Haptic perception of the Mueller-Lyer illusion by the blind

This study measured the extent to which the following four groups of Ss experienced the Mueller-L yer illusion: a group of ten congenital blind, ten Ss blinded in adulthood, ten sighted blindfolded Ss presented the illusion haptically, and ten sighted Ss presented the illusion visually. All of the groups experienced the illusion to a significant extent. The extent of illusion in the sighted haptic group was significantly less than that in each of the other groups, p \u3c . 025 in each case. None of the other pairs of means w ere significantly different. Thus the results show that the blind do experience the Mueller-Lyer illusion similarly to the sighted, but the extent of illusion is much less for the sighted blindfolded. A positional memory hypothesis was presented to account for these results. It proposes that the blind have learned to remember the haptic location of objects in their environment but that the sighted have not developed this skill to the same degree

JOVE NASA-FIT program: Microgravity and aeronomy projects

This semi-annual status report is divided into two sections: Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Lab and Aeronomy Lab. The Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) research involves studying solar cell materials using the STM built at Florida Tech using a portion of our initial Jove equipment funding. One result of the participation in the FSEC project will be to design and build an STM system which is portable. This could serve as a prototype STM system which might be used on the Space Shuttle during a Spacelab mission, or onboard the proposed Space Station. The scanning tunneling microscope is only able to image the surface structure of electrically conductive crystals; by building an atomic force microscope (AFM) the surface structure of any sample, regardless of its conductivity, will be able to be imaged. With regards to the Aeronomy Lab, a total of four different mesospheric oxygen emission codes were created to calculate the intensity along the line of sight of the shuttle observations for 2972A, Herzberg I, Herzberg II, and Chamberlain bands. The thermosphere-ionosphere coupling project was completed with two major accomplishments: collection of 500 data points on modulation of neutral wind with geophysical variables, and establishment of constraints on behavior of the height of the ionosphere as a result of interaction between geophysical and geometrical factors. The magnetotail plasma project has been centered around familiarization with the subject in the form of a literature search and preprocessing of IMP-8 data

Extension of the CJP model to mixed mode I and mode II

The present authors have previously proposed a novel ‘plastic inclusion’ approach for dealing withthe local plasticity which occurs at the tip of a growing fatigue crack. This meso-scale model provides amodified set of crack tip stress intensity factors that include the magnitude of plastic wake-induced crack tipshielding and which have the potential to help resolve some long-standing controversies associated withplasticity-induced closure. The present work extends the CJP model to deal with the case of mixed Mode I andMode II loading and thus opens up enhanced possibilities for testing it on inclined cracks in metallic specimens.This extension requires the addition of only one new force parameter to the model, i.e. an anti-symmetric shearforce on either side of the crack

Hypercube matrix computation task

A major objective of the Hypercube Matrix Computation effort at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is to investigate the applicability of a parallel computing architecture to the solution of large-scale electromagnetic scattering problems. Three scattering analysis codes are being implemented and assessed on a JPL/California Institute of Technology (Caltech) Mark 3 Hypercube. The codes, which utilize different underlying algorithms, give a means of evaluating the general applicability of this parallel architecture. The three analysis codes being implemented are a frequency domain method of moments code, a time domain finite difference code, and a frequency domain finite elements code. These analysis capabilities are being integrated into an electromagnetics interactive analysis workstation which can serve as a design tool for the construction of antennas and other radiating or scattering structures. The first two years of work on the Hypercube Matrix Computation effort is summarized. It includes both new developments and results as well as work previously reported in the Hypercube Matrix Computation Task: Final Report for 1986 to 1987 (JPL Publication 87-18)

Oral and intravenous bretylium disposition

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/109931/1/cptclpt1980190.pd

Exploring Halo Substructure with Giant Stars IV: The Extended Structure of the Ursa Minor Dwarf Spheroidal

We present a large area photometric survey of the Ursa Minor dSph. We identify UMi giant star candidates extending to ~3 deg from the center of the dSph. Comparison to previous catalogues of stars within the tidal radius of UMi suggests that our photometric luminosity classification is 100% accurate. Over a large fraction of the survey area, blue horizontal branch stars associated with UMi can also be identified. The spatial distribution of both the UMi giant stars and the BHB stars are remarkably similar, and a large fraction of both samples of stars are found outside the tidal radius of UMi. An isodensity contour map of the stars within the tidal radius of UMi reveals two morphological peculiarities: (1) The highest density of dSph stars is offset from the center of symmetry of the outer isodensity contours. (2) The overall shape of the outer contours appear S-shaped. We find that previously determined King profiles with ~50' tidal radii do not fit well the distribution of our UMi stars. A King profile with a larger tidal radius produces a reasonable fit, however a power law with index -3 provides a better fit for radii > 20'. The existence of UMi stars at large distances from the core of the galaxy, the peculiar morphology of the dSph within its tidal radius, and the shape of its surface density profile all suggest that UMi is evolving significantly due to the tidal influence of the Milky Way. However, the photometric data on UMi stars alone does not allow us to determine if the candidate extratidal stars are now unbound or if they remain bound to the dSph within an extended dark matter halo. (Abridged)Comment: accepted by AJ, 32 pages, 15 figures, emulateapj5 styl

