Using Pinch Gloves(TM) for both Natural and Abstract Interaction Techniques in Virtual Environments

Usable three-dimensional (3D) interaction techniques are difficult to design, implement, and evaluate. One reason for this is a poor understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the wide range of 3D input devices, and of the mapping between input devices and interaction techniques. We present an analysis of Pinch Gloves™ and their use as input devices for virtual environments (VEs). We have developed a number of novel and usable interaction techniques for VEs using the gloves, including a menu system, a technique for text input, and a two-handed navigation technique. User studies have indicated the usability and utility of these techniques

Design integration and noise studies for jet STOL aircraft. Task 7C: Augmentor wing cruise blowing valveless system. Volume 1: Static testing of augmentor noise and performance

Static performance and acoustic tests were conducted on a two-dimensional one-third-scale augmentor flap model that simulated a cruise blowing augmentor system designed for a scale augmentor flap model that simulated a cruise blowing augmentor, which offers a degree of 150-passenger STOL airplane. The cruise blowing augmentor, which offers a degree of simplicity by requiring no fan air diverter valves, was simulated by fitting existing lobe suppressor nozzles with new nozzle fairings. Flow turning performance of the cruise blowing augmentor was measured through a large range of flap deflection angles. The noise suppression characteristics of a multilayer acoustic lining installed in the augmentor were also measured

Kinetics of viral self-assembly: the role of ss RNA antenna

A big class of viruses self-assemble from a large number of identical capsid proteins with long flexible N-terminal tails and ss RNA. We study the role of the strong Coulomb interaction of positive N-terminal tails with ss RNA in the kinetics of the in vitro virus self-assembly. Capsid proteins stick to unassembled chain of ss RNA (which we call "antenna") and slide on it towards the assembly site. We show that at excess of capsid proteins such one-dimensional diffusion accelerates self-assembly more than ten times. On the other hand at excess of ss RNA, antenna slows self-assembly down. Several experiments are proposed to verify the role of ss RNA antenna.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, several experiments are proposed, a new idea of experiment is adde

Flux Penetration in Superconducting Strip with Edge-Indentation

The flux penetration near a semicircular indentation at the edge of a thin superconducting strip placed in a transverse magnetic field is investigated. The flux front distortion due to the indentation is calculated numerically by solving the Maxwell equations with a highly nonlinear $E(j)$ law. We find that the excess penetration, $\Delta$, can be significantly ($\sim$ 50%) larger than the indentation radius $r_0$, in contrast to a bulk supercondutor in the critical state where $\Delta=r_0$. It is also shown that the flux creep tends to smoothen the flux front, i.e. reduce $\Delta$. The results are in very good agreement with magneto-optical studies of flux penetration into an YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_x$ film having an edge defect.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figure

Existence of multi-site intrinsic localized modes in one-dimensional Debye crystals

The existence of highly localized multi-site oscillatory structures (discrete multibreathers) in a nonlinear Klein-Gordon chain which is characterized by an inverse dispersion law is proven and their linear stability is investigated. The results are applied in the description of vertical (transverse, off-plane) dust grain motion in dusty plasma crystals, by taking into account the lattice discreteness and the sheath electric and/or magnetic field nonlinearity. Explicit values from experimental plasma discharge experiments are considered. The possibility for the occurrence of multibreathers associated with vertical charged dust grain motion in strongly-coupled dusty plasmas (dust crystals) is thus established. From a fundamental point of view, this study aims at providing a first rigorous investigation of the existence of intrinsic localized modes in Debye crystals and/or dusty plasma crystals and, in fact, suggesting those lattices as model systems for the study of fundamental crystal properties.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, revtex forma

On Properties of Boundaries and Electron Conductivity in Mesoscopic Polycrystalline Silicon Films for Memory Devices

We present the results of molecular dynamics modeling on the structural properties of grain boundaries (GB) in thin polycrystalline films. The transition from crystalline boundaries with low mismatch angle to amorphous boundaries is investigated. It is shown that the structures of the GBs satisfy a thermodynamical criterion. The potential energy of silicon atoms is closely related with a geometrical quantity -- tetragonality of their coordination with their nearest neighbors. A crossover of the length of localization is observed. To analyze the crossover of the length of localization of the single-electron states and properties of conductance of the thin polycrystalline film at low temperature, we use a two-dimensional Anderson localization model, with the random one-site electron charging energy for a single grain (dot), random non-diagonal matrix elements, and random number of connections between the neighboring grains. The results on the crossover behavior of localization length of the single-electron states and characteristic properties of conductance are presented in the region of parameters where the transition from an insulator to a conductor regimes takes place.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

On the Validity of the Tomonaga Luttinger Liquid Relations for the One-dimensional Holstein Model

For the one-dimensional Holstein model, we show that the relations among the scaling exponents of various correlation functions of the Tomonaga Luttinger liquid (LL), while valid in the thermodynamic limit, are significantly modified by finite size corrections. We obtain analytical expressions for these corrections and find that they decrease very slowly with increasing system size. The interpretation of numerical data on finite size lattices in terms of LL theory must therefore take these corrections into account. As an important example, we re-examine the proposed metallic phase of the zero-temperature, half-filled one-dimensional Holstein model without employing the LL relations. In particular, using quantum Monte Carlo calculations, we study the competition between the singlet pairing and charge ordering. Our results do not support the existence of a dominant singlet pairing state.Comment: 7 page

An extreme paucity of second population AGB stars in the normal globular cluster M4

Galactic Globular clusters (GCs) are now known to harbour multiple stellar populations, which are chemically distinct in many light element abundances. It is becoming increasingly clear that asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in GCs show different abundance distributions in light elements compared to those in the red giant branch (RGB) and other phases, skewing toward more primordial, field-star-like abundances, which we refer to as subpopulation one (SP1). As part of a larger program targeting giants in GCs, we obtained high-resolution spectra for a sample of 106 RGB and 15 AGB stars in Messier 4 (NGC 6121) using the 2dF+HERMES facility on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. In this Letter we report an extreme paucity of AGB stars with [Na/O] > -0.17 in M4, which contrasts with the RGB that has abundances up to [Na/O] =0.55. The AGB abundance distribution is consistent with all AGB stars being from SP1. This result appears to imply that all subpopulation two stars (SP2; Na-rich, O-poor) avoid the AGB phase. This is an unexpected result given M4's horizontal branch morphology -- it does not have an extended blue horizontal branch. This is the first abundance study to be performed utilising the HERMES spectrograph.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables (full Table 1 online). Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter