9,473 research outputs found
Applications of inertial-sensor high-inheritance instruments to DSN precision antenna pointing
Laboratory test results of the initialization and tracking performance of an existing inertial-sensor-based instrument are given. The instrument, although not primarily designed for precision antenna pointing applications, demonstrated an on-average 10-hour tracking error of several millidegrees. The system-level instrument performance is shown by analysis to be sensor limited. Simulated instrument improvements show a tracking error of less than 1 mdeg, which would provide acceptable performance, i.e., low pointing loss, for the Deep Space Network 70-m antenna subnetwork, operating at Ka-band (1-cm wavelength)
Impact of published clinical outcomes data: case study in NHS hospital trusts
Objective To examine the impact of the publication of clinical outcomes data on NHS Trusts in Scotland to inform the development of similar schemes elsewhere. Design Case studies including semistructured interviews and a review of background statistics. Setting Eight Scottish NHS acute trusts. Participants 48 trust staff comprising chief executives, medical directors, stroke consultants, breast cancer consultants, nurse managers, and junior doctors. Main outcome measures Staff views on the benefits and drawbacks of clinical outcome indicators provided by the clinical resource and audit group (CRAG) and perceptions of the impact of these data on clinical practice and continuous improvement of quality. Results The CRAG indicators had a low profile in the trusts and were rarely cited as informing internal quality improvement or used externally to identify best practice. The indicators were mainly used to support applications for further funding and service development. The poor effect was attributable to a lack of professional belief in the indicators, arising from perceived problems around quality of data and time lag between collection and presentation of data; limited dissemination; weak incentives to take action; a predilection for process rather than outcome indicators; and a belief that informal information is often more useful than quantitative data in the assessment of clinical performance. Conclusions Those responsible for developing clinical indicator programmes should develop robust datasets. They should also encourage a working environment and incentives such that these data are used to improve continuously
Gravity referenced elevation encoder development
Recent progress in the development of a gravity-sensor-based instrument for determining the elevation angle of DSN antennas is described. The benefits of such a system include the capability to locate the Gravity Referenced Elevation Encoder (GREE) directly on the primary reflector (thus bypassing structural flexure and deformation error sources), anticipated lower maintenance costs compared to the present gimbal encoders, direct replaceability, or supplementation of the present gimbal encoders and the utilization of off-the-shelf components to construct the GREE. This article includes a description of the nominal GREE design. Test results on a laboratory breadboard model are given. Rigid-body dynamics of the GREE are derived and the simulated performance in response to measured antenna vibrations is given
Axiomatic Conformal Field Theory
A new rigorous approach to conformal field theory is presented. The basic
objects are families of complex-valued amplitudes, which define a meromorphic
conformal field theory (or chiral algebra) and which lead naturally to the
definition of topological vector spaces, between which vertex operators act as
continuous operators. In fact, in order to develop the theory, M\"obius
invariance rather than full conformal invariance is required but it is shown
that every M\"obius theory can be extended to a conformal theory by the
construction of a Virasoro field.
In this approach, a representation of a conformal field theory is naturally
defined in terms of a family of amplitudes with appropriate analytic
properties. It is shown that these amplitudes can also be derived from a
suitable collection of states in the meromorphic theory. Zhu's algebra then
appears naturally as the algebra of conditions which states defining highest
weight representations must satisfy. The relationship of the representations of
Zhu's algebra to the classification of highest weight representations is
explained.Comment: 51 pages, plain TE
Temporal evolution of oscillating coronal loops
Context. Transverse oscillations of coronal structures are currently
intensively studied to explore the associated magnetohydrodynamic wave physics
and perform seismology of the local medium. Aims. We make a first attempt to
measure the thermodynamic evolution of a sample of coronal loops that undergo
decaying kink oscillations in response to an eruption in the corresponding
active region. Methods. Using data from the six coronal wavelengths of SDO/AIA,
we performed a differential emission measure (DEM) analysis of 15 coronal loops
before, during, and after the eruption and oscillation. Results. We find that
the emission measure, temperature, and width of the DEM distribution undergo
significant variations on time scales relevant for the study of transverse
oscillations. There are no clear collective trends of increases or decreases
for the parameters we analysed. The strongest variations of the parameters
occur during the initial perturbation of the loops, and the influence of
background structures may also account for much of this variation. Conclusions.
