Passiv damping on spacecraft sandwich panels

For reusable and expendable launch vehicles as well as for other spacecraft structural vibration loads are safety critical design drivers impacting mass and lifetime. Here, the improvement of reliability and safety, the reduction of mass, the extension of service life, as well as the reduction of cost for manufacturing are desired. Spacecraft structural design in general is a compromise between lightweight design and robustness with regard to dynamic loads. The structural stresses and strains due to displacements caused by dynamic loads can be reduced by mechanical damping based on passive or active measures. Passive damping systems can be relatively simple and yet are capable of suppressing a wide range of mechanical vibrations. Concepts are low priced in development, manufacturing and application as well as maintenancefree. Compared to active damping measures passive elements do not require electronics, control algorithms, power, actuators, sensors as well as complex maintenance. Moreover, a reliable application of active dampers for higher temperatures and short response times (e. g. re-entry environment) is questionable. The physical effect of passive dampers is based on the dissipation of load induced energy. Recent activities performed by OHB have shown the function of a passive friction-damping device for a vertical tail model of the German X-vehicle PHÖNIX but also for general sandwich structures. The present paper shows brand new results from a corresponding ESA-funded activity where passive damping elements are placed between the face sheets of large spacecraft relevant composite sandwich panels to demonstrate dynamic load reduction in vibration experiments on a shaker. Several passive damping measures are investigated and compared

Global and local statistical regularities control visual attention to object sequences

Many previous studies have shown that both infants and adults are skilled statistical learners. Because statistical learning is affected by attention, learners' ability to manage their attention can play a large role in what they learn. However, it is still unclear how learners allocate their attention in order to gain information in a visual environment containing multiple objects, especially how prior visual experience (i.e., familiarly of objects) influences where people look. To answer these questions, we collected eye movement data from adults exploring multiple novel objects while manipulating object familiarity with global (frequencies) and local (repetitions) regularities. We found that participants are sensitive to both global and local statistics embedded in their visual environment and they dynamically shift their attention to prioritize some objects over others as they gain knowledge of the objects and their distributions within the task

Multiscale Discriminant Saliency for Visual Attention

The bottom-up saliency, an early stage of humans' visual attention, can be considered as a binary classification problem between center and surround classes. Discriminant power of features for the classification is measured as mutual information between features and two classes distribution. The estimated discrepancy of two feature classes very much depends on considered scale levels; then, multi-scale structure and discriminant power are integrated by employing discrete wavelet features and Hidden markov tree (HMT). With wavelet coefficients and Hidden Markov Tree parameters, quad-tree like label structures are constructed and utilized in maximum a posterior probability (MAP) of hidden class variables at corresponding dyadic sub-squares. Then, saliency value for each dyadic square at each scale level is computed with discriminant power principle and the MAP. Finally, across multiple scales is integrated the final saliency map by an information maximization rule. Both standard quantitative tools such as NSS, LCC, AUC and qualitative assessments are used for evaluating the proposed multiscale discriminant saliency method (MDIS) against the well-know information-based saliency method AIM on its Bruce Database wity eye-tracking data. Simulation results are presented and analyzed to verify the validity of MDIS as well as point out its disadvantages for further research direction.Comment: 16 pages, ICCSA 2013 - BIOCA sessio

Frenkel and charge transfer excitons in C60

We have studied the low energy electronic excitations of C60 using momentum dependent electron energy-loss spectroscopy in transmission. The momentum dependent intensity of the gap excitation allows the first direct experimental determination of the energy of the 1Hg excitation and thus also of the total width of the multiplet resulting from the gap transition. In addition, we could elucidate the nature of the following excitations - as either Frenkel or charge transfer excitons.Comment: RevTEX, 3 Figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Real-World Goal Setting and Use of Outcome Measures According to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health: A European Survey of Physical Therapy Practice in Multiple Sclerosis

Goal setting is a core component of physical therapy in multiple sclerosis (MS). It is unknown whether and to what extent goals are set at different levels of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), and whether, and to which, standardized outcome measures are used in real life for evaluation at the different ICF levels. Our aim was to describe the real-world use of goal setting and outcome measures in Europe. An online cross-sectional survey, completed by 212 physical therapists (PTs) specialized in MS from 26 European countries, was conducted. Differences between European regions and relationships between goals and assessments were analyzed. PTs regularly set goals, but did not always apply the Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timed (SMART) criteria. Regions did not differ in the range of activities assessed, but in goals set (e.g., Western and Northern regions set significantly more goals regarding leisure and work) and outcome measures used (e.g., the Berg Balance Scale was more frequently used in Northern regions). Quality of life was not routinely assessed, despite being viewed as an important therapy goal. Discrepancies existed both in goal setting and assessment across European regions. ICF assists in understanding these discrepancies and in guiding improved health-care for the future.</jats:p

