1,550 research outputs found
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Cassini RTG acceptance test results and RTG performance on Galileo and Ulysses
Flight acceptance testing has been completed for the RTGs to be used on the Cassini spacecraft which is scheduled for an October 6, 1997 launch to Saturn. The acceptance test program includes vibration tests, magnetic field measurements, properties (weight and c.g.) and thermal vacuum test. This paper presents The thermal vacuum test results. Three RTGs are to be used, F-2, F-6, and F-7. F-5 is tile back-up RTG, as it was for the Galileo and Ulysses missions launched in 1989 and 1990, respectively. RTG performance measured during the thermal vacuum tests carried out at die Mound Laboratory facility met all specification requirements. Beginning of mission (BOM) and end of mission (EOM) power predictions have been made based on than tests results. BOM power is predicted to be 888 watts compared to the minimum requirement of 826 watts. Degradation models predict the EOM power after 16 years is to be 640 watts compared to a minimum requirement of 596 watts. Results of small scale module tests are also showing. The modules contain couples from the qualification and flight production runs. The tests have exceeded 28,000 hours (3.2 years) and are continuing to provide increased confidence in the predicted long term performance of the Cassini RTGs. All test results indicate that the power requirements of the Cassini spacecraft will be met. BOM and EOM power margins of over five percent are predicted. Power output from telemetry for the two Galileo RTGs are shown from the 1989 launch to the recent Jupiter encounter. Comparisons of predicted, measured and required performance are shown. Telemetry data are also shown for the RTG on the Ulysses spacecraft which completed its planned mission in 1995 and is now in the extended mission
Calcineurin phosphatase activity in T lymphocytes is inhibited by FK 506 and cyclosporin A.
A Qualitative Study of an Integrated Maternity, Drugs and Social Care Service for Drug-using Women
Background: The care of drug-using pregnant women is a growing health and social care concern in many countries. A specialist clinic was established offering multidisciplinary care and advice to pregnant drug users in and around Aberdeen (UK) in 1997. The majority of women stabilise and reduce their drug use. By determining the needs and views of the women more appropriate
services and prevention strategies may be developed. There has been little research conducted in this area and none in Scotland.
Methods: This is a qualitative study that aimed to gain an understanding of the experiences of women drug users, seeking and receiving prenatal care and drug services from a specialist clinic. Twelve women participated in semi-structured one-to-one interviews.
Results: The women preferred the multidisciplinary clinic (one-stop shop) to traditional prenatal care centred within General Practice. The relationships of the clients to the range of Clinic professionals and in hospital were explored as well as attitudes to Clinic care. The study
participants attributed success in reducing their drug use to the combination of different aspects of care of the multi-agency clinic, especially the high level prenatal support. It is this arrangement of all aspects of care together that seem to produce better outcomes for mother and child than single care elements delivered separately. Some women reported that their pregnancy encouraged them
to rapidly detoxify due to the guilt experienced. The most important aspects of the Clinic care were found to be non-judgemental attitude of staff, consistent staff, high level of support, reliable information and multi-agency integrated care.
Conclusion: There is an impetus for women drug users to change lifestyle during pregnancy. The study highlighted a need for women to have access to reliable information on the effects of drugs on the baby.
Further research is required to determine whether positive outcomes related to clinic attendance in the prenatal period are sustained in the postnatal period. Early referral to a specialist clinic is of benefit to the women, as they reported to receive more appropriate care, especially in relation to their drug use. A greater awareness of needs of the pregnant drug user could help the design of more effective prevention strategies
Bringing Order to Special Cases of Klee's Measure Problem
Klee's Measure Problem (KMP) asks for the volume of the union of n
axis-aligned boxes in d-space. Omitting logarithmic factors, the best algorithm
has runtime O*(n^{d/2}) [Overmars,Yap'91]. There are faster algorithms known
for several special cases: Cube-KMP (where all boxes are cubes), Unitcube-KMP
(where all boxes are cubes of equal side length), Hypervolume (where all boxes
share a vertex), and k-Grounded (where the projection onto the first k
dimensions is a Hypervolume instance).
In this paper we bring some order to these special cases by providing
reductions among them. In addition to the trivial inclusions, we establish
Hypervolume as the easiest of these special cases, and show that the runtimes
of Unitcube-KMP and Cube-KMP are polynomially related. More importantly, we
show that any algorithm for one of the special cases with runtime T(n,d)
implies an algorithm for the general case with runtime T(n,2d), yielding the
first non-trivial relation between KMP and its special cases. This allows to
transfer W[1]-hardness of KMP to all special cases, proving that no n^{o(d)}
algorithm exists for any of the special cases under reasonable complexity
theoretic assumptions. Furthermore, assuming that there is no improved
algorithm for the general case of KMP (no algorithm with runtime O(n^{d/2 -
eps})) this reduction shows that there is no algorithm with runtime
O(n^{floor(d/2)/2 - eps}) for any of the special cases. Under the same
assumption we show a tight lower bound for a recent algorithm for 2-Grounded
[Yildiz,Suri'12].Comment: 17 page
Energy levels in polarization superlattices: a comparison of continuum strain models
A theoretical model for the energy levels in polarization superlattices is
presented. The model includes the effect of strain on the local
polarization-induced electric fields and the subsequent effect on the energy
levels. Two continuum strain models are contrasted. One is the standard strain
model derived from Hooke's law that is typically used to calculate energy
levels in polarization superlattices and quantum wells. The other is a
fully-coupled strain model derived from the thermodynamic equation of state for
piezoelectric materials. The latter is more complete and applicable to strongly
piezoelectric materials where corrections to the standard model are
significant. The underlying theory has been applied to AlGaN/GaN superlattices
and quantum wells. It is found that the fully-coupled strain model yields very
different electric fields from the standard model. The calculated intersubband
transition energies are shifted by approximately 5 -- 19 meV, depending on the
structure. Thus from a device standpoint, the effect of applying the
fully-coupled model produces a very measurable shift in the peak wavelength.
