VHF command system study

Solutions are provided to specific problems arising in the GSFC VHF-PSK and VHF-FSK Command Systems in support of establishment and maintenance of Data Systems Standards. Signal structures which incorporate transmission on the uplink of a clock along with the PSK or FSK data are considered. Strategies are developed for allocating power between the clock and data, and spectral analyses are performed. Bit error probability and other probabilities pertinent to correct transmission of command messages are calculated. Biphase PCM/PM and PCM/FM are considered as candidate modulation techniques on the telemetry downlink, with application to command verification. Comparative performance of PCM/PM and PSK systems is given special attention, including implementation considerations. Gain in bit error performance due to coding is also considered

A tutorial on the CARE III approach to reliability modeling

The CARE 3 reliability model for aircraft avionics and control systems is described by utilizing a number of examples which frequently use state-of-the-art mathematical modeling techniques as a basis for their exposition. Behavioral decomposition followed by aggregration were used in an attempt to deal with reliability models with a large number of states. A comprehensive set of models of the fault-handling processes in a typical fault-tolerant system was used. These models were semi-Markov in nature, thus removing the usual restrictions of exponential holding times within the coverage model. The aggregate model is a non-homogeneous Markov chain, thus allowing the times to failure to posses Weibull-like distributions. Because of the departures from traditional models, the solution method employed is that of Kolmogorov integral equations, which are evaluated numerically

Human Engineering

Author Institution: Capital University, Columbus, Ohi

Context sensitive color quantization system and method

A system and method usable in producing a display image limited to a lesser number of colors from an input image having a greater number of colors. The invention is particularly useful in a computer system utilizing a video monitor capable of simultaneously displaying a selected number of colors stored in a lookup table. The system and method receive data representative of respective colors at a multiplicity of individual pixels in the input image. This input image data is then temporarily stored in an input buffer. An appropriate processor receives the input image data and performs image quantization thereon. Specifically, the processor first determines the selected colors to be included in the display image. Next, the processor determines which of the selected colors respectively correspond to individual pixels of the display image. Unlike the prior art, image quantization algorithms of the present invention selectively account for perceptive blending of colors appearing in the input image in determining the optimum display image. In other words, if individual colors appear in the input image in such a manner that a viewer would perceive a blended color, the invention will tend to display the blended color rather than the individual colors

Performance analysis of wideband data and television channels

Several aspects are discussed of space shuttle communications, including the return link (shuttle-to-ground) relayed through a satellite repeater (TDRS). The repeater exhibits nonlinear amplification and an amplitude-dependent phase shift. Models were developed for various link configurations, and computer simulation programs based on these models are described. Certain analytical results on system performance were also obtained. For the system parameters assumed, the results indicate approximately 1 db degradation relative to a link employing a linear repeater. While this degradation is dependent upon the repeater, filter bandwidths, and modulation parameters used, the programs can accommodate changes to any of these quantities. Thus the programs can be applied to determine the performance with any given set of parameters, or used as an aid in link design

Witnessing Engaged Voices: A Feminist Pedagogy of Inclusion

When student perspectives, needs, and wants are left out of academic discourse, the discursive structures necessary to encourage, organize, and evaluate their voice are absent. Students then become ambivalent, instead of exercising their voice and decisively assessing the value of their contributions. This original teaching activity targets the problematics that constrain voices in the classroom, inviting readers and listeners to consider their positionality and action as a commitment to a Feminist Pedagogy of Inclusion (FPoI). This method allows students and professors to deliberately hold a space where the act of witnessing is more than simply observing voices. The intended result is a comprehensive way of engaging inclusively

Assessments at multiple levels of biological organization allow for an integrative determination of physiological tolerances to turbidity in an endangered fish species.

Turbidity can influence trophic levels by altering species composition and can potentially affect fish feeding strategies and predator-prey interactions. The estuarine turbidity maximum, described as an area of increased suspended particles, phytoplankton and zooplankton, generally represents a zone with higher turbidity and enhanced food sources important for successful feeding and growth in many fish species. The delta smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) is an endangered, pelagic fish species endemic to the San Francisco Estuary and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, USA, where it is associated with turbid waters. Turbidity is known to play an important role for the completion of the species' life cycle; however, turbidity ranges in the Delta are broad, and specific requirements for this fish species are still unknown. To evaluate turbidity requirements for early life stages, late-larval delta smelt were maintained at environmentally relevant turbidity levels ranging from 5 to 250 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU) for 24 h, after which a combination of physiological endpoints (molecular biomarkers and cortisol), behavioural indices (feeding) and whole-organism measures (survival) were determined. All endpoints delivered consistent results and identified turbidities between 25 and 80 NTU as preferential. Delta smelt survival rates were highest between 12 and 80 NTU and feeding rates were highest between 25 and 80 NTU. Cortisol levels indicated minimal stress between 35 and 80 NTU and were elevated at low turbidities (5, 12 and 25 NTU). Expression of stress-related genes indicated significant responses for gst, hsp70 and glut2 in high turbidities (250 NTU), and principal component analysis on all measured genes revealed a clustering of 25, 35, 50 and 80 NTU separating the medium-turbidity treatments from low- and high-turbidity treatments. Taken together, these data demonstrate that turbidity levels that are either too low or too high affect delta smelt physiological performance, causing significant effects on overall stress, food intake and mortality. They also highlight the need for turbidity to be considered in habitat and water management decisions