The DEM analysis of oscillating coronal loops in erupting active regions shows
evidence of evolution on time scales important for the study of the
oscillations. Further work is needed to separate the various observational and
physical mechanisms that may be responsible for the variations in temperature,
DEM distribution width, and total emission measure.Comment: Accepted in A&
Change blindness: size matters
It is easy to detect a small change between two sequential presentations of a visual stimulus, but, if they are separated by a blank interval, performance is around chance. This change blindness (CB) can be rectified, or improved, by cueing the spatial location of the change either in the first stimulus or the interval; however, no advantage is conferred when the cue appears during the second presentation of the stimulus. This supports the idea that a representation of the first stimulus is formed and persists through the course of the interval before being 'overwritten' by the second presentation of the stimulus (Landman et al, 2003 Vision Research 43 149 - 164). We were interested in the time course of the cueing effect during the interval. Following Landman et al, our first stimulus was an array of eight rectangles defined by texture and there was a 50% chance that one of the rectangles would change orientation in the second stimulus. Five cues were used, one within the first stimulus, three across the interval, and one in the second stimulus. Only one of these cues appeared in each trial. The cued rectangle was the one that would change between the first and second stimulus when a change occurred. The cue was a yellow line. Eighty-five observers showed the characteristic cueing performance supporting 'overwriting', but performance decreased over the duration of the interval suggesting that the initial representation of the first stimulus fades over time. However, when the size of the rectangles was increased, performance across the interval improved significantly. We consider two possible explanations: one is that simply by increasing rectangle size we raise the storage capacity for the number of rectangles in our representation, the other is that storage is related to task difficulty
Conformal Field Theories, Representations and Lattice Constructions
An account is given of the structure and representations of chiral bosonic
meromorphic conformal field theories (CFT's), and, in particular, the
conditions under which such a CFT may be extended by a representation to form a
new theory. This general approach is illustrated by considering the untwisted
and -twisted theories, and respectively,
which may be constructed from a suitable even Euclidean lattice .
Similarly, one may construct lattices and by
analogous constructions from a doubly-even binary code . In the case when
is self-dual, the corresponding lattices are also. Similarly,
and are self-dual if and only if is. We show that
has a natural ``triality'' structure, which induces an
isomorphism and also a triality
structure on . For the Golay code,
is the Leech lattice, and the triality on is the symmetry which extends the natural action of (an
extension of) Conway's group on this theory to the Monster, so setting triality
and Frenkel, Lepowsky and Meurman's construction of the natural Monster module
in a more general context. The results also serve to shed some light on the
classification of self-dual CFT's. We find that of the 48 theories
and with central charge 24 that there are 39 distinct ones,
and further that all 9 coincidences are accounted for by the isomorphism
detailed above, induced by the existence of a doubly-even self-dual binary
code.Comment: 65 page
Preparation, Structure, and Reactivity of Nonstabilized Organoiron Compounds. Implications for Iron-Catalyzed Cross Coupling Reactions
A series of unprecedented organoiron complexes of the formal oxidation states â2, 0, +1, +2, and +3 is presented, which are largely devoid of stabilizing ligands and, in part, also electronically unsaturated (14-, 16-, 17- and 18-electron counts). Specifically, it is shown that nucleophiles unable to undergo β-hydride elimination, such as MeLi, PhLi, or PhMgBr, rapidly reduce Fe(3+) to Fe(2+) and then exhaustively alkylate the metal center. The resulting homoleptic organoferrate complexes [(Me4Fe)(MeLi)][Li(OEt2)]2 (3) and [Ph4Fe][Li(Et2O)2][Li(1,4-dioxane)] (5) could be characterized by X-ray crystal structure analysis. However, these exceptionally sensitive compounds turned out to be only moderately nucleophilic, transferring their organic ligands to activated electrophiles only, while being unable to alkylate (hetero)aryl halides unless they are very electron deficient. In striking contrast, Grignard reagents bearing alkyl residues amenable to β-hydride elimination reduce FeXn (n = 2, 3) to clusters of the formal composition [Fe(MgX)2]n. The behavior of these intermetallic species can be emulated by structurally well-defined lithium ferrate complexes of the type [Fe(C2H4)4][Li(tmeda)]2 (8), [Fe(cod)2][Li(dme)]2 (9), [CpFe(C2H4)2][Li(tmeda)] (7), [CpFe(cod)][Li(dme)] (11), or [Cp*Fe(C2H4)2][Li(tmeda)] (14). Such electron-rich complexes, which are distinguished by short intermetallic FeâLi bonds, were shown to react with aryl chlorides and allyl halides; the structures and reactivity patterns of the resulting organoiron compounds provide first insights into the elementary steps of low valent iron-catalyzed cross coupling reactions of aryl, alkyl, allyl, benzyl, and propargyl halides with organomagnesium reagents. However, the acquired data suggest that such CâC bond formations can occur, a priori, along different catalytic cycles shuttling between metal centers of the formal oxidation states Fe(+1)/Fe(+3), Fe(0)/Fe(+2), and Fe(â2)/Fe(0). Since these different manifolds are likely interconnected, an unambiguous decision as to which redox cycle dominates in solution remains difficult, even though iron complexes of the lowest accessible formal oxidation states promote the reactions most effectively
Theoretical interpretation of scanning tunneling microscopy images: Application to the molybdenum disulfide family of transition metal dichalcogenides
We have performed ab initio quantum mechanical calculations to describe scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images of MoS_2 and MoTe_2. These results indicate that the interpretation of the STM images of these and related materials depends sensitively on experimental conditions. For example, determining whether the maximum tunneling current correlates to the top atom (S or Te) or to the secondâlayer atom (Mo) requires information on the tipâsample separation. Based on these results we discuss some STM experimental procedures which would allow assignment of the chemical identity of STM spots with greater certainty
Measuring Efficiency in Fruit and Vegetable Marketing Co-operatives with Heterogeneous Technologies in Canada
The objectives of this study are to estimate the efficiency of fruit and vegetable co-operatives in Canada and to investigate the relationship between the degree of financial leverage and efficiency.Agribusiness,
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