Material Units, Structures/Landforms, and Stratigraphy for the Global Geologic Map of Ganymede (1:15M)

In the coming year a global geological map of Ganymede will be completed that represents the most recent understanding of the satellite on the basis of Galileo mission results. This contribution builds on important previous accomplishments in the study of Ganymede utilizing Voyager data and incorporates the many new discoveries that were brought about by examination of Galileo data. Material units have been defined, structural landforms have been identified, and an approximate stratigraphy has been determined utilizing a global mosaic of the surface with a nominal resolution of 1 km/pixel assembled by the USGS. This mosaic incorporates the best available Voyager and Galileo regional coverage and high resolution imagery (100-200 m/pixel) of characteristic features and terrain types obtained by the Galileo spacecraft. This map has given us a more complete understanding of: 1) the major geological processes operating on Ganymede, 2) the characteristics of the geological units making up its surface, 3) the stratigraphic relationships of geological units and structures, and 4) the geological history inferred from these relationships. A summary of these efforts is provided here

Growth of inclined fatigue cracks using the biaxial CJP model

The CJP model of crack tip stresses is a modified version of the Williams crack tip stress field which takes account of simplified stress distributions that arise from the presence of a zone of plastic deformation associated with the crack flanks and crack tip, and that act on the elastic field responsible for driving crack growth. The elastic stress field responsible for crack growth is therefore controlled by the applied loading and by the induced boundary stresses at the interface with the plastic zone. This meso-scale model of crack tip stresses leads to a modified set of crack tip stress intensity factors that include the resultant influence of plastic wake-induced crack tip shielding, and which therefore have the potential to help resolve some longstanding controversies associated with plasticity-induced closure. A full-field approach has now been developed for stress using photoelasticity and also for displacement using digital image correlation. This paper considers the characterisation of crack growth rate data with the biaxial CJP model, using compact tension specimens that contain inclined cracks at the notch tip with initial angles of 30°, 45° and 60° to the horizontal axis. Significant experimental difficulties are experienced in growing cracks in a biaxial field under uniaxial tensile loading, as the natural tendency of the crack is to turn so that it becomes perpendicular to the maximum principal stress direction. However, crack angle is not an issue in the CJP model which calculates the stress field parallel with, and perpendicular to, the crack plane. These stress components can be rotated into directions comparable with the usual KI and KII directions and used to calculate stress intensity parameters that should be directly comparable with the standard stress intensity formulations. Another difficulty arises, however, in finding published expressions for KI and KII for CT specimens with curved or kinked cracks. The CJP model has been successful in achieving a sensible rationalisation of crack growth rate data for the specimens considered in this work, although some observations are not easily explained. Nonetheless, considering the complexity of characterising crack growth rates for cracks with an initial orientation of 30°, 45° or 60° to the horizontal and which subsequently change angle during growth, the results found so far indicate that there is value in further pursuing the CJP approach. The paper introduces future research directions for the CJP model

Extension of the CJP model to mixed mode I and mode II

The present authors have previously proposed a novel ‘plastic inclusion’ approach for dealing with the local plasticity which occurs at the tip of a growing fatigue crack. This meso-scale model provides a modified set of crack tip stress intensity factors that include the magnitude of plastic wake-induced crack tip shielding and which have the potential to help resolve some long-standing controversies associated with plasticity-induced closure. The present work extends the CJP model to deal with the case of mixed Mode I and Mode II loading and thus opens up enhanced possibilities for testing it on inclined cracks in metallic specimens.This extension requires the addition of only one new force parameter to the model, i.e. an anti-symmetric shearforce on either side of the crack

Hard and soft news: A review of concepts, operationalizations and key findings

Over 30 years, a large body of research on what is often called ‘hard’ and ‘soft news’ has accumulated in communication studies. However, there is no consensus about what hard and soft news exactly is, or how it should be defined or measured. Moreover, the concept has not been clearly differentiated from or systematically related to concepts addressing very similar phenomena – tabloidization and ‘infotainment’. Consequently, the results of various studies are hard to compare and different scientific discourses on related issues remain unconnected. Against this backdrop, this article offers a conceptual analysis of the concept based on studies in English and other languages. We identify key dimensions of the concept and make suggestions for a standardized definition and multi-dimensional measurement of harder and softer news. In doing so, we propose to distinguish thematic, focus and style features as basic dimensions that – in their combination – make up harder and softer types of news