1,816 research outputs found
An intelligent, free-flying robot
The ground based demonstration of the extensive extravehicular activity (EVA) Retriever, a voice-supervised, intelligent, free flying robot, is designed to evaluate the capability to retrieve objects (astronauts, equipment, and tools) which have accidentally separated from the Space Station. The major objective of the EVA Retriever Project is to design, develop, and evaluate an integrated robotic hardware and on-board software system which autonomously: (1) performs system activation and check-out; (2) searches for and acquires the target; (3) plans and executes a rendezvous while continuously tracking the target; (4) avoids stationary and moving obstacles; (5) reaches for and grapples the target; (6) returns to transfer the object; and (7) returns to base
The role of upstream sequences in selecting the reading frame on tmRNA
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>tmRNA acts first as a tRNA and then as an mRNA to rescue stalled ribosomes in eubacteria. Two unanswered questions about tmRNA function remain: how does tmRNA, lacking an anticodon, bypass the decoding machinery and enter the ribosome? Secondly, how does the ribosome choose the proper codon to resume translation on tmRNA? According to the -1 triplet hypothesis, the answer to both questions lies in the unique properties of the three nucleotides upstream of the first tmRNA codon. These nucleotides assume an A-form conformation that mimics the codon-anticodon interaction, leading to recognition by the decoding center and choice of the reading frame. The -1 triplet hypothesis is important because it is the most credible model in which direct binding and recognition by the ribosome sets the reading frame on tmRNA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Conformational analysis predicts that 18 triplets cannot form the correct structure to function as the -1 triplet of tmRNA. We tested the tmRNA activity of all possible -1 triplet mutants using a genetic assay in <it>Escherichia coli</it>. While many mutants displayed reduced activity, our findings do not match the predictions of this model. Additional mutagenesis identified sequences further upstream that are required for tmRNA function. An immunoblot assay for translation of the tmRNA tag revealed that certain mutations in U85, A86, and the -1 triplet sequence result in improper selection of the first codon and translation in the wrong frame (-1 or +1) <it>in vivo</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings disprove the -1 triplet hypothesis. The -1 triplet is not required for accommodation of tmRNA into the ribosome, although it plays a minor role in frame selection. Our results strongly disfavor direct ribosomal recognition of the upstream sequence, instead supporting a model in which the binding of a separate ligand to A86 is primarily responsible for frame selection.</p
Characteristics of EGRET Blazars in the VLBA Imaging and Polarimetry Survey (VIPS)
We examine the radio properties of EGRET-detected blazars observed as part of
the VLBA Imaging and Polarimetry Survey (VIPS). VIPS has a flux limit roughly
an order of magnitude below the MOJAVE survey and most other samples that have
been used to study the properties of EGRET blazars. At lower flux levels, radio
flux density does not directly correlate with gamma-ray flux density. We do
find that the EGRET-detected blazars tend to have higher brightness
temperatures, greater core fractions, and possibly larger than average jet
opening angles. A weak correlation is also found with jet length and with
polarization. All of the well-established trends can be explained by
systematically larger Doppler factors in the gamma-ray loud blazars, consistent
with the measurements of higher apparent velocities found in monitoring
programs carried out at radio frequencies above 10 GHz.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, accepted to Ap
An intelligent assistant for exploratory data analysis
In this paper we present an account of the main features of SNOUT, an intelligent assistant for exploratory data analysis (EDA) of social science survey data that incorporates a range of data mining techniques. EDA has much in common with existing data mining techniques: its main objective is to help an investigator reach an understanding of the important relationships ina data set rather than simply develop predictive models for selectd variables. Brief descriptions of a number of novel techniques developed for use in SNOUT are presented. These include heuristic variable level inference and classification, automatic category formation, the use of similarity trees to identify groups of related variables, interactive decision tree construction and model selection using a genetic algorithm
Place matters: but does local leadership?
The arrival of New Labour into Government witnessed the prominent re-emergence of place onto the policy agenda. This heralded a range of area-based-initiatives designed to both tackle neighbourhood forms of deprivation and to re-establish a sense of identity and connection between individuals and their local community. In terms of place-making, effective and inclusive participation, representation and leadership were all identified as prerequisites for the creation of sustainable communities . But how important is local leadership and strategic vision within local public service organisations in achieving the desired place-making outcomes? This paper examines the extent to which local leadership and strategic vision represents a significant factor in promoting higher levels of satisfaction, belonging, cohesion and participation across single tier councils in England. The ensuing empirical evidence raises significant questions not only about the importance of local leadership in place-making, but also the environmental and organizational factors that shape local places
15 GHz Monitoring of Gamma-ray Blazars with the OVRO 40 Meter Telescope in Support of Fermi
We present results from the first two years of our fast-cadence 15 GHz
gamma-ray blazar monitoring program, part of the F-GAMMA radio monitoring
project. Our sample includes the 1158 blazars north of -20 degrees declination
from the Candidate Gamma-Ray Blazar Survey (CGRaBS), which encompasses a
significant fraction of the extragalactic sources detected by the Fermi
Gamma-ray Space Telescope. We introduce a novel likelihood analysis for
computing a time series variability amplitude statistic that separates
intrinsic variability from measurement noise and produces a quantitative error
estimate. We use this method to characterize our radio light curves. We also
present results indicating a statistically significant correlation between
simultaneous average 15 GHz radio flux density and gamma-ray photon flux.Comment: 5 pages, 7 figures; 2009 Fermi Symposium; eConf Proceedings C09112
Quantized Scaling of Growing Surfaces
The Kardar-Parisi-Zhang universality class of stochastic surface growth is
studied by exact field-theoretic methods. From previous numerical results, a
few qualitative assumptions are inferred. In particular, height correlations
should satisfy an operator product expansion and, unlike the correlations in a
turbulent fluid, exhibit no multiscaling. These properties impose a
quantization condition on the roughness exponent and the dynamic
exponent . Hence the exact values for two-dimensional
and for three-dimensional surfaces are derived.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, no figure
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Complete Bouguer gravity map of the Nevada Test Site and vicinity, Nevada
About 15,000 gravity stations were used to create the gravity map. Gravity studies at the Nevada Test Site were undertaken to help locate geologically favorable areas for underground nuclear tests and to help characterize potential high-level nuclear waste storage sites. 48 refs. (TEM
In defense of the epistemic view of quantum states: a toy theory
We present a toy theory that is based on a simple principle: the number of
questions about the physical state of a system that are answered must always be
equal to the number that are unanswered in a state of maximal knowledge. A wide
variety of quantum phenomena are found to have analogues within this toy
theory. Such phenomena include: the noncommutativity of measurements,
interference, the multiplicity of convex decompositions of a mixed state, the
impossibility of discriminating nonorthogonal states, the impossibility of a
universal state inverter, the distinction between bi-partite and tri-partite
entanglement, the monogamy of pure entanglement, no cloning, no broadcasting,
remote steering, teleportation, dense coding, mutually unbiased bases, and many
others. The diversity and quality of these analogies is taken as evidence for
the view that quantum states are states of incomplete knowledge rather than
states of reality. A consideration of the phenomena that the toy theory fails
to reproduce, notably, violations of Bell inequalities and the existence of a
Kochen-Specker theorem, provides clues for how to proceed with this research
program.Comment: 32 pages, REVTEX, based on a talk given at the Rob Clifton Memorial
Conference, College Park, May 2003; v2: minor modifications throughout,
updated reference
From social contract to 'social contrick' : the depoliticisation of economic policy-making under Harold Wilson, 1974â75
The 1974-79 Labour Governments were elected on the basis of an agreement with the TUC promising a redistribution of income and wealth known as the Social Contract. However, the Government immediately began to marginalise these commitments in favour of preferences for incomes policy and public expenditure cuts, which has led the Social Contract to be described as the 'Social Contrick'. These changes were legitimised through a process of depoliticisation, and using an Open Marxist framework and evidence from the National Archives, the paper will show that the Treasury's exchange rate strategy and the need to secure external finance placed issues of confidence at the centre of political debate, allowing the Government to argue there was no alternative to the introduction of incomes policy and the reduction of public expenditure
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