JPL self pulsed laser surface measurement system development

The use of a self pulsed laser system for accurately describing the surface shape of large space deployed antenna structures was evaluated. Tests with a breadboard system verified functional operation with short time resolution on the order of .2 mm, nonambiguous ranging, and a maximum range capability on the order of 150 m. The projected capability of the system is resolution of less than .1 mm over a reasonable time period and a range extension to over 300 m

Selective image area control of X-ray film exposure density

A system for accurately determining the exposure density required for X-ray photography of a particular area of interest is provided. The light received from an X-ray image intensifier is applied to a beam splitting mirror which divides the light between a motion picture film camera and a television film camera. Between the beam splitter and the motion picture film camera, there is positioned another light beam splitter to direct some of the light at a mask having an opening which encloses only the image area of interest. Behind that opening there is positioned a photomultiplier intensity sensor for determining the exposure required and varying X-ray beam intensity accordingly

Fluidic angular velocity sensor

A fluidic sensor providing a differential pressure signal proportional to the angular velocity of a rotary input is described. In one embodiment the sensor includes a fluid pump having an impeller coupled to a rotary input. A housing forming a constricting fluid flow chamber is connected to the fluid input of the pump. The housing is provided with a fluid flow restrictive input to the flow chamber and a port communicating with the interior of the flow chamber. The differential pressure signal measured across the flow restrictive input is relatively noise free and proportional to the square of the angular velocity of the impeller. In an alternative embodiment, the flow chamber has a generally cylindrical configuration and plates having flow restrictive apertures are disposed within the chamber downstream from the housing port. In this embodiment, the differential pressure signal is found to be approximately linear with the angular velocity of the impeller

Thermal energy transformer

For use in combination with a heat engine, a thermal energy transformer is presented. It is comprised of a flux receiver having a first wall defining therein a radiation absorption cavity for converting solar flux to thermal energy, and a second wall defining an energy transfer wall for the heat engine. There is a heat pipe chamber interposed between the first and second walls having a working fluid disposed within the chamber and a wick lining the chamber for conducting the working fluid from the second wall to the first wall. Thermal energy is transferred from the radiation absorption cavity to the heat engine

A Survey of Nutritional Knowledge in College-Aged Students

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Attractor and Basin Entropies of Random Boolean Networks Under Asynchronous Stochastic Update

We introduce a numerical method to study random Boolean networks with asynchronous stochas- tic update. Each node in the network of states starts with equal occupation probability and this probability distribution then evolves to a steady state. Nodes left with finite occupation probability determine the attractors and the sizes of their basins. As for synchronous update, the basin entropy grows with system size only for critical networks, where the distribution of attractor lengths is a power law. We determine analytically the distribution for the number of attractors and basin sizes for frozen networks with connectivity K = 1.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, in submissio

Inferring the rules of social interaction in migrating caribou

Social interactions are a significant factor that influence the decision-making of species ranging from humans to bacteria. In the context of animal migration, social interactions may lead to improved decision-making, greater ability to respond to environmental cues, and the cultural transmission of optimal routes. Despite their significance, the precise nature of social interactions in migrating species remains largely unknown. Here we deploy unmanned aerial systems to collect aerial footage of caribou as they undertake their migration from Victoria Island to mainland Canada. Through a Bayesian analysis of trajectories we reveal the fine-scale interaction rules of migrating caribou and show they are attracted to one another and copy directional choices of neighbours, but do not interact through clearly defined metric or topological interaction ranges. By explicitly considering the role of social information on movement decisions we construct a map of near neighbour influence that quantifies the nature of information flow in these herds. These results will inform more realistic, mechanism-based models of migration in caribou and other social ungulates, leading to better predictions of spatial use patterns and responses to changing environmental conditions. Moreover, we anticipate that the protocol we developed here will be broadly applicable to study social behaviour in a wide range of migratory and non-migratory taxa. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Collective movement ecology’