30,561 research outputs found
A fibre optic sensor for the measurement of surface roughness and displacement using artificial neural networks
This paper presents a fiber optic sensor system, artificial neural networks (fast back-propagation) are employed for the data processing. The use of the neural networks makes it possible for the sensor to be used both for surface roughness and displacement measurement at the same time. The results indicate 100% correct surface classification for ten different surfaces (different materials, different manufacturing methods, and different surface roughnesses) and displacement errors less then ±5 μm. The actual accuracy was restricted by the calibration machine. A measuring range of ±0.8 mm for the displacement measurement was achieved
Identification of drug resistance mutations in HIV from constraints on natural evolution
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) evolves with extraordinary rapidity.
However, its evolution is constrained by interactions between mutations in its
fitness landscape. Here we show that an Ising model describing these
interactions, inferred from sequence data obtained prior to the use of
antiretroviral drugs, can be used to identify clinically significant sites of
resistance mutations. Successful predictions of the resistance sites indicate
progress in the development of successful models of real viral evolution at the
single residue level, and suggest that our approach may be applied to help
design new therapies that are less prone to failure even where resistance data
is not yet available.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Synchronization and fault-masking in redundant real-time systems
A real time computer may fail because of massive component failures or not responding quickly enough to satisfy real time requirements. An increase in redundancy - a conventional means of improving reliability - can improve the former but can - in some cases - degrade the latter considerably due to the overhead associated with redundancy management, namely the time delay resulting from synchronization and voting/interactive consistency techniques. The implications of synchronization and voting/interactive consistency algorithms in N-modular clusters on reliability are considered. All these studies were carried out in the context of real time applications. As a demonstrative example, we have analyzed results from experiments conducted at the NASA Airlab on the Software Implemented Fault Tolerance (SIFT) computer. This analysis has indeed indicated that in most real time applications, it is better to employ hardware synchronization instead of software synchronization and not allow reconfiguration
Developments and key issues in tourism mobilities
This paper examines key developments in recent tourism mobilities research. It begins by outlining the recent conceptualisation of tourism mobilities, arguing that it is not just that tourism is a form of mobility like other forms of mobility but that different mobilities inform and are informed by tourism. It then examines work which has been developed in terms of materialities, autmobilities and new technologies. It concludes by discussing mobile methodologies and some thoughts on future research directions
Unsung heroes: Constituency election agents in British general elections
Despite their central role in the electoral process, constituency agents have been largely overlooked by political scientists and this article seeks to rectify the omission. It sketches the origins and development of the role of agent from the late 19th century and suggests that a serious rethink of the role took place in the 1990s. Survey-based evidence about the social characteristics of agents is presented confirming that they are largely middle-aged, middle-class, well-educated men. They are also becoming more experienced, offer realistic assessments of the impact of constituency campaigning and, arguably, many take a long-term view of how their party's support can be maximised
The Mid-infrared Fine-structure Lines of Neon as an Indicator of Star For mation Rate in Galaxies
The fine-structure lines of singly ([Ne II] 12.8 micron) and doubly ([Ne III]
15.6 micron) ionized neon are among the most prominent features in the
mid-infrared spectra of star-forming regions, and have the potential to be a
powerful new indicator of the star formation rate in galaxies. Using a sample
of star-forming galaxies with measurements of the fine-structure lines
available from the literature, we show that the sum of the [Ne II] and [Ne III]
luminosities obeys a tight, linear correlation with the total infrared
luminosity, over 5 orders of magnitude in luminosity. We discuss the formation
of the lines and their relation with the Lyman continuum luminosity. A simple
calibration between star formation rate and the [Ne II]+[Ne III] luminosity is
presented.Comment: To appear in ApJ. 8 page
Theoretical investigation into the possibility of very large moments in Fe16N2
We examine the mystery of the disputed high-magnetization \alpha"-Fe16N2
phase, employing the Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof screened hybrid functional method,
perturbative many-body corrections through the GW approximation, and onsite
Coulomb correlations through the GGA+U method. We present a first-principles
computation of the effective on-site Coulomb interaction (Hubbard U) between
localized 3d electrons employing the constrained random-phase approximation
(cRPA), finding only somewhat stronger on-site correlations than in bcc Fe. We
find that the hybrid functional method, the GW approximation, and the GGA+U
method (using parameters computed from cRPA) yield an average spin moment of
2.9, 2.6 - 2.7, and 2.7 \mu_B per Fe, respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
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