6,207 research outputs found
Tables of two-sided tolerance factors for normal distributions
Tables of two-sided tolerance factors for normal distribution
Advanced subsonic transport propulsion
A brief review of the current NASA Energy Efficient Engine (E(3)) Project is presented. Included in this review are the factors that influenced the design of these turbofan engines and the advanced technology incorporated in them to reduce fuel consumption and improve environmental characteristics. In addition, factors such as the continuing spiral in fuel cost, that could influence future aircraft propulsion systems beyond those represented by the E(3) engines, are also discussed. Advanced technologies that will address these influencing factors and provide viable future propulsion systems are described. The potential importance of other propulsion system types, such as geared fans and turboshaft engines, is presented
Food for thought: supplementary feeding as a driver of ecological change in avian populations
Constraints on the Intergalactic Transport of Cosmic Rays
Motivated by recent experimental proposals to search for extragalactic cosmic
rays (including anti-matter from distant galaxies), we study particle
propagation through the intergalactic medium (IGM). We first use estimates of
the magnetic field strength between galaxies to constrain the mean free path
for diffusion of particles through the IGM. We then develop a simple analytic
model to describe the diffusion of cosmic rays. Given the current age of
galaxies, our results indicate that, in reasonable models, a completely
negligible number of particles can enter our Galaxy from distances greater than
Mpc for relatively low energies ( GeV/n). We also find
that particle destruction in galaxies along the diffusion path produces an
exponential suppression of the possible flux of extragalactic cosmic rays.
Finally, we use gamma ray constraints to argue that the distance to any
hypothetical domains of anti-matter must be roughly comparable to the horizon
scale.Comment: 24 pages, AAS LaTex, 1 figure, accepted to Ap
Estimating the incidence, prevalence and true cost of asthma in the UK: secondary analysis of national stand-alone and linked databases in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales-a study protocol.
INTRODUCTION: Asthma is now one of the most common long-term conditions in the UK. It is therefore important to develop a comprehensive appreciation of the healthcare and societal costs in order to inform decisions on care provision and planning. We plan to build on our earlier estimates of national prevalence and costs from asthma by filling the data gaps previously identified in relation to healthcare and broadening the field of enquiry to include societal costs. This work will provide the first UK-wide estimates of the costs of asthma. In the context of asthma for the UK and its member countries (ie, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales), we seek to: (1) produce a detailed overview of estimates of incidence, prevalence and healthcare utilisation; (2) estimate health and societal costs; (3) identify any remaining information gaps and explore the feasibility of filling these and (4) provide insights into future research that has the potential to inform changes in policy leading to the provision of more cost-effective care.
METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Secondary analyses of data from national health surveys, primary care, prescribing, emergency care, hospital, mortality and administrative data sources will be undertaken to estimate prevalence, healthcare utilisation and outcomes from asthma. Data linkages and economic modelling will be undertaken in an attempt to populate data gaps and estimate costs. Separate prevalence and cost estimates will be calculated for each of the UK-member countries and these will then be aggregated to generate UK-wide estimates.
ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Approvals have been obtained from the NHS Scotland Information Services Division's Privacy Advisory Committee, the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage Collaboration Review System, the NHS South-East Scotland Research Ethics Service and The University of Edinburgh's Centre for Population Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee. We will produce a report for Asthma-UK, submit papers to peer-reviewed journals and construct an interactive map
Effects of forest management on ground beetle diversity in alpine beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) stands
European beech forests are of particular importance for biodiversity, although relatively little is known about how beech forest management impacts on invertebrate communities. In this paper we investigated the influence of beech forest management history [i.e. over-mature coppices (OC) and coppices in conversion to high forests (CCHF)], climatic, topographic and microhabitat characteristics on ground beetle diversity (measured as total relative abundance, species richness, Shannon diversity and abundance of the endangered endemic species Carabus olympiae) in northern Italy. The diversity of forest specialist carabids was higher in OC and in forest stands characterized by a higher mean temperature and lower relative humidity. Moreover, we detected a positive response of several diversity variables to coarse wood debris cover or volume, herb cover, and the standard deviation of tree diameter. Currently, OC seems to be a more favorable habitat for forest carabids, including C. olympiae, although succession over time can lead to a progressive homogenization of the vegetation structure, with negative consequences for the conservation of the forest carabid assemblage.Based on our results, we suggest that the traditional management of beech coppice and its conversion to high forest be modified by including practices aimed at promoting structural and microhabitat diversity such as retention of large trees, creation of canopy gaps, retention of coarse wood debris and the preservation of 'islands' of older trees in the managed stands
Communications Biophysics
Contains reports on four research projects.National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 P01 GM-14940-02)Joint Services Electronics Programs (U. S. Army, U. S. Navy, and U. S. Air Force) under Contract DA 28-043-AMC-02536(E)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 TO1 GM-01555-02
HLA class-I-transgenic mice as model system to study MHC-restricted antigen recognition in man
Extreme Variability in a Broad Absorption Line Quasar
CRTS J084133.15+200525.8 is an optically bright quasar at z=2.345 that has
shown extreme spectral variability over the past decade. Photometrically, the
source had a visual magnitude of V~17.3 between 2002 and 2008. Then, over the
following five years, the source slowly brightened by approximately one
magnitude, to V~16.2. Only ~1 in 10,000 quasars show such extreme variability,
as quantified by the extreme parameters derived for this quasar assuming a
damped random walk model. A combination of archival and newly acquired spectra
reveal the source to be an iron low-ionization broad absorption line (FeLoBAL)
quasar with extreme changes in its absorption spectrum. Some absorption
features completely disappear over the 9 years of optical spectra, while other
features remain essentially unchanged. We report the first definitive redshift
for this source, based on the detection of broad H-alpha in a Keck/MOSFIRE
spectrum. Absorption systems separated by several 1000 km/s in velocity show
coordinated weakening in the depths of their troughs as the continuum flux
increases. We interpret the broad absorption line variability to be due to
changes in photoionization, rather than due to motion of material along our
line of sight. This source highlights one sort of rare transition object that
astronomy will now be finding through dedicated time-domain surveys.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures; accepted for publication in Ap
Interface optical phonons in spheroidal dots: Raman selection rules
The contribution of interface phonons to the first order Raman scattering in
nanocrystals with non spherical geometry is analyzed. Interface optical phonons
in the spheroidal geometry are discussed and the corresponding Frohlich-like
electron-phonon interaction is reported in the framework of the dielectric
continuum approach. It is shown that the interface phonon modes are strongly
dependent on the nanocrystal geometry, particularly on the ellipsoid's
semi-axis ratio. The new Raman selection rules have revealed that solely
interface phonon modes with even angular momentum are allowed to contribute to
the first order phonon-assisted scattering of light. On this basis we are able
to give an explanation for the observed low frequency shoulders present in the
Raman cross-section of several II-VI semiconductor nanostructures.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
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