This result has implications for the design of AlGaN/GaN optical switches.Comment: Revtex
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Pharmacological and Toxicological Properties of the Potent Oral γ-Secretase Modulator BPN-15606.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized neuropathologically by an abundance of 1) neuritic plaques, which are primarily composed of a fibrillar 42-amino-acid amyloid-β peptide (Aβ), as well as 2) neurofibrillary tangles composed of aggregates of hyperphosporylated tau. Elevations in the concentrations of the Aβ42 peptide in the brain, as a result of either increased production or decreased clearance, are postulated to initiate and drive the AD pathologic process. We initially introduced a novel class of bridged aromatics referred tγ-secretase modulatoro as γ-secretase modulators that inhibited the production of the Aβ42 peptide and to a lesser degree the Aβ40 peptide while concomitantly increasing the production of the carboxyl-truncated Aβ38 and Aβ37 peptides. These modulators potently lower Aβ42 levels without inhibiting the γ-secretase-mediated proteolysis of Notch or causing accumulation of carboxyl-terminal fragments of APP. In this study, we report a large number of pharmacological studies and early assessment of toxicology characterizing a highly potent γ-secretase modulator (GSM), (S)-N-(1-(4-fluorophenyl)ethyl)-6-(6-methoxy-5-(4-methyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)pyridin-2-yl)-4-methylpyridazin-3-amine (BPN-15606). BPN-15606 displayed the ability to significantly lower Aβ42 levels in the central nervous system of rats and mice at doses as low as 5-10 mg/kg, significantly reduce Aβ neuritic plaque load in an AD transgenic mouse model, and significantly reduce levels of insoluble Aβ42 and pThr181 tau in a three-dimensional human neural cell culture model. Results from repeat-dose toxicity studies in rats and dose escalation/repeat-dose toxicity studies in nonhuman primates have designated this GSM for 28-day Investigational New Drug-enabling good laboratory practice studies and positioned it as a candidate for human clinical trials
Front Propagation with Rejuvenation in Flipping Processes
We study a directed flipping process that underlies the performance of the
random edge simplex algorithm. In this stochastic process, which takes place on
a one-dimensional lattice whose sites may be either occupied or vacant,
occupied sites become vacant at a constant rate and simultaneously cause all
sites to the right to change their state. This random process exhibits rich
phenomenology. First, there is a front, defined by the position of the
left-most occupied site, that propagates at a nontrivial velocity. Second, the
front involves a depletion zone with an excess of vacant sites. The total
excess D_k increases logarithmically, D_k ~ ln k, with the distance k from the
front. Third, the front exhibits rejuvenation -- young fronts are vigorous but
old fronts are sluggish. We investigate these phenomena using a quasi-static
approximation, direct solutions of small systems, and numerical simulations.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 4 table
Magnetic Domains and Stripes in the Spin-Fermion Model for Cuprates
Monte Carlo simulations applied to the Spin-Fermion model for cuprates show
the existence of antiferromagnetic spin domains and charge stripes upon doping.
The stripes are partially filled, with a filling of approximately 1/2 hole per
site, and they separate spin domains with a phase shift among them. The
stripes observed run either along the x or y axes and they are separated by a
large energy barrier. No special boundary conditions or external fields are
needed to stabilize these structures at low temperatures. When magnetic
incommensurate peaks are observed at momentum and symmetrical
points, charge incommensurate peaks appear at and symmetrical
points, as experimentally observed. The strong charge fluctuations responsible
for the formation of the stripes also induce a pseudogap in the density of
states.Comment: Four pages with four figures embedded in tex
Effect of Non-Magnetic Impurities (Zn,Li) in a Hole Doped Spin-Fermion Model for Cuprates
The effect of adding non-magnetic impurities (NMI), such as Zn or Li, to
high-Tc cuprates is studied applying Monte Carlo techniques to a spin-fermion
model. It is observed that adding Li is qualitatively similar to doping with
equal percentages of Sr and Zn. The mobile holes (MH) are trapped by the NMI
and the system remains insulating and commensurate with antiferromagnetic (AF)
correlations. This behavior persists in the region %NMI > %MH. On the other
hand, when %NMI < %MH magnetic and charge incommensurabilities are observed.
The vertical or horizontal hole-rich stripes, present when % NMI=0 upon hole
doping, are pinned by the NMI and tend to become diagonal, surrounding finite
AF domains. The %MH-%NMI plane is investigated. Good agreement with
experimental results is found in the small portion of this diagram where
experimental data are available. Predictions about the expected behavior in the
remaining regions are made.Comment: Four pages with four figures embedded in tex
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