8,060 research outputs found
Ultrasonic scanning system for in-place inspection of brazed-tube joints
System detects defects of .051 cm in diameter and larger. System incorporates scanning head assembly including boot enclosed transducer, slip ring assembly, drive mechanism, and servotransmitter. Ultrasonic flaw detector, prototype recorder, and special recorder complete system
Ultrasonic scanning system for in-place inspection of brazed tube joints
A miniaturized ultrasonic scanning system for nondestructive in-place, non-immersion testing of brazed joints in stainless-steel tubing is described. The system is capable of scanning brazed tube joints, with limited clearance access, in 1/4 through 5/8 inch union, tee, elbow and cross configurations. The system has the capability to detect defective conditions now associated with material density changes in addition to those which are depended upon density variations. The system includes a miniaturized scanning head assembly that fits around a tube joint and rotates the transducer around and down the joint in a continuous spiral motion. The C-scan recorder is similar in principle to conventional models except that it was specially designed to track the continuous spiral scan of the tube joint. The scanner and recorder can be operated with most commercially available ultrasonic flaw detectors
Signatures of Galaxy-Cluster Interactions: Spiral Galaxy Rotation Curve Asymmetry, Shape, and Extent
The environmental dependencies of the characteristics of spiral galaxy
rotation curves are studied in this work. We use our large, homogeneously
collected sample of 510 cluster spiral galaxy rotation curves to test the claim
that the shape of a galaxy's rotation curve strongly depends on its location
within the cluster, and thus presumably on the strength of the local
intracluster medium and on the frequency and strength of tidal interactions
with the cluster and cluster galaxies. Our data do not corroborate such a
scenario, consistent with the fact that Tully-Fisher residuals are independent
of galaxy location within the cluster; while the average late-type spiral
galaxy shows more rise in the outer parts of its rotation curve than does the
typical early-type spiral galaxy, there is no apparent trend for either subset
with cluster environment. We also investigate as a function of cluster
environment rotation curve asymmetry and the radial distribution of H II region
tracers within galactic disks. Mild trends with projected cluster-centric
distance are observed: (i) the (normalized) radial extent of optical line
emission averaged over all spiral galaxy types shows a 4%+/-2% increase per Mpc
of galaxy-cluster core separation, and (ii) rotation curve asymmetry falls by a
factor of two between the inner and outer cluster for early-type spirals (a
negligible decrease is found for late-type spirals). Such trends are consistent
with spiral disk perturbations or even the stripping of the diffuse, outermost
gaseous regions within the disks as galaxies pass through the dense cluster
cores.Comment: 17 pages; to appear in the April 2001 Astronomical Journa
Galaxy Peculiar Velocities and Infall onto Groups
We perform statistical analyses to study the infall of galaxies onto groups
and clusters in the nearby Universe. The study is based on the UZC and SSRS2
group catalogs and peculiar velocity samples. We find a clear signature of
infall of galaxies onto groups over a wide range of scales 5 h^{-1} Mpc<r<30
h^{-1} Mpc, with an infall amplitude on the order of a few hundred kilometers
per second. We obtain a significant increase in the infall amplitude with group
virial mass (M_{V}) and luminosity of group member galaxies (L_{g}). Groups
with M_{V}<10^{13} M_{\odot} show infall velocities V_{infall} \simeq 150 km
s^{-1} whereas for M_{V}>10^{13} M_{\odot} a larger infall is observed,
V_{infall} \simeq 200 km s^{-1}. Similarly, we find that galaxies surrounding
groups with L_{g}<10^{15} L_{\odot} have V_{infall} \simeq 100 km s^{-1},
whereas for L_{g}>10^{15} L_{\odot} groups, the amplitude of the galaxy infall
can be as large as V_{infall} \simeq 250 km s^{-1}. The observational results
are compared with the results obtained from mock group and galaxy samples
constructed from numerical simulations, which include galaxy formation through
semianalytical models. We obtain a general agreement between the results from
the mock catalogs and the observations. The infall of galaxies onto groups is
suitably reproduced in the simulations and, as in the observations, larger
virial mass and luminosity groups exhibit the largest galaxy infall amplitudes.
