Curculionidae and Chrysomelidae Found in Aquatic Habitats in Wisconsin

(excerpt) We became interested in aquatic weevils (Curculionidae) and leaf beetles (Chryso- melidae) during the Aquatic Entomology Course at the University of Wisconsin, in the spring of 1971. Many collections, taken from a variety of aquatic habitats in Wisconsin, contained weevils and leaf beetles. Most of the species were not fully treated in the keys found in aquatic entomology texts. We thought it would be useful to compile keys from the literature and present what is known of the distribution of these insects in Wisconsin. Nine species of weevils have been found in aquatic habitats in Wisconsin, representing seven genera, all belonging to the subtribe Hydronomi, and twenty-five species of leaf beetles, representing five genera in three subfamilies

CTMC calculations of electron capture and ionization in collisions of multiply charged ions with elliptical Rydberg atoms

We have performed classical trajectory Monte Carlo (CTMC) studies of electron capture and ionization in multiply charged (Q=8) ion-Rydberg atom collisions at intermediate impact velocities. Impact parallel to the minor and to the major axis, respectively, of the initial Kepler electron ellipse has been investigated. The important role of the initial electron momentum distribution found for singly charged ion impact is strongly disminished for higher projectile charge, while the initial spatial distribution remains important for all values of Q studied.Comment: 3 pages, 5 figure

Intrinsic Universality in Self-Assembly

We show that the Tile Assembly Model exhibits a strong notion of universality where the goal is to give a single tile assembly system that simulates the behavior of any other tile assembly system. We give a tile assembly system that is capable of simulating a very wide class of tile systems, including itself. Specifically, we give a tile set that simulates the assembly of any tile assembly system in a class of systems that we call \emph{locally consistent}: each tile binds with exactly the strength needed to stay attached, and that there are no glue mismatches between tiles in any produced assembly. Our construction is reminiscent of the studies of \emph{intrinsic universality} of cellular automata by Ollinger and others, in the sense that our simulation of a tile system $T$ by a tile system $U$ represents each tile in an assembly produced by $T$ by a $c \times c$ block of tiles in $U$, where $c$ is a constant depending on $T$ but not on the size of the assembly $T$ produces (which may in fact be infinite). Also, our construction improves on earlier simulations of tile assembly systems by other tile assembly systems (in particular, those of Soloveichik and Winfree, and of Demaine et al.) in that we simulate the actual process of self-assembly, not just the end result, as in Soloveichik and Winfree's construction, and we do not discriminate against infinite structures. Both previous results simulate only temperature 1 systems, whereas our construction simulates tile assembly systems operating at temperature 2

El origen del endurecimiento de metales y aleaciones nanoestructurados

14 pages, 8 figures.[EN] Nanostructured metals and alloys have a variety of chemical and physical properties that are greatly modified by the nano-scale of their microstructure. At the same time, these materials generally show very high strength, although ductility or toughness may not be good. Strength increases as the microstructure scale reduces from the macro-micro level and even finer, but sometimes the strength appears to fall as the structure scale approaches the nano level. These strength variations are examined here, and the mechanisms responsible for both strengthening and weakening are discussed. The fall in ductility and toughness as materials become nanostructured is a complex topic that requires extensive analysis, but this will not be treated in the present overview.[ES] Los metales y aleaciones nanoestructuradas muestran una serie de propiedades químicas y físicas fuertemente modificadas cuando su microestructura entra en la escala nano. A la vez, estos materiales muestran generalmente alta resistencia pero mediocre ductilidad o tenacidad. La resistencia aumenta cuando baja la escala de la microestructura desde el nivel micro hacia el nivel nano, pero a veces la resistencia parece reducir por las microestructuras mas finas. Se examinan aquí todas estas variaciones y se discuten los mecanismos responsables del endurecimiento y ablandamiento. Los cambios de ductilidad o tenacidad cuando la microestructura entra en la escala nano necesitan un análisis detallado que no se trata en este articulo.Peer reviewe

Nonequilibrium work distribution of a quantum harmonic oscillator

We analytically calculate the work distribution of a quantum harmonic oscillator with arbitrary time-dependent angular frequency. We provide detailed expressions for the work probability density for adiabatic and nonadiabatic processes, in the limit of low and high temperature. We further verify the validity of the quantum Jarzynski equalityComment: 6 pages, 3 figure

A controlled experiment for the empirical evaluation of safety analysis techniques for safety-critical software

Context: Today's safety critical systems are increasingly reliant on software. Software becomes responsible for most of the critical functions of systems. Many different safety analysis techniques have been developed to identify hazards of systems. FTA and FMEA are most commonly used by safety analysts. Recently, STPA has been proposed with the goal to better cope with complex systems including software. Objective: This research aimed at comparing quantitatively these three safety analysis techniques with regard to their effectiveness, applicability, understandability, ease of use and efficiency in identifying software safety requirements at the system level. Method: We conducted a controlled experiment with 21 master and bachelor students applying these three techniques to three safety-critical systems: train door control, anti-lock braking and traffic collision and avoidance. Results: The results showed that there is no statistically significant difference between these techniques in terms of applicability, understandability and ease of use, but a significant difference in terms of effectiveness and efficiency is obtained. Conclusion: We conclude that STPA seems to be an effective method to identify software safety requirements at the system level. In particular, STPA addresses more different software safety requirements than the traditional techniques FTA and FMEA, but STPA needs more time to carry out by safety analysts with little or no prior experience.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure in Proceedings of the 19th International Conference on Evaluation and Assessment in Software Engineering (EASE '15). ACM, 201

Apollo experience report: Development of the extravehicular mobility unit

The development and performance history of the Apollo extravehicular mobility unit and its major subsystems is described. The three major subsystems, the pressure garment assembly, the portable life-support system, and the oxygen purge system, are defined and described in detail as is the evolutionary process that culminated in each major subsystem component. Descriptions of ground-support equipment and the qualification testing process for component hardware are also presented