2,211 research outputs found
Lightweight universal joint transmits both torque and thrust
A lightweight universal joint uses a thin steel flexure plate to transmit torque and a steel rod to transmit thrust. Both the plate and rod are independently mounted and can act individually
Application of structural analysis and matrix interpretive system
Computer program for matrix manipulations of structural analysi
A shock spectra and impedance method to determine a bound for spacecraft structural loads
A method to determine a bound of structural loads for a spacecraft mounted on a launch vehicle is developed. The method utilizes the interface shock spectra and the relative impedance of the spacecraft and launch vehicle. The method is developed for single-degree-of-freedom models and then generalized to multidegree-of-freedom models
A new genus of ovuliferous glossopterid fructifications from South Africa
Main articleA new genus of Early Permian glossopterid fructifications, Gladiopomum, is established to
accommodate pedicellate, capitate fructifications with narrow receptacles, apical spines, and very
broad wings. Two species recognized within this genus were previously assigned to Scutum Plumstead
and Hirsutum Plumstead, viz., G. dutoitides (Plumstead) comb. nov. and G. acadarense (Anderson
& Anderson) comb. nov. An additional species, G. elongatum sp. nov. is established based on material
from a new fossil locality at Rietspruit Colliery in the northern Karoo Basin. All species of
Gladiopomum are confined to the Vryheid Formation; the genus may constitute a useful biostratigraphic
index taxon for Artinskian strata throughout the Karoo Basin.Palaeo-Anthropology Scientific Trust; French Embassy in South Africa; Co-operation and Cultural Service
Galaxy bimodality versus stellar mass and environment
We analyse a z<0.1 galaxy sample from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey focusing
on the variation of the galaxy colour bimodality with stellar mass and
projected neighbour density Sigma, and on measurements of the galaxy stellar
mass functions. The characteristic mass increases with environmental density
from about 10^10.6 Msun to 10^10.9 Msun (Kroupa IMF, H_0=70) for Sigma in the
range 0.1--10 per Mpc^2. The galaxy population naturally divides into a red and
blue sequence with the locus of the sequences in colour-mass and
colour-concentration index not varying strongly with environment. The fraction
of galaxies on the red sequence is determined in bins of 0.2 in log Sigma and
log mass (12 x 13 bins). The red fraction f_r generally increases continuously
in both Sigma and mass such that there is a unified relation: f_r =
F(Sigma,mass). Two simple functions are proposed which provide good fits to the
data. These data are compared with analogous quantities in semi-analytical
models based on the Millennium N-body simulation: the Bower et al. (2006) and
Croton et al. (2006) models that incorporate AGN feedback. Both models predict
a strong dependence of the red fraction on stellar mass and environment that is
qualitatively similar to the observations. However, a quantitative comparison
shows that the Bower et al. model is a significantly better match; this appears
to be due to the different treatment of feedback in central galaxies.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures; accepted by MNRAS, minor change
MATURE: A Model Driven bAsed Tool to Automatically Generate a langUage That suppoRts CMMI Process Areas spEcification
Many companies have achieved a higher quality in their processes by using CMMI. Process definition may be efficiently supported by software tools. A higher automation level will make process improvement and assessment activities easier to be adapted to customer needs. At present, automation of CMMI is based on tools that support practice definition in a textual way. These tools are often enhanced spreadsheets. In this paper, following the Model Driven Development paradigm (MDD), a tool that supports automatic generation of a language that can be used to specify process areas practices is presented. The generation is performed from a metamodel that represents CMMI. This tool, differently from others available, can be customized according to user needs. Guidelines to specify the CMMI metamodel are also provided. The paper also shows how this approach can support other assessment method
3D pic simulations of collisionless shocks at lunar magnetic anomalies and their role in forming lunar swirls