Parameters of the Effective Singlet-Triplet Model for Band Structure of High-TcT_c Cuprates by Different Approaches

The present paper covers the problem of parameters determination for High-$T_c$ superconductive copper oxides. Different approaches, {\it ab initio} LDA and LDA+U calculations and Generalized Tight-Binding (GTB) method for strongly correlated electron systems, are used to calculate hopping and exchange parameters of the effective singlet-triplet model for $CuO_2$-layer. The resulting parameters are in remarkably good agreement with each other and with parameters extracted from experiment. This set of parameters is proposed for proper quantitative description of physics of hole doped High-$T_c$ cuprates in the framework of effective models.Comment: PACS 74.72.h; 74.20.z; 74.25.Jb; 31.15.A

Trial-unique, delayed nonmatching-to-location (TUNL) touchscreen testing for mice: sensitivity to dorsal hippocampal dysfunction.

RATIONALE: The hippocampus is implicated in many of the cognitive impairments observed in conditions such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and schizophrenia (SCZ). Often, mice are the species of choice for models of these diseases and the study of the relationship between brain and behaviour more generally. Thus, automated and efficient hippocampal-sensitive cognitive tests for the mouse are important for developing therapeutic targets for these diseases, and understanding brain-behaviour relationships. One promising option is to adapt the touchscreen-based trial-unique nonmatching-to-location (TUNL) task that has been shown to be sensitive to hippocampal dysfunction in the rat. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to adapt the TUNL task for use in mice and to test for hippocampus-dependency of the task. METHODS: TUNL training protocols were altered such that C57BL/6 mice were able to acquire the task. Following acquisition, dysfunction of the dorsal hippocampus (dHp) was induced using a fibre-sparing excitotoxin, and the effects of manipulation of several task parameters were examined. RESULTS: Mice could acquire the TUNL task using training optimised for the mouse (experiments 1). TUNL was found to be sensitive to dHp dysfunction in the mouse (experiments 2, 3 and 4). In addition, we observed that performance of dHp dysfunction group was somewhat consistently lower when sample locations were presented in the centre of the screen. CONCLUSIONS: This study opens up the possibility of testing both mouse and rat models on this flexible and hippocampus-sensitive touchscreen task.CHK received funding from the Korean Health Technology R&D Project, Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (HI11C1183). CJH, LMS and TJB were funded by Medical Research Council/Wellcome Trust grant 089703/Z/09/Z. CR, LMS and TJB were funded by Alzheimer’s Research UK [ART/ESG2010/1]. ACM, MHE, CAO, LMS and TJB also received funding from the Innovative Medicine Initiative Joint Undertaking under grant agreement no 115008 of which resources are composed of EFPIA in-kind contribution and financial contribution from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-015-4017-

Strong correlation effects in the doped Hubbard model in infinite dimensions

The density of states and the optical conductivity of the doped Hubbard model on a Bethe lattice with infinite connectivities have been studied using an analytic variant of the Lanczos continued fraction method. The spectral weight of the gap states and the position of the chemical potential upon hole or electron doping have been studied. We argue that the strong correlation effects such as gap states and midinfrared band shown in two dimensions also appear in infinite dimensions.Comment: 9 pages, revtex, 3 figures upon reques

The Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation : To ‘join the ranks of global companies’

Until the late 1990s, the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corporation (TTL) focused almost exclusively on serving the domestic market as a highly protected monopoly. This paper describes how the company has adopted a more outward looking strategy since 2000, with ambitions to become a regional, and eventually global, business by 2021. Drawing on company documents and industry sources, the paper argues that this shift in strategy was a direct reaction to the decline in domestic market share following liberalisation of the Taiwanese tobacco market and adoption of tougher domestic tobacco control measures. Market opening occurred as a result of pressure from the U.S. Trade Representative in the 1980s, as well as World Trade Organization membership in 2002. It is argued that TTL\u27s efforts to globalise operations have been limited by bureaucratic company management and structures, and ongoing political tension between Taiwan and China. However, the relative success of TTL\u27s alcohol branch, and potential détente as the Taiwanese government reaches out to improve relations with China, may provide TTL with new opportunities to achieve its goal of becoming a regional player with global ambitions. This article is part of the special issue \u27The Emergence of Asian Tobacco Companies: Implications for Global Health Governance.\u2