473 research outputs found
Early Days on Point Pearce
Anyway, I was born in Wallaroo in 1934. Those years, on Point Pearce, for some reason they didn\u27t take the women into Maitland Hospital to have their baby. They had to go to Wallaroo, being a government hospital, I suppose. I was born there in 1934 and brought up on Point Pearce. I remember going to school at Point Pearce. You had to do lower one, I think that started at age five, and then grade one. I was pretty bright, too. They used to bring the bigger kids into my class and give me sums. I\u27d add up sums for the bigger girls, who were a grade above me, or two grades. I used to work them out real quick though. They couldn\u27t get over it
Sparsity driven ultrasound imaging
An image formation framework for ultrasound imaging from synthetic transducer arrays based on sparsity-driven regularization functionals using single-frequency Fourier domain data is proposed. The framework involves the use of a physics-based forward model of the ultrasound observation process, the formulation of image formation as the solution of an associated optimization problem, and the solution of that problem through efficient numerical algorithms. The sparsity-driven, model-based approach estimates a complex-valued reflectivity field and preserves physical features in the scene while suppressing spurious artifacts. It also provides robust reconstructions in the case of sparse and reduced observation apertures. The effectiveness of the proposed imaging strategy is demonstrated using experimental data
The springtime influence of natural tropical Pacific variability on the surface climate of the Ross Ice Shelf, West Antarctica: implications for ice shelf thinning
Observational records starting in the 1950s show West Antarctica is amongst the most rapidly warming regions on the planet. Together with increased intrusions of warm circumpolar deep water (CDW) onto the continental shelf due to local wind forcing (the primary mechanism in recent decades), this has resulted in enhanced surface and basal melting of floating ice shelves and an associated acceleration and thinning of West Antarctic outlet glaciers, increasing the rate of global sea level rise. In this study, it is shown that during the austral spring season, significant surface warming across West Antarctica has shifted westward to the Ross Ice Shelf in recent decades in response to enhanced cyclonic circulation over the Ross Sea. These circulation changes are caused by a Rossby wave train forced by increasing sea surface temperatures in the western tropical Pacific, which is tied to the springtime shift of the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) to its negative phase after 1992. While the local wind trends enhance warm air advection and surface warming across the Ross Ice Shelf, the strong easterly component of the wind trends reduces the likelihood for intrusions of CDW onto the continental shelf in this region. This suggests that during spring there are competing mechanisms of surface and basal melting of the Ross Ice Shelf, both of which are closely tied to natural tropical Pacific decadal variability. Moreover, that the projected transition of the IPO back to its positive phase in the coming decade, though likely to reduce surface warming on the Ross Ice Shelf, could increase the risk of disintegration of Ross Sea ice shelves due to increased intrusions of CDW and enhanced basal melting
Penile and scrotal strangulation caused by a steel ring: a case report
Application of constricting devices on the external male genitalia for increasing sexual performance is an unusual practice that can potentially lead to penile strangulation with severe consequences. In this case report we describe a case of a 48 year old male who presented in our hospital with a steel ring on his external genitalia which led to penile strangulation and a short review of the literature. The foreign body was successfully removed by an angle grinder which was not immediately available in the operating theatre. The patient had an uneventful recovery
Preliminary Feeding Assessments for Asiatic Garden Beetle, Maladera formosae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), Grubs and Adults
The Asiatic garden beetle, Maladera formosae (Brenske) (syn. M. castanea [Arrow]), is an annual white grub species that was unintentionally introduced from east Asia to North America in 1921 in New Jersey, and has since spread to at least 25 states and two Canadian provinces. Grub populations in the Great Lakes region have recently emerged as significant early-season pests of field crops, particularly field corn, grown in sandy soils. Asiatic garden beetle has also recently become established in other regions including Alabama. Prior research on this species was conducted mainly in the 1930s in horticultural and turfgrass systems of New York and New Jersey. In this study, we document Asiatic garden beetle preference and performance on previously un-investigated food resources, in populations from Ohio and Alabama. The objectives of these experiments were to a) understand if grubs show preference to potential diet choices present in a typical Ohio corn-soybean rotation, and gained mass when provided a single diet, and b) to conduct a preliminary assessment on the development, survival, and fecundity of field-collected beetles on different diets present in suburban Alabama. In general, grubs were more likely to be found at corn and marestail and they significantly increased in body mass when subjected to those diets. However, they were also able to survive and gain mass when provided soybean, crop residues or bare soil. Adults consumed more rose flower petals than floral tissue of white clover and Queen Anne’s lace. In no-choice trials, only females that were fed a diet of rose petals laid eggs, and diet consumption rates were similar among males and females. These findings provide insight into the feeding behaviors of Asiatic garden beetle grubs and adults collected from novel environments
Solar Neutron Events of October-November 2003
During the period when the Sun was intensely active on October-November 2003,
