Helmet weight simulator

A device for providing acceleration cues to the helmet of a simulator pilot is described. Pulleys are attached to both shoulders of the pilot. A cable is attached to both sides of the helmet and extends through the pulleys to a takeup reel that is controlled by a torque motor. Control signals are applied to a servo system including the torque motor, the takeup reel and a force transducer which supplies the feedback signal. In one embodiment of the invention the force transducer is in the cable and in another it is in the takeup reel

GAELS Project Final Report: Information environment for engineering

The GAELS project was a collaboration commenced in 1999 between Glasgow University Library and Strathclyde University Library with two main aims:· to develop collaborative information services in support of engineering research at the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde· to develop a CAL (computer-aided learning package) package in advanced information skills for engineering research students and staff The project was funded by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) from their Strategic Change Initiative funding stream, and funding was awarded initially for one year, with an extension of the grant for a further year. The project ended in June 2001.The funding from SHEFC paid for two research assistants, one based at Glasgow University Library working on collaborative information services and one based at Strathclyde University Library developing courseware. Latterly, after these two research assistants left to take up other posts, there has been a single researcher based at Glasgow University Library.The project was funded to investigate the feasibility of new services to the Engineering Faculties at both Universities, with a view to making recommendations for service provision that can be developed for other subject areas

Probing the electron EDM with cold molecules

We present progress towards a new measurement of the electron electric dipole moment using a cold supersonic beam of YbF molecules. Data are currently being taken with a sensitivity of $10^{-27}\textrm{e.cm}/\sqrt{\textrm{day}}$. We therefore expect to make an improvement over the Tl experiment of Commins' group, which currently gives the most precise result. We discuss the systematic and statistical errors and comment on the future prospect of making a measurement at the level of $10^{-29}\textrm{e.cm}/\sqrt{\textrm{day}}$.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, proceedings of ICAP 200

Phylogenetic Relationships in Phoradendreae (Viscaceae) Inferred from Three Regions of the Nuclear Ribosomal Cistron. II. The North American Species of Phoradendron

A parsimony analysis based on sequences from the ITS region and two partitions of the 26S subunit of nuclear ribosomal DNA was used to infer phylogenetic relationships among the North American species of Phoradendron. A strongly supported clade united all but one of the species typically lacking cataphylls, a character used previously to distinguish the northern species from those of Central and South America. The divergent placement of P. californicum relative to the members of this northern clade confirmed the hypothesis that species lacking cataphylls are polyphyletic. Four of five species parasitic on conifers formed a well-supported clade. However, a strongly supported relationship between P. rhipsalinum and P. brachystachyum, the former a parasite of conifers, renders conifer parasitism homoplastic. A sister group relationship between these two species is not apparent from morphological evidence. A clade uniting P. serotinum, P. tomentosum, and P. velutinum was strongly supported. A broad host range characterized two of the three lineages of the basal tritomy in the northern clade, whereas the third line age united species specialized in parasitism of oaks or conifers

The great Covid cash surge - digitalisation hasn't dented cash's safe haven role

There is a debate about the effect of the extremely low, or even negative, interest rate regime on bank profitability. On the one hand it raises demand and thereby adds to bank profits, while on the other hand it lowers net interest margins, especially at the Zero Lower Bound. In this paper we review whether the prior paper by Altavilla, Boucinha and Peydro (2018) on this question for the Eurozone can be generalized to other monetary blocs, i.e. USA and UK. While our findings have some similarity with their earlier work, we are more concerned about the possible negative effects of this regime, not only on bank profitability but also on bank credit extension more widely

The surprising recovery of currency usage

Currency usage began a long trend decline in the decades after World War II. This was expected to continue, and even accelerate, owing to payment technology innovations. Surprisingly, however, such usage as a percentage of GDP stopped falling and has increased quite sharply in recent years in most countries, with Sweden the major outlier. We examine to what extent this may have been due to increasing interest elasticity, nearing the zero lower bound, and also to rising tax evasion, as indirect taxes rise. We also show how currency holdings increased temporarily as the financial crisis struck in 2008

The evaluation of Education Maintenance Allowance Pilots: three years' evidence: a quantitative evaluation

This is the third report of the longitudinal quantitative evaluation of Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) pilots and the first since the government announced that EMA is to be rolled out nationally from 2004. The evaluation was commissioned in 1999, by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) from a consortium of research organisations, led by the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) and including the National Centre for Social Research, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and the National Institute for Careers Education and Counselling (NICEC). The statistical evaluation design is a longitudinal cohort study involving large random sample surveys of young people (and their parents) in 10 EMA pilot areas and eleven control areas. Two cohorts of young people were selected from Child Benefit records. The first cohort of young people left compulsory schooling in the summer of 1999 and they, and their parents, were interviewed between October 1999 and April 2000 (Year 12 interview). A second interview was carried out with these young people between October 2000 and April 2001 (Year 13 interview). The second cohort left compulsory education the following summer of 2000 and young people, and their parents, were first interviewed between October 2000 and April 2001. The report uses both propensity score matching (PSM) and descriptive techniques, each of which brings their own particular strengths to the analysis

Flight test evaluation of an RAF high altitude partial pressure protective assembly

A partial pressure suit was evaluated during tests in an F-104 and F-15 as a protective garment for emergency descents. The garment is an pressure jerkin and modified anti-g suit combined with an oronasal mask. The garment can be donned and doffed at the aircraft to minimize thermal buildup. The oronasal mask was favored by the pilots due to its immobility on the face during high g-loading. The garment was chosen to provide optimum dexterity for the pilot, which is not available in a full pressure suit, while protecting the pilot at altitudes up to 18,288 meters, during a cabin decompression, and subsequent aircraft descent. During cabin decompressions in the F-104 and F-15, cabin pressure altitude was measured at various aircraft angles of attack, Mach numbers, and altitudes to determine the effect of the aerodynamic slipstream on the cabin altitude

Coherent State Approach to Quantum Clocks

The ``problem of time'' has been a pressing issue in quantum gravity for some time. To help understand this problem, Rovelli proposed a model of a two harmonic oscillators system where one of the oscillators can be thought of as a ``clock'' for the other oscillator thus giving a natural time reference frame for the system. Recently, the author has constructed an explicit form for the coherent states on the reduced phase space of this system in terms of Klauder's projection operator approach. In this paper, by using coherent state representations and other tools from coherent state quantization, I investigate the construction of gauge invariant operators on this reduced phase space, and the ability to use a quantum oscillator as a ``clock.''Comment: 13 pages, Late

Pulsed beams as field probes for precision measurement

We describe a technique for mapping the spatial variation of static electric, static magnetic, and rf magnetic fields using a pulsed atomic or molecular beam. The method is demonstrated using a beam designed to measure the electric dipole moment of the electron. We present maps of the interaction region, showing sensitivity to (i) electric field variation of 1.5 V/cm at 3.3 kV/cm with a spatial resolution of 15 mm; (ii) magnetic field variation of 5 nT with 25 mm resolution; (iii) radio-frequency magnetic field amplitude with 15 mm resolution. This new diagnostic technique is very powerful in the context of high-precision atomic and molecular physics experiments, where pulsed beams have not hitherto found widespread application.Comment: 6 pages, 12 figures. Figures heavily compressed to comply with arxiv's antediluvian file-size polic