Prevalence of Falls and Fall‐Related Outcomes in Older Adults with Self‐Reported Vision Impairment

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147783/1/jgs15628_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147783/2/jgs15628.pd

Influence of local surface albedo variability and ice crystal shape on passive remote sensing of thin cirrus

Airborne measurements of solar spectral radiance reflected by cirrus are performed with the HALO-Solar Radiation (HALO-SR) instrument onboard the High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO) in November 2010. The data are used to quantify the influence of surface albedo variability on the retrieval of cirrus optical thickness and crystal effective radius. The applied retrieval of cirrus optical properties is based on a standard two-wavelength approach utilizing measured and simulated reflected radiance in the visible and near-infrared spectral region. Frequency distributions of the surface albedos from Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite observations are used to compile surface-albedo-dependent lookup tables of reflected radiance. For each assumed surface albedo the cirrus optical thickness and effective crystal radius are retrieved as a function of the assumed surface albedo. The results for the cirrus optical thickness are compared to measurements from the High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL). The uncertainty in cirrus optical thickness due to local variability of surface albedo in the specific case study investigated here is below 0.1 and thus less than that caused by the measurement uncertainty of both instruments. It is concluded that for the retrieval of cirrus optical thickness the surface albedo variability is negligible. However, for the retrieval of crystal effective radius, the surface albedo variability is of major importance, introducing uncertainties up to 50%. Furthermore, the influence of the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) on the retrieval of crystal effective radius was investigated and quantified with uncertainties below 10%, which ranges below the uncertainty caused by the surface albedo variability. The comparison with the independent lidar data allowed for investigation of the role of the crystal shape in the retrieval. It is found that if assuming aggregate ice crystals, the HSRL observations fit best with the retrieved optical thickness from HALO-SR

Characterization of Rotating Cavitation in a Four Bladed Inducer

This work aims to characterize the dynamic behavior of a four bladed inducer and clarify the physical mechanism that leads to the onset of rotating cavitation. The inducer under consideration is representative of a low-pressure liquid oxygen pump (LPOP) inducer of modern design and incorporates several standard design features used in rocket turbopumps to suppress rotating cavitation. The mechanism is characterized based on a combination of two-phase numerical simulations and inducer experiments. Experimental measurements demonstrate a supersynchronous rotating cavity in the periphery of the inducer inlet at frequencies between 1.2 and 1.6 times rotor frequency and a synchronous 2nd spatial harmonic pattern associated with alternate blade cavitation. The analysis indicates a causal link between alternate blade cavitation and rotating cavitation, with a distinct cut-on cut-off behavior. Numerical calculations and high-speed videos elucidate the mechanism of breakdown of alternate blade cavitation and the formation of rotating cavitation. The present work suggests that rotating cavitation is caused by the coupling of the cavities on adjacent blades during alternate blade cavitation. Due to the nearly tangential flow, the vortex lines from one of the non-cavitating blades wrap around the blade leading edge of the adjacent blade, which yields a drop in static pressure and cavity formation. The tip vortex cavity interaction with the leading edge of the blade leads to sheet cavity breakdown with periodic growth and collapse of cavities, creating the apparent super-synchronous rotation of the cavitating region.United States. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

What is in a pebble shape?

We propose to characterize the shapes of flat pebbles in terms of the statistical distribution of curvatures measured along the pebble contour. This is demonstrated for the erosion of clay pebbles in a controlled laboratory apparatus. Photographs at various stages of erosion are analyzed, and compared with two models. We find that the curvature distribution complements the usual measurement of aspect ratio, and connects naturally to erosion processes that are typically faster at protruding regions of high curvature.Comment: Phys. Rev. Lett. (to appear

Random Walks for Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity

Random walk methods are used to calculate the moments of negative image equilibrium distributions in synaptic weight dynamics governed by spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP). The neural architecture of the model is based on the electrosensory lateral line lobe (ELL) of mormyrid electric fish, which forms a negative image of the reafferent signal from the fish's own electric discharge to optimize detection of sensory electric fields. Of particular behavioral importance to the fish is the variance of the equilibrium postsynaptic potential in the presence of noise, which is determined by the variance of the equilibrium weight distribution. Recurrence relations are derived for the moments of the equilibrium weight distribution, for arbitrary postsynaptic potential functions and arbitrary learning rules. For the case of homogeneous network parameters, explicit closed form solutions are developed for the covariances of the synaptic weight and postsynaptic potential distributions.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures, 15 subfigures; uses revtex4, subfigure, amsmat

The shape and erosion of pebbles

The shapes of flat pebbles may be characterized in terms of the statistical distribution of curvatures measured along their contours. We illustrate this new method for clay pebbles eroded in a controlled laboratory apparatus, and also for naturally-occurring rip-up clasts formed and eroded in the Mont St.-Michel bay. We find that the curvature distribution allows finer discrimination than traditional measures of aspect ratios. Furthermore, it connects to the microscopic action of erosion processes that are typically faster at protruding regions of high curvature. We discuss in detail how the curvature may be reliable deduced from digital photographs.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure