outdoor AR applications. 2) It is robust, because it remains effective as long as at least six natural features are tracked during the entire augmentation, and the existence of the corresponding projective matrices in the live video is guaranteed. Meanwhile, the robust method to estimate the projective matrix can obtain stable results even when there are some outliers during the tracking process. 3) Virtual objects can still be superimposed on the specified areas, even if some parts of the areas are occluded during the entire process. Some indoor and outdoor experiments have been conducted to validate the performance of this proposed method.

On the effect of unsupported sleepers on the dynamic behaviour of a railway track

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, J. Y.; Thompson, D. J.; Jones, C. J. C.

2011-09-01

The effect of unsupported sleepers on the dynamic behaviour of a railway track is studied based on vehicle-track dynamic interaction theory, using a model of the track as a Timoshenko beam supported on a periodic elastic foundation. Considering the vehicle's running speed and the number of unsupported sleepers, the track dynamic characteristics are investigated and verified in the time and frequency domains by experiments on a 1:5 scale model wheel-rail test rig. The results show that when hanging sleepers are present, leading to a discontinuous and irregular track support, additional wheel-rail interaction forces are generated. These forces increase as further sleepers become unsupported and as the vehicle's running speed increases. The adjacent supports experience increased dynamic forces which will lead to further deterioration of track quality and the formation of long wavelength track irregularities, which worsen the vehicles' running stability and riding comfort. Stationary transfer functions measurements of the dynamic behaviour of the track are also presented to support the findings.

An intelligent, free-flying robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reuter, G. J.; Hess, C. W.; Rhoades, D. E.; Mcfadin, L. W.; Healey, K. J.; Erickson, J. D.

1988-01-01

The ground-based demonstration of EVA Retriever, a voice-supervised, intelligent, free-flying robot, is designed to evaluate the capability to retrieve objects (astronauts, equipment, and tools) which have accidentally separated from the Space Station. The major objective of the EVA Retriever Project is to design, develop, and evaluate an integrated robotic hardware and on-board software system which autonomously: (1) performs system activation and check-out, (2) searches for and acquires the target, (3) plans and executes a rendezvous while continuously tracking the target, (4) avoids stationary and moving obstacles, (5) reaches for and grapples the target, (6) returns to transfer the object, and (7) returns to base.

An intelligent, free-flying robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reuter, G. J.; Hess, C. W.; Rhoades, D. E.; Mcfadin, L. W.; Healey, K. J.; Erickson, J. D.; Phinney, Dale E.

1989-01-01

The ground based demonstration of the extensive extravehicular activity (EVA) Retriever, a voice-supervised, intelligent, free flying robot, is designed to evaluate the capability to retrieve objects (astronauts, equipment, and tools) which have accidentally separated from the Space Station. The major objective of the EVA Retriever Project is to design, develop, and evaluate an integrated robotic hardware and on-board software system which autonomously: (1) performs system activation and check-out; (2) searches for and acquires the target; (3) plans and executes a rendezvous while continuously tracking the target; (4) avoids stationary and moving obstacles; (5) reaches for and grapples the target; (6) returns to transfer the object; and (7) returns to base.

Characterization of photosynthetically active duckweed (Wolffia australiana) in vitro culture by Respiration Activity Monitoring System (RAMOS).

PubMed

Rechmann, Henrik; Friedrich, Andrea; Forouzan, Dara; Barth, Stefan; Schnabl, Heide; Biselli, Manfred; Boehm, Robert

2007-06-01

The feasibility of oxygen transfer rate (OTR) measurement to non-destructively monitor plant propagation and vitality of photosynthetically active plant in vitro culture of duckweed (Wolffia australiana, Lemnaceae) was tested using Respiration Activity Monitoring System (RAMOS). As a result, OTR proofed to be a sensitive indicator for plant vitality. The culture characterization under day/night light conditions, however, revealed a complex interaction between oxygen production and consumption, rendering OTR measurement an unsuitable tool to track plant propagation. However, RAMOS was found to be a useful tool in preliminary studies for process development of photosynthetically active plant in vitro cultures.

High precision applications of the global positioning system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lichten, Stephen M.

1991-01-01

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a constellation of U.S. defense navigation satellites which can be used for military and civilian positioning applications. A wide variety of GPS scientific applications were identified and precise positioning capabilities with GPS were already demonstrated with data available from the present partial satellite constellation. Expected applications include: measurements of Earth crustal motion, particularly in seismically active regions; measurements of the Earth's rotation rate and pole orientation; high-precision Earth orbiter tracking; surveying; measurements of media propagation delays for calibration of deep space radiometric data in support of NASA planetary missions; determination of precise ground station coordinates; and precise time transfer worldwide.

Design, construction, operation, and evaluation of solar systems for industrial process-heat applications in the intermediate-temperature range (212/sup 0/F to 550/sup 0/F). Environmental assessment

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

None

1982-01-01

The environmental impacts are assessed for a proposed 50,000 square foot field of single axis tracking, concentrating solar collectors along the Ohio River in southern Ohio. The facility is planned to produce process steam for use in the production of polystyrene. Absorbed solar energy would heat an aliphatic hydrocarbon synthetic heat transfer fluid to a maximum temperature of 500/sup 0/F. The existing environment is briefly described, particularly regarding air quality. The potential environmental impacts of the solar process heat system on the air, water, soil, endangered species and archaeological and historical resources are examined, including risks due to flood andmore » glare and a comparison of alternatives. Also included are a Consent Judgment relating to two coal-fired boilers in violation of EPA regulations, property data of Gulf Synfluid 4CS (a candidate heat transfer fluid), piping and instrumentation diagrams and schematics, site grade and drainage plan, geological survey map, subsurface soil investigation, Ohio endangered species list, Ohio Archaeological Counsel certification list, and a study of heat transfer fluids and their properties. (LEW)« less

SU-G-BRA-06: Quantification of Tracking Performance of a Multi-Layer Electronic Portal Imaging Device

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

Hu, Y; Rottmann, J; Myronakis, M

2016-06-15

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to quantify the improvement in tumor tracking, with and without fiducial markers, afforded by employing a multi-layer (MLI) electronic portal imaging device (EPID) over the current state-of-the-art, single-layer, digital megavolt imager (DMI) architecture. Methods: An ideal observer signal-to-noise ratio (d’) approach was used to quantify the ability of an MLI EPID and a current, state-of-the-art DMI EPID to track lung tumors from the treatment beam’s-eye-view. Using each detector modulation transfer function (MTF) and noise power spectrum (NPS) as inputs, a detection task was employed with object functions describing simple three-dimensional Cartesian shapes (spheresmore » and cylinders). Marker-less tumor tracking algorithms often use texture discrimination to differentiate benign and malignant tissue. The performance of such algorithms is simulated by employing a discrimination task for the ideal observer, which measures the ability of a system to differentiate two image quantities. These were defined as the measured textures for benign and malignant lung tissue. Results: The NNPS of the MLI ∼25% of that of the DMI at the expense of decreased MTF at intermediate frequencies (0.25≤« less

Simultaneous Detection and Tracking of Pedestrian from Panoramic Laser Scanning Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Wen; Vallet, Bruno; Schindler, Konrad; Paparoditis, Nicolas

2016-06-01

Pedestrian traffic flow estimation is essential for public place design and construction planning. Traditional data collection by human investigation is tedious, inefficient and expensive. Panoramic laser scanners, e.g. Velodyne HDL-64E, which scan surroundings repetitively at a high frequency, have been increasingly used for 3D object tracking. In this paper, a simultaneous detection and tracking (SDAT) method is proposed for precise and automatic pedestrian trajectory recovery. First, the dynamic environment is detected using two different methods, Nearest-point and Max-distance. Then, all the points on moving objects are transferred into a space-time (x, y, t) coordinate system. The pedestrian detection and tracking amounts to assign the points belonging to pedestrians into continuous trajectories in space-time. We formulate the point assignment task as an energy function which incorporates the point evidence, trajectory number, pedestrian shape and motion. A low energy trajectory will well explain the point observations, and have plausible trajectory trend and length. The method inherently filters out points from other moving objects and false detections. The energy function is solved by a two-step optimization process: tracklet detection in a short temporal window; and global tracklet association through the whole time span. Results demonstrate that the proposed method can automatically recover the pedestrians trajectories with accurate positions and low false detections and mismatches.

Utilization of a CRT display light pen in the design of feedback control systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thompson, J. G.; Young, K. R.

1972-01-01

A hierarchical structure of the interlinked programs was developed to provide a flexible computer-aided design tool. A graphical input technique and a data structure are considered which provide the capability of entering the control system model description into the computer in block diagram form. An information storage and retrieval system was developed to keep track of the system description, and analysis and simulation results, and to provide them to the correct routines for further manipulation or display. Error analysis and diagnostic capabilities are discussed, and a technique was developed to reduce a transfer function to a set of nested integrals suitable for digital simulation. A general, automated block diagram reduction procedure was set up to prepare the system description for the analysis routines.

Fluorescent probes for tracking the transfer of iron–sulfur cluster and other metal cofactors in biosynthetic reaction pathways

DOE PAGES

Vranish, James N.; Russell, William K.; Yu, Lusa E.; ...

2014-12-05

Iron–sulfur (Fe–S) clusters are protein cofactors that are constructed and delivered to target proteins by elaborate biosynthetic machinery. Mechanistic insights into these processes have been limited by the lack of sensitive probes for tracking Fe–S cluster synthesis and transfer reactions. Here we present fusion protein- and intein-based fluorescent labeling strategies that can probe Fe–S cluster binding. The fluorescence is sensitive to different cluster types ([2Fe–2S] and [4Fe–4S] clusters), ligand environments ([2Fe–2S] clusters on Rieske, ferredoxin (Fdx), and glutaredoxin), and cluster oxidation states. The power of this approach is highlighted with an extreme example in which the kinetics of Fe–S clustermore » transfer reactions are monitored between two Fdx molecules that have identical Fe–S spectroscopic properties. This exchange reaction between labeled and unlabeled Fdx is catalyzed by dithiothreitol (DTT), a result that was confirmed by mass spectrometry. DTT likely functions in a ligand substitution reaction that generates a [2Fe–2S]–DTT species, which can transfer the cluster to either labeled or unlabeled Fdx. The ability to monitor this challenging cluster exchange reaction indicates that real-time Fe–S cluster incorporation can be tracked for a specific labeled protein in multicomponent assays that include several unlabeled Fe–S binding proteins or other chromophores. Such advanced kinetic experiments are required to untangle the intricate networks of transfer pathways and the factors affecting flux through branch points. High sensitivity and suitability with high-throughput methodology are additional benefits of this approach. Lastly, we anticipate that this cluster detection methodology will transform the study of Fe–S cluster pathways and potentially other metal cofactor biosynthetic pathways.« less

The thermal history of the Miocene Ibar Basin (Southern Serbia): new constraints from apatite and zircon fission track and vitrinite reflectance data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Andrić, Nevena; Fügenschuh, Bernhard; Životić, Dragana; Cvetković, Vladica

2015-02-01

The Ibar Basin was formed during Miocene large scale extension in the NE Dinaride segment of the Alpine- Carpathian-Dinaride system. The Miocene extension led to exhumation of deep seated core-complexes (e.g. Studenica and Kopaonik core-complex) as well as to the formation of extensional basins in the hanging wall (Ibar Basin). Sediments of the Ibar Basin were studied by apatite and zircon fission track and vitrinite reflectance in order to define thermal events during basin evolution. Vitrinite reflectance (VR) data (0.63-0.90 %Rr) indicate a bituminous stage for the organic matter that experienced maximal temperatures of around 120-130 °C. Zircon fission track (ZFT) ages indicate provenance ages. The apatite fission track (AFT) single grain ages (45-6.7 Ma) and bimodal track lengths distribution indicate partial annealing of the detrital apatites. Both vitrinite reflectance and apatite fission track data of the studied sediments imply post-depositional thermal overprint in the Ibar Basin. Thermal history models of the detritial apatites reveal a heating episode prior to cooling that began at around 10 Ma. The heating episode started around 17 Ma and lasted 10-8 Ma reaching the maximum temperatures between 100-130 °C. We correlate this event with the domal uplift of the Studenica and Kopaonik cores where heat was transferred from the rising warm footwall to the adjacent colder hanging wall. The cooling episode is related to basin inversion and erosion. The apatite fission track data indicate local thermal perturbations, detected in the SE part of the Ibar basin (Piskanja deposit) with the time frame ~7.1 Ma, which may correspond to the youngest volcanic phase in the region.

Including Transfer-Out Behavior in Retention Models: Using the NSLC Enrollment Search Data.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Porter, Stephen R.

Almost all studies of college student retention inappropriately combine stopouts with transfer-outs due to a lack of data. The National Student Loan Clearinghouse (NSLC) has created a new database that tracks students across institutions. These data, in combination with institutional databases, now allow researchers to take into account both…

Including Transfer-Out Behavior in Retention Models: Using the NSC EnrollmentSearch Data. AIR Professional File.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Porter, Stephen R.

Almost all studies of retention inappropriately combine stopouts with transfer-outs because of a lack of data. The National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) (formerly called the National Student Loan Clearinghouse) created a new database that tracks students across institutions. These data, in combination with institutional databases, now allow…

(Re)Anchored, Video-Centered Engagement: The Transferability of Preservice Training to Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dickinson, Gail; Summers, Emily J.

2010-01-01

This longitudinal study tracks primary participants over 3 years from their last year of university preservice teaching training through their second year of in-service teaching via surveys, interviews, and teaching observations. The study employs a descriptive case study design to examine the transfer of preservice content, pedagogy, and video…

76 FR 65180 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; Application to Shuck Surf Clams/Ocean Quahogs...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-20

.... Method of Collection Requests from allocation holders to transfer quota use paper applications or an... submitted on or before December 19, 2011. ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Diana Hynek... transferable quota (ITQ) allocation holders in order to process and track requests from the allocation holders...

International comparison CCQM-K101: oxygen in nitrogen—a track B comparison and that the matrix contains argon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Z.; Han, Q.; Wang, D.; Macé, T.; Kipphardt, H.; Maiwald, M.; Tuma, D.; Uehara, S.; Akima, D.; Shimosaka, T.; Jung, J.; Oh, S.-H.; van der Veen, A.; van Wijk, J. I. T.; Ziel, P. R.; Konopelko, L.; Valkova, M.; Mogale, David M.; Botha, A.; Brewer, P.; Murugan, A.; Doval Minnaro, M.; Miller, M.; Guenther, F.; Kelly, M. E.

2016-01-01

This key comparison aims to assess the capabilities of the participants to determine the amount-of-substance fraction oxygen in nitrogen. The GAWG has classified this as a track B comparison, due to the unexpected 50 μmol/mol argon mole fraction content of the transfer standards, which effects the achievable performance of some measurement techniques such a GC-TCD. The separation of oxygen and argon is challenging, and not all systems in use are equally well designed for it. As this analytical challenge due to a substantial fraction of argon in the transfer standards became a reality, the Gas Analysis Working Group (GAWG) decided to qualify this key comparison as a regular key comparison and not as a core comparison, which may be used to support calibration and measurement capabilities (CMCs) for oxygen in nitrogen, or for oxygen in nitrogen mixtures containing argon only (see also the section on support to CMCs). Main text To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCQM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA).

Production of recombinant adenovirus containing human interlukin-4 gene.

PubMed

Mojarrad, Majid; Abdolazimi, Yassan; Hajati, Jamshid; Modarressi, Mohammad Hossein

2011-11-01

Recombinant adenoviruses are currently used for a variety of purposes, including in vitro gene transfer, in vivo vaccination, and gene therapy. Ability to infect many cell types, high efficiency in gene transfer, entering both dividing and non dividing cells, and growing to high titers make this virus a good choice for using in various experiments. In the present experiment, a recombinant adenovirus containing human IL-4 coding sequence was made. IL-4 has several characteristics that made it a good choice for using in cancer gene therapy, controlling inflammatory diseases, and studies on autoimmune diseases. In brief, IL-4 coding sequence was amplified by and cloned in pAd-Track-CMV. Then, by means of homologous recombination between recombinant pAd-Track-CMV and Adeasy-1 plasmid in bacteria, recombinant adenovirus complete genome was made and IL-4 containing shuttle vector was incorporated into the viral backbone. After linearization, for virus packaging, viral genome was transfected into HEK-293 cell line. Viral production was conveniently followed with the aid of green fluorescent protein. Recombinant adenovirus produced here, was capable to infecting cell lines and express interlukin-4 in cell. This system can be used as a powerful, easy, and cost benefit tool in various studies on cancer gene therapy and also studies on immunogenetics.

FAST TRACK COMMUNICATION: Oscillation structures in elastic and electron capture cross sections for H+-H collisions in Debye plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Y.; Wang, J. G.; Krstic, P. S.; Janev, R. K.

2010-10-01

We find that the number of vibrational states in the ground potential of a H2+ molecular ion embedded in the Debye plasma and the number of Regge oscillations in the resonant charge transfer cross section of the H+ + H collision system in the plasma are quasi-conserved when the Debye radius D is larger than 1.4a0. The elastic and resonant charge transfer processes in the H+ + H collision have been studied in the 0.1 meV-100 eV collision energy range for a wide range of Debye radii using a highly accurate calculation based on the modified ab initio multireference configuration interaction code. Remarkable plasma screening effects have been found in both the molecular structure and the collision dynamics of this system. Shape resonances, Regge and glory oscillations have been found in the integral cross sections in the considered energy range even for strong interaction screening, showing their ubiquitous nature.

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission Operational Land Imager (OLI) Radiometric Calibration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Markham, Brian L.; Dabney, Philip W.; Murphy-Morris, Jeanine E.; Knight, Edward J.; Kvaran, Geir; Barsi, Julia A.

2010-01-01

The Operational Land Imager (OLI) on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) has a comprehensive radiometric characterization and calibration program beginning with the instrument design, and extending through integration and test, on-orbit operations and science data processing. Key instrument design features for radiometric calibration include dual solar diffusers and multi-lamped on-board calibrators. The radiometric calibration transfer procedure from NIST standards has multiple checks on the radiometric scale throughout the process and uses a heliostat as part of the transfer to orbit of the radiometric calibration. On-orbit lunar imaging will be used to track the instruments stability and side slither maneuvers will be used in addition to the solar diffuser to flat field across the thousands of detectors per band. A Calibration Validation Team is continuously involved in the process from design to operations. This team uses an Image Assessment System (IAS), part of the ground system to characterize and calibrate the on-orbit data.

Using geochemical fingerprinting to track the dispersion of radioactive contamination along coastal catchments of the Fukushima Prefecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lepage, Hugo; Laceby, J. Patrick; Evrard, Olivier; Onda, Yuichi; Caroline, Chartin; Lefèvre, Irène; Bonté, Philippe; Ayrault, Sophie

2015-04-01

Several coastal catchments located in the vicinity of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Power Plant were impacted contaminated fallout in March 2011. Following the accident, typhoons and snowmelt runoff events transfer radiocesium contamination through the coastal floodplains and ultimately to the Pacific Ocean. Therefore it is important to understand the location and relative contribution of different erosion sources in order to manage radiocesium transfer within these coastal catchments and the cumulative export of radiocesium to the Pacific Ocean. Here we present a sediment fingerprinting approach to determine the relative contributions of sediment from different soil types to sediment transported throughout two coastal riverine systems. The sediment fingerprinting technique presented utilizes differences in the elemental geochemistry of the distinct soil types to determine their relative contributions to sediment sampled in riverine systems. This research is important as it furthers our understanding of dominant erosion sources in the region which will help with ongoing decontamination and monitoring efforts pertaining to the management of fallout radiocesium migration in the region.

U.S.-MEXICO BORDER PROGRAM ARIZONA BORDER STUDY--STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE FOR KEYPUNCH TRACKING, CUSTODY, AND DATA TRANSFER (UA-C-6.0)

EPA Science Inventory

The purpose of this SOP is to describe this sub-routine within the overall field data flow and custody plan. Its purpose is to establish a uniform procedure for the tracking of physical field forms and questionnaires while at keypunch. It applies to all data processing batches ...

Phytotracker, an information management system for easy recording and tracking of plants, seeds and plasmids

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background A large number of different plant lines are produced and maintained in a typical plant research laboratory, both as seed stocks and in active growth. These collections need careful and consistent management to track and maintain them properly, and this is a particularly pressing issue in laboratories undertaking research involving genetic manipulation due to regulatory requirements. Researchers and PIs need to access these data and collections, and therefore an easy-to-use plant-oriented laboratory information management system that implements, maintains and displays the information in a simple and visual format would be of great help in both the daily work in the lab and in ensuring regulatory compliance. Results Here, we introduce ‘Phytotracker’, a laboratory management system designed specifically to organise and track plasmids, seeds and growing plants that can be used in mixed platform environments. Phytotracker is designed with simplicity of user operation and ease of installation and management as the major factor, whilst providing tracking tools that cover the full range of activities in molecular genetics labs. It utilises the cross-platform Filemaker relational database, which allows it to be run as a stand-alone or as a server-based networked solution available across all workstations in a lab that can be internet accessible if desired. It can also be readily modified or customised further. Phytotracker provides cataloguing and search functions for plasmids, seed batches, seed stocks and plants growing in pots or trays, and allows tracking of each plant from seed sowing, through harvest to the new seed batch and can print appropriate labels at each stage. The system enters seed information as it is transferred from the previous harvest data, and allows both selfing and hybridization (crossing) to be defined and tracked. Transgenic lines can be linked to their plasmid DNA source. This ease of use and flexibility helps users to reduce their time needed to organise their plants, seeds and plasmids and to maintain laboratory continuity involving multiple workers. Conclusion We have developed and used Phytotracker for over five years and have found it has been an intuitive, powerful and flexible research tool in organising our plasmid, seed and plant collections requiring minimal maintenance and training for users. It has been developed in an Arabidopsis molecular genetics environment, but can be readily adapted for almost any plant laboratory research. PMID:23062011

Phytotracker, an information management system for easy recording and tracking of plants, seeds and plasmids.

PubMed

Nieuwland, Jeroen; Sornay, Emily; Marchbank, Angela; de Graaf, Barend Hj; Murray, James Ah

2012-10-13

A large number of different plant lines are produced and maintained in a typical plant research laboratory, both as seed stocks and in active growth. These collections need careful and consistent management to track and maintain them properly, and this is a particularly pressing issue in laboratories undertaking research involving genetic manipulation due to regulatory requirements. Researchers and PIs need to access these data and collections, and therefore an easy-to-use plant-oriented laboratory information management system that implements, maintains and displays the information in a simple and visual format would be of great help in both the daily work in the lab and in ensuring regulatory compliance. Here, we introduce 'Phytotracker', a laboratory management system designed specifically to organise and track plasmids, seeds and growing plants that can be used in mixed platform environments. Phytotracker is designed with simplicity of user operation and ease of installation and management as the major factor, whilst providing tracking tools that cover the full range of activities in molecular genetics labs. It utilises the cross-platform Filemaker relational database, which allows it to be run as a stand-alone or as a server-based networked solution available across all workstations in a lab that can be internet accessible if desired. It can also be readily modified or customised further. Phytotracker provides cataloguing and search functions for plasmids, seed batches, seed stocks and plants growing in pots or trays, and allows tracking of each plant from seed sowing, through harvest to the new seed batch and can print appropriate labels at each stage. The system enters seed information as it is transferred from the previous harvest data, and allows both selfing and hybridization (crossing) to be defined and tracked. Transgenic lines can be linked to their plasmid DNA source. This ease of use and flexibility helps users to reduce their time needed to organise their plants, seeds and plasmids and to maintain laboratory continuity involving multiple workers. We have developed and used Phytotracker for over five years and have found it has been an intuitive, powerful and flexible research tool in organising our plasmid, seed and plant collections requiring minimal maintenance and training for users. It has been developed in an Arabidopsis molecular genetics environment, but can be readily adapted for almost any plant laboratory research.

Development of RWHet to Simulate Contaminant Transport in Fractured Porous Media

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

Zhang, Yong; LaBolle, Eric; Reeves, Donald M

2012-07-01

Accurate simulation of matrix diffusion in regional-scale dual-porosity and dual-permeability media is a critical issue for the DOE Underground Test Area (UGTA) program, given the prevalence of fractured geologic media on the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS). Contaminant transport through regional-scale fractured media is typically quantified by particle-tracking based Lagrangian solvers through the inclusion of dual-domain mass transfer algorithms that probabilistically determine particle transfer between fractures and unfractured matrix blocks. UGTA applications include a wide variety of fracture aperture and spacing, effective diffusion coefficients ranging four orders of magnitude, and extreme end member retardation values. This report incorporates the currentmore » dual-domain mass transfer algorithms into the well-known particle tracking code RWHet [LaBolle, 2006], and then tests and evaluates the updated code. We also develop and test a direct numerical simulation (DNS) approach to replace the classical transfer probability method in characterizing particle dynamics across the fracture/matrix interface. The final goal of this work is to implement the algorithm identified as most efficient and effective into RWHet, so that an accurate and computationally efficient software suite can be built for dual-porosity/dual-permeability applications. RWHet is a mature Lagrangian transport simulator with a substantial user-base that has undergone significant development and model validation. In this report, we also substantially tested the capability of RWHet in simulating passive and reactive tracer transport through regional-scale, heterogeneous media. Four dual-domain mass transfer methodologies were considered in this work. We first developed the empirical transfer probability approach proposed by Liu et al. [2000], and coded it into RWHet. The particle transfer probability from one continuum to the other is proportional to the ratio of the mass entering the other continuum to the mass in the current continuum. Numerical examples show that this method is limited to certain ranges of parameters, due to an intrinsic assumption of an equilibrium concentration profile in the matrix blocks in building the transfer probability. Subsequently, this method fails in describing mass transfer for parameter combinations that violate this assumption, including small diffusion coefficients (i.e., the free-water molecular diffusion coefficient 1×10-11 meter2/second), relatively large fracture spacings (such as meter), and/or relatively large matrix retardation coefficients (i.e., ). These “outliers” in parameter range are common in UGTA applications. To address the above limitations, we then developed a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS)-Reflective method. The novel DNS-Reflective method can directly track the particle dynamics across the fracture/matrix interface using a random walk, without any empirical assumptions. This advantage should make the DNS-Reflective method feasible for a wide range of parameters. Numerical tests of the DNS-Reflective, however, show that the method is computationally very demanding, since the time step must be very small to resolve particle transfer between fractures and matrix blocks. To improve the computational efficiency of the DNS approach, we then adopted Roubinet et al.’s method [2009], which uses first passage time distributions to simulate dual-domain mass transfer. The DNS-Roubinet method was found to be computationally more efficient than the DNS-Reflective method. It matches the analytical solution for the whole range of major parameters (including diffusion coefficient and fracture aperture values that are considered “outliers” for Liu et al.’s transfer probability method [2000]) for a single fracture system. The DNS-Roubinet method, however, has its own disadvantage: for a parallel fracture system, the truncation of the first passage time distribution creates apparent errors when the fracture spacing is small, and thus it tends to erroneously predict breakthrough curves (BTCs) for the parallel fracture system. Finally, we adopted the transient range approach proposed by Pan and Bodvarsson [2002] in RWHet. In this method, particle transfer between fractures and matrix blocks can be resolved without using very small time steps. It does not use any truncation of the first passage time distribution for particles. Hence it does not have the limitation identified above for the DNS-Reflective method and the DNS-Roubinet method. Numerical results were checked against analytical solutions, and also compared to DCPTV2.0 [Pan, 2002]. This version of RWHet (called RWHet-Pan&Bodvarsson in this report) can accurately capture contaminant transport in fractured porous media for a full range of parameters without any practical or theoretical limitations.« less

Software development to support sensor control of robot arc welding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Silas, F. R., Jr.

1986-01-01

The development of software for a Digital Equipment Corporation MINC-23 Laboratory Computer to provide functions of a workcell host computer for Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) robotic welding is documented. Routines were written to transfer robot programs between the MINC and an Advanced Robotic Cyro 750 welding robot. Other routines provide advanced program editing features while additional software allows communicatin with a remote computer aided design system. Access to special robot functions were provided to allow advanced control of weld seam tracking and process control for future development programs.

