4,567 research outputs found
Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA): Analysis of the orbiter main propulsion system
The results of the Independent Orbiter Assessment (IOA) of the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Critical Items List (CIL) are presented. The IOA approach features a top-down analysis of the hardware to determine failure modes, criticality, and potential critical items (PCIs). To preserve independence, this analysis was accomplished without reliance upon the results contained within the NASA FMEA/CIL documentation. The independent analysis results for the Orbiter Main Propulsion System (MPS) hardware are documented. The Orbiter MPS consists of two subsystems: the Propellant Management Subsystem (PMS) and the Helium Subsystem. The PMS is a system of manifolds, distribution lines and valves by which the liquid propellants pass from the External Tank (ET) to the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSMEs) and gaseous propellants pass from the SSMEs to the ET. The Helium Subsystem consists of a series of helium supply tanks and their associated regulators, check valves, distribution lines, and control valves. The Helium Subsystem supplies helium that is used within the SSMEs for inflight purges and provides pressure for actuation of SSME valves during emergency pneumatic shutdowns. The balance of the helium is used to provide pressure to operate the pneumatically actuated valves within the PMS. Each component was evaluated and analyzed for possible failure modes and effects. Criticalities were assigned based on the worst possible effect of each failure mode. Of the 690 failure modes analyzed, 349 were determined to be PCIs
The rate of convergence of Euler approximations for solutions of stochastic differential equations driven by fractional Brownian motion
The paper focuses on discrete-type approximations of solutions to
non-homogeneous stochastic differential equations (SDEs) involving fractional
Brownian motion (fBm). We prove that the rate of convergence for Euler
approximations of solutions of pathwise SDEs driven by fBm with Hurst index
can be estimated by ( is the diameter of
partition). For discrete-time approximations of Skorohod-type quasilinear
equation driven by fBm we prove that the rate of convergence is .Comment: 21 pages, (incorrect) weak convergence result removed, to appear in
Stochastic
Sulfur isotope and trace element systematics of zoned pyrite crystals from the El Indio Au-Cu-Ag deposit, Chile
We present a comparative study between early, massive pyrite preceding (CuâAg) sulfosalt mineralization in high-temperature feeder zones (âearly pyriteâ) and late pyrite that formed during silicic alteration associated with Au deposition (âlate pyriteâ) at the El Indio high-sulfidation AuâAgâCu deposit, Chile. We use coupled in situ sulfur isotope and trace element analyses to chronologically assess geochemical variations across growth zones in these pyrite crystals. Early pyrite that formed in high-temperature feeder zones shows intricate oscillatory zonation of Cu, with individual laminae containing up to 1.15 wt% Cu and trace Co, As, Bi, Ni, Zn, Se, Ag, Sb, Te, Au, Pb and Bi. Late pyrite formed after (CuâAg) sulfosalt mineralization. It contains up to 1.14 wt% As with trace Cu, Zn, Pb, V, Mn, Co, Ni, Ge, Se, Ag, Sb, Te, Pb and Bi, as well as colloform Cu-rich growth bands containing vugs toward the outer edges of some crystals. Plotting the trace element data in chronological order (i.e., from core to rim) revealed that Co and Ni were the only elements to consistently co-vary across growth zones. Other trace elements were coupled in specific growth zones, but did not consistently co-vary across any individual crystal. The δ34S of early pyrite crystals in high-temperature feeder zones range from â3.19 to 1.88 â° (Âą0.5 â°), consistent with sublimation directly from a high-temperature magmatic vapor phase. Late pyrite crystals are distinctly more enriched in δ34S than early pyrite (δ34S = 0.05â4.77 â°, Âą0.5 â°), as a consequence of deposition from a liquid phase at lower temperatures. It is unclear whether the late pyrite was deposited from a small volume of liquid condensate, or a larger volume of hydrothermal fluid. Both types of pyrite exhibit intracrystalline δ34S variation, with a range of up to 3.31 â° recorded in an early pyrite crystal and up to 4.48 â° in a late pyrite crystal. Variations in δ34Spyrite at El Indio did not correspond with changes in trace element geochemistry. The lack of correlation between trace elements and δ34S, as well as the abundance of microscale mineral inclusions and vugs in El Indio pyrite indicate that the trace element content of pyrite at El Indio is largely controlled by nanoscale, syn-depositional mineral inclusions. Co and Ni were the only elements partitioned within the crystal structure of pyrite. Cu-rich oscillatory zones in early pyrite likely formed by nanoscale inclusions of Cu-rich sulfosalts or chalcopyrite, evidence of deposition from a fluid cyclically saturated in ore metals. This process may be restricted to polymetallic high-sulfidation-like deposits
Surface engineering of macrophages with nanoparticles to generate a cellânanoparticle hybrid vehicle for hypoxia-targeted drug delivery
Tumors frequently contain hypoxic regions that result from a shortage of oxygen due to poorly organized tumor vasculature. Cancer cells in these areas are resistant to radiation- and chemotherapy, limiting the treatment efficacy. Macrophages have inherent hypoxia-targeting ability and hold great advantages for targeted delivery of anticancer therapeutics to cancer cells in hypoxic areas. However, most anticancer drugs cannot be directly loaded into macrophages because of their toxicity. In this work, we designed a novel drug delivery vehicle by hybridizing macrophages with nanoparticles through cell surface modification. Nanoparticles immobilized on the cell surface provide numerous new sites for anticancer drug loading, hence potentially minimizing the toxic effect of anticancer drugs on the viability and hypoxia-targeting ability of the macrophage vehicles. In particular, quantum dots and 5-(aminoacetamido) fluorescein-labeled polyamidoamine dendrimer G4.5, both of which were coated with aminederivatized polyethylene glycol, were immobilized to the sodium periodate-treated surface of RAW264.7 macrophages through a transient Schiff base linkage. Further, a reducing agent, sodium cyanoborohydride, was applied to reduce Schiff bases to stable secondary amine linkages. The distribution of nanoparticles on the cell surface was confirmed by fluorescence imaging, and it was found to be dependent on the stability of the linkages coupling nanoparticles to the cell surface
Attitudes Toward Breast Cancer Genetic Testing in Five Special Population Groups
Purpose: This study examined interest in and attitudes toward genetic testing in 5 different population groups.
Methods: The survey included African American, Asian American, Latina, Native American, and Appalachian women with varying familial histories of breast cancer. A total of 49 women were interviewed in person. Descriptive and nonparametric statistical techniques were used to assess ethnic group differences.
Results: Overall, interest in testing was high. All groups endorsed more benefits than risks. There were group differences regarding endorsement of specific benefits and risks: testing to âfollow doctor recommendationsâ (p=0.017), âconcern for effects on familyâ (p=0.044), âdistrust of modern medicineâ (p=0.036), âcostâ (p=0.025), and âconcerns about communication of results to othersâ (p=0.032). There was a significant inverse relationship between interest and genetic testing cost (p
Conclusion: Cost may be an important barrier to obtaining genetic testing services, and participants would benefit by genetic counseling that incorporates the unique cultural values and beliefs of each group to create an individualized, culturally competent program. Further research about attitudes toward genetic testing is needed among Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Appalachians for whom data are severely lacking. Future study of the different Latina perceptions toward genetic testing are encouraged
The position profiles of order cancellations in an emerging stock market
Order submission and cancellation are two constituent actions of stock
trading behaviors in order-driven markets. Order submission dynamics has been
extensively studied for different markets, while order cancellation dynamics is
less understood. There are two positions associated with a cancellation, that
is, the price level in the limit-order book (LOB) and the position in the queue
at each price level. We study the profiles of these two order cancellation
positions through rebuilding the limit-order book using the order flow data of
23 liquid stocks traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in the year 2003. We
find that the profiles of relative price levels where cancellations occur obey
a log-normal distribution. After normalizing the relative price level by
removing the factor of order numbers stored at the price level, we find that
the profiles exhibit a power-law scaling behavior on the right tails for both
buy and sell orders. When focusing on the order cancellation positions in the
queue at each price level, we find that the profiles increase rapidly in the
front of the queue, and then fluctuate around a constant value till the end of
the queue. These profiles are similar for different stocks. In addition, the
profiles of cancellation positions can be fitted by an exponent function for
both buy and sell orders. These two kinds of cancellation profiles seem
universal for different stocks investigated and exhibit minor asymmetry between
buy and sell orders. Our empirical findings shed new light on the order
cancellation dynamics and pose constraints on the construction of order-driven
stock market models.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures and 6 table
Building professional discourse in emerging markets: Language, context and the challenge of sensemaking
Using ethnographic evidence from the former Soviet republics, this article examines a relatively new and mainly unobserved in the International Business (IB) literature phenomenon of communication disengagement that manifests itself in many emerging markets. We link it to the deficiencies of the local professional business discourse rooted in language limitations reflecting lack of experience with the market economy. This hampers cognitive coherence between foreign and local business entities, adding to the liability of foreignness as certain instances of professional experience fail to find adequate linguistic expression, and complicates cross-cultural adjustments causing multi-national companies (MNCs) financial losses. We contribute to the IB literature by examining cross-border semantic sensemaking through a retrospectively constructed observational study. We argue that a relative inadequacy of the national professional idiom is likely to remain a feature of business environment in post-communist economies for some time and therefore should be factored into business strategies of MNCs. Consequently, we recommend including discursive hazards in the risk evaluation of international projects
An integrable semi-discretization of the Camassa-Holm equation and its determinant solution
An integrable semi-discretization of the Camassa-Holm equation is presented.
The keys of its construction are bilinear forms and determinant structure of
solutions of the CH equation. Determinant formulas of -soliton solutions of
the continuous and semi-discrete Camassa-Holm equations are presented. Based on
determinant formulas, we can generate multi-soliton, multi-cuspon and
multi-soliton-cuspon solutions. Numerical computations using the integrable
semi-discrete Camassa-Holm equation are performed. It is shown that the
integrable semi-discrete Camassa-Holm equation gives very accurate numerical
results even in the cases of cuspon-cuspon and soliton-cuspon interactions. The
numerical computation for an initial value condition, which is not an exact
solution, is also presented
The Galaxy Population of Cluster RXJ0848+4453 at z=1.27
We present a study of the galaxy population in the cluster RXJ0848+4453 at
z=1.27, using deep HST NICMOS and WFPC2 images. We morphologically classify all
galaxies to K_s=20.6 that are covered by the HST imaging, and determine
photometric redshifts using deep ground based BRIzJK_s photometry. Of 22 likely
cluster members with morphological classifications, eleven (50%) are classified
as early-type galaxies, nine (41%) as spiral galaxies, and two (9%) as
``merger/peculiar''. At HST resolution the second brightest cluster galaxy is
resolved into a spectacular merger between three red galaxies of similar
luminosity, separated from each other by ~6 kpc, with an integrated magnitude
K=17.6 (~3 L* at z=1.27). The two most luminous early-type galaxies also show
evidence for recent or ongoing interactions. Mergers and interactions between
galaxies are possible because RXJ0848+4453 is not yet relaxed. The fraction of
early-type galaxies in our sample is similar to that in clusters at 0.5<z<1,
and consistent with a gradual decrease of the number of early-type galaxies in
clusters from z=0 to z=1.3. We find evidence that the color-magnitude relation
of the early-type galaxies is less steep than in the nearby Coma cluster. This
may indicate that the brightest early-type galaxies have young stellar
populations at z=1.27, but is also consistent with predictions of single age
``monolithic'' models with a galactic wind. The scatter in the color-magnitude
relation is ~0.04 in rest frame U-V, similar to that in clusters at 0<z<1.
Taken together, these results show that luminous early-type galaxies exist in
clusters at z~1.3, but that their number density may be smaller than in the
local Universe. Additional observations are needed to determine whether the
brightest early-type galaxies harbor young stellar populations.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letter
WINGS: a WIde-field nearby Galaxy-cluster survey III. Deep near-infrared photometry of 28 nearby clusters
Context. This is the third paper of a series devoted to the WIde-field Nearby
Galaxy-cluster Survey (WINGS).WINGS is a long term project aimed at gathering
wide-field, multiband imaging and spectroscopy of galaxies in a complete sample
of 77 X-ray selected nearby clusters (0.04<z<0.07) located far from the
galactic plane (b>20deg). The main goal of this project is to establish a local
reference sample for evolutionary studies of galaxies and galaxy clusters.
Aims. This paper presents the near-infrared (J,K) photometric catalogs of 28
clusters of the WINGS sample and describes the procedures followed to construct
them. Methods. The raw data has been reduced at CASU and special care has been
devoted to the final coadding, drizzling technique, astrometric solution and
magnitude calibration for the WFCAM pipeline processed data. We have
constructed the photometric catalogs based on the final calibrated coadded
mosaics (0.79 deg2) in J (19 clusters) and K (27 clusters) bands. A customized
interactive pipeline has been used to clean the catalogs and to make mock
images for photometric errors and completeness estimates. Results. We provide
deep near-infrared photometric catalogs (90% complete in detection rate at
total magnitudes J =20.5, K =19.4, and in classification rate at J = 19.5 and K
= 18.5), giving positions, geometrical parameters, total and aperture
magnitudes for all detected sources. For each field we classify the detected
sources as stars, galaxies and objects of "unknown" nature.Comment: Published by A&A501.851 - 15 pages, 3 tables, 13 figures. Catalogs
will be available via CDS and http://web.oapd.inaf.it/wing
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