Design method for adsorption beds

Regenerable adsorption beds for long-term life support systems include synthetic geolite to remove carbon dioxide and silica gel to dehumidify the atmospheric gas prior to its passage through the geolite beds. Bed performance is evaluated from adsorption characteristics, heat and mass transfer, and pressure drop

High country river processes : a technical discussion of results from research on the Kowai River system, Springfield, Canterbury

A sub-catchment (Torlesse Stream) of the Kowai River, Canterbury, has been the site of an interdisciplinary study of the relationships between erosion and stream sedimentation (Hayward 1975). It was logical to extend the stream sediment investigation of that study (Hayward 1978) into the Kowai system proper in order to establish changes in the nature and distribution of the stream sediments with distance downstream. The sediment sampling study, comprising Part I of Paper A in this volume, analyses the changes in size, distribution, form and rock type of the river gravels from ahead water mountain stream to the wide braided river beds of the middle reaches of the Kowai River. Part 2 of Paper A discusses the possible implications for the management that these sediment studies have for this and other similar river systems. It is believed that if thought necessary it is possible to design a river training programme to guide the river towards a more manageable pattern. Paper B of this volume compares the results of the present river gravel survey with those from a sedimentological analysis of fluvio-glacial outwash gravels deposited several thousand years ago within the lower reaches of the Kowai system. This comparative study is used to indicate differences in the hydrologic environment prevailing at their respective times of deposition, and aids in our understanding of the processes at work in hill and high country rivers today. Both Papers A and B relate to the Kowai River system, but the authors wish to emphasise that the findings from these studies are believed to have application to other similar gravel bed river systems

Do Action Video Games Improve Perception and Cognition?

Frequent action video game players often outperform non-gamers on measures of perception and cognition, and some studies find that video game practice enhances those abilities. The possibility that video game training transfers broadly to other aspects of cognition is exciting because training on one task rarely improves performance on others. At first glance, the cumulative evidence suggests a strong relationship between gaming experience and other cognitive abilities, but methodological shortcomings call that conclusion into question. We discuss these pitfalls, identify how existing studies succeed or fail in overcoming them, and provide guidelines for more definitive tests of the effects of gaming on cognition

Single particle multipole expansions from Micromagnetic Tomography

Micromagnetic tomography aims at reconstructing large numbers of individual magnetizations of magnetic particles from combining high-resolution magnetic scanning techniques with micro X-ray computed tomography (microCT). Previous work demonstrated that dipole moments can be robustly inferred, and mathematical analysis showed that the potential field of each particle is uniquely determined. Here, we describe a mathematical procedure to recover higher orders of the magnetic potential of the individual magnetic particles in terms of their spherical harmonic expansions (SHE). We test this approach on data from scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy and microCT of a reference sample. For particles with high signal-to-noise ratio of the magnetic scan we demonstrate that SHE up to order $n=3$ can be robustly recovered. This additional level of detail restricts the possible internal magnetization structures of the particles and provides valuable rock magnetic information with respect to their stability and reliability as paleomagnetic remanence carriers. Micromagnetic tomography therefore enables a new approach for detailed rock magnetic studies on large ensembles of individual particles.Comment: 21 pages, 4 Figures, 3 Tables. For Supplemental Material see "Ancillary files" in this arxiv websit

Radiation protection in space

The challenge for planning radiation protection in space is to estimate the risk of events of low probability after low levels of irradiation. This work has revealed many gaps in the present state of knowledge that require further study. Despite investigations of several irradiated populations, the atomic-bomb survivors remain the primary basis for estimating the risk of ionizing radiation. Compared to previous estimates, two new independent evaluations of available information indicate a significantly greater risk of stochastic effects of radiation (cancer and genetic effects) by about a factor of three for radiation workers. This paper presents a brief historical perspective of the international effort to assure radiation protection in space

Controlled Quantum Secret Sharing

We present a new protocol in which a secret multiqubit quantum state $\ket{\Psi}$ is shared by $n$ players and $m$ controllers, where $\ket{\Psi}$ is the encoding state of a quantum secret sharing scheme. The players may be considered as field agents responsible for carrying out a task, using the secret information encrypted in $\ket{\Psi}$, while the controllers are superiors who decide if and when the task should be carried out and who to do it. Our protocol only requires ancillary Bell states and Bell-basis measurements.Comment: 6 pages, 0 figure, RevTeX4; published version with minor change

Mathematical Constraint on Functions with Continuous Second Partial Derivatives

A new integral identity for functions with continuous second partial derivatives is derived. It is shown that the value of any function f(r,t) at position r and time t is completely determined by its previous values at all other locations r' and retarded times t'<t, provided that the function vanishes at infinity and has continuous second partial derivatives. Functions of this kind occur in many areas of physics and it seems somewhat surprising that they are constrained in this way.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Evaluation of a hospital-based integrated model of eye care for diabetic retinopathy assessment: A multimethod study

Objectives Diabetic eye disease is a leading cause of blindness but can be mitigated by regular eye assessment. A framework of issues, developed from the literature of barriers to eye assessment, was used to structure an examination of perceptions of a new model of care for diabetic retinopathy from the perspective of staff using the model, and health professionals referring patients to the new service. Design Multimethod: interviews and focus groups, and a separate survey. Setting A new clinic based on an integrated model of care was established at a hospital in outer metropolitan Sydney, Australia in 2017. Funded jointly by Centre for Eye Health (CFEH) and the hospital, the clinic was equipped and staffed by optometrists who work alongside the ophthalmologists in the existing hospital eye clinic. Participants Five (of seven) hospital staff working in the clinic (ophthalmologists and administrative officers) or referring to it from other departments (endocrinologists); nine optometrists from CFEH who developed or worked in the clinic; 10 community-based optometrists as potential referrers. Results The new clinic was considered to have addressed known barriers to eye assessment, including access, assistance for patients unable/unwilling to organise eye checks and efficient management of human resources. The clinic optimised known drivers of this model of care: providing clear scope of practice and protocols for shared care between optometrists and ophthalmologists, good communication between referrers and eye professionals and a collegial approach promoting interprofessional trust. Remaining areas of concern were few referrals from general practitioners, fewer referrals from hospital endocrinologists than expected and issues with stretched administrative capacity. There were also perceived mismatches between the priorities of hospital management and aims of the clinic. Conclusions The new model was considered to have addressed many of the barriers to assessment. While there remain issues with the model, there were also unexpected benefits

Some Directions beyond Traditional Quantum Secret Sharing

We investigate two directions beyond the traditional quantum secret sharing (QSS). First, a restriction on QSS that comes from the no-cloning theorem is that any pair of authorized sets in an access structure should overlap. From the viewpoint of application, this places an unnatural constraint on secret sharing. We present a generalization, called assisted QSS (AQSS), where access structures without pairwise overlap of authorized sets is permissible, provided some shares are withheld by the share dealer. We show that no more than $\lambda-1$ withheld shares are required, where $\lambda$ is the minimum number of {\em partially linked classes} among the authorized sets for the QSS. Our result means that such applications of QSS need not be thwarted by the no-cloning theorem. Secondly, we point out a way of combining the features of QSS and quantum key distribution (QKD) for applications where a classical information is shared by quantum means. We observe that in such case, it is often possible to reduce the security proof of QSS to that of QKD.Comment: To appear in Physica Scripta, 7 pages, 1 figure, subsumes arXiv:quant-ph/040720