Direct Inverse Control using an Artificial Neural Network for the Autonomous Hover of a Helicopter

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-05

that if r(t) is the command to hover; the output y(t) will simply track the input command and hold a hover for the helicopter. III. THE X- 4P ...being used to test the DIC techniques to simulate realistic flight conditions. The X- 4P was instrumented with a number of sensors and a data recording...research [1] for system identification. The X- 4P SISO transfer functions were developed by CIFER in order to compare results against the DIC control

TRACALS Evaluation Report. Initial Evaluation Report (AN/GPN-24) Nellis AFB, Nevada, 10 December 1979-6 Mar 1980.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-05-16

Scott AFB, IL 62225 1 1842 EEG /EEIT, Scott AFB, IL 62225 1 1843 EES/EIELT, H-ickam AFB, H-I 96853 1 1844 EES/EIELT, Griffiss AFB, NY 13441 I HQ AFCC/DAPL...Time Control TDC Target Data Computer TO Technical Order TRACALS Traffic Cortrol and Landing Systems TSDA Transfer Switch Drawer Assembly TWT Traveling...the designated targets. The error detector outputs are fed to the TDC to update the beam position data during the next track interval. (b) Processor

Transgenic-cloned pigs systemically expressing red fluorescent protein, Kusabira-Orange.

PubMed

Matsunari, Hitomi; Onodera, Masafumi; Tada, Norihiro; Mochizuki, Hideki; Karasawa, Satoshi; Haruyama, Erika; Nakayama, Naoki; Saito, Hitoshi; Ueno, Satoshi; Kurome, Mayuko; Miyawaki, Atsushi; Nagashima, Hiroshi

2008-09-01

Genetically engineered pigs with cell markers such as fluorescent proteins are highly useful in lines of research that include the tracking of transplanted cells or tissues. In this study, we produced transgenic-cloned pigs carrying a gene for the newly developed red fluorescent protein, humanized Kusabira-Orange (huKO), which was cloned from the coral stone Fungia concinna. The nuclear transfer embryos, reconstructed with fetal fibroblast cells that had been transduced with huKO cDNA using retroviral vector D Delta Nsap, developed efficiently in vitro into blastocysts (28.0%, 37/132). Nearly all (94.6%, 35/37) of the cloned blastocysts derived from the transduced cells exhibited clear huKO gene expression. A total of 429 nuclear transfer embryos were transferred to four recipients, all of which became pregnant and gave birth to 18 transgenic-cloned offspring in total. All of the pigs highly expressed huKO fluorescence in all of the 23 organs and tissues analyzed, including the brain, eyes, intestinal and reproductive organs, skeletal muscle, bone, skin, and hoof. Furthermore, such expression was also confirmed by histological analyses of various tissues such as pancreatic islets, renal corpuscles, neuronal and glial cells, the retina, chondrocytes, and hematopoietic cells. These data demonstrate that transgenic-cloned pigs exhibiting systemic red fluorescence expression can be efficiently produced by nuclear transfer of somatic cells retrovirally transduced with huKO gene.

Handheld portable real-time tracking and communications device

DOEpatents

Wiseman, James M [Albuquerque, NM; Riblett, Jr., Loren E.; Green, Karl L [Albuquerque, NM; Hunter, John A [Albuquerque, NM; Cook, III, Robert N.; Stevens, James R [Arlington, VA

2012-05-22

Portable handheld real-time tracking and communications devices include; a controller module, communications module including global positioning and mesh network radio module, data transfer and storage module, and a user interface module enclosed in a water-resistant enclosure. Real-time tracking and communications devices can be used by protective force, security and first responder personnel to provide situational awareness allowing for enhance coordination and effectiveness in rapid response situations. Such devices communicate to other authorized devices via mobile ad-hoc wireless networks, and do not require fixed infrastructure for their operation.

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

Averyanov, A. V.; Bajajin, A. G.; Chepurnov, V. F.

The time-projection chamber (TPC) is the main tracking detector in the MPD/NICA. The information on charge-particle tracks in the TPC is registered by the MWPG with cathode pad readout. The frontend electronics (FEE) are developed with use of modern technologies such as application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and data transfer to a concentrator via a fast optical interface. The main parameters of the FEE are as follows: total number of channels, ∼95 000; data stream from the whole TPC, 5 GB/s; low power consumption, less than 100 mW/ch; signal to noise ratio (S/N), 30; equivalent noisemore » charge (ENC), <1000e{sup –} (C{sub in} = 10–20 pF); and zero suppression (pad signal rejection ∼90%). The article presents the status of the readout chamber construction and the data acquisition system. The results of testing FEE prototypes are presented.« less

Magnetosensitive e-skins with directional perception for augmented reality

PubMed Central

Cañón Bermúdez, Gilbert Santiago; Karnaushenko, Dmitriy D.; Karnaushenko, Daniil; Lebanov, Ana; Bischoff, Lothar; Kaltenbrunner, Martin; Fassbender, Jürgen; Schmidt, Oliver G.; Makarov, Denys

2018-01-01

Electronic skins equipped with artificial receptors are able to extend our perception beyond the modalities that have naturally evolved. These synthetic receptors offer complimentary information on our surroundings and endow us with novel means of manipulating physical or even virtual objects. We realize highly compliant magnetosensitive skins with directional perception that enable magnetic cognition, body position tracking, and touchless object manipulation. Transfer printing of eight high-performance spin valve sensors arranged into two Wheatstone bridges onto 1.7-μm-thick polyimide foils ensures mechanical imperceptibility. This resembles a new class of interactive devices extracting information from the surroundings through magnetic tags. We demonstrate this concept in augmented reality systems with virtual knob-turning functions and the operation of virtual dialing pads, based on the interaction with magnetic fields. This technology will enable a cornucopia of applications from navigation, motion tracking in robotics, regenerative medicine, and sports and gaming to interaction in supplemented reality. PMID:29376121

Combining Charge Couple Devices and Rate Sensors for the Feedforward Control System of a Charge Coupled Device Tracking Loop.

PubMed

Tang, Tao; Tian, Jing; Zhong, Daijun; Fu, Chengyu

2016-06-25

A rate feed forward control-based sensor fusion is proposed to improve the closed-loop performance for a charge couple device (CCD) tracking loop. The target trajectory is recovered by combining line of sight (LOS) errors from the CCD and the angular rate from a fiber-optic gyroscope (FOG). A Kalman filter based on the Singer acceleration model utilizes the reconstructive target trajectory to estimate the target velocity. Different from classical feed forward control, additive feedback loops are inevitably added to the original control loops due to the fact some closed-loop information is used. The transfer function of the Kalman filter in the frequency domain is built for analyzing the closed loop stability. The bandwidth of the Kalman filter is the major factor affecting the control stability and close-loop performance. Both simulations and experiments are provided to demonstrate the benefits of the proposed algorithm.

Near-Infrared Fluorescent Nanoprobes for Revealing the Role of Dopamine in Drug Addiction.

PubMed

Feng, Peijian; Chen, Yulei; Zhang, Lei; Qian, Cheng-Gen; Xiao, Xuanzhong; Han, Xu; Shen, Qun-Dong

2018-02-07

Brain imaging techniques enable visualizing the activity of central nervous system without invasive neurosurgery. Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter. Its fluctuation in brain leads to a wide range of diseases and disorders, like drug addiction, depression, and Parkinson's disease. We designed near-infrared fluorescence dopamine-responsive nanoprobes (DRNs) for brain activity imaging during drug abuse and addiction process. On the basis of light-induced electron transfer between DRNs and dopamine and molecular wire effect of the DRNs, we can track the dynamical change of the neurotransmitter level in the physiological environment and the releasing of the neurotransmitter in living dopaminergic neurons in response to nicotine stimulation. The functional near-infrared fluorescence imaging can dynamically track the dopamine level in the mice midbrain under normal or drug-activated condition and evaluate the long-term effect of addictive substances to the brain. This strategy has the potential for studying neural activity under physiological condition.

Improved outcomes after successful implementation of a pediatric early warning system (PEWS) in a resource-limited pediatric oncology hospital.

PubMed

Agulnik, Asya; Mora Robles, Lupe Nataly; Forbes, Peter W; Soberanis Vasquez, Doris Judith; Mack, Ricardo; Antillon-Klussmann, Federico; Kleinman, Monica; Rodriguez-Galindo, Carlos

2017-08-01

Hospitalized pediatric oncology patients are at high risk of clinical decline and mortality, particularly in resource-limited settings. Pediatric early warning systems (PEWS) aid in the early identification of clinical deterioration; however, there are limited data regarding their feasibility or impact in low-resource settings. This study describes the successful implementation of PEWS at the Unidad Nacional de Oncología Pediátrica (UNOP), a pediatric oncology hospital in Guatemala, resulting in improved inpatient outcomes. A modified PEWS was implemented at UNOP with systems to track errors, transfers to a higher level of care, and high scores. A retrospective cohort study was used to evaluate clinical deterioration events in the year before and after PEWS implementation. After PEWS implementation at UNOP, there was 100% compliance with PEWS documentation and an error rate of <10%. Implementation resulted in 5 high PEWS per week, with 30% of patients transferring to a higher level of care. Among patients requiring transfer to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), 93% had an abnormal PEWS before transfer. The rate of clinical deterioration events decreased after PEWS implementation (9.3 vs 6.5 per 1000-hospitalpatient-days, p = .003). Despite an 18% increase in total hospital patient-days, PICU utilization for inpatient transfers decreased from 1376 to 1088 PICU patient-days per year (21% decrease; P<.001). This study describes the successful implementation of PEWS in a pediatric oncology hospital in Guatemala, resulting in decreased inpatient clinical deterioration events and PICU utilization. This work demonstrates that PEWS is a feasible and effective quality improvement measure to improve hospital care for children with cancer in hospitals with limited resources. Cancer 2017;123:2965-74. © 2017 American Cancer Society. © 2017 American Cancer Society.

Design, parametrization, and pole placement of stabilizing output feedback compensators via injective cogenerator quotient signal modules.

PubMed

Blumthaler, Ingrid; Oberst, Ulrich

2012-03-01

Control design belongs to the most important and difficult tasks of control engineering and has therefore been treated by many prominent researchers and in many textbooks, the systems being generally described by their transfer matrices or by Rosenbrock equations and more recently also as behaviors. Our approach to controller design uses, in addition to the ideas of our predecessors on coprime factorizations of transfer matrices and on the parametrization of stabilizing compensators, a new mathematical technique which enables simpler design and also new theorems in spite of the many outstanding results of the literature: (1) We use an injective cogenerator signal module ℱ over the polynomial algebra [Formula: see text] (F an infinite field), a saturated multiplicatively closed set T of stable polynomials and its quotient ring [Formula: see text] of stable rational functions. This enables the simultaneous treatment of continuous and discrete systems and of all notions of stability, called T-stability. We investigate stabilizing control design by output feedback of input/output (IO) behaviors and study the full feedback IO behavior, especially its autonomous part and not only its transfer matrix. (2) The new technique is characterized by the permanent application of the injective cogenerator quotient signal module [Formula: see text] and of quotient behaviors [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text]-behaviors B. (3) For the control tasks of tracking, disturbance rejection, model matching, and decoupling and not necessarily proper plants we derive necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of proper stabilizing compensators with proper and stable closed loop behaviors, parametrize all such compensators as IO behaviors and not only their transfer matrices and give new algorithms for their construction. Moreover we solve the problem of pole placement or spectral assignability for the complete feedback behavior. The properness of the full feedback behavior ensures the absence of impulsive solutions in the continuous case, and that of the compensator enables its realization by Kalman state space equations or elementary building blocks. We note that every behavior admits an IO decomposition with proper transfer matrix, but that most of these decompositions do not have this property, and therefore we do not assume the properness of the plant. (4) The new technique can also be applied to more general control interconnections according to Willems, in particular to two-parameter feedback compensators and to the recent tracking framework of Fiaz/Takaba/Trentelman. In contrast to these authors, however, we pay special attention to the properness of all constructed transfer matrices which requires more subtle algorithms.

Development of a Simple Electron Transfer and Polarization Model and Its Application to Biological Systems.

PubMed

Diller, David J

2017-01-10

Here we present a new method for point charge calculation which we call Q ET (charges by electron transfer). The intent of this work is to develop a method that can be useful for studying charge transfer in large biological systems. It is based on the intuitive framework of the Q EQ method with the key difference being that the Q ET method tracks all pairwise electron transfers by augmenting the Q EQ pseudoenergy function with a distance dependent cost function for each electron transfer. This approach solves the key limitation of the Q EQ method which is its handling of formally charged groups. First, we parametrize the Q ET method by fitting to electrostatic potentials calculated using ab initio quantum mechanics on over 11,000 small molecules. On an external test set of over 2500 small molecules the Q ET method achieves a mean absolute error of 1.37 kcal/mol/electron when compared to the ab initio electrostatic potentials. Second, we examine the conformational dependence of the charges on over 2700 tripeptides. With the tripeptide data set, we show that the conformational effects account for approximately 0.4 kcal/mol/electron on the electrostatic potentials. Third, we test the Q ET method for its ability to reproduce the effects of polarization and electron transfer on 1000 water clusters. For the water clusters, we show that the Q ET method captures about 50% of the polarization and electron transfer effects. Finally, we examine the effects of electron transfer and polarizability on the electrostatic interaction between p38 and 94 small molecule ligands. When used in conjunction with the Generalized-Born continuum solvent model, polarization and electron transfer with the Q ET model lead to an average change of 17 kcal/mol on the calculated electrostatic component of ΔG.

Quantitative evaluation for accumulative calibration error and video-CT registration errors in electromagnetic-tracked endoscopy.

PubMed

Liu, Sheena Xin; Gutiérrez, Luis F; Stanton, Doug

2011-05-01

Electromagnetic (EM)-guided endoscopy has demonstrated its value in minimally invasive interventions. Accuracy evaluation of the system is of paramount importance to clinical applications. Previously, a number of researchers have reported the results of calibrating the EM-guided endoscope; however, the accumulated errors of an integrated system, which ultimately reflect intra-operative performance, have not been characterized. To fill this vacancy, we propose a novel system to perform this evaluation and use a 3D metric to reflect the intra-operative procedural accuracy. This paper first presents a portable design and a method for calibration of an electromagnetic (EM)-tracked endoscopy system. An evaluation scheme is then described that uses the calibration results and EM-CT registration to enable real-time data fusion between CT and endoscopic video images. We present quantitative evaluation results for estimating the accuracy of this system using eight internal fiducials as the targets on an anatomical phantom: the error is obtained by comparing the positions of these targets in the CT space, EM space and endoscopy image space. To obtain 3D error estimation, the 3D locations of the targets in the endoscopy image space are reconstructed from stereo views of the EM-tracked monocular endoscope. Thus, the accumulated errors are evaluated in a controlled environment, where the ground truth information is present and systematic performance (including the calibration error) can be assessed. We obtain the mean in-plane error to be on the order of 2 pixels. To evaluate the data integration performance for virtual navigation, target video-CT registration error (TRE) is measured as the 3D Euclidean distance between the 3D-reconstructed targets of endoscopy video images and the targets identified in CT. The 3D error (TRE) encapsulates EM-CT registration error, EM-tracking error, fiducial localization error, and optical-EM calibration error. We present in this paper our calibration method and a virtual navigation evaluation system for quantifying the overall errors of the intra-operative data integration. We believe this phantom not only offers us good insights to understand the systematic errors encountered in all phases of an EM-tracked endoscopy procedure but also can provide quality control of laboratory experiments for endoscopic procedures before the experiments are transferred from the laboratory to human subjects.

Proton Linear Energy Transfer measurement using Emulsion Cloud Chamber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shin, Jae-ik; Park, Seyjoon; Kim, Haksoo; Kim, Meyoung; Jeong, Chiyoung; Cho, Sungkoo; Lim, Young Kyung; Shin, Dongho; Lee, Se Byeong; Morishima, Kunihiro; Naganawa, Naotaka; Sato, Osamu; Kwak, Jungwon; Kim, Sung Hyun; Cho, Jung Sook; Ahn, Jung Keun; Kim, Ji Hyun; Yoon, Chun Sil; Incerti, Sebastien

2015-04-01

This study proposes to determine the correlation between the Volume Pulse Height (VPH) measured by nuclear emulsion and Linear Energy Transfer (LET) calculated by Monte Carlo simulation based on Geant4. The nuclear emulsion was irradiated at the National Cancer Center (NCC) with a therapeutic proton beam and was installed at 5.2 m distance from the beam nozzle structure with various thicknesses of water-equivalent material (PMMA) blocks to position with specific positions along the Bragg curve. After the beam exposure and development of the emulsion films, the films were scanned by S-UTS developed in Nagoya University. The proton tracks in the scanned films were reconstructed using the 'NETSCAN' method. Through this procedure, the VPH can be derived from each reconstructed proton track at each position along the Bragg curve. The VPH value indicates the magnitude of energy loss in proton track. By comparison with the simulation results obtained using Geant4, we found the correlation between the LET calculated by Monte Carlo simulation and the VPH measured by the nuclear emulsion.

Assessment of RFID Read Accuracy for ISS Water Kit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chu, Andrew

2011-01-01

The Space Life Sciences Directorate/Medical Informatics and Health Care Systems Branch (SD4) is assessing the benefits Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for tracking items flown onboard the International Space Station (ISS). As an initial study, the Avionic Systems Division Electromagnetic Systems Branch (EV4) is collaborating with SD4 to affix RFID tags to a water kit supplied by SD4 and studying the read success rate of the tagged items. The tagged water kit inside a Cargo Transfer Bag (CTB) was inventoried using three different RFID technologies, including the Johnson Space Center Building 14 Wireless Habitat Test Bed RFID portal, an RFID hand-held reader being targeted for use on board the ISS, and an RFID enclosure designed and prototyped by EV4.

System design of a hand-held mobile robot for craniotomy.

PubMed

Kane, Gavin; Eggers, Georg; Boesecke, Robert; Raczkowsky, Jörg; Wörn, Heinz; Marmulla, Rüdiger; Mühling, Joachim

2009-01-01

This contribution reports the development and initial testing of a Mobile Robot System for Surgical Craniotomy, the Craniostar. A kinematic system based on a unicycle robot is analysed to provide local positioning through two spiked wheels gripping directly onto a patients skull. A control system based on a shared control system between both the Surgeon and Robot is employed in a hand-held design that is tested initially on plastic phantom and swine skulls. Results indicate that the system has substantially lower risk than present robotically assisted craniotomies, and despite being a hand-held mobile robot, the Craniostar is still capable of sub-millimetre accuracy in tracking along a trajectory and thus achieving an accurate transfer of pre-surgical plan to the operating room procedure, without the large impact of current medical robots based on modified industrial robots.

Luciferase-tagged wild-type and tropism-deficient mouse cytomegaloviruses reveal early dynamics of host colonization following peripheral challenge.

PubMed

Farrell, Helen; Oliveira, Martha; Macdonald, Kate; Yunis, Joseph; Mach, Michael; Bruce, Kimberley; Stevenson, Philip; Cardin, Rhonda; Davis-Poynter, Nicholas

2016-12-01

Cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) establish persistent, systemic infections and cause disease by maternal-foetal transfer, suggesting that their dissemination is a key target for antiviral intervention. Late clinical presentation has meant that human CMV (HCMV) dissemination is not well understood. Murine CMV (MCMV) provides a tractable model. Whole mouse imaging of virus-expressed luciferase has proved a useful way to track systemic infections. MCMV, in which the abundant lytic gene M78 was luciferase-tagged via a self-cleaving peptide (M78-LUC), allowed serial, unbiased imaging of systemic and peripheral infection without significant virus attenuation. Ex vivo luciferase imaging showed greater sensitivity than plaque assay, and revealed both well-known infection sites (the lungs, lymph nodes, salivary glands, liver, spleen and pancreas) and less explored sites (the bone marrow and upper respiratory tract). We applied luciferase imaging to tracking MCMV lacking M33, a chemokine receptor conserved in HCMV and a proposed anti-viral drug target. M33-deficient M78-LUC colonized normally in peripheral sites and local draining lymph nodes but spread poorly to the salivary gland, suggesting a defect in vascular transport consistent with properties of a chemokine receptor.

Real-Time Imaging System for the OpenPET

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tashima, Hideaki; Yoshida, Eiji; Kinouchi, Shoko; Nishikido, Fumihiko; Inadama, Naoko; Murayama, Hideo; Suga, Mikio; Haneishi, Hideaki; Yamaya, Taiga

2012-02-01

The OpenPET and its real-time imaging capability have great potential for real-time tumor tracking in medical procedures such as biopsy and radiation therapy. For the real-time imaging system, we intend to use the one-pass list-mode dynamic row-action maximum likelihood algorithm (DRAMA) and implement it using general-purpose computing on graphics processing units (GPGPU) techniques. However, it is difficult to make consistent reconstructions in real-time because the amount of list-mode data acquired in PET scans may be large depending on the level of radioactivity, and the reconstruction speed depends on the amount of the list-mode data. In this study, we developed a system to control the data used in the reconstruction step while retaining quantitative performance. In the proposed system, the data transfer control system limits the event counts to be used in the reconstruction step according to the reconstruction speed, and the reconstructed images are properly intensified by using the ratio of the used counts to the total counts. We implemented the system on a small OpenPET prototype system and evaluated the performance in terms of the real-time tracking ability by displaying reconstructed images in which the intensity was compensated. The intensity of the displayed images correlated properly with the original count rate and a frame rate of 2 frames per second was achieved with average delay time of 2.1 s.

Role Of High Speed Photography In The Testing Capabilities Of The Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) Range And Track Facilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hendrix, Roy E.; Dugger, Paul H.

1983-03-01

Since the onset of user testing in the AEDC aeroballistic ranges in 1961, concentrated efforts in such areas as model launching techniques, test environment simulation, and specialized instrumentation have been made to enhance the usefulness of these test facilities. A wide selection of specialized instrumentation has been developed over the years to provide, among other features, panoramic photographic coverage of test models during flight. Pulsed ruby lasers, xenon flash lamps, visible-light spark sources, and flash X-ray systems are employed as short-duration radiation sources in various front-light and back-light photographic systems. Visible-light and near infrared image intensifier diodes are used to achieve high-speed shuttering in photographic pyrometry systems that measure surface temperatures of test models in flight. Turbine-driven framing cameras are used to provide multiframe photography of such high-speed phenomena as impact debris formation and model encounter with erosive fields. As a result, the capabilities of these ballistic range test units have increased significantly in regard to the types of tests that can be accommodated and to the quality and quantity of data that can be provided. Presently, five major range and companion track facilities are active in conducting hypervelocity testing in AEDC's von K6rman Gas Dynamics Facility (VKF): Ranges G, K, and S-1 and Tracks G and K. The following types of tests are conducted in these test units: ablation/erosion, transpiration-cooled nosetip (TCNT), nosetip transition, heat transfer, aerodynamic, cannon projectile, rocket contrail, reentry physics, and hypervelocity impact. The parallel achievements in high-speed photography and testing capabilities are discussed, and the significant role of photographic systems in the development of the overall testing capabilities of the AEDC range and track facilities is illustrated in numerous examples of photographic results.

Research on Environmental Adjustment of Cloud Ranch Based on BP Neural Network PID Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Jinzhi; Xiang, Wei; Zhao, Lin; Wu, Jianbo; Huang, Lianzhen; Tu, Qinggang; Zhao, Heming

2018-01-01

In order to make the intelligent ranch management mode replace the traditional artificial one gradually, this paper proposes a pasture environment control system based on cloud server, and puts forward the PID control algorithm based on BP neural network to control temperature and humidity better in the pasture environment. First, to model the temperature and humidity (controlled object) of the pasture, we can get the transfer function. Then the traditional PID control algorithm and the PID one based on BP neural network are applied to the transfer function. The obtained step tracking curves can be seen that the PID controller based on BP neural network has obvious superiority in adjusting time and error, etc. This algorithm, calculating reasonable control parameters of the temperature and humidity to control environment, can be better used in the cloud service platform.

Numerical analysis of fluid flow and heat transfer during melting inside a cylindrical container for thermal energy storage system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellan, Selvan; Cheok, Cho Hyun; Gokon, Nobuyuki; Matsubara, Koji; Kodama, Tatsuya

2017-06-01

This paper presents a numerical analysis of unconstrained melting of high temperature(>1000K) phase change material (PCM) inside a cylindrical container. Sodium chloride and Silicon carbide have been used as phase change material and shell of the capsule respectively. The control volume discretization approach has been used to solve the conservation equations of mass, momentum and energy. The enthalpy-porosity method has been used to track the solid-liquid interface of the PCM during melting process. Transient numerical simulations have been performed in order to study the influence of radius of the capsule and the Stefan number on the heat transfer rate. The simulation results show that the counter-clockwise Buoyancy driven convection over the top part of the solid PCM enhances the melting rate quite faster than the bottom part.

A simple transferable adaptive potential to study phase separation in large-scale xMgO-(1-x)SiO2 binary glasses.

PubMed

Bidault, Xavier; Chaussedent, Stéphane; Blanc, Wilfried

2015-10-21

A simple transferable adaptive model is developed and it allows for the first time to simulate by molecular dynamics the separation of large phases in the MgO-SiO2 binary system, as experimentally observed and as predicted by the phase diagram, meaning that separated phases have various compositions. This is a real improvement over fixed-charge models, which are often limited to an interpretation involving the formation of pure clusters, or involving the modified random network model. Our adaptive model, efficient to reproduce known crystalline and glassy structures, allows us to track the formation of large amorphous Mg-rich Si-poor nanoparticles in an Mg-poor Si-rich matrix from a 0.1MgO-0.9SiO2 melt.

An image engineering system for the inspection of transparent construction materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hinz, S.; Stephani, M.; Schiemann, L.; Zeller, K.

This article presents a modular photogrammetric recording and image analysis system for inspecting the material characteristics of transparent foils, in particular Ethylen-TetraFluorEthylen-Copolymer (ETFE) foils. The foils are put under increasing air pressure and are observed by a stereo camera system. Determining the time-variable 3D shape of transparent material imposes a number of challenges: especially the automatic point transfer between stereo images and, in temporal domain, from one image pair to the next. We developed an automatic approach that accommodates for these particular circumstances and allows reconstruction of the 3D shape for each epoch as well as determining 3D translation vectors between epochs by feature tracking. Examples including numerical results and accuracy measures prove the applicability of the system.

Breadboard stellar tracker system test report, volume 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kollodge, J. C.; Hubbard, M. W.; Jain, S.; Schons, C. A.

1981-01-01

The performance of a star tracker equipped with a focal plane detector was evaluated. The CID board is an array of 256 x 256 pixels which are 20 x 20 micrometers in dimension. The tracker used for test was a breadboard tracker system developed by BASD. Unique acquisition and tracking algorithms are employed to enhance performance. A pattern recognition process is used to test for proper image spread function and to avoid false acquisition on noise. A very linear, high gain, interpixel transfer function is derived for interpolating star position. The lens used in the tracker has an EFL of 100 mm. The tracker has an FOV of 2.93 degrees resulting in a pixel angular subtense of 41.253 arc sec in each axis. The test procedure used for the program presented a star to the tracker in a circular pattern of positions; the pattern was formed by projecting a simulated star through a rotatable deviation wedge. Further tests determined readout noise, Noise Equivalent Displacement during track, and spatial noise during acquisition by taking related data and reducing it.

Tracking Provenance of Earth Science Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tilmes, Curt; Yesha, Yelena; Halem, Milton

2010-01-01

Tremendous volumes of data have been captured, archived and analyzed. Sensors, algorithms and processing systems for transforming and analyzing the data are evolving over time. Web Portals and Services can create transient data sets on-demand. Data are transferred from organization to organization with additional transformations at every stage. Provenance in this context refers to the source of data and a record of the process that led to its current state. It encompasses the documentation of a variety of artifacts related to particular data. Provenance is important for understanding and using scientific datasets, and critical for independent confirmation of scientific results. Managing provenance throughout scientific data processing has gained interest lately and there are a variety of approaches. Large scale scientific datasets consisting of thousands to millions of individual data files and processes offer particular challenges. This paper uses the analogy of art history provenance to explore some of the concerns of applying provenance tracking to earth science data. It also illustrates some of the provenance issues with examples drawn from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) Data Processing System (OMIDAPS) run at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center by the first author.

Theoretical prediction of the impact of Auger recombination on charge collection from an ion track

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Edmonds, Larry D.

1991-01-01

A recombination mechanism that significantly reduces charge collection from very dense ion tracks in silicon devices was postulated by Zoutendyk et al. The theoretical analysis presented here concludes that Auger recombination is such a mechanism and is of marginal importance for higher density tracks produced by 270-MeV krypton, but of major importance for higher density tracks. The analysis shows that recombination loss is profoundly affected by track diffusion. As the track diffuses, the density and recombination rate decrease so fast that the linear density (number of electron-hole pairs per unit length) approaches a non-zero limiting value as t yields infinity. Furthermore, the linear density is very nearly equal to this limiting value in a few picoseconds or less. When Auger recombination accompanies charge transport processes that have much longer time scales, it can be simulated by assigning a reduced linear energy transfer to the ion.

A transwell assay that excludes exosomes for assessment of tunneling nanotube-mediated intercellular communication.

PubMed

Thayanithy, Venugopal; O'Hare, Patrick; Wong, Phillip; Zhao, Xianda; Steer, Clifford J; Subramanian, Subbaya; Lou, Emil

2017-11-13

Tunneling nanotubes (TNTs) are naturally-occurring filamentous actin-based membranous extensions that form across a wide spectrum of mammalian cell types to facilitate long-range intercellular communication. Valid assays are needed to accurately assess the downstream effects of TNT-mediated transfer of cellular signals in vitro. We recently reported a modified transwell assay system designed to test the effects of intercellular transfer of a therapeutic oncolytic virus, and viral-activated drugs, between cells via TNTs. The objective of the current study was to demonstrate validation of this in vitro approach as a new method for effectively excluding diffusible forms of long- and close-range intercellular transfer of intracytoplasmic cargo, including exosomes/microvesicles and gap junctions in order to isolate TNT-selective cell communication. We designed several steps to effectively reduce or eliminate diffusion and long-range transfer via these extracellular vesicles, and used Nanoparticle Tracking Analysis to quantify exosomes following implementation of these steps. The experimental approach outlined here effectively reduced exosome trafficking by >95%; further use of heparin to block exosome uptake by putative recipient cells further impeded transfer of these extracellular vesicles. This validated assay incorporates several steps that can be taken to quantifiably control for extracellular vesicles in order to perform studies focused on TNT-selective communication.

A simple method to achieve full-field and real-scale reconstruction using a movable stereo rig

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gu, Feifei; Zhao, Hong; Song, Zhan; Tang, Suming

2018-06-01

This paper introduces a simple method to achieve full-field and real-scale reconstruction using a movable binocular vision system (MBVS). The MBVS is composed of two cameras, one is called the tracking camera, and the other is called the working camera. The tracking camera is used for tracking the positions of the MBVS and the working camera is used for the 3D reconstruction task. The MBVS has several advantages compared with a single moving camera or multi-camera networks. Firstly, the MBVS could recover the real-scale-depth-information from the captured image sequences without using auxiliary objects whose geometry or motion should be precisely known. Secondly, the removability of the system could guarantee appropriate baselines to supply more robust point correspondences. Additionally, using one camera could avoid the drawback which exists in multi-camera networks, that the variability of a cameras’ parameters and performance could significantly affect the accuracy and robustness of the feature extraction and stereo matching methods. The proposed framework consists of local reconstruction and initial pose estimation of the MBVS based on transferable features, followed by overall optimization and accurate integration of multi-view 3D reconstruction data. The whole process requires no information other than the input images. The framework has been verified with real data, and very good results have been obtained.

Nanoscale measurements of proton tracks using fluorescent nuclear track detectors

PubMed Central

Sawakuchi, Gabriel O.; Ferreira, Felisberto A.; McFadden, Conor H.; Hallacy, Timothy M.; Granville, Dal A.; Sahoo, Narayan; Akselrod, Mark S.

2016-01-01

Purpose: The authors describe a method in which fluorescence nuclear track detectors (FNTDs), novel track detectors with nanoscale spatial resolution, are used to determine the linear energy transfer (LET) of individual proton tracks from proton therapy beams by allowing visualization and 3D reconstruction of such tracks. Methods: FNTDs were exposed to proton therapy beams with nominal energies ranging from 100 to 250 MeV. Proton track images were then recorded by confocal microscopy of the FNTDs. Proton tracks in the FNTD images were fit by using a Gaussian function to extract fluorescence amplitudes. Histograms of fluorescence amplitudes were then compared with LET spectra. Results: The authors successfully used FNTDs to register individual proton tracks from high-energy proton therapy beams, allowing reconstruction of 3D images of proton tracks along with delta rays. The track amplitudes from FNTDs could be used to parameterize LET spectra, allowing the LET of individual proton tracks from therapeutic proton beams to be determined. Conclusions: FNTDs can be used to directly visualize proton tracks and their delta rays at the nanoscale level. Because the track intensities in the FNTDs correlate with LET, they could be used further to measure LET of individual proton tracks. This method may be useful for measuring nanoscale radiation quantities and for measuring the LET of individual proton tracks in radiation biology experiments. PMID:27147359

Nanoscale measurements of proton tracks using fluorescent nuclear track detectors

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

Sawakuchi, Gabriel O., E-mail: gsawakuchi@mdanderson.org; Sahoo, Narayan; Ferreira, Felisberto A.

Purpose: The authors describe a method in which fluorescence nuclear track detectors (FNTDs), novel track detectors with nanoscale spatial resolution, are used to determine the linear energy transfer (LET) of individual proton tracks from proton therapy beams by allowing visualization and 3D reconstruction of such tracks. Methods: FNTDs were exposed to proton therapy beams with nominal energies ranging from 100 to 250 MeV. Proton track images were then recorded by confocal microscopy of the FNTDs. Proton tracks in the FNTD images were fit by using a Gaussian function to extract fluorescence amplitudes. Histograms of fluorescence amplitudes were then compared withmore » LET spectra. Results: The authors successfully used FNTDs to register individual proton tracks from high-energy proton therapy beams, allowing reconstruction of 3D images of proton tracks along with delta rays. The track amplitudes from FNTDs could be used to parameterize LET spectra, allowing the LET of individual proton tracks from therapeutic proton beams to be determined. Conclusions: FNTDs can be used to directly visualize proton tracks and their delta rays at the nanoscale level. Because the track intensities in the FNTDs correlate with LET, they could be used further to measure LET of individual proton tracks. This method may be useful for measuring nanoscale radiation quantities and for measuring the LET of individual proton tracks in radiation biology experiments.« less

Redox reaction characteristics of riboflavin: a fluorescence spectroelectrochemical analysis and density functional theory calculation.

PubMed

Chen, Wei; Chen, Jie-Jie; Lu, Rui; Qian, Chen; Li, Wen-Wei; Yu, Han-Qing

2014-08-01

Riboflavin (RF), the primary redox active component of flavin, is involved in many redox processes in biogeochemical systems. Despite of its wide distribution and important roles in environmental remediation, its redox behaviors and reaction mechanisms in hydrophobic sites remain unclear yet. In this study, spectroelectrochemical analysis and density functional theory (DFT) calculation were integrated to explore the redox behaviors of RF in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), which was used to create a hydrophobic environment. Specifically, cyclic voltafluorometry (CVF) and derivative cyclic voltafluorometry (DCVF) were employed to track the RF concentration changing profiles. It was found that the reduction contained a series of proton-coupled electron transfers dependent of potential driving force. In addition to the electron transfer-chemical reaction-electron transfer process, a disproportionation (DISP1) process was also identified to be involved in the reduction. The redox potential and free energy of each step obtained from the DFT calculations further confirmed the mechanisms proposed based on the experimental results. The combination of experimental and theoretical approaches yields a deep insight into the characteristics of RF in environmental remediation and better understanding about the proton-coupled electron transfer mechanisms. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Detector Apparatus and Method

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Arndt, G. Dickey (Inventor); Ngo, Phong H. (Inventor); Carl, James R. (Inventor); Byerly, Kent A. (Inventor); Dusl, John (Inventor)

2003-01-01

Transceiver and methods are included that are especially suitable for detecting metallic materials, such as metallic mines, within an environment. The transceiver includes a digital waveform generator used to transmit a signal into the environment and a receiver that produces a digital received signal. A tracking module preferably compares an in-phase and quadrature transmitted signal with an in-phase and quadrature received signal to produce a spectral transfer function of the magnetic transceiver over a selected range of frequencies. The transceiver initially preferably creates a reference transfer function which is then stored in a memory. Subsequently measured transfer functions will vary depending on the presence of metal in the environment which was not in the environment when the reference transfer function was determined. The system may be utilized in the presence of other antennas, metal, and electronics which may comprise a plastic mine detector for detecting plastic mines. Despite the additional antennas and other metallic materials that may be in the environment due to the plastic mine detector, the magnetic transceiver remains highly sensitive to metallic material which may be located in various portions of the environment and which may be detected by sweeping the detector over ground that may contain metals or mines.

A Proximity-Based Programmable DNA Nanoscale Assembly Line

PubMed Central

Gu, Hongzhou; Chao, Jie; Xiao, Shou-Jun; Seeman, Nadrian C.

2010-01-01

Our ability to synthesize nanometer-scale particles with desired shapes and compositions offers the exciting prospect of generating new functional materials and devices by combining the particles in a controlled fashion into larger structures. Self-assembly can achieve this task efficiently, but may be subject to thermodynamic and kinetic limitations: Reactants, intermediates and products may collide with each other throughout the assembly timecourse to produce non-target instead of target species. An alternative approach to nanoscale assembly uses information-containing molecules such as DNA1 to control interactions and thereby minimize unwanted crosstalk between different components. In principle, this method should allow the stepwise and programmed construction of target products by fastening individually selected nanoscale components – much as an automobile is built on an assembly line. Here, we demonstrate that a nanoscale assembly line can indeed be realized by the judicious combination of three known DNA-based modules: a DNA origami2 tile that provides a framework and track for the assembly process, cassettes containing three distinct two-state DNA machines that serve as programmable cargo-donating devices3,4 and are attached4,5 in series to the tile, and a DNA walker that can move on the track from device to device and collect cargo. As the walker traverses the pathway prescribed by the origami tile track, it encounters sequentially the three DNA devices that can be independently switched between an ‘ON’ state allowing its cargo to be transferred to the walker, and an ‘OFF’ state where no transfer occurs. We use three different types of gold nanoparticles as cargo and show that the experimental system does indeed allow the controlled fabrication of the eight different products that can be obtained with three two-state devices. PMID:20463734

Data model and relational database design for the New Jersey Water-Transfer Data System (NJWaTr)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tessler, Steven

2003-01-01

The New Jersey Water-Transfer Data System (NJWaTr) is a database design for the storage and retrieval of water-use data. NJWaTr can manage data encompassing many facets of water use, including (1) the tracking of various types of water-use activities (withdrawals, returns, transfers, distributions, consumptive-use, wastewater collection, and treatment); (2) the storage of descriptions, classifications and locations of places and organizations involved in water-use activities; (3) the storage of details about measured or estimated volumes of water associated with water-use activities; and (4) the storage of information about data sources and water resources associated with water use. In NJWaTr, each water transfer occurs unidirectionally between two site objects, and the sites and conveyances form a water network. The core entities in the NJWaTr model are site, conveyance, transfer/volume, location, and owner. Other important entities include water resource (used for withdrawals and returns), data source, permit, and alias. Multiple water-exchange estimates based on different methods or data sources can be stored for individual transfers. Storage of user-defined details is accommodated for several of the main entities. Many tables contain classification terms to facilitate the detailed description of data items and can be used for routine or custom data summarization. NJWaTr accommodates single-user and aggregate-user water-use data, can be used for large or small water-network projects, and is available as a stand-alone Microsoft? Access database. Data stored in the NJWaTr structure can be retrieved in user-defined combinations to serve visualization and analytical applications. Users can customize and extend the database, link it to other databases, or implement the design in other relational database applications.

On the Origin of Sub-subgiant Stars. II. Binary Mass Transfer, Envelope Stripping, and Magnetic Activity

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

Leiner, Emily; Mathieu, Robert D.; Geller, Aaron M., E-mail: leiner@astro.wisc.edu

Sub-subgiant stars (SSGs) lie to the red of the main sequence and fainter than the red giant branch in cluster color–magnitude diagrams (CMDs), a region not easily populated by standard stellar evolution pathways. While there has been speculation on what mechanisms may create these unusual stars, no well-developed theory exists to explain their origins. Here we discuss three hypotheses of SSG formation: (1) mass transfer in a binary system, (2) stripping of a subgiant’s envelope, perhaps during a dynamical encounter, and (3) reduced luminosity due to magnetic fields that lower convective efficiency and produce large starspots. Using the stellar evolutionmore » code MESA, we develop evolutionary tracks for each of these hypotheses, and compare the expected stellar and orbital properties of these models with six known SSGs in the two open clusters M67 and NGC 6791. All three of these mechanisms can create stars or binary systems in the SSG CMD domain. We also calculate the frequency with which each of these mechanisms may create SSG systems, and find that the magnetic field hypothesis is expected to create SSGs with the highest frequency in open clusters. Mass transfer and envelope stripping have lower expected formation frequencies, but may nevertheless create occasional SSGs in open clusters. They may also be important mechanisms to create SSGs in higher mass globular clusters.« less

Output control using feedforward and cascade controllers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Seraji, H.

1987-01-01

An open-loop solution to the output control problem in SISO (single-input, single-output) systems by means of feedforward and cascade controllers is investigated. A simple characterization of feedforward controllers, which achieve steady-state disturbance rejection, is given in a transfer-function setting. Cascade controllers which cause steady-state command tracking are characterized. Disturbance decoupling and command matching controllers are identified. Conditions for existence of feedforward and cascade controllers are given. For unstable systems, it is shown that a stabilizing feedback controller can be used without affecting the feedforward and cascade controllers used for output control; hence, the three controllers can be designed independently. Output control by a combination of feedforward and feedback is discussed.

Automated Proton Track Identification in MicroBooNE Using Gradient Boosted Decision Trees

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

Woodruff, Katherine

MicroBooNE is a liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) neutrino experiment that is currently running in the Booster Neutrino Beam at Fermilab. LArTPC technology allows for high-resolution, three-dimensional representations of neutrino interactions. A wide variety of software tools for automated reconstruction and selection of particle tracks in LArTPCs are actively being developed. Short, isolated proton tracks, the signal for low- momentum-transfer neutral current (NC) elastic events, are easily hidden in a large cosmic background. Detecting these low-energy tracks will allow us to probe interesting regions of the proton's spin structure. An effective method for selecting NC elastic events is tomore » combine a highly efficient track reconstruction algorithm to find all candidate tracks with highly accurate particle identification using a machine learning algorithm. We present our work on particle track classification using gradient tree boosting software (XGBoost) and the performance on simulated neutrino data.« less

System Proposal for Mass Transit Service Quality Control Based on GPS Data

PubMed Central

Padrón, Gabino; Cristóbal, Teresa; Alayón, Francisco; Quesada-Arencibia, Alexis; García, Carmelo R.

2017-01-01

Quality is an essential aspect of public transport. In the case of regular public passenger transport by road, punctuality and regularity are criteria used to assess quality of service. Calculating metrics related to these criteria continuously over time and comprehensively across the entire transport network requires the handling of large amounts of data. This article describes a system for continuously and comprehensively monitoring punctuality and regularity. The system uses location data acquired continuously in the vehicles and automatically transferred for analysis. These data are processed intelligently by elements that are commonly used by transport operators: GPS-based tracking system, onboard computer and wireless networks for mobile data communications. The system was tested on a transport company, for which we measured the punctuality of one of the routes that it operates; the results are presented in this article. PMID:28621745

System Proposal for Mass Transit Service Quality Control Based on GPS Data.

PubMed

Padrón, Gabino; Cristóbal, Teresa; Alayón, Francisco; Quesada-Arencibia, Alexis; García, Carmelo R

2017-06-16

Quality is an essential aspect of public transport. In the case of regular public passenger transport by road, punctuality and regularity are criteria used to assess quality of service. Calculating metrics related to these criteria continuously over time and comprehensively across the entire transport network requires the handling of large amounts of data. This article describes a system for continuously and comprehensively monitoring punctuality and regularity. The system uses location data acquired continuously in the vehicles and automatically transferred for analysis. These data are processed intelligently by elements that are commonly used by transport operators: GPS-based tracking system, onboard computer and wireless networks for mobile data communications. The system was tested on a transport company, for which we measured the punctuality of one of the routes that it operates; the results are presented in this article.

New insights on ion track morphology in pyrochlores by aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy

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

Sachan, Ritesh; Zhang, Yanwen; Ou, Xin

Here we demonstrate the enhanced imaging capabilities of an aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscope to advance the understanding of ion track structure in pyrochlore structured materials (i.e., Gd 2Ti 2O 7 and Gd 2TiZrO 7). Track formation occurs due to the inelastic transfer of energy from incident ions to electrons, and atomic-level details of track morphology as a function of energy-loss are revealed in the present work. A comparison of imaging details obtained by varying collection angles of detectors is discussed in the present work. A quantitative analysis of phase identification using high-angle annular dark field imaging is performedmore » on the ion tracks. Finally, a novel 3-dimensional track reconstruction method is provided that is based on depth dependent imaging of the ion tracks. The technique is used in extracting the atomic-level details of nanoscale features, such as the disordered ion tracks, which are embedded in relatively thicker matrix. Another relevance of the method is shown by measuring the tilt of the ion tracks relative to the electron beam incidence that helps in knowing the structure and geometry of ion tracks quantitatively.« less

New insights on ion track morphology in pyrochlores by aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy

DOE PAGES

Sachan, Ritesh; Zhang, Yanwen; Ou, Xin; ...

2016-12-13

Here we demonstrate the enhanced imaging capabilities of an aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscope to advance the understanding of ion track structure in pyrochlore structured materials (i.e., Gd 2Ti 2O 7 and Gd 2TiZrO 7). Track formation occurs due to the inelastic transfer of energy from incident ions to electrons, and atomic-level details of track morphology as a function of energy-loss are revealed in the present work. A comparison of imaging details obtained by varying collection angles of detectors is discussed in the present work. A quantitative analysis of phase identification using high-angle annular dark field imaging is performedmore » on the ion tracks. Finally, a novel 3-dimensional track reconstruction method is provided that is based on depth dependent imaging of the ion tracks. The technique is used in extracting the atomic-level details of nanoscale features, such as the disordered ion tracks, which are embedded in relatively thicker matrix. Another relevance of the method is shown by measuring the tilt of the ion tracks relative to the electron beam incidence that helps in knowing the structure and geometry of ion tracks quantitatively.« less

Electronic Equipment Proposal to Improve the Photovoltaic Systems Efficiency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flores-Mena, J. E.; Juárez Morán, L. A.; Díaz Reyes, J.

2011-05-01

This paper reports a new technique proposal to improve the photovoltaic systems. It was made to design and implement an electronic system that will detect, capture, and transfer the maximum power of the photovoltaic (PV) panel to optimize the supplied power of a solar panel. The electronic system works on base technical proposal of electrical sweeping of electric characteristics using capacitive impedance. The maximum power is transformed and the solar panel energy is sent to an automotive battery. This electronic system reduces the energy lost originated when the solar radiation level decreases or the PV panel temperature is increased. This electronic system tracks, captures, and stores the PV module's maximum power into a capacitor. After, a higher voltage level step-up circuit was designed to increase the voltage of the PV module's maximum power and then its current can be sent to a battery. The experimental results show that the developed electronic system has 95% efficiency. The measurement was made to 50 W, the electronic system works rightly with solar radiation rate from 100 to 1,000 W m - 2 and the PV panel temperature rate changed from 1 to 75°C. The main advantage of this electronic system compared with conventional methods is the elimination of microprocessors, computers, and sophisticated numerical approximations, and it does not need any small electrical signals to track the maximum power. The proposed method is simple, fast, and it is also cheaper.

MetaTracker: integration and abstraction of 3D motion tracking data from multiple hardware systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kopecky, Ken; Winer, Eliot

2014-06-01

Motion tracking has long been one of the primary challenges in mixed reality (MR), augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR). Military and defense training can provide particularly difficult challenges for motion tracking, such as in the case of Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) and other dismounted, close quarters simulations. These simulations can take place across multiple rooms, with many fast-moving objects that need to be tracked with a high degree of accuracy and low latency. Many tracking technologies exist, such as optical, inertial, ultrasonic, and magnetic. Some tracking systems even combine these technologies to complement each other. However, there are no systems that provide a high-resolution, flexible, wide-area solution that is resistant to occlusion. While frameworks exist that simplify the use of tracking systems and other input devices, none allow data from multiple tracking systems to be combined, as if from a single system. In this paper, we introduce a method for compensating for the weaknesses of individual tracking systems by combining data from multiple sources and presenting it as a single tracking system. Individual tracked objects are identified by name, and their data is provided to simulation applications through a server program. This allows tracked objects to transition seamlessly from the area of one tracking system to another. Furthermore, it abstracts away the individual drivers, APIs, and data formats for each system, providing a simplified API that can be used to receive data from any of the available tracking systems. Finally, when single-piece tracking systems are used, those systems can themselves be tracked, allowing for real-time adjustment of the trackable area. This allows simulation operators to leverage limited resources in more effective ways, improving the quality of training.

Estimating clandestine activities from partially observed processes: illegal transhipment of fish catches among vessels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilcox, C.; Ford, J.

2016-12-01

Crimes involving fishers impose significant costs on fisheries, managers and national governments. These crimes also lead to unsustainable harvesting practices, as they undermine both knowledge of the status of fisheries stocks and limits on their harvesting. One of the greatest contributors to fisheries crimes globally is transfer of fish catch among vessels, otherwise known as transshipment. While legal transshipment provides economic advantages to vessels by increasing their efficiency, illegal transshipment can allow them to avoid regulations, catch prohibited species, and fish with impunity in prohibited locations such as waters of foreign countries. Despite the presence of a number of monitoring technologies for tracking fishing vessels, transshipment is frequently done clandestinely. Here we present a statistical model for transshipment in a Southeast Asian tuna fishery. We utilize both spatial and temporal information on vessel movement patterns in a statistical model to infer unobserved transshipment events among vessels. We provide a risk analysis framework for forecasting likely transshipment events, based on our analysis of vessel movement patterns. The tools we present are widely applicable to a variety of fisheries and types of tracking data, allowing managers to more effectively screen the large volume of data tracking systems create and quickly identify suspicious behavior.

Heavy ion action on single cells: Cellular inactivation capability of single accelerated heavy ions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kost, M.; Pross, H.-D.; Russmann, C.; Schneider, E.; Kiefer, J.; Kraft, G.; Lenz, G.; Becher, W.

1994-01-01

Heavy ions (HZE-particles) constitute an important part of radiation in space. Although their number is small the high amount of energy transferred by individual particles may cause severe biological effects. Their investigation requires special techniques which were tested by experiments performed at the UNILAC at the GSI (Darmstadt). Diploid yeast was used which is a suitable eucaryotic test system because of its resistance to extreme conditions like dryness and vacuum. Cells were placed on nuclear track detector foils and exposed to ions of different atomic number and energy. To assess the action of one single ion on an individual cell, track parameters and the respective colony forming abilities (CFA) were determined with the help of computer aided image analysis. There is mounting evidence that not only the amount of energy deposited along the particle path, commonly given by the LET, is of importance but also the spatial problem of energy deposition at a submicroscopical scale. It is virtually impossible to investigate track structure effects in detail with whole cell populations and (globally applied) high particle fluences. It is, therefore, necessary to detect the action of simple ions in individual cells. The results show that the biological action depends on atomic number and specific energy of the impinging ions, which can be compared with model calculations of recent track structure models.

Influence of absorption by environmental water vapor on radiation transfer in wildland fires

Treesearch

D. Frankman; B. W. Webb; B. W. Butler

2008-01-01

The attenuation of radiation transfer from wildland flames to fuel by environmental water vapor is investigated. Emission is tracked from points on an idealized flame to locations along the fuel bed while accounting for absorption by environmental water vapor in the intervening medium. The Spectral Line Weighted-sum-of-gray-gases approach was employed for treating the...

Real-time observation of intramolecular proton transfer in the electronic ground state of chloromalonaldehyde: an ab initio study of time-resolved photoelectron spectra.

PubMed

do N Varella, Márcio T; Arasaki, Yasuki; Ushiyama, Hiroshi; Takatsuka, Kazuo; Wang, Kwanghsi; McKoy, Vincent

2007-02-07

The authors report on studies of time-resolved photoelectron spectra of intramolecular proton transfer in the ground state of chloromalonaldehyde, employing ab initio photoionization matrix elements and effective potential surfaces of reduced dimensionality, wherein the couplings of proton motion to the other molecular vibrational modes are embedded by averaging over classical trajectories. In the simulations, population is transferred from the vibrational ground state to vibrationally hot wave packets by pumping to an excited electronic state and dumping with a time-delayed pulse. These pump-dump-probe simulations demonstrate that the time-resolved photoelectron spectra track proton transfer in the electronic ground state well and, furthermore, that the geometry dependence of the matrix elements enhances the tracking compared with signals obtained with the Condon approximation. Photoelectron kinetic energy distributions arising from wave packets localized in different basins are also distinguishable and could be understood, as expected, on the basis of the strength of the optical couplings in different regions of the ground state potential surface and the Franck-Condon overlaps of the ground state wave packets with the vibrational eigenstates of the ion potential surface.

Point-cloud-to-point-cloud technique on tool calibration for dental implant surgical path tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lorsakul, Auranuch; Suthakorn, Jackrit; Sinthanayothin, Chanjira

2008-03-01

Dental implant is one of the most popular methods of tooth root replacement used in prosthetic dentistry. Computerize navigation system on a pre-surgical plan is offered to minimize potential risk of damage to critical anatomic structures of patients. Dental tool tip calibrating is basically an important procedure of intraoperative surgery to determine the relation between the hand-piece tool tip and hand-piece's markers. With the transferring coordinates from preoperative CT data to reality, this parameter is a part of components in typical registration problem. It is a part of navigation system which will be developed for further integration. A high accuracy is required, and this relation is arranged by point-cloud-to-point-cloud rigid transformations and singular value decomposition (SVD) for minimizing rigid registration errors. In earlier studies, commercial surgical navigation systems from, such as, BrainLAB and Materialize, have flexibility problem on tool tip calibration. Their systems either require a special tool tip calibration device or are unable to change the different tool. The proposed procedure is to use the pointing device or hand-piece to touch on the pivot and the transformation matrix. This matrix is calculated every time when it moves to the new position while the tool tip stays at the same point. The experiment acquired on the information of tracking device, image acquisition and image processing algorithms. The key success is that point-to-point-cloud requires only 3 post images of tool to be able to converge to the minimum errors 0.77%, and the obtained result is correct in using the tool holder to track the path simulation line displayed in graphic animation.

A flexible system to capture sample vials in a storage box - the box vial scanner.

PubMed

Nowakowski, Steven E; Kressin, Kenneth R; Deick, Steven D

2009-01-01

Tracking sample vials in a research environment is a critical task and doing so efficiently can have a large impact on productivity, especially in high volume laboratories. There are several challenges to automating the capture process, including the variety of containers used to store samples. We developed a fast and robust system to capture the location of sample vials being placed in storage that allows the laboratories the flexibility to use sample containers of varying dimensions. With a single scan, this device captures the box identifier, the vial identifier and the location of each vial within a freezer storage box. The sample vials are tracked through a barcode label affixed to the cap while the boxes are tracked by a barcode label on the side of the box. Scanning units are placed at the point of use and forward data to a sever application for processing the scanned data. Scanning units consist of an industrial barcode reader mounted in a fixture positioning the box for scanning and providing lighting during the scan. The server application transforms the scan data into a list of storage locations holding vial identifiers. The list is then transferred to the laboratory database. The box vial scanner captures the IDs and location information for an entire box of sample vials into the laboratory database in a single scan. The system accommodates a wide variety of vials sizes by inserting risers under the sample box and a variety of storage box layouts are supported via the processing algorithm on the server.

Primary Surface Particle Motion as a Mechanism for YORP-Driven Binary Asteroid Evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fahnestock, Eugene G.; Scheeres, D. J.

