Handbook for Computerized Reliability Analysis Method /CRAM/

Method for analyzing reliability by use of computer

Proceedings of the Second International Mobile Satellite Conference (IMSC 1990)

Presented here are the proceedings of the Second International Mobile Satellite Conference (IMSC), held June 17-20, 1990 in Ottawa, Canada. Topics covered include future mobile satellite communications concepts, aeronautical applications, modulation and coding, propagation and experimental systems, mobile terminal equipment, network architecture and control, regulatory and policy considerations, vehicle antennas, and speech compression

Performance and evaluation of the Viking lander camera performance prediction program

A computer program is described for predicting the performance of the Viking lander cameras. The predictions are primarily concerned with two objectives: (1) the picture quality of a reference test chart (of which there are three on each lander) to aid in diagnosing camera performance; and (2) the picture quality of cones with surface properties of a natural terrain to aid in predicting favorable illumination and viewing geometries and operational camera commands. Predictions made with this program are verified by experimental data obtained with a Viking-like laboratory facsimile camera

On reminder effects, drop-outs and dominance: evidence from an online experiment on charitable giving

We present the results of an experiment that (a) shows the usefulness of screening out drop-outs and (b) tests whether different methods of payment and reminder intervals affect charitable giving. Following a lab session, participants could make online donations to charity for a total duration of three months. Our procedure justifying the exclusion of drop-outs consists in requiring participants to collect payments in person flexibly and as known in advance and as highlighted to them later. Our interpretation is that participants who failed to collect their positive payments under these circumstances are likely not to satisfy dominance. If we restrict the sample to subjects who did not drop out, but not otherwise, reminders significantly increase the overall amount of charitable giving. We also find that weekly reminders are no more effective than monthly reminders in increasing charitable giving, and that, in our three months duration experiment, standing orders do not increase giving relative to one-off donations

Matching schemes and public goods : a review

Matching schemes, where a party matches the contribution of others, reduce the effective price of a good and aim to foster its demand. We review the empirical literature on the effectiveness of these schemes in the context of public goods, especially in the field of charitable giving. As different measures of effectiveness are used, we classify results according to (i) the level of public good provision, (ii) the amount of individuals' contributions, (iii) the likelihood to give and (iv) the contribution conditional on contributing a positive amount. Generalizing results is challenging, since context specific factors matter. Predominantly, a match is found to create a significant increase in public good provision without crowding out individuals' contributions, while the effect on the likelihood of giving and contribution condition on contributing a positive amount is nonnegative. The discussion reveals several avenues for future research, as putting stronger emphasizes on long term effects, public good competition or heterogeneity in responses

Effects of precompetition state anxiety interventions on performance time and accuracy among amateur soccer players: Revisiting the matching hypothesis

In this study, we tested the matching ypothesis, which contends that administration of a cognitive or somatic anxiety intervention should be matched to a participant's dominant anxiety response. Sixty-one male soccer players (mean age 31.6 years, s=6.3) were assigned to one of four groups based on their responses to the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2, which was modified to include a directional scale. Interventions were randomly administered in a counterbalanced order 10 min before each performance trial on a soccer skill test. The dominantly cognitive anxious group (n=17), the dominantly somatic anxious group (n=17), and the non-anxious control intervention group (n=14) completed a baseline performance trial. The second and third trials were completed with random administration of brief cognitive and somatic interventions. The non-anxious control group (n=13) completed three trials with no intervention. A mixed-model, GroupTreatment multivariate analysis of variance indicated significant (P0.05), or performance time or accuracy (P>0.05). The present findings do not provide support for the matching hypothesis for state anxiety intensity and direction, or for performance

Quantum Statistics of Surface Plasmon Polaritons in Metallic Stripe Waveguides

Single surface plasmon polaritons are excited using photons generated via spontaneous parametric down-conversion. The mean excitation rates, intensity correlations and Fock state populations are studied. The observed dependence of the second order coherence in our experiment is consistent with a linear uncorrelated Markovian environment in the quantum regime. Our results provide important information about the effect of loss for assessing the potential of plasmonic waveguides for future nanophotonic circuitry in the quantum regime.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, published in Nano Letters, publication date (web): March 27 (2012

ac Josephson effect in superconducting d-wave junctions

We study theoretically the ac Josephson effect in superconducting planar d-wave junctions. The insulating barrier assumed to be present between the two superconductors may have arbitrary strength. Many properties of this system depend on the orientation of the d-wave superconductor: we calculate the ac components of the Josephson current. In some arrangements there is substantial negative differential conductance due to the presence of mid-gap states. We study how robust these features are to finite temperature and also comment on how the calculated current-voltage curves compare with experiments. For some other configurations (for small barrier strength) we find zero-bias conductance peaks due to multiple Andreev reflections through midgap states. Moreover, the odd ac components are strongly suppressed and even absent in some arrangements. This absence will lead to a doubling of the Josephson frequency. All these features are due to the d-wave order parameter changing sign when rotated $90^{\circ}$. Recently, there have been several theoretical reports on parallel current in the d-wave case for both the stationary Josephson junction and for the normal metal-superconductor junction. Also in our case there may appear current density parallel to the junction, and we present a few examples when this takes place. Finally, we give a fairly complete account of the method used and also discuss how numerical calculations should be performed in order to produce current-voltage curves

A modification of Honoré's triple-link model in the synoptic problem

In New Testament studies, the synoptic problem is concerned with the relationships between the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. In an earlier paper a careful specification in probabilistic terms was set up of Honoré's triple-link model. In the present paper, a modification of Honoré's model is proposed. As previously, counts of the numbers of verbal agreements between the gospels are examined to investigate which of the possible triple-link models appears to give the best fit to the data, but now using the modified version of the model and additional sets of data