We derive estimates of the integrated mass overdensities associated with groups
by applying linear theory to the infall velocities after correcting for the
effects of distance uncertainties obtained using the mock catalogs. The
resulting overdensities are consistent with a power law with \delta \sim 1 at r
\sim 10 h^{-1}Mpc.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figure
Morphology and the gradient of a symmetric potential predicts gait transitions of dogs
Gaits and gait transitions play a central role in the movement of animals. Symmetry is thought to govern the structure of the nervous system, and constrain the limb motions of quadrupeds. We quantify the symmetry of dog gaits with respect to combinations of bilateral, fore-aft, and spatio-temporal symmetry groups. We tested the ability of symmetries to model motion capture data of dogs walking, trotting and transitioning between those gaits. Fully symmetric models performed comparably to asymmetric with only a 22% increase in the residual sum of squares and only one-quarter of the parameters. This required adding a spatio-temporal shift representing a lag between fore and hind limbs. Without this shift, the symmetric model residual sum of squares was 1700% larger. This shift is related to (linear regression, n = 5, p = 0.0328) dog morphology. That this symmetry is respected throughout the gaits and transitions indicates that it generalizes outside a single gait. We propose that relative phasing of limb motions can be described by an interaction potential with a symmetric structure. This approach can be extended to the study of interaction of neurodynamic and kinematic variables, providing a system-level model that couples neuronal central pattern generator networks and mechanical models
Structural relaxations in electronically excited poly(para-phenylene)
Structural relaxations in electronically excited poly(para-phenylene) are
studied using many-body perturbation theory and density-functional-theory
methods. A sophisticated description of the electron-hole interaction is
required to describe the energies of the excitonic states, but we show that the
structural relaxations associated with exciton formation can be obtained quite
accurately within a constrained density-functional-theory approach. We find
that the structural relaxations in the low-energy excitonic states extend over
about 8 monomers, leading to an energy reduction of 0.22 eV and a Stokes shift
of 0.40 eV.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Multistable Phase Regulation for Robust Steady and Transitional Legged Gaits
We develop robust methods that allow speciïŹcation, control, and transition of a multi-legged robotâs stepping patternâits gaitâduring active locomotion over natural terrain. Resulting gaits emerge through the introduction of controllers that impose appropriately-placed repellors within the space of gaits, the torus of relative leg phases, thereby mitigating against dangerous patterns of leg timing. Moreover, these repellors are organized with respect to a natural cellular decomposition of gait space and result in limit cycles with associated basins that are well characterized by these cells, thus conferring a symbolic character upon the overall behavioral repertoire. These ideas are particularly applicable to four- and six-legged robots, for which a large variety of interesting and useful (and, in many cases, familiar) gaits exist, and whose tradeoïŹs between speed and reliability motivate the desire for transitioning between them during active locomotion. We provide an empirical instance of this gait regulation scheme by application to a climbing hexapod, whose âphysical layerâ sensor-feedback control requires adequate grasp of a climbing surface but whose closed loop control perturbs the robot from its desired gait. We document how the regulation scheme secures the desired gait and permits operator selection of diïŹerent gaits as required during active climbing on challenging surfaces
New synchronization method for <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i>
<b>Background</b>: Plasmodium falciparum is usually asynchronous during in vitro culture. Although various synchronization methods are available, they are not able to narrow the range of ages of parasites. A newly developed method is described that allows synchronization of parasites to produce cultures with an age range as low as 30 minutes.
<b>Methods</b>: Trophozoites and schizonts are enriched using Plasmion. The enriched late stage parasites are immobilized as a monolayer onto plastic Petri dishes using concanavalin A. Uninfected erythrocytes are placed onto the monolayer for a limited time period, during which time schizonts on the monolayer rupture and the released merozoites invade the fresh erythrocytes. The overlay is then taken off into a culture flask, resulting in a highly synchronized population of parasites.
<b>Results</b>: Plasmion treatment results in a 10- to 13-fold enrichment of late stage parasites. The monolayer method results in highly synchronized cultures of parasites where invasion has occurred within a very limited time window, which can be as low as 30 minutes. The method is simple, requiring no specialized equipment and relatively cheap reagents.
<b>Conclusions</b>: The new method for parasite synchronization results in highly synchronized populations of parasites, which will be useful for studies of the parasite asexual cell cycle
The Far-Infrared/Radio Correlation in Nearby Abell Clusters
A comprehensive study of the effect of the cluster environment on the far-
infrared (FIR)/radio correlation in nearby Abell clusters is presented. Using
the cluster radio galaxy database from Miller & Owen (2001) and optical
spectroscopy and high resolution radio images to remove AGN, we assess the
FIR/radio correlation of cluster galaxies from the centers of the clusters out
well past the classical Abell radius. The FIR/radio correlation is shown to
hold quite well for star forming galaxies, and the FIR and radio fluxes for
cluster AGN are also well correlated. In the case of AGN, the relative radio-
to-FIR fluxes are greater and the scatter in the correlation is larger than
those seen for star forming galaxies. We also find that there is a rare but
statistically significant excess of star forming galaxies with enhanced radio
emission in the centers of the clusters, and that the degree of this
enhancement is typically a factor of two or three. The FIR/radio correlation
for cluster star forming galaxies is also tested against line-of-sight velocity
relative to the cluster systemic velocities, but no significant correlation is
found. While the radial dependence of the FIR/radio correlation is consistent
with the model wherein ram pressure increases the cluster galaxies' magnetic
field strengths through compression, the velocity data do not confirm this
model. Although a contribution from ram pressure can not be ruled out, the
thermal pressure due to the ICM alone is an equally viable alternative. The
high resolution radio images largely reject the hypothesis that the increased
radio emission arises from an AGN component, strengthening the claim that the
change in the correlation is caused by a change in the environment of the
galaxies.Comment: 26 pages, including 5 figures (uses AASTeX 5.0). Accepted for
publication in the Astronomical Journa
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