two remarkable solar neutron events were observed by the ground-based neutron
monitors. On October 28, 2003, in association with an X17.2 large flare, solar
neutrons were detected with high statistical significance (6.4 sigma) by the
neutron monitor at Tsumeb, Namibia. On November 4, 2003, in association with an
X28 class flare, relativistic solar neutrons were observed by the neutron
monitors at Haleakala in Hawaii and Mexico City, and by the solar neutron
telescope at Mauna Kea in Hawaii simultaneously. Clear excesses were observed
at the same time by these detectors, with the significance calculated as 7.5
sigma for Haleakala, and 5.2 sigma for Mexico City. The detector onboard the
INTEGRAL satellite observed a high flux of hard X-rays and gamma-rays at the
same time in these events. By using the time profiles of the gamma-ray lines,
we can explain the time profile of the neutron monitor. It appears that
neutrons were produced at the same time as the gamma-ray emission.Comment: 35 pages, 21 figures, accepted for publication in Ap
Superconducting Transition Temperature in Heterogeneous Ferromagnet-Superconductor Systems
We study the shift of the the superconducting transition temperature in
ferromagnetic-superconducting bi-layers and in a superconducting film supplied
a square array of ferromagnetic dots. We find that the transition temperature
in these two cases change presumably in opposite direction and that its change
is not too small. We extend these results to multilayer structures. We predict
that rather small external magnetic field Oe can change the
transition temperature of the bilayer by 10% .Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
Temperature dependence and mechanisms for vortex pinning by periodic arrays of Ni dots in Nb films
Pinning interactions between superconducting vortices in Nb and magnetic Ni
dots were studied as a function of current and temperature to clarify the
nature of pinning mechanisms. A strong current dependence is found for a square
array of dots, with a temperature dependent optimum current for the observation
of periodic pinning, that decreases with temperature as (1-T/Tc)3/2. This same
temperature dependence is found for the critical current at the first matching
field with a rectangular array of dots. The analysis of these results allows to
narrow the possible pinning mechanisms to a combination of two: the interaction
between the vortex and the magnetic moment of the dot and the proximity effect.
Moreover, for the rectangular dot array, the temperature dependence of the
crossover between the low field regime with a rectangular vortex lattice to the
high field regime with a square configuration has been studied. It is found
that the crossover field increases with decreasing temperature. This dependence
indicates a change in the balance between elastic and pinning energies,
associated with dynamical effects of the vortex lattice in the high field
range.Comment: 12 text pages (revtex), 6 figures (1st jpeg, 2nd-6th postscript)
accepted in Physical Review
Absolute polarization angle calibration using polarized diffuse Galactic emission observed by BICEP
We present a method of cross-calibrating the polarization angle of a
polarimeter using BICEP Galactic observations. \bicep\ was a ground based
experiment using an array of 49 pairs of polarization sensitive bolometers
observing from the geographic South Pole at 100 and 150 GHz. The BICEP
polarimeter is calibrated to +/-0.01 in cross-polarization and less than +/-0.7
degrees in absolute polarization orientation. BICEP observed the temperature
and polarization of the Galactic plane (R.A= 100 degrees ~ 270 degrees and Dec.
= -67 degrees ~ -48 degrees). We show that the statistical error in the 100 GHz
BICEP Galaxy map can constrain the polarization angle offset of WMAP Wband to
0.6 degrees +\- 1.4 degrees. The expected 1 sigma errors on the polarization
angle cross-calibration for Planck or EPIC are 1.3 degrees and 0.3 degrees at
100 and 150 GHz, respectively. We also discuss the expected improvement of the
BICEP Galactic field observations with forthcoming BICEP2 and Keck
observations.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures and 2 tables. To appear in Proceedings of SPIE
Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation 201
History effects and pinning regimes in solid vortex matter
We propose a phenomenological model that accounts for the history effects
observed in ac susceptibility measurements in YBa2Cu3O7 single crystals [Phys.
Rev. Lett. 84, 4200 (2000) and Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 504 (2001)]. Central to the
model is the assumption that the penetrating ac magnetic field modifies the
vortex lattice mobility, trapping different robust dynamical states in
different regions of the sample. We discuss in detail on the response of the
superconductor to an ac magnetic field when the vortex lattice mobility is not
uniform inside the sample. We begin with an analytical description for a simple
geometry (slab) and then we perform numerical calculations for a strip in a
transverse magnetic field which include relaxation effects. In calculations,
the vortex system is assumed to coexist in different pinning regimes. The
vortex behavior in the regions where the induced current density j has been
always below a given threshold (j_c^>) is described by an elastic Campbell-like
regime (or a critical state regime with local high critical current density,
j_c^>). When the VS is shaken by symmetrical (e.g. sinusoidal) ac fields, the
critical current density is modified to j_c^) at
regions where vortices have been forced to oscillate by a current density
larger than j_c^>. Experimentally, an initial state with high critical current
density (j_c^>) can be obtained by zero field cooling, field cooling (with no
applied ac field) or by shaking the vortex lattice with an asymmetrical (e.g.
sawtooth) field. We compare our calculations with experimental ac
susceptibility results in YBa2Cu3O7 single crystals.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures. To be published in PR
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