An investigation of diameter measurement repeatability using a coordinate measuring machine and a multi-baseline repeatability assessment methodology

The need for reliable and consistent measurement has become more acute with the use of statistical process control (SPC), gage repeatability and reproducibility (Gage R&R) assessment, and high precision, computer-controlled gaging systems. Although it is often overlooked, the inspection methodology under which various features are inspected has an impact on Gage R&R results. This notion was confirmed when a 1993 thesis study substantiated inspection methodology as a source of measurement variability in direct computer-controlled, coordinate measuring machines (DCC/CMMs). Although this study explored a methodology to bring measurement variability under statistical control, the tested assessment methodology--single baseline repeatability assessment--was not validated. This study was initiated to assess the effectiveness of multi-baseline repeatability assessment (MBRA) in (a) identifying diameter/probe hit categories with inherent stability in measurement repeatability on the XY, XZ, and YX planes and (b) generating planar inspection programs that yield improvements in diameter measurement repeatability on each of the three planes. The methodology of this study was based on a Brown & Sharpe Xcel 7•6•5 CMM, twenty-three circular test specimens of different diameters, an inspection methodology varying from 3-10 probe hits, and two repeatability determination methods--range and standard deviation. The results of this study indicated: (a) in general, diameter measurement repeatability can be improved by increasing the number of contact probe hits; (b) MBRA is an effective methodology for quantifying stability in measurement repeatability; and (c) MBRA is not an effective methodology for improving measurement repeatability (diameter/probe hit categories with the greatest stability did not necessarily possess the best repeatability). The principle implication presented by this study is that multi-baseline repeatability assessment gives CMM users an assessment tool that can be used to establish (a) inspection methodologies under which different features can be inspected with high precision, (b) part orientations (planes) under which circular features can be inspected with high precision, (c) machine signatures upon which machine wear can be monitored and tracked, and (d) machine signatures upon which repeatability comparison studies can be conducted

Gait Analysis of Horses for Lameness Detection with Radar Sensors

This paper presents the preliminary investigation of the use of radar signatures to detect and assess lameness of horses and its severity. Radar sensors in this context can provide attractive contactless sensing capabilities, as a complementary or alternative technology to the current techniques for lameness assessment using video-graphics and inertial sensors attached to the horses' body. The paper presents several examples of experimental data collected at the Weipers Centre Equine Hospital at the University of Glasgow, showing the micro- Doppler signatures of horses and preliminary results of their analysis

Highlighting the effects of co‐eluting interferences on compound specific stable isotope analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using comprehensive two‐dimensional gas chromatography

Accuracy is the most important issue when carrying out compound specific stable isotope analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons extracted from complex samples. It depends on two main factors: the possible isotopic fractionation of the compounds during extraction and the potential co‐elution with interfering compounds with different isotopic signatures. We present here a simplified pressurised liquid extraction method for compound specific stable isotope analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in non‐aqueous phase liquids of coal tar. Samples extracted using the new method and using fractionation on silica gel column were analysed using comprehensive twodimensional gas chromatography. We were able to evaluate the effect of coelution on carbon and hydrogen stable isotope signatures of the 16 US EPA priority PAHs in the coal tars with various proportions of aromatic and aliphatic content. Even in samples that presented a good baseline resolution, the PAHs of interest co‐eluted with other aromatic compounds with a notable effect on their stable isotope values; it demonstrated the necessity to check the quality of all extraction and clean‐up methods (either the simplified pressurized liquid extraction or more traditional labour‐intensive methods) for the more complex samples prior to data interpretation. Additionally, comprehensive twodimensional gas chromatography enabled visualisation of the suspected coelutions for the first time

Absolute Calibration and Characterization of the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer. II. 70 micron Imaging