2008-09-01

Within the largest class of binary asteroid systems -- asynchronous binaries typified by 1999 KW4 -- we hypothesize continued YORP spin-up of the rapidly rotating primary leads to recurring episodic lofting motion of primary equator regolith. We theorize this is a mechanism for transporting YORP-injected angular momentum from primary spin into the mutual orbit. This both enables binary primaries to continue to spin at near surface fission rates and produces continued orbit expansion on time scales several times faster than expansion predicted by tidal dissipation alone. This is distinct from the Binary Yorp (BYORP) phenomenon, not studied in this work but to be added to it later. We evaluate our hypotheses using a combination of techniques for an example binary system. First high-fidelity dynamic simulation of surface-originating particles in the full-detail gravity field of the binary components, themselves propagated according to the full two body problem, gives particle final disposition (return impact, transfer impact, escape). Trajectory end states found for regolith lofted at different initial primary spin rates and relative poses are collected into probability matrices, allowing probabilistic propagation of surface particles for long durations at low computational cost. We track changes to mass, inertia dyad, rotation state, and centroid position and velocity for each component in response to this mapped particle motion. This allows tracking of primary, secondary, and mutual orbit angular momenta over time, clearly demonstrating the angular momentum transfer mechanism and validating our hypotheses. We present current orbit expansion rates and estimated orbit size doubling times consistent with this mechanism, for a few binary systems. We also discuss ramifications of this type of rapid binary evolution towards separation, including the frequency with which "divorced binaries" on similar heliocentric orbits are produced, formation of triple systems such as 2001 SN263, and separation timescale dependence on heliocentric distance.

Excitation of ground vibration due to the passage of trains over a track with trackbed irregularities and a varying support stiffness

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Auersch, Lutz

2015-01-01

Train-induced ground vibration can be excited by wheel and track irregularities and by two kinds of irregularities of the soil, by geometric irregularities or by the spatially varying soil stiffness. For both types of irregularities, the effective track irregularity on top of the track is calculated in wavenumber domain and with wavenumber integrals. For a general multi-beam track model, the wavenumber integrals are solved numerically. The irregularities of the soil are filtered by the track when transferred from the bottom to the top of the track. The high-wavenumber irregularities are strongly reduced due to the bending stiffness of the track and the compliance of the support. In addition, soft track elements reduce directly the stiffness variation of the support. Therefore, the mitigation effect of elastic track elements for these excitation components seems to be important. For under-sleeper pads and slab tracks, calculation and measurements are presented including additional excitation components and the dynamic vehicle-track interaction, and the relevance of the excitation mechanisms is discussed based on the dynamic forces which are acting on the ground. Due to the restricted amplitudes, the parametric excitation by the stiffness variation seems to be less important than the geometric irregularities. The calculations yield the correct trends of the measurements and many details of the measured ballast, slab, and under-sleeper-pad tracks.

The application of dual-electrode through vial impedance spectroscopy for the determination of ice interface temperatures, primary drying rate and vial heat transfer coefficient in lyophilization process development.

PubMed

Smith, Geoff; Jeeraruangrattana, Yowwares; Ermolina, Irina

2018-06-22

Through vial impedance spectroscopy (TVIS) is a product non-invasive process analytical technology which exploits the frequency dependence of the complex impedance spectrum of a composite object (i.e. the freeze-drying vial and its contents) in order to track the progression of the freeze-drying cycle. This work demonstrates the use of a dual electrode system, attached to the external surface of a type I glass tubing vial (nominal capacity 10 mL) in the prediction of (i) the ice interface temperatures at the sublimation front and at the base of the vial, and (ii) the primary drying rate. A value for the heat transfer coefficient (for a chamber pressure of 270 µbar) was then calculated from these parameters and shown to be comparable to that published by Tchessalov[1]. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Production of Recombinant Adenovirus Containing Human Interlukin-4 Gene

PubMed Central

Mojarrad, Majid; Abdolazimi, Yassan; Hajati, Jamshid; Modarressi, Mohammad Hossein

2011-01-01

Objective(s) Recombinant adenoviruses are currently used for a variety of purposes, including in vitro gene transfer, in vivo vaccination, and gene therapy. Ability to infect many cell types, high efficiency in gene transfer, entering both dividing and non dividing cells, and growing to high titers make this virus a good choice for using in various experiments. In the present experiment, a recombinant adenovirus containing human IL-4 coding sequence was made. IL-4 has several characteristics that made it a good choice for using in cancer gene therapy, controlling inflammatory diseases, and studies on autoimmune diseases. Materials and Methods In brief, IL-4 coding sequence was amplified by and cloned in pAd-Track-CMV. Then, by means of homologous recombination between recombinant pAd-Track-CMV and Adeasy-1 plasmid in bacteria, recombinant adenovirus complete genome was made and IL-4 containing shuttle vector was incorporated into the viral backbone. After linearization, for virus packaging, viral genome was transfected into HEK-293 cell line. Viral production was conveniently followed with the aid of green fluorescent protein. Results Recombinant adenovirus produced here, was capable to infecting cell lines and express interlukin-4 in cell. Conclusion This system can be used as a powerful, easy, and cost benefit tool in various studies on cancer gene therapy and also studies on immunogenetics. PMID:23493491

Laser-induced forward transfer for printed electronics applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernández-Pradas, J. M.; Sopeña, P.; González-Torres, S.; Arrese, J.; Cirera, A.; Serra, P.

2018-02-01

Laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) is a printing technique based on the action of a laser pulse that is focused on a thin film of a precursor ink for getting the transfer of a droplet onto a receiver substrate. The experiments presented in this article aim to demonstrate the ability of LIFT to produce electronic circuits on paper, a substrate that is flexible, cheap and recyclable. Tests were conducted to study the printing of conductive tracks with an Ag ink. The printing of a suspension of carbon nanofibers was also studied to demonstrate the ability of LIFT for printing inks with particles with some microns in size that provoke inkjet nozzles to clog. As a proof-of-concept of the LIFT possibilities, both inks were used to print entirely by LIFT a functional humidity sensor on a piece of paper. All the LIFT experiments were performed with a Nd:YAG laser that delivers pulses of a few hundreds of ns in an attempt to approach the technique to laser systems that are already introduced in many production lines for marking and labeling.

Patients who return to care after tracking remain at high risk of attrition: experience from a large HIV clinic, Uganda.

PubMed

Nakiwogga-Muwanga, A; Musaazi, J; Katabira, E; Worodria, W; Talisuna, S Alamo; Colebunders, R

2015-01-01

We determined the retention rate of patients infected with HIV who resumed care after being tracked at the Infectious Diseases Clinic (IDC) in Kampala, Uganda. Between April 2011 and September 2013, patients who missed their clinic appointment for 8-90 days were tracked, and those who returned to the clinic within 120 days were followed up. The proportion of patients retained among tracked patients, and those who resumed care before tracking started was compared. At 18 months of follow up, 33 (39%) of the tracked patients and 72 (61%) of those who had resumed care before tracking started were retained in care. The most important cause of attrition among the traceable was self-transfer to another clinic (38 [73%] patients), whereas among those who resumed care before tracking was loss to follow up (LTFU) (32 [71%] patients). Tracked patients who resume care following a missed appointment are at high risk of attrition. To increase retention, antiretroviral therapy clinics need to adopt a chronic care model which takes into consideration patients' changing needs and their preference for self-management. © The Author(s) 2014 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Enhancing cognition with video games: a multiple game training study.

PubMed

Oei, Adam C; Patterson, Michael D

2013-01-01

Previous evidence points to a causal link between playing action video games and enhanced cognition and perception. However, benefits of playing other video games are under-investigated. We examined whether playing non-action games also improves cognition. Hence, we compared transfer effects of an action and other non-action types that required different cognitive demands. We instructed 5 groups of non-gamer participants to play one game each on a mobile device (iPhone/iPod Touch) for one hour a day/five days a week over four weeks (20 hours). Games included action, spatial memory, match-3, hidden- object, and an agent-based life simulation. Participants performed four behavioral tasks before and after video game training to assess for transfer effects. Tasks included an attentional blink task, a spatial memory and visual search dual task, a visual filter memory task to assess for multiple object tracking and cognitive control, as well as a complex verbal span task. Action game playing eliminated attentional blink and improved cognitive control and multiple-object tracking. Match-3, spatial memory and hidden object games improved visual search performance while the latter two also improved spatial working memory. Complex verbal span improved after match-3 and action game training. Cognitive improvements were not limited to action game training alone and different games enhanced different aspects of cognition. We conclude that training specific cognitive abilities frequently in a video game improves performance in tasks that share common underlying demands. Overall, these results suggest that many video game-related cognitive improvements may not be due to training of general broad cognitive systems such as executive attentional control, but instead due to frequent utilization of specific cognitive processes during game play. Thus, many video game training related improvements to cognition may be attributed to near-transfer effects.

A first generation dynamic ingress, redistribution and transport model of soil track-in: DIRT.

PubMed

Johnson, D L

2008-12-01

This work introduces a spatially resolved quantitative model, based on conservation of mass and first order transfer kinetics, for following the transport and redistribution of outdoor soil to, and within, the indoor environment by track-in on footwear. Implementations of the DIRT model examined the influence of room size, rug area and location, shoe size, and mass transfer coefficients for smooth and carpeted floor surfaces using the ratio of mass loading on carpeted to smooth floor surfaces as a performance metric. Results showed that in the limit for large numbers of random steps the dual aspects of deposition to and track-off from the carpets govern this ratio. Using recently obtained experimental measurements, historic transport and distribution parameters, cleaning efficiencies for the different floor surfaces, and indoor dust deposition rates to provide model boundary conditions, DIRT predicts realistic floor surface loadings. The spatio-temporal variability in model predictions agrees with field observations and suggests that floor surface dust loadings are constantly in flux; steady state distributions are hardly, if ever, achieved.

40 CFR 97.52 - NOX Allowance Tracking System responsibilities of NOX authorized account representative.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false NOX Allowance Tracking System... NOX AND SO2 TRADING PROGRAMS NOX Allowance Tracking System § 97.52 NOX Allowance Tracking System... Tracking System account, all submissions to the Administrator pertaining to the account, including, but not...

40 CFR 97.52 - NOX Allowance Tracking System responsibilities of NOX authorized account representative.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false NOX Allowance Tracking System... NOX AND SO2 TRADING PROGRAMS NOX Allowance Tracking System § 97.52 NOX Allowance Tracking System... Tracking System account, all submissions to the Administrator pertaining to the account, including, but not...

Portable Catapult Launcher For Small Aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rosenbaum, Bernard J. (Inventor); Petter, George E. (Inventor); Gessler, Joseph A. (Inventor); Hughes, Michael G. (Inventor)

2005-01-01

An apparatus for launching an aircraft having a multiplicity of interconnected elongated tracks of rigid material forming a track system and wherein each elongated track has a predetermined elongated track cross-sectional design, a winch system connected to the track system wherein the winch system has a variable mechanical advantage, one or more elongated elastic members wherein one end of each of the one or more elongated elastic members is adjustably connected to the track system, and a carrier slidably mounted to the track system wherein the canier is connected to the winch system and to the other end of each of the one or more elongated elastic members.

Portable catapult launcher for small aircraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rosenbaum, Bernard J. (Inventor); Petter, George E. (Inventor); Gessler, Joseph A. (Inventor); Hughes, Michael G. (Inventor)

2005-01-01

An apparatus for launching an aircraft having a multiplicity of interconnected elongated tracks of rigid material forming a track system and wherein each elongated track has a predetermined elongated track cross-sectional design, a winch system connected to the track system wherein the winch system has a variable mechanical advantage, one or more elongated elastic members wherein one end of each of the one or more elongated elastic members is adjustably connected to the track system, and a carrier slidably mounted to the track system wherein the carrier is connected to the winch system and to the other end of each of the one or more elongated elastic members.

Space Biosensor Systems: Implications for Technology Transfer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hines, J. W.; Somps, C. J.; Madou, M.; Imprescia, Clifford C. (Technical Monitor)

1997-01-01

To meet the need for continuous, automated monitoring of animal subjects, including; humans, during space flight, NASA is developing advanced physiologic sensor and biotelemetry system technologies. The ability to continuously track basic physiological parameters, such as heart rate, blood pH, and body temperature, in untethered subjects in space is a challenging task. At NASA's Ames Research Center, where a key focus is gravitational biology research, engineers have teamed with life scientists to develop wireless sensor systems for automated physiologic monitoring of animal models as small as the rat. This technology is also being adapted, in collaboration with medical professionals, to meet human clinical monitoring needs both in space and on the ground. Thus, these advanced monitoring technologies have important dual-use functions; they meet space flight data collection requirements and constraints, while concurrently addressing a number of monitoring and data acquisition challenges on the ground in areas of clinical monitoring and biomedical research. Additional applications for these and related technologies are being sought and additional partnerships established that enhance development efforts, reduce costs and facilitate technology infusion between the public and private sectors. This paper describes technology transfer and co-development projects that have evolved out of NASA's miniaturized, implantable chemical sensor development efforts.

Track analysis of laser-illuminated etched track detectors using an opto-digital imaging system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eghan, Moses J.; Buah-Bassuah, Paul K.; Oppon, Osborne C.

2007-11-01

An opto-digital imaging system for counting and analysing tracks on a LR-115 detector is described. One batch of LR-115 track detectors was irradiated with Am-241 for a determined period and distance for linearity test and another batch was exposed to radon gas. The laser-illuminated etched track detector area was imaged, digitized and analysed by the system. The tracks that were counted on the opto-digital system with the aid of media cybernetics software as well as spark gap counter showed comparable track density results ranging between 1500 and 2750 tracks cm-2 and 65 tracks cm-2 in the two different batch detector samples with 0.5% and 1% track counts, respectively. Track sizes of the incident alpha particles from the radon gas on the LR-115 detector demonstrating different track energies are statistically and graphically represented. The opto-digital imaging system counts and measures other track parameters at an average process time of 3-5 s.

ASSEMBLY TRANSFER SYSTEM DESCRIPTION DOCUMENT

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

B. Gorpani

2000-06-26

The Assembly Transfer System (ATS) receives, cools, and opens rail and truck transportation casks from the Carrier/Cask Handling System (CCHS). The system unloads transportation casks consisting of bare Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) assemblies, single element canisters, and Dual Purpose Canisters (DPCs). For casks containing DPCs, the system opens the DPCs and unloads the SNF. The system stages the assemblies, transfer assemblies to and from fuel-blending inventory pools, loads them into Disposal Containers (DCs), temporarily seals and inerts the DC, decontaminates the DC and transfers it to the Disposal Container Handling System. The system also prepares empty casks and DPCs formore » off-site shipment. Two identical Assembly Transfer System lines are provided in the Waste Handling Building (WHB). Each line operates independently to handle the waste transfer throughput and to support maintenance operations. Each system line primarily consists of wet and dry handling areas. The wet handling area includes a cask transport system, cask and DPC preparation system, and a wet assembly handling system. The basket transport system forms the transition between the wet and dry handling areas. The dry handling area includes the dry assembly handling system, assembly drying system, DC preparation system, and DC transport system. Both the wet and dry handling areas are controlled by the control and tracking system. The system operating sequence begins with moving transportation casks to the cask preparation area. The cask preparation operations consist of cask cavity gas sampling, cask venting, cask cool-down, outer lid removal, and inner shield plug lifting fixture attachment. Casks containing bare SNF (no DPC) are filled with water and placed in the cask unloading pool. The inner shield plugs are removed underwater. For casks containing a DPC, the cask lid(s) is removed, and the DPC is penetrated, sampled, vented, and cooled. A DPC lifting fixture is attached and the cask is placed into the cask unloading pool. In the cask unloading pool the DPC is removed from the cask and placed in an overpack and the DPC lid is severed and removed. Assemblies are removed from either an open cask or DPC and loaded into assembly baskets positioned in the basket staging rack in the assembly unloading pool. A method called ''blending'' is utilized to load DCs with a heat output of less than 11.8 kW. This involves combining hotter and cooler assemblies from different baskets. Blending requires storing some of the hotter fuel assemblies in fuel-blending inventory pools until cooler assemblies are available. The assembly baskets are then transferred from the basket staging rack to the assembly handling cell and loaded into the assembly drying vessels. After drying, the assemblies are removed from the assembly drying vessels and loaded into a DC positioned below the DC load port. After installation of a DC inner lid and temporary sealing device, the DC is transferred to the DC decontamination cell where the top area of the DC, the DC lifting collar, and the DC inner lid and temporary sealing device are decontaminated, and the DC is evacuated and backfilled with inert gas to prevent prolonged clad exposure to air. The DC is then transferred to the Disposal Container Handling System for lid welding. In another cask preparation and decontamination area, lids are replaced on the empty transportation casks and DPC overpacks, the casks and DPC overpacks are decontaminated, inspected, and transferred to the Carrier/Cask Handling System for shipment off-site. All system equipment is designed to facilitate manual or remote operation, decontamination, and maintenance. The system interfaces with the Carrier/Cask Handling System for incoming and outgoing transportation casks and DPCs. The system also interfaces with the Disposal Container Handling System, which prepares the DC for loading and subsequently seals the loaded DC. The system support interfaces are the Waste Handling Building System and other internal WHB support systems.« less

The effects of delta rays on the number of particle-track traversals per cell in laboratory and space exposures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cucinotta, F. A.; Nikjoo, H.; Goodhead, D. T.; Wilson, J. W. (Principal Investigator)

1998-01-01

It is a common practice to estimate the number of particle-track traversals per cell or cell nucleus as the product of the ion's linear energy transfer (LET) and cell area. This practice ignores the effects of track width due to the lateral extension of delta rays. We make estimates of the number of particle-track traversals per cell, which includes the effects of delta rays using radial cutoffs in the ionization density about an ion's track of 1 mGy and 1 cGy. Calculations for laboratory and space radiation exposures are discussed, and show that the LET approximation provides a large underestimate of the actual number of particle-track traversals per cell from high-charge and energy (HZE) ions. In light of the current interest in the mechanisms of radiation action, including signal transduction and cytoplasmic damage, these results should be of interest for radiobiology studies with HZE ions.

Reconfigurable Resonant Regulating Rectifier With Primary Equalization for Extended Coupling- and Loading-Range in Bio-Implant Wireless Power Transfer.

PubMed

Li, Xing; Meng, Xiaodong; Tsui, Chi-Ying; Ki, Wing-Hung

2015-12-01

Wireless power transfer using reconfigurable resonant regulating (R(3)) rectification suffers from limited range in accommodating varying coupling and loading conditions. A primary-assisted regulation principle is proposed to mitigate these limitations, of which the amplitude of the rectifier input voltage on the secondary side is regulated by accordingly adjusting the voltage amplitude Veq on the primary side. A novel current-sensing method and calibration scheme track Veq on the primary side. A ramp generator simultaneously provides three clock signals for different modules. Both the primary equalizer and the R(3) rectifier are implemented as custom integrated circuits fabricated in a 0.35 μm CMOS process, with the global control implemented in FPGA. Measurements show that with the primary equalizer, the workable coupling and loading ranges are extended by 250% at 120 mW load and 300% at 1.2 cm coil distance compared to the same system without the primary equalizer. A maximum rectifier efficiency of 92.5% and a total system efficiency of 62.4% are demonstrated.

Optically coded nanocrystal taggants and optical frequency IDs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Williams, George M., Jr.; Allen, Thomas; Dupuy, Charles; Novet, Thomas; Schut, David

2010-04-01

A series of nanocrystal and nanocrystal quantum dot taggant technologies were developed for covertly tagging and tracking objects of interest. Homogeneous and heterogeneous nanocrystal taggant designs were developed and optimized for ultraviolet through infrared emissions, utilizing either Dexter energy transfer or Förster resonant energy transfer (FRET) between specific absorbing and emitting functionalities. The conversion efficiency, target-specific identification, and adhesion properties of the taggants were engineered by means of various surface ligand chemistries. The ability to engineer poly-functional ligands was shown effective in the detection of a biological agent simulant, detected through a NC photoluminescence that is altered in the presence of the agent of interest; the technique has broad potential applicability to chemical, biological, and explosive (CBE) agent detection. The NC photoluminescence can be detected by a remote LIDAR system; the performance of a taggant system has been modeled and subsequently verified in a series of controlled field tests. LIDAR detection of visible-emitting taggants was shown to exceed 2.8 km in calibrated field tests, and from these field data and calibrated laboratory measurements we predict >5 km range in the covert shortwavelength infrared (SWIR) spectral region.

Competition between Förster resonance energy transfer and electron transfer in stoichiometrically assembled semiconductor quantum dot-fullerene conjugates.

PubMed

Stewart, Michael H; Huston, Alan L; Scott, Amy M; Oh, Eunkeu; Algar, W Russ; Deschamps, Jeffrey R; Susumu, Kimihiro; Jain, Vaibhav; Prasuhn, Duane E; Blanco-Canosa, Juan; Dawson, Philip E; Medintz, Igor L

2013-10-22

Understanding how semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) engage in photoinduced energy transfer with carbon allotropes is necessary for enhanced performance in solar cells and other optoelectronic devices along with the potential to create new types of (bio)sensors. Here, we systematically investigate energy transfer interactions between C60 fullerenes and four different QDs, composed of CdSe/ZnS (type I) and CdSe/CdS/ZnS (quasi type II), with emission maxima ranging from 530 to 630 nm. C60-pyrrolidine tris-acid was first coupled to the N-terminus of a hexahistidine-terminated peptide via carbodiimide chemistry to yield a C60-labeled peptide (pepC60). This peptide provided the critical means to achieve ratiometric self-assembly of the QD-(pepC60) nanoheterostructures by exploiting metal affinity coordination to the QD surface. Controlled QD-(pepC60)N bioconjugates were prepared by discretely increasing the ratio (N) of pepC60 assembled per QD in mixtures of dimethyl sulfoxide and buffer; this mixed organic/aqueous approach helped alleviate issues of C60 solubility. An extensive set of control experiments were initially performed to verify the specific and ratiometric nature of QD-(pepC60)N assembly. Photoinitiated energy transfer in these hybrid organic-inorganic systems was then interrogated using steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence along with ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. Coordination of pepC60 to the QD results in QD PL quenching that directly tracks with the number of peptides displayed around the QD. A detailed photophysical analysis suggests a competition between electron transfer and Förster resonance energy transfer from the QD to the C60 that is dependent upon a complex interplay of pepC60 ratio per QD, the presence of underlying spectral overlap, and contributions from QD size. These results highlight several important factors that must be considered when designing QD-donor/C60-acceptor systems for potential optoelectronic and biosensing applications.

Distributed control system for parallel-connected DC boost converters

DOEpatents

Goldsmith, Steven

2017-08-15

The disclosed invention is a distributed control system for operating a DC bus fed by disparate DC power sources that service a known or unknown load. The voltage sources vary in v-i characteristics and have time-varying, maximum supply capacities. Each source is connected to the bus via a boost converter, which may have different dynamic characteristics and power transfer capacities, but are controlled through PWM. The invention tracks the time-varying power sources and apportions their power contribution while maintaining the DC bus voltage within the specifications. A central digital controller solves the steady-state system for the optimal duty cycle settings that achieve a desired power supply apportionment scheme for a known or predictable DC load. A distributed networked control system is derived from the central system that utilizes communications among controllers to compute a shared estimate of the unknown time-varying load through shared bus current measurements and bus voltage measurements.

Is back-electron transfer process in Betaine-30 coherent?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rafiq, Shahnawaz; Scholes, Gregory D.

2017-09-01

The possible role of coherent vibrational motion in ultrafast photo-induced electron transfer remains unclear despite considerable experimental and theoretical advances. We revisited this problem by tracking the back-electron transfer (bET) process in Betaine-30 with broadband pump-probe spectroscopy. Dephasing time constant of certain high-frequency vibrations as a function of solvent shows a trend similar to the ET rates. In the purview of Bixon-Jortner model, high-frequency quantum vibrations bridge the reactant-product energy gap by providing activationless vibronic channels. Such interaction reduces the effective coupling significantly and thereby the coherence effects are eliminated due to energy gap fluctuations, making the back-electron transfer incoherent.

TH-CD-201-07: Experimentally Investigating Proton Energy Deposition On the Microscopic Scale Using Fluorescence Nuclear Track Detectors

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

Underwood, T; University College London, London; McFadden, C

Purpose: In order to further understand the interplay between proton physics and radiobiology it is necessary to consider proton energy deposition on the microscopic scale. In this work we used Fluorescent Nuclear Track Detectors (FNTDs) to experimentally investigate proton energy deposition, track-by-track. Methods: We irradiated 8×4×0.5mm{sup 3} FNTD chips (Landauer Inc) at seven water depths along a pristine proton Bragg peak with range=12cm. After irradiation, the FNTDs were scanned using a confocal microscope (FV1200, Olympus) with a high-power red laser and an oil-immersion objective lens (UPLSAPO60XO, NA=1.35). 10 slice image stacks were acquired with a slice-thickness of 2µm at multiplemore » positions across each FNTD. Image-based analyses of track radius and track “mass” (integrated signal intensity) were performed using trackpy. For comparison, Monte Carlo simulated data were obtained using TOPAS and TOPAS-nBio. Results: Excellent correlation was observed between median track mass and TOPAS dose-averaged linear energy transfer. The resolution of the imaging system was determined insufficient to detect a relationship between track radius and exposure depth. Histograms of track mass (i) displayed strong repeatability across positions within an FNTD and (ii) varied in peak position and shape as a function of depth. TOPAS-nBio simulations implemented on the nanometer scale using physics lists from GEANT4-DNA yielded energy deposition distributions for individual protons and electrons scored within a virtual FNTD. Good agreement was found between these simulated datasets and the FNTD track mass distributions. Conclusion: Robust experimental measurements of the integral energy deposited by individual proton tracks can be performed using FNTDs. Monte Carlo simulations offer an exceedingly powerful approach to the quantification of proton energy deposition on the microscopic scale, but whilst they have been well validated at the macroscopic level, their microscopic validation is far from complete. Our results demonstrate that FNTD-based study can play an important role in addressing this deficit. Tracy Underwood gratefully acknowledges the support of the European Commission under an FP7 Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship for Career Development (#630064).« less

Immunocompetent Mouse Model for Tracking Cancer Progression | NCI Technology Transfer Center | TTC

Cancer.gov

The National Cancer Institute seeks licensees or research collaborators to develop and commercialize transgenic mice having immunocompetent rat growth hormone-firefly Luciferase-enhanced green fluorescent protein.

Space spin-offs: is technology transfer worth it?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bush, Lance B.

Dual-uses, spin-offs, and technology transfer have all become part of the space lexicon, creating a cultural attitude toward space activity justification. From the very beginning of space activities in the late 1950's, this idea of secondary benefits became a major part of the space culture and its beliefs system. Technology transfer has played a central role in public and political debates of funding for space activities. Over the years, several studies of the benefits of space activities have been performed, with some estimates reaching as high as a 60:1 return to the economy for each dollar spent in space activities. Though many of these models claiming high returns have been roundly criticized. More recent studies of technology transfer from federal laboratories to private sector are showing a return on investment of 2.8:1, with little evidence of jobs increases. Yet, a purely quantitative analysis is not sufficient as there exist cultural and social benefits attainable only through case studies. Space projects tend to have a long life cycle, making it difficult to track metrics on their secondary benefits. Recent studies have begun to make inroads towards a better understanding of the benefits and drawbacks of investing in technology transfer activities related to space, but there remains significant analyses to be performed which must include a combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses.

Microparticle tracking velocimetry as a tool for microfluidic flow measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salipante, Paul; Hudson, Steven D.; Schmidt, James W.; Wright, John D.

2017-07-01

The accurate measurement of flows in microfluidic channels is important for commercial and research applications. We compare the accuracy of flow measurement techniques over a wide range flows. Flow measurements made using holographic microparticle tracking velocimetry (µPTV) and a gravimetric flow standard over the range of 0.5-100 nL/s agree within 0.25%, well within the uncertainty of the two flow systems. Two commercial thermal flow sensors were used as the intermediaries (transfer standards) between the two flow measurement systems. The gravimetric flow standard was used to calibrate the thermal flow sensors by measuring the rate of change of the mass of liquid in a beaker on a micro-balance as it fills. The holographic µPTV flow measurements were made in a rectangular channel and the flow was seeded with 1 µm diameter polystyrene spheres. The volumetric flow was calculated using the Hagen-Pouiseille solution for a rectangular channel. The uncertainty of both flow measurement systems is given. For the gravimetric standard, relative uncertainty increased for decreasing flows due to surface tension forces between the pipette carrying the flow and the free surface of the liquid in the beaker. The uncertainty of the holographic µPTV measurements did not vary significantly over the measured flow range, and thus comparatively are especially useful at low flow velocities.

Activities involving aeronautical, space science, and technology support for minority institutions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1993-01-01

The Final Report addressed the activities with which the Interracial Council for Business Opportunity (ICBO) was involved over the past 12 months. ICBO was involved in the design and development of a CARES Student Tracking System Software (CARES). Cares is intended to provide an effective means of maintaining relevant current and historical information on NASA-funded students through a range of educational program initiatives. ICBP was extensively involved in the formation of a minority university consortium amd implementation of collaborative research activities by the consortium as part of NASA's Mission to Planet Earth/Earth Observing System. ICBO was involved in the formation of an HBCU/MI Consortium to facilitate technology transfer efforts to the small and minority business community in their respective regions.

Tracker: Image-Processing and Object-Tracking System Developed

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klimek, Robert B.; Wright, Theodore W.

1999-01-01

Tracker is an object-tracking and image-processing program designed and developed at the NASA Lewis Research Center to help with the analysis of images generated by microgravity combustion and fluid physics experiments. Experiments are often recorded on film or videotape for analysis later. Tracker automates the process of examining each frame of the recorded experiment, performing image-processing operations to bring out the desired detail, and recording the positions of the objects of interest. It can load sequences of images from disk files or acquire images (via a frame grabber) from film transports, videotape, laser disks, or a live camera. Tracker controls the image source to automatically advance to the next frame. It can employ a large array of image-processing operations to enhance the detail of the acquired images and can analyze an arbitrarily large number of objects simultaneously. Several different tracking algorithms are available, including conventional threshold and correlation-based techniques, and more esoteric procedures such as "snake" tracking and automated recognition of character data in the image. The Tracker software was written to be operated by researchers, thus every attempt was made to make the software as user friendly and self-explanatory as possible. Tracker is used by most of the microgravity combustion and fluid physics experiments performed by Lewis, and by visiting researchers. This includes experiments performed on the space shuttles, Mir, sounding rockets, zero-g research airplanes, drop towers, and ground-based laboratories. This software automates the analysis of the flame or liquid s physical parameters such as position, velocity, acceleration, size, shape, intensity characteristics, color, and centroid, as well as a number of other measurements. It can perform these operations on multiple objects simultaneously. Another key feature of Tracker is that it performs optical character recognition (OCR). This feature is useful in extracting numerical instrumentation data that are embedded in images. All the results are saved in files for further data reduction and graphing. There are currently three Tracking Systems (workstations) operating near the laboratories and offices of Lewis Microgravity Science Division researchers. These systems are used independently by students, scientists, and university-based principal investigators. The researchers bring their tapes or films to the workstation and perform the tracking analysis. The resultant data files generated by the tracking process can then be analyzed on the spot, although most of the time researchers prefer to transfer them via the network to their offices for further analysis or plotting. In addition, many researchers have installed Tracker on computers in their office for desktop analysis of digital image sequences, which can be digitized by the Tracking System or some other means. Tracker has not only provided a capability to efficiently and automatically analyze large volumes of data, saving many hours of tedious work, but has also provided new capabilities to extract valuable information and phenomena that was heretofore undetected and unexploited.

RFID tags as a direct tracer for water and sediment dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sommerer, Erik; Plate, Simon; Güntner, Andreas

2014-05-01

RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) is a wireless automatic identification system to track objects with widespread application in industrial operations, but also selected applications in ecological research (animal tracking) and for hydro-sedimentological studies (sediment transport with RFID tags embedded in bedload material). In this study, for the first time, we test and apply RFID tags as a direct tracer to track water pathways, erosion patterns and sediment transport on the surface at the hillslope and headwater scale. The RFID system used here consists of tags with a size of 12 x 2 mm and a combination of mobile and stationary antennas. The transport pathways and velocities of the RFID tags can be individually assessed due to their unique identification numbers. The study area is a badland of easily erodible marls and carbonates located in the Villacarli catchment (42 km²) in the Central Spanish Pyrenees. The badlands have been identified as one of the main sediment sources for siltation of the downstream Barasona Reservoir. More than 700 tags were placed in different terrain units using three experimental setups, including lab experiments: (i) intensive feasibility tests ranging from laboratory flume experiments to tracer studies under natural channel and slope conditions to compare the transport of RFID tags relative to colored particles of the natural sediment; (ii) several transects across the badland to investigate sediment transfer characteristics on different morphological units (i.e. channel, rills, slopes); (iii) a raster of 99 RFID tags covering a slope flank with vegetated and unvegetated parts to reveal the influence of vegetation to erosion and transport processes. The detection of transported tags was carried out with a mobile antenna system to map the spatial distribution of tags after selected rainfall events and with two stationary antennas in channel cross-sections for time-continuous observation of tag passage. From the observations, we derived transport distances and velocities for a one year period. The transport behavior of the RFID tags was similar to the micrite limestone material of the badland. These results indicate the important role of terrain position and vegetation patches for erosion patterns, sediment transfer and the associated time scales along the catchment. We assess the potentials and limitations of the RFID technique as a direct tracer for assessing water and sediment connectivity along hillslopes to first order channels.

Solar tracking system

DOEpatents

Okandan, Murat; Nielson, Gregory N.

2016-07-12

Solar tracking systems, as well as methods of using such solar tracking systems, are disclosed. More particularly, embodiments of the solar tracking systems include lateral supports horizontally positioned between uprights to support photovoltaic modules. The lateral supports may be raised and lowered along the uprights or translated to cause the photovoltaic modules to track the moving sun.

Micromachined three-dimensional electrode arrays for transcutaneous nerve tracking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajaraman, Swaminathan; Bragg, Julian A.; Ross, James D.; Allen, Mark G.

2011-08-01

We report the development of metal transfer micromolded (MTM) three-dimensional microelectrode arrays (3D MEAs) for a transcutaneous nerve tracking application. The measurements of electrode-skin-electrode impedance (ESEI), electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction utilizing these minimally invasive 3D MEAs are demonstrated in this paper. The 3D MEAs used in these measurements consist of a metalized micro-tower array that can penetrate the outer layers of the skin in a painless fashion and are fabricated using MTM technology. Two techniques, an inclined UV lithography approach and a double-side exposure of thick negative tone resist, have been developed to fabricate the 3D MEA master structure. The MEAs themselves are fabricated from the master structure utilizing micromolding techniques. Metal patterns are transferred during the micromolding process, thereby ensuring reduced process steps compared to traditional silicon-based approaches. These 3D MEAs have been packaged utilizing biocompatible Kapton® substrates. ESEI measurements have been carried out on test human subjects with standard commercial wet electrodes as a reference. The 3D MEAs demonstrate an order of magnitude lower ESEI (normalized to area) compared to wet electrodes for an area that is 12.56 times smaller. This compares well with other demonstrated approaches in literature. For a nerve tracking demonstration, we have chosen EMG and nerve conduction measurements on test human subjects. The 3D MEAs show 100% improvement in signal power and SNR/√area as compared to standard electrodes. They also demonstrate larger amplitude signals and faster rise times during nerve conduction measurements. We believe that this microfabrication and packaging approach scales well to large-area, high-density arrays required for applications like nerve tracking. This development will increase the stimulation and recording fidelity of skin surface electrodes, while increasing their spatial resolution by an order of magnitude or more. Although biopotential electrode systems are not without their challenges, the non-invasive access to neural information, along with the potential for automation with associated electronic and software development, is precisely what makes this technology an excellent candidate for the next generation in diagnostic, therapeutic, and prosthetic devices.

Ultra-Wideband Tracking System Design for Relative Navigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ni, Jianjun David; Arndt, Dickey; Bgo, Phong; Dekome, Kent; Dusl, John

2011-01-01

This presentation briefly discusses a design effort for a prototype ultra-wideband (UWB) time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) tracking system that is currently under development at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). The system is being designed for use in localization and navigation of a rover in a GPS deprived environment for surface missions. In one application enabled by the UWB tracking, a robotic vehicle carrying equipments can autonomously follow a crewed rover from work site to work site such that resources can be carried from one landing mission to the next thereby saving up-mass. The UWB Systems Group at JSC has developed a UWB TDOA High Resolution Proximity Tracking System which can achieve sub-inch tracking accuracy of a target within the radius of the tracking baseline [1]. By extending the tracking capability beyond the radius of the tracking baseline, a tracking system is being designed to enable relative navigation between two vehicles for surface missions. A prototype UWB TDOA tracking system has been designed, implemented, tested, and proven feasible for relative navigation of robotic vehicles. Future work includes testing the system with the application code to increase the tracking update rate and evaluating the linear tracking baseline to improve the flexibility of antenna mounting on the following vehicle.

Technical Description of a Novel Sensor Network Architecture and Results of Radar and Optical Sensors contributing to a UK Cueing Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ladd, D.; Reeves, R.; Rumi, E.; Trethewey, M.; Fortescue, M.; Appleby, G.; Wilkinson, M.; Sherwood, R.; Ash, A.; Cooper, C.; Rayfield, P.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Control Loop Concepts Limited (CL2), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), have recently participated in a campaign of satellite observations, with both radar and optical sensors, in order to demonstrate an initial network concept that enhances the value of coordinated observations. STFC and CL2 have developed a Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) server/client architecture to slave one sensor to another. The concept was originated to enable the Chilbolton radar (an S-band radar on a 25 m diameter fully-steerable dish antenna called CASTR – Chilbolton Advanced Satellite Tracking Radar) which does not have an auto-track function to follow an object based on position data streamed from another cueing sensor. The original motivation for this was to enable tracking during re-entry of ATV-5, a highly manoeuvrable ISS re-supply vessel. The architecture has been designed to be extensible and allows the interface of both optical and radar sensors which may be geographically separated. Connectivity between the sensors is TCP/IP over the internet. The data transferred between the sensors is translated into an Earth centred frame of reference to accommodate the difference in location, and time-stamping and filtering are applied to cope with latency. The server can accept connections from multiple clients, and the operator can switch between the different clients. This architecture is inherently robust and will enable graceful degradation should parts of the system be unavailable. A demonstration was conducted in 2016 whereby a small telescope connected to an agile mount (an EO tracker known as COATS - Chilbolton Optical Advanced Tracking System) located 50m away from the radar at Chilbolton, autonomously tracked several objects and fed the look angle data into a client. CASTR, slaved to COATS through the server followed and successfully detected the objects. In 2017, the baseline was extended to 135 km by developing a client for the SLR (satellite laser ranger) telescope at the Space Geodesy Facility, Herstmonceux. Trials have already demonstrated that CASTR can accurately track the object using the position data being fed from the SLR.

Model tracking system for low-level radioactive waste disposal facilities: License application interrogatories and responses

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

Benbennick, M.E.; Broton, M.S.; Fuoto, J.S.

This report describes a model tracking system for a low-level radioactive waste (LLW) disposal facility license application. In particular, the model tracks interrogatories (questions, requests for information, comments) and responses. A set of requirements and desired features for the model tracking system was developed, including required structure and computer screens. Nine tracking systems were then reviewed against the model system requirements and only two were found to meet all requirements. Using Kepner-Tregoe decision analysis, a model tracking system was selected.

Enhancement of gravimetric forced flow through system to determine sorption, swelling, and mass transfer characteristics of liquid sorbents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dresp, G.; Petermann, M.; Fieback, T. M.

2018-04-01

An existing apparatus for forced flow through of liquid sorbents has been enhanced with an optically accessible system including a transparent crucible, high pressure viewing cell, and camera. With this optical system, the active surface area between gas and liquid can be determined in situ for the first time under industrial process conditions while maintaining the accuracy of a magnetic suspension balance. Additionally, occurring swelling and the resulting buoyancy changes can now be corrected, further improving the quality of the data. Validation measurements focusing on the sorption isotherms, swelling, and bubble geometry of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate with nitrogen at 303 K and up to 17 MPa, as well as with carbon dioxide at 303 K, 323 K, and 373 K at up to 3.5 MPa were completed. Absorption of nitrogen resulted in no observable volume change, whereas absorption of carbon dioxide resulted in temperature independent swelling of up to 9.8%. The gas bubble's structure and behavior during its ascend through the liquid was optically tracked in situ. Combining these two data sets with the absorption kinetics forms the basis to determine the measuring system independent mass transfer coefficients, which are applicable in other laboratory scale and industrial processes.

A wirelessly-powered homecage with animal behavior analysis and closed-loop power control.

PubMed

Yaoyao Jia; Zheyuan Wang; Canales, Daniel; Tinkler, Morgan; Chia-Chun Hsu; Madsen, Teresa E; Mirbozorgi, S Abdollah; Rainnie, Donald; Ghovanloo, Maysam

2016-08-01

This paper presents a new EnerCage-homecage system, EnerCage-HC2, for longitudinal electrophysiology data acquisition experiments on small freely moving animal subjects, such as rodents. EnerCage-HC2 is equipped with multi-coil wireless power transmission (WPT), closed-loop power control, bidirectional data communication via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), and Microsoft Kinect® based animal behavior tracking and analysis. The EnerCage-HC2 achieves a homogeneous power transfer efficiency (PTE) of 14% on average, with ~42 mW power delivered to the load (PDL) at a nominal height of 7 cm by the closed-loop power control mechanism. The Microsoft Kinect® behavioral analysis algorithm can not only track the animal position in real-time but also classify 5 different types of rodent behaviors: standstill, walking, grooming, rearing, and rotating. A proof-of-concept in vivo experiment was conducted on two awake freely behaving rats while successfully operating a one-channel stimulator and generating an ethogram.

Ultra-Wideband Time-Difference-of-Arrival High Resolution 3D Proximity Tracking System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ni, Jianjun; Arndt, Dickey; Ngo, Phong; Phan, Chau; Dekome, Kent; Dusl, John

2010-01-01

This paper describes a research and development effort for a prototype ultra-wideband (UWB) tracking system that is currently under development at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). The system is being studied for use in tracking of lunar./Mars rovers and astronauts during early exploration missions when satellite navigation systems are not available. U IATB impulse radio (UWB-IR) technology is exploited in the design and implementation of the prototype location and tracking system. A three-dimensional (3D) proximity tracking prototype design using commercially available UWB products is proposed to implement the Time-Difference- Of-Arrival (TDOA) tracking methodology in this research effort. The TDOA tracking algorithm is utilized for location estimation in the prototype system, not only to exploit the precise time resolution possible with UWB signals, but also to eliminate the need for synchronization between the transmitter and the receiver. Simulations show that the TDOA algorithm can achieve the fine tracking resolution with low noise TDOA estimates for close-in tracking. Field tests demonstrated that this prototype UWB TDOA High Resolution 3D Proximity Tracking System is feasible for providing positioning-awareness information in a 3D space to a robotic control system. This 3D tracking system is developed for a robotic control system in a facility called "Moonyard" at Honeywell Defense & System in Arizona under a Space Act Agreement.

Advanced tracking systems design and analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Potash, R.; Floyd, L.; Jacobsen, A.; Cunningham, K.; Kapoor, A.; Kwadrat, C.; Radel, J.; Mccarthy, J.

1989-01-01

The results of an assessment of several types of high-accuracy tracking systems proposed to track the spacecraft in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (ATDRSS) are summarized. Tracking systems based on the use of interferometry and ranging are investigated. For each system, the top-level system design and operations concept are provided. A comparative system assessment is presented in terms of orbit determination performance, ATDRSS impacts, life-cycle cost, and technological risk.

High speed, mask-less, laser controlled deposition of microscale tungsten tracks using 405 nm wavelength diode laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ten, Jyi Sheuan; Sparkes, Martin; O'Neill, William

2017-02-01

A rapid, mask-less deposition technique for the deposition of conductive tracks to nano- and micro-devices has been developed. The process uses a 405 nm wavelength laser diode for the direct deposition of tungsten tracks on silicon substrates via laser assisted chemical vapour deposition. Unlike lithographic processes this technique is single step and does not require chemical masks that may contaminate the substrate. To demonstrate the process, tungsten was deposited from tungsten hexacarbonyl precursors to produce conductive tracks with widths of 1.7-28 μm and heights of 0.05-35 μm at laser scan speeds up to 40 μm/s. The highest volumetric deposition rate achieved is 1×104 μm3/s, three orders of magnitude higher than that of focused ion beam deposition and on par with a 515 nm wavelength argon ion laser previously reported as the laser source. The microstructure and elemental composition of the deposits are comparable to that of largearea chemical vapour deposition methods using the same chemical precursor. The contact resistance and track resistance of the deposits has been measured using the transfer length method to be 205 μΩ cm. The deposition temperature has been estimated at 334 °C from a laser heat transfer model accounting for temperature dependent optical and physical properties of the substrate. The peak temperatures achieved on silicon and other substrates are higher than the thermal dissociation temperature of numerous precursors, indicating that this technique can also be used to deposit other materials such as gold and platinum on various substrates.

Textual and shape-based feature extraction and neuro-fuzzy classifier for nuclear track recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khayat, Omid; Afarideh, Hossein

2013-04-01

Track counting algorithms as one of the fundamental principles of nuclear science have been emphasized in the recent years. Accurate measurement of nuclear tracks on solid-state nuclear track detectors is the aim of track counting systems. Commonly track counting systems comprise a hardware system for the task of imaging and software for analysing the track images. In this paper, a track recognition algorithm based on 12 defined textual and shape-based features and a neuro-fuzzy classifier is proposed. Features are defined so as to discern the tracks from the background and small objects. Then, according to the defined features, tracks are detected using a trained neuro-fuzzy system. Features and the classifier are finally validated via 100 Alpha track images and 40 training samples. It is shown that principle textual and shape-based features concomitantly yield a high rate of track detection compared with the single-feature based methods.

40 CFR 73.30 - Allowance tracking system accounts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 16 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Allowance tracking system accounts. 73.30 Section 73.30 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) SULFUR DIOXIDE ALLOWANCE SYSTEM Allowance Tracking System § 73.30 Allowance tracking system...

40 CFR 73.30 - Allowance tracking system accounts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 16 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Allowance tracking system accounts. 73.30 Section 73.30 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) SULFUR DIOXIDE ALLOWANCE SYSTEM Allowance Tracking System § 73.30 Allowance tracking system...

Measurements and calculations of the Coulomb cross section for the production of direct electron pairs by energetic heavy nuclei in nuclear track emulsion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Derrickson, J. H.; Eby, P. B.; Fountain, W. F.; Parnell, T. A.; Dong, B. L.; Gregory, J. C.; Takahashi, Y.; King, D. T.

1988-01-01

Measurements and theoretical predictions of the Coulomb cross section for the production of direct electron pairs by heavy ions in emulsion have been performed. Nuclear track emulsions were exposed to the 1.8 GeV/amu Fe-56 beam at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory bevalac and to the 60 and 200 GeV/amu O-16 and the 200 GeV/amu S-32 beam at the European Center for Nuclear Research Super Proton Synchrotron modified to accelerate heavy ions. The calculations combine the Weizsacker-Williams virtual quanta method applicable to the low-energy transfers and the Kelner-Kotov relativistic treatment for the high-energy transfers. Comparison of the measured total electron pair yield, the energy transfer distribution, and the emission angle distribution with theoretical predictions revealed a discrepancy in the frequency of occurrence of the low-energy pairs (less than or = 10 MeV). The microscope scanning criteria used to identify the direct electron pairs is described and efforts to improve the calculation of the cross section for pair production are also discussed.

A radiative transfer model for sea surface temperature retrieval for the along-track scanning radiometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

ZáVody, A. M.; Mutlow, C. T.; Llewellyn-Jones, D. T.

1995-01-01

The measurements made by the along-track scanning radiometer are now converted routinely into sea surface temperature (SST). The details of the atmospheric model which had been used for deriving the SST algorithms are given, together with tables of the coefficients in the algorithms for the different SST products. The accuracy of the retrieval under normal conditions and the effect of errors in the model on the retrieved SST are briefly discussed.

The Nonlinear Spring and Energy Conservation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sherfinski, John

1989-01-01

Describes an air track experiment demonstrating the transfer of mechanical energy from elastic potential to kinetic. Discusses four methods for calculating energy stored in the spring. Included are pictures, typical data, and graphs. (YP)

TRAINING AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER OF ORD-DEVELOPED MOLECULAR BIOLOGY-BASED TOOLS: 1. ENDOCRINE DISRUPTING CHEMICAL FATHEAD MINNOW BIOASSAY; 2. MICROBIAL SOURCE TRACKING METHODS; 3. FIELD IDENTIFICATION OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROP PLANTS

EPA Science Inventory

Region 9 RSL and ORD/NERL scientists developed a course for the RSC (Regional Science Council)-sponsored training class on Molecular Biology Concepts. The training will take place as part of the technology transfer of a fish EDC (endocrine disrupting chemical) bioassay to the Reg...

77 FR 33489 - Draft Offender Tracking System Standard

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-06

... Tracking System Standard AGENCY: National Institute of Justice. ACTION: Notice of Draft Offender Tracking System Standard, Selection and Application Guide, and Certification Program Requirements. SUMMARY: In an...) A draft standard entitled, ``Offender Tracking System Standard'' (2) a draft companion document...

Transfer of benzo[a]pyrene from microplastics to Artemia nauplii and further to zebrafish via a trophic food web experiment: CYP1A induction and visual tracking of persistent organic pollutants.

PubMed

Batel, Annika; Linti, Frederic; Scherer, Martina; Erdinger, Lothar; Braunbeck, Thomas

2016-07-01

The uptake of microplastic particles and the transfer of potential harmful substances along with microplastics has been studied in a variety of organisms, especially invertebrates. However, the potential accumulation of very small microplastic particles along food webs ending with vertebrate models has not been investigated so far. Therefore, a simple artificial food chain with Artemia sp. nauplii and zebrafish (Danio rerio) was established to analyze the transfer of microplastic particles and associated persistent organic pollutants (POPs) between different trophic levels. Very small (1-20 μm) microplastic particles accumulated in Artemia nauplii and were subsequently transferred to fish. Virgin particles not loaded with POPs did not cause any observable physical harm in the intestinal tracts of zebrafish, although parts of the particles were retained within the mucus of intestinal villi and might even have been taken up by epithelial cells. The transfer of associated POPs was tested with the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon benzo[a]pyrene and an ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) assay for CYP1A induction in zebrafish liver as well as via fluorescence analyses. Whereas a significant induction in the EROD assay could not be shown, because of high individual variation and low sensitivity regarding substance concentration, the fluorescence tracking of benzo[a]pyrene indicates that food-borne microplastic-associated POPs may actually desorb in the intestine of fish and are thus transferred to the intestinal epithelium and liver. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:1656-1666. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

Lightweight Battery Charge Regulator Used to Track Solar Array Peak Power

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Soeder, James F.; Button, Robert M.

1999-01-01

A battery charge regulator based on the series-connected boost regulator (SCBR) technology has been developed for high-voltage spacecraft applications. The SCBR regulates the solar array power during insolation to prevent battery overcharge or undercharge conditions. It can also be used to provide regulated battery output voltage to spacecraft loads if necessary. This technology uses industry-standard dc-dc converters and a unique interconnection to provide size, weight, efficiency, fault tolerance, and modularity benefits over existing systems. The high-voltage SCBR shown in the photograph has demonstrated power densities of over 1000 watts per kilogram (W/kg). Using four 150-W dc-dc converter modules, it can process 2500 W of power at 120 Vdc with a minimum input voltage of 90 Vdc. Efficiency of the SCBR was 94 to 98 percent over the entire operational range. Internally, the unit is made of two separate SCBR s, each with its own analog control circuitry, to demonstrate the modularity of the technology. The analog controllers regulate the output current and incorporate the output voltage limit with active current sharing between the two units. They also include voltage and current telemetry, on/off control, and baseplate temperature sensors. For peak power tracking, the SCBR was connected to a LabView-based data acquisition system for telemetry and control. A digital control algorithm for tracking the peak power point of a solar array was developed using the principle of matching the source impedance with the load impedance for maximum energy transfer. The algorithm was successfully demonstrated in a simulated spacecraft electrical system at the Boeing PhantomWorks High Voltage Test Facility in Seattle, Washington. The system consists of a 42-string, high-voltage solar array simulator, a 77-cell, 80-ampere-hour (A-hr) nickel-hydrogen battery, and a constant power-load module. The SCBR and the LabView control algorithm successfully tracked the solar array peak power point through various load transients, including sunlight discharge transients when the total load exceeded the maximum solar array output power.

78 FR 12298 - Privacy Act of 1974; System of Records-School Participation Division Complaints Tracking System

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-22

... Complaints Tracking System AGENCY: Federal Student Aid, Department of Education. ACTION: Notice of a new... Division Complaints Tracking System (SPD-CTS)'' (18-11- 19). DATES: Submit your comments on this proposed... all comments about the School Participation Division--Complaints Tracking System to: Performance...

Advanced statistical energy analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heron, K. H.

1994-09-01

A high-frequency theory (advanced statistical energy analysis (ASEA)) is developed which takes account of the mechanism of tunnelling and uses a ray theory approach to track the power flowing around a plate or a beam network and then uses statistical energy analysis (SEA) to take care of any residual power. ASEA divides the energy of each sub-system into energy that is freely available for transfer to other sub-systems and energy that is fixed within the sub-systems that are physically separate and can be interpreted as a series of mathematical models, the first of which is identical to standard SEA and subsequent higher order models are convergent on an accurate prediction. Using a structural assembly of six rods as an example, ASEA is shown to converge onto the exact results while SEA is shown to overpredict by up to 60 dB.

Development of Telecommunications of Prao ASC Lpi RAS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Isaev, E. A.; Dumskiy, D. V.; Likhachev, S. F.; Shatskaya, M. V.; Pugachev, V. D.; Samodurov, V. A.

The new modern and reliable data storage system was acquired in 2010 in order to develop internal telecommunication resources of the Observatory. The system is designed for store large amounts of observation data obtained from the three radio-astronomy complexes (PT-22, DKR-1000 and BSA). The digital switching system - "Elcom" is installed in the Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory to ensure the observatory by phone communications. The phone communication between buildings of the observatory carried out over fiber-optic data links by using the ip-telephony. The direct optical channel from tracking station RT-22 in Pushchino to Moscow processing center has been created and put into operation to transfer large amounts of data at the final stage of the establishment of ground infrastructure for the international space project "Radioastron". A separate backup system for processing and storing data is organized in Pushchino Radio Astronomy Observatory to eliminate data loss during communication sessions with the Space Telescope.

Artist concept illustrating key events on day by day basis during Apollo 9

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1969-01-01

Artist concept illustrating key events on day by day basis during Apollo 9 mission. First photograph illustrates activities on the first day of the mission, including flight crew preparation, orbital insertion, 103 north mile orbit, separations, docking and docked Service Propulsion System Burn (19792); Second day events include landmark tracking, pitch maneuver, yaw-roll maneuver, and high apogee orbits (19793); Third day events include crew transfer and Lunar Module system evaluation (19794); Fourth day events include use of camera, day-night extravehicular activity, use of golden slippers, and television over Texas and Louisiana (19795); Fifth day events include vehicles undocked, Lunar Module burns for rendezvous, maximum separation, ascent propulsion system burn, formation flying and docking, and Lunar Module jettison ascent burn (19796); Sixth thru ninth day events include service propulsion system burns and landmark sightings, photograph special tests (19797); Tenth day events i

Experimental validation of docking and capture using space robotics testbeds

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spofford, John; Schmitz, Eric; Hoff, William

1991-01-01

This presentation describes the application of robotic and computer vision systems to validate docking and capture operations for space cargo transfer vehicles. Three applications are discussed: (1) air bearing systems in two dimensions that yield high quality free-flying, flexible, and contact dynamics; (2) validation of docking mechanisms with misalignment and target dynamics; and (3) computer vision technology for target location and real-time tracking. All the testbeds are supported by a network of engineering workstations for dynamic and controls analyses. Dynamic simulation of multibody rigid and elastic systems are performed with the TREETOPS code. MATRIXx/System-Build and PRO-MATLAB/Simulab are the tools for control design and analysis using classical and modern techniques such as H-infinity and LQG/LTR. SANDY is a general design tool to optimize numerically a multivariable robust compensator with a user-defined structure. Mathematica and Macsyma are used to derive symbolically dynamic and kinematic equations.

Electronics Shielding and Reliability Design Tools

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wilson, John W.; ONeill, P. M.; Zang, Thomas A., Jr.; Pandolf, John E.; Koontz, Steven L.; Boeder, P.; Reddell, B.; Pankop, C.

