Psychrometric chart for physiological research

Chart facilitates use of graphical techniques for solving problems involving thermodynamic properties of moist air. The properties are presented, and their units of measurement are listed. Chart presenting conditions at standard atmosphere pressure at sea level is most useful

A single-layer tuneable microwave absorber using an active FSS

An experimental single-layer active microwave absorber in described. The absorber is a planar structure based upon the topology of a Salisbury screen, but in which the conventional resistive layer is replaced by an active frequency selective surface (FSS) controlled by pin diodes. The resulting structure has superior reflectivity-bandwidth characteristics compared to conventional passive absorbers of corresponding thickness. Measured data are presented and show that the reflectivity response of the absorber can be controlled over the frequency band from 9 to 13 GHz

A smart radar absorber based on the phase-switched screen

Although conventional (i.e., passive) radar absorbers are widely used for modifying the radar cross-section (RCS) of current military platforms, such absorbers may not have adequate performance to satisfy future requirements. Active absorbers, however, offer the potential to overcome the so-called Rozanov performance limit and to enable additional smart functionality such as monitoring damage, adaptive control of RCS or target appearance, identification-friend-or-foe, and absorb-while-scan. This paper outlines the concept and basic properties of a novel type of active radar absorber, the so-called phase-switched screen (PSS). The basic PSS topology is then modified so as to enable it to operate as a smart radar absorber when used together with an external sensor and feedback control loop. System implementation issues and the optimum choice of design parameters for a range of operational scenarios are discussed, and theoretical predictions are supported by measured performance data

The phase-switched screen

Conventional (passive) radar-absorbent materials operate either by phase cancellation or by absorbing incident electromagnetic energy and converting it into heat. This paper examines a new type of active "absorber," called the phase-switched screen (PSS). The PSS operates quite differently from passive absorbers in that it exhibits an apparently low value of reflectivity by redistributing the electromagnetic energy incident upon it over a bandwidth that is wide enough to ensure that little reflected energy falls within the pass-band of the receiver. The discussion considers the basic temporal and spectral properties of several PSS topologies, and includes measured data on both planar and cylindrical PSS structures

Influence of switching-waveform characteristics on the performance of a single-layer-phase switched screen

Conventional microwave-absorbing materials rely on the absorption and conversion into heat, of the electromagnetic energy incident upon them. In an alternative approach, the phase-switched screen (PSS) applies phase modulation to the reflected signal so that the energy is redistributed into sidebands with, ideally, none remaining at the original incident carrier frequency f/sub c/. Hence, by adjusting the frequency and shape of the waveform that controls the PSS reflection coefficient, these sidebands may be positioned outside the pass-band of a receiver tuned to f/sub c/. An investigation has been carried out to determine how the choice of control waveform and switching frequency influence the PSS performanc

Lattice calculation of non-Gaussianity from preheating

If light scalar fields are present at the end of inflation, their non-equilibrium dynamics such as parametric resonance or a phase transition can produce non-Gaussian density perturbations. We show how these perturbations can be calculated using non-linear lattice field theory simulations and the separate universe approximation. In the massless preheating model, we find that some parameter values are excluded while others lead to acceptable but observable levels of non-Gaussianity. This shows that preheating can be an important factor in assessing the viability of inflationary models.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; erratum adde

The effects of bed rest on crew performance during simulated shuttle reentry. Volume 1: Study overview and physiological results

A centrifuge study was carried out to measure physiological stress and control task performance during simulated space shuttle orbiter reentry. Jet pilots were tested with, and without, anti-g-suit protection. The pilots were exposed to simulated space shuttle reentry acceleration profiles before, and after, ten days of complete bed rest, which produced physiological deconditioning similar to that resulting from prolonged exposure to orbital zero g. Pilot performance in selected control tasks was determined during simulated reentry, and before and after each simulation. Physiological stress during reentry was determined by monitoring heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration rate. Study results indicate: (1) heart rate increased during the simulated reentry when no g protection was given, and remained at or below pre-bed rest values when g-suits were used; (2) pilots preferred the use of g-suits to muscular contraction for control of vision tunneling and grayout during reentry; (3) prolonged bed rest did not alter blood pressure or respiration rate during reentry, but the peak reentry acceleration level did; and (4) pilot performance was not affected by prolonged bed rest or simulated reentry

Pseudo-High-Order Symplectic Integrators

Symplectic N-body integrators are widely used to study problems in celestial mechanics. The most popular algorithms are of 2nd and 4th order, requiring 2 and 6 substeps per timestep, respectively. The number of substeps increases rapidly with order in timestep, rendering higher-order methods impractical. However, symplectic integrators are often applied to systems in which perturbations between bodies are a small factor of the force due to a dominant central mass. In this case, it is possible to create optimized symplectic algorithms that require fewer substeps per timestep. This is achieved by only considering error terms of order epsilon, and neglecting those of order epsilon^2, epsilon^3 etc. Here we devise symplectic algorithms with 4 and 6 substeps per step which effectively behave as 4th and 6th-order integrators when epsilon is small. These algorithms are more efficient than the usual 2nd and 4th-order methods when applied to planetary systems.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa

A liquid cooled garment temperature controller based on sweat rate

An automatic controller for liquid cooled space suits is reported that utilizes human sweat rate as the primary input signal. The controller is so designed that the coolant inlet temperature is inversely proportional to the subject's latent heat loss as evidenced by evaporative water loss