The absolute calibration and characterization of the Multiband Imaging Photometer for Spitzer (MIPS) 70 micron coarse- and fine-scale imaging modes are presented based on over 2.5 years of observations. Accurate photometry (especially for faint sources) requires two simple processing steps beyond the standard data reduction to remove long-term detector transients. Point spread function (PSF) fitting photometry is found to give more accurate flux densities than aperture photometry. Based on the PSF fitting photometry, the calibration factor shows no strong trend with flux density, background, spectral type, exposure time, or time since anneals. The coarse-scale calibration sample includes observations of stars with flux densities from 22 mJy to 17 Jy, on backgrounds from 4 to 26 MJy sr^-1, and with spectral types from B to M. The coarse-scale calibration is 702 +/- 35 MJy sr^-1 MIPS70^-1 (5% uncertainty) and is based on measurements of 66 stars. The instrumental units of the MIPS 70 micron coarse- and fine-scale imaging modes are called MIPS70 and MIPS70F, respectively. The photometric repeatability is calculated to be 4.5% from two stars measured during every MIPS campaign and includes variations on all time scales probed. The preliminary fine-scale calibration factor is 2894 +/- 294 MJy sr^-1 MIPS70F^-1 (10% uncertainty) based on 10 stars. The uncertainty in the coarse- and fine-scale calibration factors are dominated by the 4.5% photometric repeatability and the small sample size, respectively. The 5-sigma, 500 s sensitivity of the coarse-scale observations is 6-8 mJy. This work shows that the MIPS 70 micron array produces accurate, well calibrated photometry and validates the MIPS 70 micron operating strategy, especially the use of frequent stimulator flashes to track the changing responsivities of the Ge:Ga detectors.Comment: 19 pages, PASP, in pres

Oxygen isotope fractionation during N2O production by soil denitrification

The isotopic composition of soil-derived N₂O can help differentiate between N₂O production pathways and estimate the fraction of N₂O reduced to N₂. Until now, <i>δ</i>¹⁸O of N₂O has been rarely used in the interpretation of N₂O isotopic signatures because of the rather complex oxygen isotope fractionations during N₂O production by denitrification. The latter process involves nitrate reduction mediated through the following three enzymes: nitrate reductase (NAR), nitrite reductase (NIR) and nitric oxide reductase (NOR). Each step removes one oxygen atom as water (H₂O), which gives rise to a branching isotope effect. Moreover, denitrification intermediates may partially or fully exchange oxygen isotopes with ambient water, which is associated with an exchange isotope effect. The main objective of this study was to decipher the mechanism of oxygen isotope fractionation during N₂O production by soil denitrification and, in particular, to investigate the relationship between the extent of oxygen isotope exchange with soil water and the <i>δ</i>¹⁸O values of the produced N₂O. <br><br> In our soil incubation experiments Δ¹⁷O isotope tracing was applied for the first time to simultaneously determine the extent of oxygen isotope exchange and any associated oxygen isotope effect. We found that N₂O formation in static anoxic incubation experiments was typically associated with oxygen isotope exchange close to 100 % and a stable difference between the ¹⁸O ∕ ¹⁶O ratio of soil water and the N₂O product of <i>δ</i>¹⁸O(N₂O ∕ H₂O)  =  (17.5 ± 1.2) ‰. However, flow-through experiments gave lower oxygen isotope exchange down to 56 % and a higher <i>δ</i>¹⁸O(N₂O ∕ H₂O) of up to 37 ‰. The extent of isotope exchange and <i>δ</i>¹⁸O(N₂O ∕ H₂O) showed a significant correlation (<i>R</i>² = 0.70, <i>p</i> &lt;  0.00001). We hypothesize that this observation was due to the contribution of N₂O from another production process, most probably fungal denitrification. <br><br> An oxygen isotope fractionation model was used to test various scenarios with different magnitudes of branching isotope effects at different steps in the reduction process. The results suggest that during denitrification, isotope exchange occurs prior to isotope branching and that this exchange is mostly associated with the enzymatic nitrite reduction mediated by NIR. For bacterial denitrification, the branching isotope effect can be surprisingly low, about (0.0 ± 0.9) ‰, in contrast to fungal denitrification where higher values of up to 30 ‰ have been reported previously. This suggests that <i>δ</i>¹⁸O might be used as a tracer for differentiation between bacterial and fungal denitrification, due to their different magnitudes of branching isotope effects