2006-01-01

It is well known that electronics placement in large-scale human-rated systems provides opportunity to optimize electronics shielding through materials choice and geometric arrangement. For example, several hundred single event upsets (SEUs) occur within the Shuttle avionic computers during a typical mission. An order of magnitude larger SEU rate would occur without careful placement in the Shuttle design. These results used basic physics models (linear energy transfer (LET), track structure, Auger recombination) combined with limited SEU cross section measurements allowing accurate evaluation of target fragment contributions to Shuttle avionics memory upsets. Electronics shielding design on human-rated systems provides opportunity to minimize radiation impact on critical and non-critical electronic systems. Implementation of shielding design tools requires adequate methods for evaluation of design layouts, guiding qualification testing, and an adequate follow-up on final design evaluation including results from a systems/device testing program tailored to meet design requirements.

eLaunch Hypersonics: An Advanced Launch System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Starr, Stanley

2010-01-01

This presentation describes a new space launch system that NASA can and should develop. This approach can significantly reduce ground processing and launch costs, improve reliability, and broaden the scope of what we do in near earth orbit. The concept (not new) is to launch a re-usable air-breathing hypersonic vehicle from a ground based electric track. This vehicle launches a final rocket stage at high altitude/velocity for the final leg to orbit. The proposal here differs from past studies in that we will launch above Mach 1.5 (above transonic pinch point) which further improves the efficiency of air breathing, horizontal take-off launch systems. The approach described here significantly reduces cost per kilogram to orbit, increases safety and reliability of the boost systems, and reduces ground costs due to horizontal-processing. Finally, this approach provides significant technology transfer benefits for our national infrastructure.

Lockheed Martin Response to the OSP Challenge

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sullivan, Robert T.; Munkres, Randy; Megna, Thomas D.; Beckham, Joanne

2003-01-01

The Lockheed Martin Orbital Space Plane System provides crew transfer and rescue for the International Space Station more safely and affordably than current human space transportation systems. Through planned upgrades and spiral development, it is also capable of satisfying the Nation's evolving space transportation requirements and enabling the national vision for human space flight. The OSP System, formulated through rigorous requirements definition and decomposition, consists of spacecraft and launch vehicle flight elements, ground processing facilities and existing transportation, launch complex, range, mission control, weather, navigation, communication and tracking infrastructure. The concept of operations, including procurement, mission planning, launch preparation, launch and mission operations and vehicle maintenance, repair and turnaround, is structured to maximize flexibility and mission availability and minimize program life cycle cost. The approach to human rating and crew safety utilizes simplicity, performance margin, redundancy, abort modes and escape modes to mitigate credible hazards that cannot be designed out of the system.

Target tracking system based on preliminary and precise two-stage compound cameras

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Yiyan; Hu, Ruolan; She, Jun; Luo, Yiming; Zhou, Jie

2018-02-01

Early detection of goals and high-precision of target tracking is two important performance indicators which need to be balanced in actual target search tracking system. This paper proposed a target tracking system with preliminary and precise two - stage compound. This system using a large field of view to achieve the target search. After the target was searched and confirmed, switch into a small field of view for two field of view target tracking. In this system, an appropriate filed switching strategy is the key to achieve tracking. At the same time, two groups PID parameters are add into the system to reduce tracking error. This combination way with preliminary and precise two-stage compound can extend the scope of the target and improve the target tracking accuracy and this method has practical value.

UWB Tracking System Design for Free-Flyers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ni, Jianjun; Arndt, Dickey; Phan, Chan; Ngo, Phong; Gross, Julia; Dusl, John

2004-01-01

This paper discusses an ultra-wideband (UWB) tracking system design effort for Mini-AERCam (Autonomous Extra-vehicular Robotic Camera), a free-flying video camera system under development at NASA Johnson Space Center for aid in surveillance around the International Space Station (ISS). UWB technology is exploited to implement the tracking system due to its properties, such as high data rate, fine time resolution, and low power spectral density. A system design using commercially available UWB products is proposed. A tracking algorithm TDOA (Time Difference of Arrival) that operates cooperatively with the UWB system is developed in this research effort. Matlab simulations show that the tracking algorithm can achieve fine tracking resolution with low noise TDOA data. Lab experiments demonstrate the UWB tracking capability with fine resolution.

Damage Detection in Railway Prestressed Concrete Sleepers using Acoustic Emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clark, A.; Kaewunruen, S.; Janeliukstis, R.; Papaelias, M.

2017-10-01

Prestressed concrete sleepers (or railroad ties) are safety-critical elements in railway tracks that distribute the wheel loads from the rails to the track support system. Over a period of time, the concrete sleepers age and deteriorate in addition to experiencing various types of static and dynamic loading conditions, which are attributable to train operations. In many cases, structural cracks can develop within the sleepers due to high intensity impact loads or due to poor track maintenance. Often, cracks of sleepers develop and present at the midspan due to excessive negative bending. These cracks can cause broken sleepers and sometimes called ‘center bound’ problem in railway lines. This paper is the world first to present an application of non-destructive acoustic emission technology for damage detection in railway concrete sleepers. It presents experimental investigations in order to detect center-bound cracks in railway prestressed concrete sleepers. Experimental laboratory testing involves three-point bending tests of four concrete sleepers. Three-point bending tests correspond to a real failure mode, when the loads are not transferred uniformly to the ballast support. It is observed that AE sensing provides an accurate means for detecting the location and magnitude of cracks in sleepers. Sensor location criticality is also highlighted in the paper to demonstrate the reliability-based damage detection of the sleepers.

Gas Replacements for GFP to Track Microbial Dynamics in Soils and Sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheng, Hsiao-Ying; Silberg, Jonathan; Masiello, Caroline

2016-04-01

Metagenomic analyses offer unprecedented views of soil microbial communities, and additionally provide a host of testable hypotheses about the biological mechanisms driving global biogeochemical fluxes. Outside the biogeosciences, hypotheses generated by metagenomics are often tested using biosensors, microbes programmed to respond in a detectable way to either changes in their metabolism or changes in the environment. A very large number of microbial behaviors can be monitored using biosensors, but these sensors typically report in ways that are undetectable in soils, e.g. by releasing green fluorescent protein (GFP). We are building a new class of biosensors that report by releasing easily-detected gases. We will provide an overview of the potential uses of gas-reporting biosensors in geobiology, and will report the current development these sensors. One goal in the development of these sensors is to make tractable the testing of gene expression hypotheses derived from metagenomics data. Examples of processes that could be tracked non-invasively with gas sensors include coordination of biofilm formation, nitrification, rhizobial infection of plant roots, and at least some forms of methanogenesis, all of which are managed by the easily-engineered acyl homoserine lactone cell-cell communication system. Another relatively simple process to track with gas sensors is horizontal gene transfer. We will report on the progress of these proof-of-concept examples.

THE EMPACT COLLECTION

EPA Science Inventory

The TTSD of the USEPA's ORD/NRMRL has completed a series of technology transfer and risk communication handbooks, case studies, and summary reports for community-based environmental monitoring projects under EPA's Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking ...

LET spectra measurements from the STS-35 CPDs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1995-01-01

Linear energy transfer (LET) spectra derived form automated track analysis system (ATAS) track parameter measurements for crew passive dosimeters (CPD's) flown with the astronauts on STS-35 are plotted. The spread between the seven individual spectra is typical of past manual measurements of sets of CPD's. This difference is probably due to the cumulative net shielding variations experienced by the CPD's as the astronauts carrying them went about their activities on the Space Shuttle. The STS-35 mission was launched on Dec. 2, 1990, at 28.5 degrees inclination and 352-km altitude. This is somewhat higher than the nominal 300-km flights and the orbit intersects more of the high intensity trapped proton region in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). However, in comparison with APD spectra measured on earlier lower altitude missions (STS-26, -29, -30, -32), the flux spectra are all roughly comparable. This may be due to the fact that the STS-35 mission took place close to solar maximum (Feb. 1990), or perhaps to shielding differences. The corresponding dose and dose equivalent spectra for this mission are shown. The effect of statistical fluctuations at the higher LET values, where track densities are small, is very noticeable. This results in an increased spread within the dose rate and dose equivalent rate spectra, as compared to the flux spectra. The contribution to dose and dose equivalent per measured track is much greater in the high LET region and the differences, though numerically small, are heavily weighted in the integral spectra. The optimum measurement and characterization of the high LET tails of the spectra represent an important part of the research into plastic nuclear track detector (PNTD) response. The integral flux, dose rate, dose equivalent rate and mission dose equivalent for the seven astronauts are also given.

A note on adding viscoelasticity to earthquake simulators

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pollitz, Fred

2017-01-01

Here, I describe how time‐dependent quasi‐static stress transfer can be implemented in an earthquake simulator code that is used to generate long synthetic seismicity catalogs. Most existing seismicity simulators use precomputed static stress interaction coefficients to rapidly implement static stress transfer in fault networks with typically tens of thousands of fault patches. The extension to quasi‐static deformation, which accounts for viscoelasticity of Earth’s ductile lower crust and mantle, involves the precomputation of additional interaction coefficients that represent time‐dependent stress transfer among the model fault patches, combined with defining and evolving additional state variables that track this stress transfer. The new approach is illustrated with application to a California‐wide synthetic fault network.

Determination of nuclear tracks parameters on sequentially etched PADC detectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horwacik, Tomasz; Bilski, Pawel; Koerner, Christine; Facius, Rainer; Berger, Thomas; Nowak, Tomasz; Reitz, Guenther; Olko, Pawel

Polyallyl Diglycol Carbonate (PADC) detectors find many applications in radiation protection. One of them is the cosmic radiation dosimetry, where PADC detectors measure the linear energy transfer (LET) spectra of charged particles (from protons to heavy ions), supplementing TLD detectors in the role of passive dosemeter. Calibration exposures to ions of known LET are required to establish a relation between parameters of track observed on the detector and LET of particle creating this track. PADC TASTRAK nuclear track detectors were exposed to 12 C and 56 Fe ions of LET in H2 O between 10 and 544 keV/µm. The exposures took place at the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator (HIMAC) in Chiba, Japan in the frame of the HIMAC research project "Space Radiation Dosimetry-Ground Based Verification of the MATROSHKA Facility" (20P-240). Detectors were etched in water solution of NaOH with three different temperatures and for various etching times to observe the appearance of etched tracks, the evolution of their parameters and the stability of the etching process. The applied etching times (and the solution's concentrations and temperatures) were: 48, 72, 96, 120 hours (6.25 N NaOH, 50 O C), 20, 40, 60, 80 hours (6.25 N NaOH, 60 O C) and 8, 12, 16, 20 hours (7N NaOH, 70 O C). The analysis of the detectors involved planimetric (2D) measurements of tracks' entrance ellipses and mechanical measurements of bulk layer thickness. Further track parameters, like angle of incidence, track length and etch rate ratio were then calculated. For certain tracks, results of planimetric measurements and calculations were also compared with results of optical track profile (3D) measurements, where not only the track's entrance ellipse but also the location of the track's tip could be directly measured. All these measurements have been performed with the 2D/3D measurement system at DLR. The collected data allow to create sets of V(LET in H2 O) calibration curves suitable for short, intermediate and long etching time and will be use during analysis of detectors exposed on the International Space Station during DOSIS and MATROSHKA experiments. The help and support of Yukio Uchihori and Hisashi Kitamura during the irradiations at HIMAC is highly appreciated. This work was supported by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, grants: No N N505 261535 and No. DWM/N118/ESA/2008.

Autonomous antenna tracking system for mobile symphonie ground stations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ernsberger, K.; Lorch, G.; Waffenschmidt, E.

1982-01-01

The implementation of a satellite tracking and antenna control system is described. Due to the loss of inclination control for the symphonie satellites, it became necessary to equip the parabolic antennas of the mobile Symphonie ground station with tracking facilities. For the relatively low required tracking accuracy of 0.5 dB, a low cost, step track system was selected. The step track system developed for this purpose and tested over a long period of time in 7 ground stations is based on a search step method with subsequent parabola interpolation. As compared with the real search step method, the system has the advantage of a higher pointing angle resolution, and thus a higher tracking accuracy. When the pilot signal has been switched off for a long period of time, as for instance after the eclipse, the antenna is repointed towards the satellite by an automatically initiated spiral search scan. The function and design of the tracking system are detailed, while easy handling and tracking results.

UWB Two-Cluster AOA Tracking Prototype System Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ngo, Phong H.; Arndt, D.; Phan, C.; Gross, J.; Jianjun; Rafford, Melinda

2006-01-01

This presentation discusses a design effort for a prototype ultra-wideband (UWB) tracking system that is currently under development at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). The system is being studied for use in tracking of lunar/Mars rovers during early exploration missions when satellite navigation systems are not available. The UWB technology is exploited to implement the tracking system due to its properties such as fine time resolution, low power spectral density and multipath immunity. A two cluster prototype design using commercially available UWB radios is employed to implement the Angle of Arrival (AOA) tracking methodology in this design effort. In order to increase the tracking range, low noise amplifiers (LNA) and high gain horns are used at the receiving sides. Field tests were conducted jointly with the Science and Crew Operation Utility Testbed (SCOUT) vehicle near the Meteor Crater in Arizona to test the tracking capability for a moving target in an operational environment. These tests demonstrate that the UWB tracking system can co-exist with other on-board radio frequency (RF) communication systems (such as Global Positioning System (GPS), video, voice and telemetry systems), and that a tracking resolution less than 1% of the range can be achieved.

Hydrothermal Gasification for Waste to Energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Epps, Brenden; Laser, Mark; Choo, Yeunun

2014-11-01

Hydrothermal gasification is a promising technology for harvesting energy from waste streams. Applications range from straightforward waste-to-energy conversion (e.g. municipal waste processing, industrial waste processing), to water purification (e.g. oil spill cleanup, wastewater treatment), to biofuel energy systems (e.g. using algae as feedstock). Products of the gasification process are electricity, bottled syngas (H2 + CO), sequestered CO2, clean water, and inorganic solids; further chemical reactions can be used to create biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. We present a comparison of gasification system architectures, focusing on efficiency and economic performance metrics. Various system architectures are modeled computationally, using a model developed by the coauthors. The physical model tracks the mass of each chemical species, as well as energy conversions and transfers throughout the gasification process. The generic system model includes the feedstock, gasification reactor, heat recovery system, pressure reducing mechanical expanders, and electricity generation system. Sensitivity analysis of system performance to various process parameters is presented. A discussion of the key technological barriers and necessary innovations is also presented.

MICROPROCESSOR-BASED DATA-ACQUISITION SYSTEM FOR A BOREHOLE RADAR.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bradley, Jerry A.; Wright, David L.

1987-01-01

An efficient microprocessor-based system is described that permits real-time acquisition, stacking, and digital recording of data generated by a borehole radar system. Although the system digitizes, stacks, and records independently of a computer, it is interfaced to a desktop computer for program control over system parameters such as sampling interval, number of samples, number of times the data are stacked prior to recording on nine-track tape, and for graphics display of the digitized data. The data can be transferred to the desktop computer during recording, or it can be played back from a tape at a latter time. Using the desktop computer, the operator observes results while recording data and generates hard-copy graphics in the field. Thus, the radar operator can immediately evaluate the quality of data being obtained, modify system parameters, study the radar logs before leaving the field, and rerun borehole logs if necessary. The system has proven to be reliable in the field and has increased productivity both in the field and in the laboratory.

The Remote Detection of Alpha-Radioactive Nucleus Decay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gurkovskiy, Boris; Miroshnichenko, Vladimir; Onishchenko, Evgeny; Simakov, Andrey; Streil, Thomas

Results of the new device design for the alpha-radiation remote detection are presented. Negative ions from the alpha particle tracks are detected by the discharge wire counter opened to air. Ion clusters being transferred from the particle tracks to the detector volume by an air flux. The detector works in a counting mode that provides sharp selectivity and accuracy of measurements. The basic parameters of the device are: detecting distance -0.5 m; measurement time -30 s; the square sensitivity -0.05 Bq/cm2.

Automated real time peg and tool detection for the FLS trainer box.

PubMed

Nemani, Arun; Sankaranarayanan, Ganesh

2012-01-01

This study proposes a method that effectively tracks trocar tool and peg positions in real time to allow real time assessment of the peg transfer task of the Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery (FLS). By utilizing custom code along with OpenCV libraries, tool and peg positions can be accurately tracked without altering the original setup conditions of the FLS trainer box. This is achieved via a series of image filtration sequences, thresholding functions, and Haar training methods.

Direct comparison of the impact of head tracking, reverberation, and individualized head-related transfer functions on the spatial perception of a virtual speech source

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Begault, D. R.; Wenzel, E. M.; Anderson, M. R.

2001-01-01

A study of sound localization performance was conducted using headphone-delivered virtual speech stimuli, rendered via HRTF-based acoustic auralization software and hardware, and blocked-meatus HRTF measurements. The independent variables were chosen to evaluate commonly held assumptions in the literature regarding improved localization: inclusion of head tracking, individualized HRTFs, and early and diffuse reflections. Significant effects were found for azimuth and elevation error, reversal rates, and externalization.

40 CFR 97.50 - NOX Allowance Tracking System accounts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false NOX Allowance Tracking System accounts. 97.50 Section 97.50 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR... Tracking System § 97.50 NOX Allowance Tracking System accounts. (a) Nature and function of compliance...

40 CFR 97.50 - NOX Allowance Tracking System accounts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false NOX Allowance Tracking System accounts. 97.50 Section 97.50 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR... Tracking System § 97.50 NOX Allowance Tracking System accounts. (a) Nature and function of compliance...

Performance improvements of symmetry-breaking reflector structures in nonimaging devices

DOEpatents

Winston, Roland

2004-01-13

A structure and method for providing a broken symmetry reflector structure for a solar concentrator device. The component of the optical direction vector along the symmetry axis is conserved for all rays propagated through a translationally symmetric optical device. This quantity, referred to as the translational skew invariant, is conserved in rotationally symmetric optical systems. Performance limits for translationally symmetric nonimaging optical devices are derived from the distributions of the translational skew invariant for the optical source and for the target to which flux is to be transferred. A numerically optimized non-tracking solar concentrator utilizing symmetry-breaking reflector structures can overcome the performance limits associated with translational symmetry.

Convolutional Deep Belief Networks for Single-Cell/Object Tracking in Computational Biology and Computer Vision.

PubMed

Zhong, Bineng; Pan, Shengnan; Zhang, Hongbo; Wang, Tian; Du, Jixiang; Chen, Duansheng; Cao, Liujuan

2016-01-01

In this paper, we propose deep architecture to dynamically learn the most discriminative features from data for both single-cell and object tracking in computational biology and computer vision. Firstly, the discriminative features are automatically learned via a convolutional deep belief network (CDBN). Secondly, we design a simple yet effective method to transfer features learned from CDBNs on the source tasks for generic purpose to the object tracking tasks using only limited amount of training data. Finally, to alleviate the tracker drifting problem caused by model updating, we jointly consider three different types of positive samples. Extensive experiments validate the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed method.

Convolutional Deep Belief Networks for Single-Cell/Object Tracking in Computational Biology and Computer Vision

PubMed Central

Pan, Shengnan; Zhang, Hongbo; Wang, Tian; Du, Jixiang; Chen, Duansheng; Cao, Liujuan

2016-01-01

In this paper, we propose deep architecture to dynamically learn the most discriminative features from data for both single-cell and object tracking in computational biology and computer vision. Firstly, the discriminative features are automatically learned via a convolutional deep belief network (CDBN). Secondly, we design a simple yet effective method to transfer features learned from CDBNs on the source tasks for generic purpose to the object tracking tasks using only limited amount of training data. Finally, to alleviate the tracker drifting problem caused by model updating, we jointly consider three different types of positive samples. Extensive experiments validate the robustness and effectiveness of the proposed method. PMID:27847827

Experiences from the anatomy track in the ontology alignment evaluation initiative.

PubMed

Dragisic, Zlatan; Ivanova, Valentina; Li, Huanyu; Lambrix, Patrick

2017-12-04

One of the longest running tracks in the Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative is the Anatomy track which focuses on aligning two anatomy ontologies. The Anatomy track was started in 2005. In 2005 and 2006 the task in this track was to align the Foundational Model of Anatomy and the OpenGalen Anatomy Model. Since 2007 the ontologies used in the track are the Adult Mouse Anatomy and a part of the NCI Thesaurus. Since 2015 the data in the Anatomy track is also used in the Interactive track of the Ontology Alignment Evaluation Initiative. In this paper we focus on the Anatomy track in the years 2007-2016 and the Anatomy part of the Interactive track in 2015-2016. We describe the data set and the changes it went through during the years as well as the challenges it poses for ontology alignment systems. Further, we give an overview of all systems that participated in the track and the techniques they have used. We discuss the performance results of the systems and summarize the general trends. About 50 systems have participated in the Anatomy track. Many different techniques were used. The most popular matching techniques are string-based strategies and structure-based techniques. Many systems also use auxiliary information. The quality of the alignment has increased for the best performing systems since the beginning of the track and more and more systems check the coherence of the proposed alignment and implement a repair strategy. Further, interacting with an oracle is beneficial.

Human-like object tracking and gaze estimation with PKD android

PubMed Central

Wijayasinghe, Indika B.; Miller, Haylie L.; Das, Sumit K; Bugnariu, Nicoleta L.; Popa, Dan O.

2018-01-01

As the use of robots increases for tasks that require human-robot interactions, it is vital that robots exhibit and understand human-like cues for effective communication. In this paper, we describe the implementation of object tracking capability on Philip K. Dick (PKD) android and a gaze tracking algorithm, both of which further robot capabilities with regard to human communication. PKD's ability to track objects with human-like head postures is achieved with visual feedback from a Kinect system and an eye camera. The goal of object tracking with human-like gestures is twofold : to facilitate better human-robot interactions and to enable PKD as a human gaze emulator for future studies. The gaze tracking system employs a mobile eye tracking system (ETG; SensoMotoric Instruments) and a motion capture system (Cortex; Motion Analysis Corp.) for tracking the head orientations. Objects to be tracked are displayed by a virtual reality system, the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN; MotekForce Link). The gaze tracking algorithm converts eye tracking data and head orientations to gaze information facilitating two objectives: to evaluate the performance of the object tracking system for PKD and to use the gaze information to predict the intentions of the user, enabling the robot to understand physical cues by humans. PMID:29416193

Human-like object tracking and gaze estimation with PKD android

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wijayasinghe, Indika B.; Miller, Haylie L.; Das, Sumit K.; Bugnariu, Nicoleta L.; Popa, Dan O.

2016-05-01

As the use of robots increases for tasks that require human-robot interactions, it is vital that robots exhibit and understand human-like cues for effective communication. In this paper, we describe the implementation of object tracking capability on Philip K. Dick (PKD) android and a gaze tracking algorithm, both of which further robot capabilities with regard to human communication. PKD's ability to track objects with human-like head postures is achieved with visual feedback from a Kinect system and an eye camera. The goal of object tracking with human-like gestures is twofold: to facilitate better human-robot interactions and to enable PKD as a human gaze emulator for future studies. The gaze tracking system employs a mobile eye tracking system (ETG; SensoMotoric Instruments) and a motion capture system (Cortex; Motion Analysis Corp.) for tracking the head orientations. Objects to be tracked are displayed by a virtual reality system, the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN; MotekForce Link). The gaze tracking algorithm converts eye tracking data and head orientations to gaze information facilitating two objectives: to evaluate the performance of the object tracking system for PKD and to use the gaze information to predict the intentions of the user, enabling the robot to understand physical cues by humans.

SynopSIS: integrating physician sign-out with the electronic medical record.

PubMed

Sarkar, Urmimala; Carter, Jonathan T; Omachi, Theodore A; Vidyarthi, Arpana R; Cucina, Russell; Bokser, Seth; van Eaton, Erik; Blum, Michael

2007-09-01

Safe delivery of care depends on effective communication among all health care providers, especially during transfers of care. The traditional medical chart does not adequately support such communication. We designed a patient-tracking tool that enhances provider communication and supports clinical decision making. To develop a problem-based patient-tracking tool, called Sign-out, Information Retrieval, and Summary (SynopSIS), in order to support patient tracking, transfers of care (ie, sign-outs), and daily rounds. Tertiary-care, university-based teaching hospital. SynopSIS compiles and organizes information from the electronic medical record to support hospital discharge and disposition decisions, daily provider decisions, and overnight or cross-coverage decisions. It reflects the provider's patient-care and daily work-flow needs. We plan to use Web-based surveys, audits of daily use, and interdisciplinary focus groups to evaluate SynopSIS's impact on communication between providers, quality of sign-out, patient continuity of care, and rounding efficiency. We expect SynopSIS to improve care by facilitating communication between care teams, standardizing sign-out, and automating daily review of clinical and laboratory trends. SynopSIS redesigns the clinical chart to better serve provider and patient needs. (c) 2007 Society of Hospital Medicine.

Development of Laser Propulsion and Tracking System for Laser-Driven Micro-Airplane

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishikawa, Hiroyasu; Kajiwara, Itsuro; Hoshino, Kentaro; Yabe, Takashi; Uchida, Shigeaki; Shimane, Yoshichika

2004-03-01

The purposes of this paper are to improve the control performance of the developed laser tracking system and to develop an integrated laser propulsion/tracking system for realizing a continuous flight and control of the micro-airplane. The laser propulsion is significantly effective to achieve the miniaturization and lightening of the micro-airplane. The laser-driven micro-airplane has been studied with a paper-craft airplane and YAG laser, resulting in a successful glide of the airplane. In the next stage of the laser-driven micro-airplane development, the laser tracking is expected as key technologies to achieve continuous propulsion. Furthermore, the laser propulsion system should be combined with the laser tracking system to supply continuous propulsion. Experiments are carried out to evaluate the performance of the developed laser tracking system and integrated laser propulsion/tracking system.

40 CFR 96.50 - NOX Allowance Tracking System accounts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false NOX Allowance Tracking System accounts. 96.50 Section 96.50 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR... IMPLEMENTATION PLANS NOX Allowance Tracking System § 96.50 NOX Allowance Tracking System accounts. (a) Nature and...

40 CFR 96.52 - NOX Allowance Tracking System responsibilities of NOX authorized account representative.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 21 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false NOX Allowance Tracking System... SO2 TRADING PROGRAMS FOR STATE IMPLEMENTATION PLANS NOX Allowance Tracking System § 96.52 NOX Allowance Tracking System responsibilities of NOX authorized account representative. (a) Following the...

40 CFR 96.50 - NOX Allowance Tracking System accounts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false NOX Allowance Tracking System accounts. 96.50 Section 96.50 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR... IMPLEMENTATION PLANS NOX Allowance Tracking System § 96.50 NOX Allowance Tracking System accounts. (a) Nature and...

40 CFR 96.52 - NOX Allowance Tracking System responsibilities of NOX authorized account representative.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false NOX Allowance Tracking System... SO2 TRADING PROGRAMS FOR STATE IMPLEMENTATION PLANS NOX Allowance Tracking System § 96.52 NOX Allowance Tracking System responsibilities of NOX authorized account representative. (a) Following the...

A highly scalable particle tracking algorithm using partitioned global address space (PGAS) programming for extreme-scale turbulence simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buaria, D.; Yeung, P. K.

2017-12-01

A new parallel algorithm utilizing a partitioned global address space (PGAS) programming model to achieve high scalability is reported for particle tracking in direct numerical simulations of turbulent fluid flow. The work is motivated by the desire to obtain Lagrangian information necessary for the study of turbulent dispersion at the largest problem sizes feasible on current and next-generation multi-petaflop supercomputers. A large population of fluid particles is distributed among parallel processes dynamically, based on instantaneous particle positions such that all of the interpolation information needed for each particle is available either locally on its host process or neighboring processes holding adjacent sub-domains of the velocity field. With cubic splines as the preferred interpolation method, the new algorithm is designed to minimize the need for communication, by transferring between adjacent processes only those spline coefficients determined to be necessary for specific particles. This transfer is implemented very efficiently as a one-sided communication, using Co-Array Fortran (CAF) features which facilitate small data movements between different local partitions of a large global array. The cost of monitoring transfer of particle properties between adjacent processes for particles migrating across sub-domain boundaries is found to be small. Detailed benchmarks are obtained on the Cray petascale supercomputer Blue Waters at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. For operations on the particles in a 81923 simulation (0.55 trillion grid points) on 262,144 Cray XE6 cores, the new algorithm is found to be orders of magnitude faster relative to a prior algorithm in which each particle is tracked by the same parallel process at all times. This large speedup reduces the additional cost of tracking of order 300 million particles to just over 50% of the cost of computing the Eulerian velocity field at this scale. Improving support of PGAS models on major compilers suggests that this algorithm will be of wider applicability on most upcoming supercomputers.

A Web-Based Database for Nurse Led Outreach Teams (NLOT) in Toronto.

PubMed

Li, Shirley; Kuo, Mu-Hsing; Ryan, David

2016-01-01

A web-based system can provide access to real-time data and information. Healthcare is moving towards digitizing patients' medical information and securely exchanging it through web-based systems. In one of Ontario's health regions, Nurse Led Outreach Teams (NLOT) provide emergency mobile nursing services to help reduce unnecessary transfers from long-term care homes to emergency departments. Currently the NLOT team uses a Microsoft Access database to keep track of the health information on the residents that they serve. The Access database lacks scalability, portability, and interoperability. The objective of this study is the development of a web-based database using Oracle Application Express that is easily accessible from mobile devices. The web-based database will allow NLOT nurses to enter and access resident information anytime and from anywhere.

Crashworthiness: Planes, trains, and automobiles

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

Logan, R.W.; Tokarz, F.J.; Whirley, R.G.

A powerful DYNA3D computer code simulates the dynamic effects of stress traveling through structures. It is the most advanced modeling tool available to study crashworthiness problems and to analyze impacts. Now used by some 1000 companies, government research laboratories, and universities in the U.S. and abroad, DYNA3D is also a preeminent example of successful technology transfer. The initial interest in such a code was to simulate the structural response of weapons systems. The need was to model not the explosive or nuclear events themselves but rather the impacts of weapons systems with the ground, tracking the stress waves as theymore » move through the object. This type of computer simulation augmented or, in certain cases, reduced the need for expensive and time-consuming crash testing.« less

Controllers, observers, and applications thereof

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gao, Zhiqiang (Inventor); Zhou, Wankun (Inventor); Miklosovic, Robert (Inventor); Radke, Aaron (Inventor); Zheng, Qing (Inventor)

2011-01-01

Controller scaling and parameterization are described. Techniques that can be improved by employing the scaling and parameterization include, but are not limited to, controller design, tuning and optimization. The scaling and parameterization methods described here apply to transfer function based controllers, including PID controllers. The parameterization methods also apply to state feedback and state observer based controllers, as well as linear active disturbance rejection (ADRC) controllers. Parameterization simplifies the use of ADRC. A discrete extended state observer (DESO) and a generalized extended state observer (GESO) are described. They improve the performance of the ESO and therefore ADRC. A tracking control algorithm is also described that improves the performance of the ADRC controller. A general algorithm is described for applying ADRC to multi-input multi-output systems. Several specific applications of the control systems and processes are disclosed.

Energy dependent track structure parametrisations for protons and carbon ions based on nanometric simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alexander, Frauke; Villagrasa, Carmen; Rabus, Hans; Wilkens, Jan J.

2015-09-01

The BioQuaRT project within the European Metrology Research Programme aims at correlating ion track structure characteristics with the biological effects of radiation and develops measurement and simulation techniques for determining ion track structure on different length scales from about 2 nm to about 10 μm. Within this framework, we investigate methods to translate track-structure quantities derived on a nanometre scale to macroscopic dimensions. Input data sets were generated by simulations of ion tracks of protons and carbon ions in liquid water using the Geant 4 Monte Carlo toolkit with the Geant4-DNA processes. Based on the energy transfer points - recorded with nanometre resolution - we investigated parametrisations of overall properties of ion track structure. Three different track structure parametrisations have been developed using the distances to the 10 next neighbouring ionisations, the radial energy distribution and ionisation cluster size distributions. These parametrisations of nanometric track structure build a basis for deriving biologically relevant mean values which are essential in the clinical situation where each voxel is exposed to a mixed radiation field. Contribution to the Topical Issue "COST Action Nano-IBCT: Nano-scale Processes Behind Ion-Beam Cancer Therapy", edited by Andrey Solov'yov, Nigel Mason, Gustavo García, Eugene Surdutovich.

Chemical Tracking Systems: Not Your Usual Global Positioning System!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roy, Ken

2007-01-01

The haphazard storing and tracking of chemicals in the laboratory is a serious safety issue facing science teachers. To get control of your chemicals, try implementing a "chemical tracking system". A chemical tracking system (CTS) is a database of chemicals used in the laboratory. If implemented correctly, a CTS will reduce purchasing costs,…

47 CFR 64.1320 - Payphone call tracking system audits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 47 Telecommunication 3 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Payphone call tracking system audits. 64.1320... call tracking system audits. (a) Unless it has entered into an alternative compensation arrangement... Completing Carrier must undergo an audit of its § 64.1310(a)(1) tracking system by an independent third party...

Multi-viewer tracking integral imaging system and its viewing zone analysis.

PubMed

Park, Gilbae; Jung, Jae-Hyun; Hong, Keehoon; Kim, Yunhee; Kim, Young-Hoon; Min, Sung-Wook; Lee, Byoungho

2009-09-28

We propose a multi-viewer tracking integral imaging system for viewing angle and viewing zone improvement. In the tracking integral imaging system, the pickup angles in each elemental lens in the lens array are decided by the positions of viewers, which means the elemental image can be made for each viewer to provide wider viewing angle and larger viewing zone. Our tracking integral imaging system is implemented with an infrared camera and infrared light emitting diodes which can track the viewers' exact positions robustly. For multiple viewers to watch integrated three-dimensional images in the tracking integral imaging system, it is needed to formulate the relationship between the multiple viewers' positions and the elemental images. We analyzed the relationship and the conditions for the multiple viewers, and verified them by the implementation of two-viewer tracking integral imaging system.

Development of a liver respiratory motion simulator to investigate magnetic tracking for abdominal interventions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cleary, Kevin R.; Banovac, Filip; Levy, Elliot; Tanaka, Daigo

2002-05-01

We have designed and constructed a liver respiratory motion simulator as a first step in demonstrating the feasibility of using a new magnetic tracking system to follow the movement of internal organs. The simulator consists of a dummy torso, a synthetic liver, a linear motion platform, a graphical user interface for image overlay, and a magnetic tracking system along with magnetically tracked instruments. While optical tracking systems are commonly used in commercial image-guided surgery systems for the brain and spine, they are limited to procedures in which a line of sight can be maintained between the tracking system and the instruments which are being tracked. Magnetic tracking systems have been proposed for image-guided surgery applications, but most currently available magnetically tracked sensors are too small to be embedded in the body. The magnetic tracking system employed here, the AURORA from Northern Digital, can use sensors as small as 0.9 mm in diameter by 8 mm in length. This makes it possible to embed these sensors in catheters and thin needles. The catheters can then be wedged in a vein in an internal organ of interest so that tracking the position of the catheter gives a good estimate of the position of the internal organ. Alternatively, a needle with an embedded sensor could be placed near the area of interest.

Empirical Study on Designing of Gaze Tracking Camera Based on the Information of User's Head Movement.

PubMed

Pan, Weiyuan; Jung, Dongwook; Yoon, Hyo Sik; Lee, Dong Eun; Naqvi, Rizwan Ali; Lee, Kwan Woo; Park, Kang Ryoung

2016-08-31

Gaze tracking is the technology that identifies a region in space that a user is looking at. Most previous non-wearable gaze tracking systems use a near-infrared (NIR) light camera with an NIR illuminator. Based on the kind of camera lens used, the viewing angle and depth-of-field (DOF) of a gaze tracking camera can be different, which affects the performance of the gaze tracking system. Nevertheless, to our best knowledge, most previous researches implemented gaze tracking cameras without ground truth information for determining the optimal viewing angle and DOF of the camera lens. Eye-tracker manufacturers might also use ground truth information, but they do not provide this in public. Therefore, researchers and developers of gaze tracking systems cannot refer to such information for implementing gaze tracking system. We address this problem providing an empirical study in which we design an optimal gaze tracking camera based on experimental measurements of the amount and velocity of user's head movements. Based on our results and analyses, researchers and developers might be able to more easily implement an optimal gaze tracking system. Experimental results show that our gaze tracking system shows high performance in terms of accuracy, user convenience and interest.

Empirical Study on Designing of Gaze Tracking Camera Based on the Information of User’s Head Movement

PubMed Central

Pan, Weiyuan; Jung, Dongwook; Yoon, Hyo Sik; Lee, Dong Eun; Naqvi, Rizwan Ali; Lee, Kwan Woo; Park, Kang Ryoung

2016-01-01

Gaze tracking is the technology that identifies a region in space that a user is looking at. Most previous non-wearable gaze tracking systems use a near-infrared (NIR) light camera with an NIR illuminator. Based on the kind of camera lens used, the viewing angle and depth-of-field (DOF) of a gaze tracking camera can be different, which affects the performance of the gaze tracking system. Nevertheless, to our best knowledge, most previous researches implemented gaze tracking cameras without ground truth information for determining the optimal viewing angle and DOF of the camera lens. Eye-tracker manufacturers might also use ground truth information, but they do not provide this in public. Therefore, researchers and developers of gaze tracking systems cannot refer to such information for implementing gaze tracking system. We address this problem providing an empirical study in which we design an optimal gaze tracking camera based on experimental measurements of the amount and velocity of user’s head movements. Based on our results and analyses, researchers and developers might be able to more easily implement an optimal gaze tracking system. Experimental results show that our gaze tracking system shows high performance in terms of accuracy, user convenience and interest. PMID:27589768

A distributed database view of network tracking systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yosinski, Jason; Paffenroth, Randy

2008-04-01

In distributed tracking systems, multiple non-collocated trackers cooperate to fuse local sensor data into a global track picture. Generating this global track picture at a central location is fairly straightforward, but the single point of failure and excessive bandwidth requirements introduced by centralized processing motivate the development of decentralized methods. In many decentralized tracking systems, trackers communicate with their peers via a lossy, bandwidth-limited network in which dropped, delayed, and out of order packets are typical. Oftentimes the decentralized tracking problem is viewed as a local tracking problem with a networking twist; we believe this view can underestimate the network complexities to be overcome. Indeed, a subsequent 'oversight' layer is often introduced to detect and handle track inconsistencies arising from a lack of robustness to network conditions. We instead pose the decentralized tracking problem as a distributed database problem, enabling us to draw inspiration from the vast extant literature on distributed databases. Using the two-phase commit algorithm, a well known technique for resolving transactions across a lossy network, we describe several ways in which one may build a distributed multiple hypothesis tracking system from the ground up to be robust to typical network intricacies. We pay particular attention to the dissimilar challenges presented by network track initiation vs. maintenance and suggest a hybrid system that balances speed and robustness by utilizing two-phase commit for only track initiation transactions. Finally, we present simulation results contrasting the performance of such a system with that of more traditional decentralized tracking implementations.

UWB Tracking System Design with TDOA Algorithm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ni, Jianjun; Arndt, Dickey; Ngo, Phong; Phan, Chau; Gross, Julia; Dusl, John; Schwing, Alan

2006-01-01

This presentation discusses an ultra-wideband (UWB) tracking system design effort using a tracking algorithm TDOA (Time Difference of Arrival). UWB technology is exploited to implement the tracking system due to its properties, such as high data rate, fine time resolution, and low power spectral density. A system design using commercially available UWB products is proposed. A two-stage weighted least square method is chosen to solve the TDOA non-linear equations. Matlab simulations in both two-dimensional space and three-dimensional space show that the tracking algorithm can achieve fine tracking resolution with low noise TDOA data. The error analysis reveals various ways to improve the tracking resolution. Lab experiments demonstrate the UWBTDOA tracking capability with fine resolution. This research effort is motivated by a prototype development project Mini-AERCam (Autonomous Extra-vehicular Robotic Camera), a free-flying video camera system under development at NASA Johnson Space Center for aid in surveillance around the International Space Station (ISS).

Detection of DNA Damage by Space Radiation in Human Fibroblasts Flown on the International Space Station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lu, Tao; Zhang, Ye; Wong, Michael; Feiveson, Alan; Gaza, Ramona; Stoffle, Nicholas; Wang, Huichen; Wilson, Bobby; Rohde, Larry; Stodieck, Louis;

Automatic multiple zebrafish larvae tracking in unconstrained microscopic video conditions.

PubMed

Wang, Xiaoying; Cheng, Eva; Burnett, Ian S; Huang, Yushi; Wlodkowic, Donald

2017-12-14

The accurate tracking of zebrafish larvae movement is fundamental to research in many biomedical, pharmaceutical, and behavioral science applications. However, the locomotive characteristics of zebrafish larvae are significantly different from adult zebrafish, where existing adult zebrafish tracking systems cannot reliably track zebrafish larvae. Further, the far smaller size differentiation between larvae and the container render the detection of water impurities inevitable, which further affects the tracking of zebrafish larvae or require very strict video imaging conditions that typically result in unreliable tracking results for realistic experimental conditions. This paper investigates the adaptation of advanced computer vision segmentation techniques and multiple object tracking algorithms to develop an accurate, efficient and reliable multiple zebrafish larvae tracking system. The proposed system has been tested on a set of single and multiple adult and larvae zebrafish videos in a wide variety of (complex) video conditions, including shadowing, labels, water bubbles and background artifacts. Compared with existing state-of-the-art and commercial multiple organism tracking systems, the proposed system improves the tracking accuracy by up to 31.57% in unconstrained video imaging conditions. To facilitate the evaluation on zebrafish segmentation and tracking research, a dataset with annotated ground truth is also presented. The software is also publicly accessible.

Two-axis tracking solar collector mechanism

DOEpatents

Johnson, Kenneth C.

1992-01-01

This invention is a novel solar tracking mechanism incorporating a number of practical features that give it superior environmental resilience and exceptional tracking accuracy. The mechanism comprises a lightweight space-frame assembly supporting an array of point-focus Fresnel lenses in a two-axis tracking structure. The system is enclosed under a glass cover which isolates it from environmental exposure and enhances tracking accuracy by eliminating wind loading. Tracking accuracy is also enhanced by the system's broad-based tracking support. The system's primary intended application would be to focus highly concentrated sunlight into optical fibers for transmission to core building illumination zones, and the system may also have potential for photovoltaic or photothermal solar energy conversion.

Two-axis tracking solar collector mechanism

DOEpatents

Johnson, Kenneth C.

1990-01-01

This invention is a novel solar tracking mechanism incorporating a number of practical features that give it superior environmental resilience and exceptional tracking accuracy. The mechanism comprises a lightweight space-frame assembly supporting an array of point-focus Fresnel lenses in a two-axis tracking structure. The system is enclosed under a glass cover which isolates it from environmental exposure and enhances tracking accuracy by eliminating wind loading. Tracking accuracy is also enhanced by the system's broad-based tracking support. The system's primary intended application would be to focus highly concentrated sunlight into optical fibers for transmission to core building illumination zones, and the system may also have potential for photovoltaic or photothermal solar energy conversion.

Two-axis tracking solar collector mechanism

DOEpatents

Johnson, K.C.

1992-12-08

This invention is a novel solar tracking mechanism incorporating a number of practical features that give it superior environmental resilience and exceptional tracking accuracy. The mechanism comprises a lightweight space-frame assembly supporting an array of point-focus Fresnel lenses in a two-axis tracking structure. The system is enclosed under a glass cover which isolates it from environmental exposure and enhances tracking accuracy by eliminating wind loading. Tracking accuracy is also enhanced by the system's broad-based tracking support. The system's primary intended application would be to focus highly concentrated sunlight into optical fibers for transmission to core building illumination zones, and the system may also have potential for photovoltaic or photothermal solar energy conversion. 16 figs.

Tracking pollutants in dietary fish oil: From ocean to table.

PubMed

Sun, Sheng-Xiang; Hua, Xue-Ming; Deng, Yun-Yun; Zhang, Yun-Ni; Li, Jia-Min; Wu, Zhao; Limbu, Samwel Mchele; Lu, Da-Sheng; Yin, Hao-Wen; Wang, Guo-Quan; Waagbø, Rune; Livar, Frøyland; Zhang, Mei-Ling; Du, Zhen-Yu

2018-05-16

Dietary fish oil used in aquafeed transfers marine pollutants to farmed fish. However, the entire transfer route of marine pollutants in dietary fish oil from ocean to table fish has not been tracked quantitatively. To track the entire transfer route of marine pollutants from wild fish to farmed fish through dietary fish oil and evaluate the related human health risks, we obtained crude and refined fish oils originating from the same batch of wild ocean anchovy and prepared fish oil-containing purified aquafeeds to feed omnivorous lean Nile tilapia and carnivorous fatty yellow catfish for eight weeks. The potential human health risk of consumption of these fish was evaluated. Marine persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were concentrated in fish oil, but were largely removed by the refining process, particularly dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The differences in the POP concentrations between crude and refined fish oils were retained in the fillets of the farmed fish. Fillets fat content and fish growth were positively and negatively correlated to the final POPs deposition in fillets, respectively. The retention rates of marine POPs in the final fillets through fish oil-contained aquafeeds were 1.3%-5.2%, and were correlated with the POPs concentrations in feeds and fillets, feed utilization and carcass ratios. The dietary crude fish oil-contained aquafeeds are a higher hazard ratio to consumers. Prohibiting the use of crude fish oil in aquafeed and improving growth and feed efficiency in farmed fish are promising strategies to reduce health risks originating from marine POPs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a real-time internal and external marker tracking system for particle therapy: a phantom study using patient tumor trajectory data

PubMed Central

Cho, Junsang; Cheon, Wonjoong; Ahn, Sanghee; Jung, Hyunuk; Sheen, Heesoon; Park, Hee Chul

2017-01-01

Abstract Target motion–induced uncertainty in particle therapy is more complicated than that in X-ray therapy, requiring more accurate motion management. Therefore, a hybrid motion-tracking system that can track internal tumor motion and as well as an external surrogate of tumor motion was developed. Recently, many correlation tests between internal and external markers in X-ray therapy have been developed; however, the accuracy of such internal/external marker tracking systems, especially in particle therapy, has not yet been sufficiently tested. In this article, the process of installing an in-house hybrid internal/external motion-tracking system is described and the accuracy level of tracking system was acquired. Our results demonstrated that the developed in-house external/internal combined tracking system has submillimeter accuracy, and can be clinically used as a particle therapy system as well as a simulation system for moving tumor treatment. PMID:28201522

Development of a Laparoscopic Box Trainer Based on Open Source Hardware and Artificial Intelligence for Objective Assessment of Surgical Psychomotor Skills.

PubMed

Alonso-Silverio, Gustavo A; Pérez-Escamirosa, Fernando; Bruno-Sanchez, Raúl; Ortiz-Simon, José L; Muñoz-Guerrero, Roberto; Minor-Martinez, Arturo; Alarcón-Paredes, Antonio

2018-05-01

A trainer for online laparoscopic surgical skills assessment based on the performance of experts and nonexperts is presented. The system uses computer vision, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence algorithms, implemented into a Raspberry Pi board with Python programming language. Two training tasks were evaluated by the laparoscopic system: transferring and pattern cutting. Computer vision libraries were used to obtain the number of transferred points and simulated pattern cutting trace by means of tracking of the laparoscopic instrument. An artificial neural network (ANN) was trained to learn from experts and nonexperts' behavior for pattern cutting task, whereas the assessment of transferring task was performed using a preestablished threshold. Four expert surgeons in laparoscopic surgery, from hospital "Raymundo Abarca Alarcón," constituted the experienced class for the ANN. Sixteen trainees (10 medical students and 6 residents) without laparoscopic surgical skills and limited experience in minimal invasive techniques from School of Medicine at Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero constituted the nonexperienced class. Data from participants performing 5 daily repetitions for each task during 5 days were used to build the ANN. The participants tend to improve their learning curve and dexterity with this laparoscopic training system. The classifier shows mean accuracy and receiver operating characteristic curve of 90.98% and 0.93, respectively. Moreover, the ANN was able to evaluate the psychomotor skills of users into 2 classes: experienced or nonexperienced. We constructed and evaluated an affordable laparoscopic trainer system using computer vision, augmented reality, and an artificial intelligence algorithm. The proposed trainer has the potential to increase the self-confidence of trainees and to be applied to programs with limited resources.

An automatic tracking system for phase-noise measurement.

PubMed

Yuen, Chung Ming; Tsang, Kim Fung

2005-05-01

A low cost, automatic tracking system for phase noise measurement has been implemented successfully. The tracking system is accomplished by applying a charge pump phase-locked loop as an external reference source to a digital spectrum analyzer. Measurement of a 2.5 GHz, free-running, voltage-controlled oscillator demonstrated the tracking accuracy, thus verifying the feasibility of the system.

An optical tracking system for virtual reality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hrimech, Hamid; Merienne, Frederic

2009-03-01

In this paper we present a low-cost 3D tracking system which we have developed and tested in order to move away from traditional 2D interaction techniques (keyboard and mouse) in an attempt to improve user's experience while using a CVE. Such a tracking system is used to implement 3D interaction techniques that augment user experience, promote user's sense of transportation in the virtual world as well as user's awareness of their partners. The tracking system is a passive optical tracking system using stereoscopy a technique allowing the reconstruction of three-dimensional information from a couple of images. We have currently deployed our 3D tracking system on a collaborative research platform for investigating 3D interaction techniques in CVEs.

Permanent magnet synchronous motor servo system control based on μC/OS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Chongyang; Chen, Kele; Chen, Xinglong

2015-10-01

When Opto-Electronic Tracking system operates in complex environments, every subsystem must operate efficiently and stably. As a important part of Opto-Electronic Tracking system, the performance of PMSM(Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor) servo system affects the Opto-Electronic Tracking system's accuracy and speed greatly[1][2]. This paper applied embedded real-time operating system μC/OS to the control of PMSM servo system, implemented SVPWM(Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation) algorithm in PMSM servo system, optimized the stability of PMSM servo system. Pointing on the characteristics of the Opto-Electronic Tracking system, this paper expanded μC/OS with software redundancy processes, remote debugging and upgrading. As a result, the Opto- Electronic Tracking system performs efficiently and stably.

Vibration Method for Tracking the Resonant Mode and Impedance of a Microwave Cavity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barmatz, M.; Iny, O.; Yiin, T.; Khan, I.

1995-01-01

A vibration technique his been developed to continuously maintain mode resonance and impedance much between a constant frequency magnetron source and resonant cavity. This method uses a vibrating metal rod to modulate the volume of the cavity in a manner equivalent to modulating an adjustable plunger. A similar vibrating metal rod attached to a stub tuner modulates the waveguide volume between the source and cavity. A phase sensitive detection scheme determines the optimum position of the adjustable plunger and stub turner during processing. The improved power transfer during the heating of a 99.8% pure alumina rod was demonstrated using this new technique. Temperature-time and reflected power-time heating curves are presented for the cases of no tracking, impedance tracker only, mode tracker only and simultaneous impedance and mode tracking. Controlled internal melting of an alumina rod near 2000 C using both tracking units was also demonstrated.

Design Considerations for IAP Charts Approach Course Track and Communication Frequencies

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1991-08-01

This report describes two experiments evaluating format changes on instrument approach : plates (IAPs). The study used a simple chart reading task to assess information : transfer in IAPs. : The first experiment addressed different methods of display...

System considerations for detection and tracking of small targets using passive sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeBell, David A.

1991-08-01

Passive sensors provide only a few discriminants to assist in threat assessment of small targets. Tracking of the small targets provides additional discriminants. This paper discusses the system considerations for tracking small targets using passive sensors, in particular EO sensors. Tracking helps establish good versus bad detections. Discussed are the requirements to be placed on the sensor system's accuracy, with respect to knowledge of the sightline direction. The detection of weak targets sets a requirement for two levels of tracking in order to reduce processor throughput. A system characteristic is the need to track all detections. For low thresholds, this can mean a heavy track burden. Therefore, thresholds must be adaptive in order not to saturate the processors. Second-level tracks must develop a range estimate in order to assess threat. Sensor platform maneuvers are required if the targets are moving. The need for accurate pointing, good stability, and a good update rate will be shown quantitatively, relating to track accuracy and track association.

Satellite (IRLS) tracking of elk

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buechner, H. K.

1972-01-01

The practicability of tracking free roaming animals in natural environments by satellite systems is reported. Satellite systems combine continuous tracking with simultaneous monitoring of physiological and environmental parameters through a combination of radio tracking and biotelemetric ground systems that lead to a better understanding of animal behavior and migration patterns.

Electronic integrated disease surveillance system and pathogen asset control system.

PubMed

Wahl, Tom G; Burdakov, Aleksey V; Oukharov, Andrey O; Zhilokov, Azamat K

2012-06-20

Electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance System (EIDSS) has been used to strengthen and support monitoring and prevention of dangerous diseases within One Health concept by integrating veterinary and human surveillance, passive and active approaches, case-based records including disease-specific clinical data based on standardised case definitions and aggregated data, laboratory data including sample tracking linked to each case and event with test results and epidemiological investigations. Information was collected and shared in secure way by different means: through the distributed nodes which are continuously synchronised amongst each other, through the web service, through the handheld devices. Electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance System provided near real time information flow that has been then disseminated to the appropriate organisations in a timely manner. It has been used for comprehensive analysis and visualisation capabilities including real time mapping of case events as these unfold enhancing decision making. Electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance System facilitated countries to comply with the IHR 2005 requirements through a data transfer module reporting diseases electronically to the World Health Organisation (WHO) data center as well as establish authorised data exchange with other electronic system using Open Architecture approach. Pathogen Asset Control System (PACS) has been used for accounting, management and control of biological agent stocks. Information on samples and strains of any kind throughout their entire lifecycle has been tracked in a comprehensive and flexible solution PACS.Both systems have been used in a combination and individually. Electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance System and PACS are currently deployed in the Republics of Kazakhstan, Georgia and Azerbaijan as a part of the Cooperative Biological Engagement Program (CBEP) sponsored by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

Emergency Flight Control Using Only Engine Thrust and Lateral Center-of-Gravity Offset: A First Look

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burcham, Frank W., Jr.; Burken, John; Maine, Trindel A.; Bull, John

1997-01-01

Normally, the damage that results in a total loss of the primary flight controls of a jet transport airplane, including all engines on one side, would be catastrophic. In response, NASA Dryden has conceived an emergency flight control system that uses only the thrust of a wing-mounted engine along with a lateral center-of-gravity (CGY) offset from fuel transfer. Initial analysis and simulation studies indicate that such a system works, and recent high-fidelity simulation tests on the MD-11 and B-747 suggest that the system provides enough control for a survivable landing. This paper discusses principles of flight control using only a wing engine thrust and CGY offset, along with the amount of CGY offset capability of some transport airplanes. The paper also presents simulation results of the throttle-only control capability and closed-loop control of ground track using computer-controlled thrust.

Large transient fault current test of an electrical roll ring

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yenni, Edward J.; Birchenough, Arthur G.

1992-01-01

The space station uses precision rotary gimbals to provide for sun tracking of its photoelectric arrays. Electrical power, command signals and data are transferred across the gimbals by roll rings. Roll rings have been shown to be capable of highly efficient electrical transmission and long life, through tests conducted at the NASA Lewis Research Center and Honeywell's Satellite and Space Systems Division in Phoenix, AZ. Large potential fault currents inherent to the power system's DC distribution architecture, have brought about the need to evaluate the effects of large transient fault currents on roll rings. A test recently conducted at Lewis subjected a roll ring to a simulated worst case space station electrical fault. The system model used to obtain the fault profile is described, along with details of the reduced order circuit that was used to simulate the fault. Test results comparing roll ring performance before and after the fault are also presented.

STARSYS: A view after WARC-92

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaveeshwar, Ashok; Rodriguez, Raul

1993-01-01

The STARSYS system is aimed at providing low cost global positioning and messaging by satellite. STARSYS is a data only system using very brief message transmission times. Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is used for frequency sharing; it enables transmitted data to be coded for unique user identification and also to employ Doppler and radio ranging to determine the geographical location of a transmitting terminal. The STARSYS system is composed of the field receiver/transmitter, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation and the ground station elements. Each message transmission is able to contain up to thirty two digital characters. Market applications are numerous: theft control, vehicle and logistic tracking and messaging, personal communications, utility and environmental data acquisition and transfer. Co-primary frequency allocation at WARC-92 accelerated interest for potential customers and investors, although the amount of frequency allocation (less than 1 GHz) is small.

