1,264 research outputs found
The role of the real-time simulation facility, SIMFAC, in the design, development and performance verification of the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) with man-in-the-loop
The SIMFAC has played a vital role in the design, development, and performance verification of the shuttle remote manipulator system (SRMS) to be installed in the space shuttle orbiter. The facility provides for realistic man-in-the-loop operation of the SRMS by an operator in the operator complex, a flightlike crew station patterned after the orbiter aft flight deck with all necessary man machine interface elements, including SRMS displays and controls and simulated out-of-the-window and CCTV scenes. The characteristics of the manipulator system, including arm and joint servo dynamics and control algorithms, are simulated by a comprehensive mathematical model within the simulation subsystem of the facility. Major studies carried out using SIMFAC include: SRMS parameter sensitivity evaluations; the development, evaluation, and verification of operating procedures; and malfunction simulation and analysis of malfunction performance. Among the most important and comprehensive man-in-the-loop simulations carried out to date on SIMFAC are those which support SRMS performance verification and certification when the SRMS is part of the integrated orbiter-manipulator system
Observations on Cross-Border Insolvencies and Their Resolution in the NAFTA Region: Where Are We Now
Superaging correlation function and ergodicity breaking for Brownian motion in logarithmic potentials
We consider an overdamped Brownian particle moving in a confining
asymptotically logarithmic potential, which supports a normalized Boltzmann
equilibrium density. We derive analytical expressions for the two-time
correlation function and the fluctuations of the time-averaged position of the
particle for large but finite times. We characterize the occurrence of aging
and nonergodic behavior as a function of the depth of the potential, and
support our predictions with extensive Langevin simulations. While the
Boltzmann measure is used to obtain stationary correlation functions, we show
how the non-normalizable infinite covariant density is related to the
super-aging behavior.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figure
Spatially fractional-order viscoelasticity, non-locality and a new kind of anisotropy
Spatial non-locality of space-fractional viscoelastic equations of motion is
studied. Relaxation effects are accounted for by replacing second-order time
derivatives by lower-order fractional derivatives and their generalizations. It
is shown that space-fractional equations of motion of an order strictly less
than 2 allow for a new kind anisotropy, associated with angular dependence of
non-local interactions between stress and strain at different material points.
Constitutive equations of such viscoelastic media are determined. Explicit
fundamental solutions of the Cauchy problem are constructed for some cases
isotropic and anisotropic non-locality
Restructuring Strategies for Mexican Eurobond Debt
Unless the international capital markets become widely receptive to refinancing Mexican Eurobonds, by early to mid 1996, the holders of these Eurobonds - Mexico\u27s new bondholder constituency - may find themselves at the center of a restructuring process encompassing a significant portion of the $13 billion of Eurobond debt outstanding. This article discusses strategies for restructuring
Fractional diffusion modeling of ion channel gating
An anomalous diffusion model for ion channel gating is put forward. This
scheme is able to describe non-exponential, power-law like distributions of
residence time intervals in several types of ion channels. Our method presents
a generalization of the discrete diffusion model by Millhauser, Salpeter and
Oswald [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85, 1503 (1988)] to the case of a
continuous, anomalous slow conformational diffusion. The corresponding
generalization is derived from a continuous time random walk composed of
nearest neighbor jumps which in the scaling limit results in a fractional
diffusion equation. The studied model contains three parameters only: the mean
residence time, a characteristic time of conformational diffusion, and the
index of subdiffusion. A tractable analytical expression for the characteristic
function of the residence time distribution is obtained. In the limiting case
of normal diffusion, our prior findings [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99, 3552
(2002)] are reproduced. Depending on the chosen parameters, the fractional
diffusion model exhibits a very rich behavior of the residence time
distribution with different characteristic time-regimes. Moreover, the
corresponding autocorrelation function of conductance fluctuations displays
nontrivial features. Our theoretical model is in good agreement with
experimental data for large conductance potassium ion channels
Direct current (DC) resistivity and Induced Polarization (IP) monitoring of active layer dynamics at high temporal resolution
With permafrost thawing and changes in active layer dynamics induced by climate change, interactions between biogeochemical and thermal processes in the ground are of great importance. Here, active layer dynamics have been monitored using direct current (DC) resistivity and induced polarization (IP) measurements at high temporal resolution and at a relatively large scale at a heath tundra site on Disko Island on the west coast of Greenland (69 degrees N). At the field site, the active layer is disconnected from the deeper permafrost, due to isothermal springs in the region. Borehole sediment characteristics and subsurface temperatures supplemented the DC-IF measurements. A time-lapse DC-IP monitoring system has been acquiring at least six datasets per day on a 42-electrode profile with 0.5 m electrode spacing since July 2013. Remote control of the data acquisition system enables interactive adaptation of the measurement schedule, which is critically important to acquire data in the winter months, where extremely high contact resistances increase the demands on the resistivity meter. Data acquired during the freezing period of October 2013 to February 2014 clearly image the soil freezing as a strong increase in resistivity. While the freezing horizon generally moves deeper with time, some variations in the freezing depth are observed along the profile. Comparison with depth-specific soil temperature indicates an exponential relationship between resistivity and below-freezing temperature. Time-lapse inversions of the full-decay IF data indicate a decrease of normalized chargeability with freezing of the ground, which is the result of a decrease in the total unfrozen water and of the higher ion concentration in the pore-water. We conclude that DC-IP time-lapse measurements can non-intrusively and reliably image freezing patterns and their lateral variation on a 10-100 m scale that is difficult to sample by point measurements. In combination with laboratory experiments, the different patterns in resistivity and chargeability changes will enable the disentanglement of processes (e.g., fluid migration and freezing, advective and diffusive heat transport) occurring during freezing of the ground. The technology can be expanded to three dimensions and also to larger scale
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