Evidence of Non-local Chemical, Thermal and Gravitational Effects

Quantum entanglement is ubiquitous in the microscopic world and manifests itself macroscopically under some circumstances. But common belief is that it alone cannot be used to transmit information nor could it be used to produce macroscopic non-local effects. Yet we have recently found evidence of non-local effects of chemical substances on the brain produced through it. While our reported results are under independent verifications by other groups, we report here our experimental findings of non-local chemical, thermal and gravitational effects in simple physical systems such as reservoirs of water quantum-entangled4 with water being manipulated in a remote reservoir. With the aids of high-precision instruments, we have found that the pH value, temperature and gravity of water in the detecting reservoirs can be non-locally affected through manipulating water in the remote reservoir. In particular, the pH value changes in the same direction as that being manipulated; the temperature can change against that of local environment; and the gravity can change against local gravity. These non-local effects are all reproducible and can be used for non-local signalling and many other purposes. We suggest that they are mediated by quantum entanglement between nuclear and/or electron spins in treated water and discuss the profound implications of these results

CosmoDM and its application to Pan-STARRS data

The Cosmology Data Management system (CosmoDM) is an automated and flexible data management system for the processing and calibration of data from optical photometric surveys. It is designed to run on supercomputers and to minimize disk I/O to enable scaling to very high throughput during periods of reprocessing. It serves as an early prototype for one element of the ground-based processing required by the Euclid mission and will also be employed in the preparation of ground based data needed in the eROSITA X-ray all sky survey mission. CosmoDM consists of two main pipelines. The first is the single-epoch or detrending pipeline, which is used to carry out the photometric and astrometric calibration of raw exposures. The second is the co- addition pipeline, which combines the data from individual exposures into deeper coadd images and science ready catalogs. A novel feature of CosmoDM is that it uses a modified stack of As- tromatic software which can read and write tile compressed images. Since 2011, CosmoDM has been used to process data from the DECam, the CFHT MegaCam and the Pan-STARRS cameras. In this paper we shall describe how processed Pan-STARRS data from CosmoDM has been used to optically confirm and measure photometric redshifts of Planck-based Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect selected cluster candidates.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures. Proceedings of Precision Astronomy with Fully Depleted CCDs Workshop (2014). Accepted for publication in JINS

The mechanism of oxygen isotope fractionation during N2O production by denitrification

The isotopic composition of soil-derived N2O can help differentiate between N2O production pathways and estimate the fraction of N2O reduced to N2. Until now, δ18O of N2O has been rarely used in the interpretation of N2O isotopic signatures because of the rather complex oxygen isotope fractionations during N2O production by denitrification. The latter process involves nitrate reduction mediated through the following three enzymes: nitrate reductase (NAR), nitrite reductase (NIR) and nitric oxide reductase (NOR). Each step removes one oxygen atom as water (H2O), which gives rise to a branching isotope effect. Moreover, denitrification intermediates may partially or fully exchange oxygen isotopes with ambient water, which is associated with an exchange isotope effect. The main objective of this study was to decipher the mechanism of oxygen isotope fractionation during N2O production by denitrification and, in particular, to investigate the relationship between the extent of oxygen isotope exchange with soil water and the δ18O values of the produced N2O. We performed several soil incubation experiments. For the first time, ∆17 O isotope tracing was applied to simultaneously determine the extent of oxygen isotope exchange and any associated oxygen isotope effect. We found bacterial denitrification to be typically associated with almost complete oxygen isotope exchange and a stable difference in δ18O between soil water and the produced N2O of δ18O(N2O / H2O) = (17.5±1.2) ‰. However, some experimental setups yielded oxygen isotope exchange as low as 56 % and a higher δ18O(N2O / H2O) of up to 37‰. The extent of isotope exchange and δ18O(N2O / H2O) showed a very significant correlation (R2 = 0.70, p < 0.00001). We hypothesise that this observation was due to the contribution of N2O from another production process, most probably fungal denitrification. An oxygen isotope fractionation model was used to test various scenarios with different magnitudes of branching isotope effects at different steps in the reduction process. The results suggest that during denitrification the isotope exchange occurs prior to the isotope branching and that the mechanism of this exchange is mostly associated with the enzymatic nitrite reduction mediated by NIR. For bacterial denitrification, the branching isotope effect can be surprisingly low, about (0.0±0.9) ‰; in contrast to fungal denitrification where higher values of up to 30‰ have been reported previously. This suggests that δ18O might be used as a tracer for differentiation between bacte- 5 rial and fungal denitrification, due to their different magnitudes of branching isotope effect