Modular Track System For Positioning Mobile Robots

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miller, Jeff

1995-01-01

Conceptual system for positioning mobile robotic manipulators on large main structure includes modular tracks and ancillary structures assembled easily along with main structure. System, called "tracked robotic location system" (TROLS), originally intended for application to platforms in outer space, but TROLS concept might also prove useful on Earth; for example, to position robots in factories and warehouses. T-cross-section rail keeps mobile robot on track. Bar codes mark locations along track. Each robot equipped with bar-code-recognizing circuitry so it quickly finds way to assigned location.

Momentum harvesting techniques for solar system travel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Willoughby, Alan J.

1990-01-01

Astronomers are lately estimating there are 400,000 Earth visiting asteroids larger than 100 meters in diameter. These asteroids are accessible sources of building materials, propellants, oxygen, water, and minerals which also constitute a huge momentum reserve, potentially usable for travel throughout the solar system. To use this momentum, these stealthy objects must be tracked and the extraction of the momentum wanted must be learned. Momentum harvesting by momentum transfer from asteroid to spacecraft, and by using the momentum of the extraterrestrial material to help deliver itself to the destination are discussed. A net and tether concept is the suggested means of asteroid capture, the basic momentum exchange process. The energy damping characteristics of the tether will determine the velocity mismatch that can be tolerated, and hence the amount of momentum that can be harvested per capture. As it plays out of its reel, drag on the tether steadily accelerates the spacecraft. A variety of concepts for riding and using the asteroid after capture are discussed. The hitchhiker uses momentum transfer only. The beachcomber, the caveman, the swinger, the prospector, and the rock wrecker also take advantage of raw asteroidal materials. The chemist and the hijacker go further, they process the asteroid into propellant. Or, an 'asteroid railway system' could evolve with each hijacked asteroid becoming a scheduled train. Travelers could board the space railway system assured that water, oxygen, and propellants await them.

Relay tracking control for second-order multi-agent systems with damaged agents.

PubMed

Dong, Lijing; Li, Jing; Liu, Qin

2017-11-01

This paper investigates a situation where smart agents capable of sensory and mobility are deployed to monitor a designated area. A preset number of agents start tracking when a target intrudes this area. Some of the tracking agents are possible to be out of order over the tracking course. Thus, we propose a cooperative relay tracking strategy to ensure the successful tracking with existence of damaged agents. Relay means that, when a tracking agent quits tracking due to malfunction, one of the near deployed agents replaces it to continue the tracking task. This results in jump of tracking errors and dynamic switching of topology of the multi-agent system. Switched system technique is employed to solve this specific problem. Finally, the effectiveness of proposed tracking strategy and validity of the theoretical results are verified by conducting a numerical simulation. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Renewable Energy Tracking Systems

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Renewable energy generation ownership can be accounted through tracking systems. Tracking systems are highly automated, contain specific information about each MWh, and are accessible over the internet to market participants.

EMERALD-NORMAL; PWR activity release and dose. [IBM360,370; FORTRAN IV

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

Gillespie, S.G.; Brunot, W.K.

EMERALD-NORMAL is designed for the calculation of radiation releases and exposures resulting from normal operation of a large pressurized water reactor. The approach used is similar to an analog simulation of a real system. Each component or volume in the plant which contains a radioactive material is represented by a subroutine which keeps track of the production, transfer, decay, and absorption of radioactivity in that volume. During the course of the analysis, activity is transferred from subroutine to subroutine in the program as it would be transferred from place to place in the plant. Some of this activity is thenmore » released to the atmosphere and to the discharge canal. The rates of transfer, leakage, production, cleanup, decay, and release are read as input to the program. Subroutines are also included which calculate the off-site radiation exposures at various distances for individual isotopes and sums of isotopes. The program contains a library of physical data for the forty isotopes of most interest in licensing calculations, and other isotopes can be added or substituted. Because of the flexible nature of the simulation approach, the EMERALD-NORMAL program can be used for most calculations involving the production and release of radioactive material. These include design, operation, and licensing studies.IBM360,370; FORTRAN IV; OS/360,370; 576K bytes of memory.« less

Technical and Economic Feasibility Study of At-Grade Concrete Slab Track for Urban Rail Transit Systems

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1981-08-01

The report presents work conducted to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of using concrete slab track systems for at-grade transit track. The functions of a rail transit track system are to guide railway vehicles and provide a safe and a...

Extended cooperative control synthesis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davidson, John B.; Schmidt, David K.

1994-01-01

This paper reports on research for extending the Cooperative Control Synthesis methodology to include a more accurate modeling of the pilot's controller dynamics. Cooperative Control Synthesis (CCS) is a methodology that addresses the problem of how to design control laws for piloted, high-order, multivariate systems and/or non-conventional dynamic configurations in the absence of flying qualities specifications. This is accomplished by emphasizing the parallel structure inherent in any pilot-controlled, augmented vehicle. The original CCS methodology is extended to include the Modified Optimal Control Model (MOCM), which is based upon the optimal control model of the human operator developed by Kleinman, Baron, and Levison in 1970. This model provides a modeling of the pilot's compensation dynamics that is more accurate than the simplified pilot dynamic representation currently in the CCS methodology. Inclusion of the MOCM into the CCS also enables the modeling of pilot-observation perception thresholds and pilot-observation attention allocation affects. This Extended Cooperative Control Synthesis (ECCS) allows for the direct calculation of pilot and system open- and closed-loop transfer functions in pole/zero form and is readily implemented in current software capable of analysis and design for dynamic systems. Example results based upon synthesizing an augmentation control law for an acceleration command system in a compensatory tracking task using the ECCS are compared with a similar synthesis performed by using the original CCS methodology. The ECCS is shown to provide augmentation control laws that yield more favorable, predicted closed-loop flying qualities and tracking performance than those synthesized using the original CCS methodology.

Three-Dimensional Planetary Surface Tracking Based on a Simple Ultra-Wideband Impulse-Radio Infrastructure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barton, Richard J.; Ni, David; Ngo, Phong

2010-01-01

Several prototype ultra-wideband (UWB) impulse-radio (IR) tracking systems are currently under development at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC). These systems are being studied for use in tracking of Lunar/Mars rovers and astronauts during early exploration missions when satellite navigation systems (such as GPS) are not available. To date, the systems that have been designed and tested are intended only for two-dimensional location and tracking, but these designs can all be extended to three-dimensional tracking with only minor modifications and increases in complexity. In this presentation, we will briefly review the design and performance of two of the current 2-D systems: one designed specifically for short-range, extremely high-precision tracking (approximately 1-2 cm resolution) and the other designed specifically for much longer range tracking with less stringent precision requirements (1-2 m resolution). We will then discuss a new multi-purpose system design based on a simple UWB-IR architecture that can be deployed easily on a planetary surface to support arbitrary three-dimensional localization and tracking applications. We will discuss utilization of this system as an infrastructure to provide both short-range and long-range tracking and analyze the localization performance of the system in several different configurations. We will give theoretical performance bounds for some canonical system configurations and compare these performance bounds with both numerical simulations of the system as well as actual experimental system performance evaluations.

Multi-point contact of the high-speed vehicle-turnout system dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ren, Zunsong

2013-05-01

The wheel-rail contact problems, such as the number, location and the track of contact patches, are very important for optimizing the spatial structure of the rails and lowering the vehicle-turnout system dynamics. However, the above problems are not well solved currently because of having the difficulties in how to determine the multi-contact, to preciously present the changeable profiles of the rails and to establish an accurate spatial turnout system dynamics model. Based on a high-speed vehicle-turnout coupled model in which the track is modeled as flexible with rails and sleepers represented by beams, the line tracing extreme point method is introduced to investigate the wheel-rail multiple contact conditions and the key sections of the blade rail, longer nose rail, shorter rail in the switch and nose rail area are discretized to represent the varying profiles of rails in the turnout. The dynamic interaction between the vehicle and turnout is simulated for cases of the vehicle divergently passing the turnout and the multi-point contact is obtained. The tracks of the contact patches on the top of the rails are presented and the wheel-rail impact forces are offered in comparison with the contact patches transference on the rails. The numerical simulation results indicate that the length of two-point contact occurrence of a worn wheel profile and rails is longer than that of the new wheel profile and rails; The two-point contact definitely occurs in the switch and crossing area. Generally, three-point contact doesn't occur for the new rail profile, which is testified by the wheel-rails interpolation distance and the first order derivative function of the tracing line extreme points. The presented research is not only helpful to optimize the structure of the turnout, but also useful to lower the dynamics of the high speed vehicle-turnout system.

Participatory design of a collaborative clinical trial protocol writing system.

PubMed

Weng, Chunhua; McDonald, David W; Sparks, Dana; McCoy, Jason; Gennari, John H

2007-06-01

To explore concrete approaches to socio-technical design of collaborative healthcare information systems and to design a groupware technology for collaborative clinical trial protocol writing. We conducted "quick and dirty ethnography" through semi-structured interviews, observational studies, and work artifacts analysis to understand the group work for protocol development. We used participatory design through evolutionary prototyping to explore the feature space of a collaborative writing system. Our design strategies include role-based user advocacy, formative evaluation, and change management. Quick and dirty ethnography helped us efficiently understand relevant work practice, and participatory design helped us engage users into design and bring out their tacit work knowledge. Our approach that intertwined both techniques helped achieve a "work-informed and user-oriented" design. This research leads to a collaborative writing system that supports in situ communication, group awareness, and effective work progress tracking. The usability evaluation results have been satisfactory. The system design is being transferred to an organizational tool for daily use.

Vacuum Ultraviolet Photoionization of Complex Chemical Systems

DOE PAGES

Kostko, Oleg; Bandyopadhyay, Biswajit; Ahmed, Musahid

2016-02-24

Tunable vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation coupled to mass spectrometry is applied to the study of complex chemical systems in this paper. The identification of novel reactive intermediates and radicals is revealed in flame, pulsed photolysis, and pyrolysis reactors, leading to the elucidation of spectroscopy, reaction mechanisms, and kinetics. Mass-resolved threshold photoelectron photoion coincidence measurements provide unprecedented access to vibrationally resolved spectra of free radicals present in high-temperature reactors. Photoionization measurements in water clusters, nucleic acid base dimers, and their complexes with water provide signatures of proton transfer in hydrogen-bonded and π-stacked systems. Experimental and theoretical methods to track ion–molecule reactionsmore » and fragmentation pathways in intermolecular and intramolecular hydrogen-bonded systems in sugars and alcohols are described. Photoionization of laser-ablated molecules, clusters, and their reaction products inform thermodynamics and spectroscopy that are relevant to astrochemistry and catalysis. Finally, new directions in coupling VUV radiation to interrogate complex chemical systems are discussed.« less

Evaluation of the clinical efficacy of the PeTrack motion tracking system for respiratory gating in cardiac PET imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manwell, Spencer; Chamberland, Marc J. P.; Klein, Ran; Xu, Tong; deKemp, Robert

2017-03-01

Respiratory gating is a common technique used to compensate for patient breathing motion and decrease the prevalence of image artifacts that can impact diagnoses. In this study a new data-driven respiratory gating method (PeTrack) was compared with a conventional optical tracking system. The performance of respiratory gating of the two systems was evaluated by comparing the number of respiratory triggers, patient breathing intervals and gross heart motion as measured in the respiratory-gated image reconstructions of rubidium-82 cardiac PET scans in test and control groups consisting of 15 and 8 scans, respectively. We found evidence suggesting that PeTrack is a robust patient motion tracking system that can be used to retrospectively assess patient motion in the event of failure of the conventional optical tracking system.

Telemetry Tracking & Control (TT&C) - First TDRSS, then Commercial GEO & Big LEO and Now Through LEO

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morgan, Dwayne R.; Streich, Ron G.; Bull, Barton; Grant, Chuck; Power, Edward I. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

The advent of low earth orbit (LEO) commercial communication satellites provides an opportunity to dramatically reduce Telemetry, Tracking and Control (TT&C) costs of launch vehicles, Unpiloted Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Research Balloons and spacecraft by reducing or eliminating ground infrastructure. Personnel from the Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility (GSFC\\WFF) have successfully used commercial Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) and Big LEO communications satellites for Long Duration Balloon Flight TT&C. The Flight Modem is a GSFC\\WFF Advanced Range Technology initiative (ARTI) designed to streamline TT&C capability in the user community of these scientific data gathering platforms at low cost. Making use of existing LEO satellites and adapting and ruggedized commercially available components; two-way, over the horizon communications may be established with these vehicles at great savings due to reduced infrastructure. Initially planned as a means for permitting GPS data for tracking and recovery of sounding rocket and balloon payloads, expectations are that the bandwidth can soon be expanded to allow more comprehensive data transfer. The system architecture which integrates antennas, GPS receiver, commercial satellite packet data modem and a single board computer with custom software is described and technical challenges are discussed along with the plan for their resolution. A three-phase testing and development plan is outlined and the current results are reported. Results and status of ongoing flight tests on aircraft and sounding rockets are reported. Future applications on these platforms and the potential for satellite support are discussed along with an analysis of cost effectiveness of this method vs. other tracking and data transmission schemes.

Anti-Runaway Prevention System with Wireless Sensors for Intelligent Track Skates at Railway Stations.

PubMed

Jiang, Chaozhe; Xu, Yibo; Wen, Chao; Chen, Dilin

2017-12-19

Anti-runaway prevention of rolling stocks at a railway station is essential in railway safety management. The traditional track skates for anti-runaway prevention of rolling stocks have some disadvantages since they are operated and monitored completely manually. This paper describes an anti-runaway prevention system (ARPS) based on intelligent track skates equipped with sensors and real-time monitoring and management system. This system, which has been updated from the traditional track skates, comprises four parts: intelligent track skates, a signal reader, a database station, and a monitoring system. This system can monitor the real-time situation of track skates without changing their workflow for anti-runaway prevention, and thus realize the integration of anti-runaway prevention information management. This system was successfully tested and practiced at Sunjia station in Harbin Railway Bureau in 2014, and the results confirmed that the system showed 100% accuracy in reflecting the usage status of the track skates. The system could meet practical demands, as it is highly reliable and supports long-distance communication.

Anti-Runaway Prevention System with Wireless Sensors for Intelligent Track Skates at Railway Stations

PubMed Central

Jiang, Chaozhe; Xu, Yibo; Chen, Dilin

2017-01-01

Anti-runaway prevention of rolling stocks at a railway station is essential in railway safety management. The traditional track skates for anti-runaway prevention of rolling stocks have some disadvantages since they are operated and monitored completely manually. This paper describes an anti-runaway prevention system (ARPS) based on intelligent track skates equipped with sensors and real-time monitoring and management system. This system, which has been updated from the traditional track skates, comprises four parts: intelligent track skates, a signal reader, a database station, and a monitoring system. This system can monitor the real-time situation of track skates without changing their workflow for anti-runaway prevention, and thus realize the integration of anti-runaway prevention information management. This system was successfully tested and practiced at Sunjia station in Harbin Railway Bureau in 2014, and the results confirmed that the system showed 100% accuracy in reflecting the usage status of the track skates. The system could meet practical demands, as it is highly reliable and supports long-distance communication. PMID:29257108

77 FR 23765 - Privacy Act; Termination of Three Systems of Records

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-20

... terminating the following Systems of Records: MSPB/Internal 5, ``Workload and Assignment Tracking System... Tracking System.'' They are no longer in use. DATES: Effective April 6, 2012. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION... systems of records: MSPB/Internal 5, ``Workload and Assignment Tracking System;'' MSPB/Internal 7...

Applications of the microdosimetric function implemented in the macroscopic particle transport simulation code PHITS.

PubMed

Sato, Tatsuhiko; Watanabe, Ritsuko; Sihver, Lembit; Niita, Koji

2012-01-01

Microdosimetric quantities such as lineal energy are generally considered to be better indices than linear energy transfer (LET) for expressing the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of high charge and energy particles. To calculate their probability densities (PD) in macroscopic matter, it is necessary to integrate microdosimetric tools such as track-structure simulation codes with macroscopic particle transport simulation codes. As an integration approach, the mathematical model for calculating the PD of microdosimetric quantities developed based on track-structure simulations was incorporated into the macroscopic particle transport simulation code PHITS (Particle and Heavy Ion Transport code System). The improved PHITS enables the PD in macroscopic matter to be calculated within a reasonable computation time, while taking their stochastic nature into account. The microdosimetric function of PHITS was applied to biological dose estimation for charged-particle therapy and risk estimation for astronauts. The former application was performed in combination with the microdosimetric kinetic model, while the latter employed the radiation quality factor expressed as a function of lineal energy. Owing to the unique features of the microdosimetric function, the improved PHITS has the potential to establish more sophisticated systems for radiological protection in space as well as for the treatment planning of charged-particle therapy.

Using Sunlight and Cell Networks to Bring Fleeting Tracking to Small Scale Fisheries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garren, M.; Selbie, H.; Suchomel, D.; McDonald, W.; Solomon, D.

2016-12-01

Traditionally, the efforts of small scale fisheries have not been easily incorporated into the global picture of fishing effort and activity. That means that the activities of the vast majority ( 90%) of fishing vessels in the world have remained unquantified and largely opaque. With newly developed technology that harnesses solar power and cost-effective cellular networks to transmit data, it is becoming possible to provide vessel tracking systems on a large scale for vessels of all sizes. Furthermore, capitalizing on the relatively inexpensive cellular networks to transfer the data enables data of much higher granularity to be captured. By recording a vessel's position every few seconds, instead of minutes to hours as is typical of most satellite-based systems, we are able to resolve a diverse array of behaviors happening at sea including when and where fishing occurred and what type of fishing gear was used. This high granularity data is both incredibly useful and also a challenge to manage and mine. New approaches for handling and processing this continuous data stream of vessel positions are being developed to extract the most informative and actionable pieces of information for a variety of audiences including governing agencies, industry supply chains seeking transparency, non-profit organizations supporting conservation efforts, academic researchers and the fishers and boat owners.

Digital optical imaging of green fluorescent proteins for tracking vascular gene expression: feasibility study in rabbit and human cell models.

PubMed

Yang, X; Liu, H; Li, D; Zhou, X; Jung, W C; Deans, A E; Cui, Y; Cheng, L

2001-04-01

To investigate the feasibility of using a sensitive digital optical imaging technique to detect green fluorescent protein (GFP) expressed in rabbit vasculature and human arterial smooth muscle cells. A GFP plasmid was transfected into human arterial smooth muscle cells to obtain a GFP-smooth muscle cell solution. This solution was imaged in cell phantoms by using a prototype digital optical imaging system. For in vivo validation, a GFP-lentivirus vector was transfected during surgery into the carotid arteries of two rabbits, and GFP-targeted vessels were harvested for digital optical imaging ex vivo. Optical imaging of cell phantoms resulted in a spatial resolution of 25 microm/pixel. Fluorescent signals were detected as diffusely distributed bright spots. At ex vivo optical imaging of arterial tissues, the average fluorescent signal was significantly higher (P <.05) in GFP-targeted tissues (mean +/- SD, 9,357.3 absolute units of density +/- 1,001.3) than in control tissues (5,633.7 absolute units of density +/- 985.2). Both fluorescence microscopic and immunohistochemical findings confirmed these differences between GFP-targeted and control vessels. The digital optical imaging system was sensitive to GFPs and may potentially provide an in vivo imaging tool to monitor and track vascular gene transfer and expression in experimental investigations.

Laboratory test results of the high speed optical tracking system for the Spaceborne Geodynamic Ranging System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Zagwodzki, Thomas W.; White, David L.

1987-01-01

The high speed, high resolution optical tracking system for the Spaceborne Geodynamic Ranging System employs a two-axis gimbaled pointing device that can operate from a Space Shuttle platform and can track multiple retroreflector ground targets with arcsec accuracy. Laboratory tests of the stepping characteristics of the pointing system for various step sizes and directions has shown arcsec repeatability with little wasted motion, overshoot, or ringing. The worst rms tracking jitter was 1 and 2 arcsec in the roll and pitch axes, respectively, at the maximum tracking rate of 2 deg/sec.

Ionizing radiation measurements on LDEF: A0015 Free flyer biostack experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benton, E. V.; Frank, A. L.; Benton, E. R.; Csige, I.; Frigo, L. A.

1995-01-01

This report covers the analysis of passive radiation detectors flown as part of the A0015 Free Flyer Biostack on LDEF (Long Duration Exposure Facility). LET (linear energy transfer) spectra and track density measurements were made with CR-39 and Polycarbonate plastic nuclear track detectors. Measurements of total absorbed dose were carried out using Thermoluminescent Detectors. Thermal and resonance neutron dose equivalents were measured with LiF/CR-39 detectors. High energy neutron and proton dose equivalents were measured with fission foil/CR-39 detectors.

Time-lapse and slow-motion tracking of temperature changes: response time of a thermometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moggio, L.; Onorato, P.; Gratton, L. M.; Oss, S.

2017-03-01

We propose the use of a smartphone based time-lapse and slow-motion video techniques together with tracking analysis as valuable tools for investigating thermal processes such as the response time of a thermometer. The two simple experimental activities presented here, suitable also for high school and undergraduate students, allow one to measure in a simple yet rigorous way the response time of an alcohol thermometer and show its critical dependence on the properties of the surrounding environment giving insight into instrument characteristics, heat transfer and thermal equilibrium concepts.

Silica-Coated Nanodiamonds for Imaging and Delivery of Therapeutic Agents | NCI Technology Transfer Center | TTC

Cancer.gov

The NCI Radiation Oncology Branch and the NHLBI Laboratory of Single Molecule Biophysics seek parties to co-develop fluorescent nanodiamonds for use as in vivo and in vitro optical tracking probes toward commercialization.

Investigation of tracking systems properties in CAVE-type virtual reality systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szymaniak, Magda; Mazikowski, Adam; Meironke, Michał

2017-08-01

In recent years, many scientific and industrial centers in the world developed a virtual reality systems or laboratories. One of the most advanced solutions are Immersive 3D Visualization Lab (I3DVL), a CAVE-type (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment) laboratory. It contains two CAVE-type installations: six-screen installation arranged in a form of a cube, and four-screen installation, a simplified version of the previous one. The user feeling of "immersion" and interaction with virtual world depend on many factors, in particular on the accuracy of the tracking system of the user. In this paper properties of the tracking systems applied in I3DVL was investigated. For analysis two parameters were selected: the accuracy of the tracking system and the range of detection of markers by the tracking system in space of the CAVE. Measurements of system accuracy were performed for six-screen installation, equipped with four tracking cameras for three axes: X, Y, Z. Rotation around the Y axis was also analyzed. Measured tracking system shows good linear and rotating accuracy. The biggest issue was the range of the monitoring of markers inside the CAVE. It turned out, that the tracking system lose sight of the markers in the corners of the installation. For comparison, for a simplified version of CAVE (four-screen installation), equipped with eight tracking cameras, this problem was not occur. Obtained results will allow for improvement of cave quality.

Two-dimensional tracking of a motile micro-organism allowing high-resolution observation with various imaging techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oku, H.; Ogawa, N.; Ishikawa, M.; Hashimoto, K.

2005-03-01

In this article, a micro-organism tracking system using a high-speed vision system is reported. This system two dimensionally tracks a freely swimming micro-organism within the field of an optical microscope by moving a chamber of target micro-organisms based on high-speed visual feedback. The system we developed could track a paramecium using various imaging techniques, including bright-field illumination, dark-field illumination, and differential interference contrast, at magnifications of 5 times and 20 times. A maximum tracking duration of 300s was demonstrated. Also, the system could track an object with a velocity of up to 35 000μm/s (175diameters/s), which is significantly faster than swimming micro-organisms.

Development and evaluation of a prototype tracking system using the treatment couch

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

Lang, Stephanie, E-mail: stephanie.lang@usz.ch; Riesterer, Oliver; Klöck, Stephan

2014-02-15

Purpose: Tumor motion increases safety margins around the clinical target volume and leads to an increased dose to the surrounding healthy tissue. The authors have developed and evaluated a one-dimensional treatment couch tracking system to counter steer respiratory tumor motion. Three different motion detection sensors with different lag times were evaluated. Methods: The couch tracking system consists of a motion detection sensor, which can be the topometrical system Topos (Cyber Technologies, Germany), the respiratory gating system RPM (Varian Medical Systems) or a laser triangulation system (Micro Epsilon), and the Protura treatment couch (Civco Medical Systems). The control of the treatmentmore » couch was implemented in the block diagram environment Simulink (MathWorks). To achieve real time performance, the Simulink models were executed on a real time engine, provided by Real-Time Windows Target (MathWorks). A proportional-integral control system was implemented. The lag time of the couch tracking system using the three different motion detection sensors was measured. The geometrical accuracy of the system was evaluated by measuring the mean absolute deviation from the reference (static position) during motion tracking. This deviation was compared to the mean absolute deviation without tracking and a reduction factor was defined. A hexapod system was moving according to seven respiration patterns previously acquired with the RPM system as well as according to a sin{sup 6} function with two different frequencies (0.33 and 0.17 Hz) and the treatment table compensated the motion. Results: A prototype system for treatment couch tracking of respiratory motion was developed. The laser based tracking system with a small lag time of 57 ms reduced the residual motion by a factor of 11.9 ± 5.5 (mean value ± standard deviation). An increase in delay time from 57 to 130 ms (RPM based system) resulted in a reduction by a factor of 4.7 ± 2.6. The Topos based tracking system with the largest lag time of 300 ms achieved a mean reduction by a factor of 3.4 ± 2.3. The increase in the penumbra of a profile (1 × 1 cm{sup 2}) for a motion of 6 mm was 1.4 mm. With tracking applied there was no increase in the penumbra. Conclusions: Couch tracking with the Protura treatment couch is achievable. To reliably track all possible respiration patterns without prediction filters a short lag time below 100 ms is needed. More scientific work is necessary to extend our prototype to tracking of internal motion.« less

Enhancing Cognition with Video Games: A Multiple Game Training Study

PubMed Central

Oei, Adam C.; Patterson, Michael D.

2013-01-01

Background Previous evidence points to a causal link between playing action video games and enhanced cognition and perception. However, benefits of playing other video games are under-investigated. We examined whether playing non-action games also improves cognition. Hence, we compared transfer effects of an action and other non-action types that required different cognitive demands. Methodology/Principal Findings We instructed 5 groups of non-gamer participants to play one game each on a mobile device (iPhone/iPod Touch) for one hour a day/five days a week over four weeks (20 hours). Games included action, spatial memory, match-3, hidden- object, and an agent-based life simulation. Participants performed four behavioral tasks before and after video game training to assess for transfer effects. Tasks included an attentional blink task, a spatial memory and visual search dual task, a visual filter memory task to assess for multiple object tracking and cognitive control, as well as a complex verbal span task. Action game playing eliminated attentional blink and improved cognitive control and multiple-object tracking. Match-3, spatial memory and hidden object games improved visual search performance while the latter two also improved spatial working memory. Complex verbal span improved after match-3 and action game training. Conclusion/Significance Cognitive improvements were not limited to action game training alone and different games enhanced different aspects of cognition. We conclude that training specific cognitive abilities frequently in a video game improves performance in tasks that share common underlying demands. Overall, these results suggest that many video game-related cognitive improvements may not be due to training of general broad cognitive systems such as executive attentional control, but instead due to frequent utilization of specific cognitive processes during game play. Thus, many video game training related improvements to cognition may be attributed to near-transfer effects. PMID:23516504

Development of the polarization tracking scheme for free-space quantum cryptography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toyoshima, Morio; Takayama, Yoshihisa; Kunimori, Hiroo; Takeoka, Masahiro; Fujiwara, Mikio; Sasaki, Masahide

2008-04-01

Quantum cryptography is a new technique for transmitting quantum information. The information is securely transmitted due to the laws of physics. In such systems, the vehicle that transfers quantum information is a single photon. The problem with using photons is that the transmission distance is limited by the absorption of the photons by the optical fiber along which they pass. The maximum demonstrated range so far is approximately 100 km. Using free-space quantum cryptography between a ground station and a satellite is a possible way of sending quantum information farther than is possible with optical fibers. This is because there is no birefringence effect in the atmosphere. However, there is a complication in that the directions of the polarization basis between the transmitter and the receiver must coincide with each other. This polarization changes because the mobile terminals for free-space transmission continuously change their attitudes. If the transmission protocol is based on polarization, it is necessary to compensate for the change in attitude between the mobile terminals. We are developing a scheme to track the polarization basis between the transceivers. The preliminary result is presented.