The authors would like to thank the Science and Technology Facilities Council for fundamental physics and computing resources that were provided by funding from STFC’s Scientific Computing Department, and would like to thank the European Research Council (ERC 2010 AdG Grant 267841) and FCT (Portugal) grants SFRH/BD/75558/2010 for support.Investigation of the lunar crustal magnetic anomalies offers a comprehensive long-term data set of observations of small-scale magnetic fields and their interaction with the solar wind. In this paper a review of the observations of lunar mini-magnetospheres is compared quantifiably with theoretical kinetic-scale plasma physics and 3D particle-in-cell simulations. The aim of this paper is to provide a complete picture of all the aspects of the phenomena and to show how the observations from all the different and international missions interrelate. The analysis shows that the simulations are consistent with the formation of miniature (smaller than the ion Larmor orbit) collisionless shocks and miniature magnetospheric cavities, which has not been demonstrated previously. The simulations reproduce the finesse and form of the differential proton patterns that are believed to be responsible for the creation of both the "lunar swirls" and "dark lanes." Using a mature plasma physics code like OSIRIS allows us, for the first time, to make a side-by-side comparison between model and space observations. This is shown for all of the key plasma parameters observed to date by spacecraft, including the spectral imaging data of the lunar swirls. The analysis of miniature magnetic structures offers insight into multi-scale mechanisms and kinetic-scale aspects of planetary magnetospheres.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe
The development of a theory-based intervention to promote appropriate disclosure of a diagnosis of dementia
Background: The development and description of interventions to change professional practice are often limited by the lack of an explicit theoretical and empirical basis. We set out to develop an intervention to promote appropriate disclosure of a diagnosis of dementia based on theoretical and empirical work. Methods: We identified three key disclosure behaviours: finding out what the patient already knows or suspects about their diagnosis; using the actual words 'dementia' or 'Alzheimer's disease' when talking to the patient; and exploring what the diagnosis means to the patient. We conducted a questionnaire survey of older peoples' mental health teams (MHTs) based upon theoretical constructs from the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and used the findings to identify factors that predicted mental health professionals' intentions to perform each behaviour. We selected behaviour change techniques likely to alter these factors. Results: The change techniques selected were: persuasive communication to target subjective norm; behavioural modelling and graded tasks to target self-efficacy; persuasive communication to target attitude towards the use of explicit terminology when talking to the patient; and behavioural modelling by MHTs to target perceived behavioural control for finding out what the patient already knows or suspects and exploring what the diagnosis means to the patient. We operationalised these behaviour change techniques using an interactive 'pen and paper' intervention designed to increase intentions to perform the three target behaviours. Conclusion : It is feasible to develop an intervention to change professional behaviour based upon theoretical models, empirical data and evidence based behaviour change techniques. The next step is to evaluate the effect of such an intervention on behavioural intention. We argue that this approach to development and reporting of interventions will contribute to the science of implementation by providing replicable interventions that illuminate the principles and processes underlying change.This project is funded by UK Medical Research Council, Grant reference number G0300999. Jeremy Grimshaw holds a Canada Research Chair in Health Knowledge Transfer and Uptake. Jill Francis is funded by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorate. The views expressed in this study are those of the authors
Soft clustering analysis of galaxy morphologies: A worked example with SDSS
Context: The huge and still rapidly growing amount of galaxies in modern sky
surveys raises the need of an automated and objective classification method.
Unsupervised learning algorithms are of particular interest, since they
discover classes automatically. Aims: We briefly discuss the pitfalls of
oversimplified classification methods and outline an alternative approach
called "clustering analysis". Methods: We categorise different classification
methods according to their capabilities. Based on this categorisation, we
present a probabilistic classification algorithm that automatically detects the
optimal classes preferred by the data. We explore the reliability of this
algorithm in systematic tests. Using a small sample of bright galaxies from the
SDSS, we demonstrate the performance of this algorithm in practice. We are able
to disentangle the problems of classification and parametrisation of galaxy
morphologies in this case. Results: We give physical arguments that a
probabilistic classification scheme is necessary. The algorithm we present
produces reasonable morphological classes and object-to-class assignments
without any prior assumptions. Conclusions: There are sophisticated automated
classification algorithms that meet all necessary requirements, but a lot of
work is still needed on the interpretation of the results.Comment: 18 pages, 19 figures, 2 tables, submitted to A
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