Apparatus for applying simulator g-forces to an arm of an aircraft simulator pilot

A device to be used with an aircraft simulator to apply positive and negative g forces to the pilot's arm is described. An arm harness fits around the arm which the pilot uses to operate the throttle. The device allows the harness to track intentional arm movements without exerting any restraining forces, and at the same time, applies g forces to to the pilots arm which are recorded by the aircraft simulator computer

Diffusion-based method for producing density equalizing maps

Map makers have long searched for a way to construct cartograms -- maps in which the sizes of geographic regions such as countries or provinces appear in proportion to their population or some other analogous property. Such maps are invaluable for the representation of census results, election returns, disease incidence, and many other kinds of human data. Unfortunately, in order to scale regions and still have them fit together, one is normally forced to distort the regions' shapes, potentially resulting in maps that are difficult to read. Many methods for making cartograms have been proposed, some of them extremely complex, but all suffer either from this lack of readability or from other pathologies, like overlapping regions or strong dependence on the choice of coordinate axes. Here we present a new technique based on ideas borrowed from elementary physics that suffers none of these drawbacks. Our method is conceptually simple and produces useful, elegant, and easily readable maps. We illustrate the method with applications to the results of the 2000 US presidential election, lung cancer cases in the State of New York, and the geographical distribution of stories appearing in the news.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Rationales and functions of disliked music: An in-depth interview study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: With a few exceptions, musical taste has been researched via likes or preferences of certain types of music. The present study focuses on disliked music and takes a broad approach to cover explanatory strategies related to personal dislikes. METHODS: In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 participants in five age groups. Interviewees were asked to prepare a list of their disliked music, and for each item they were asked about the reasons for the dislike. To ensure that the complexity and range of the participants’ dislikes and rationales were captured in the analysis, a structuring content analysis as a mostly theory-driven approach was combined with inductive category creation out of the interview data. RESULTS: The most often mentioned type of dislike was musical style, followed by artist and genre. Five main reference points were identified for describing musical dislikes: the music itself, lyrics, performance, artist, and the people who listen to it. The identified rationales for disliked music were assigned to three larger categories: object-related reasons, such as music-compositional aspects, aesthetic dichotomies or lyrics; subject-related reasons, such as emotional or bodily effects, or discrepancies with the self-image; social reasons, which refer to one’s social environment and the taste judgments common to it (in-group) or to other groups of which the participants do not feel part of (out-group). Apart from the rationales for disliked music, the participants described specific reactions when they are confronted with their disliked music, such as emotional, physical, and social reactions. CONCLUSIONS: While musical dislikes have already been shown to fulfill important social functions, the current study extends the rationales to music-related and self-related reasons. Musical dislikes fulfill similar functions to liked music, such as preservation of a good mood, identity expression and construction, strengthening of group cohesion as well as social distinction

Integrated health monitoring and controls for rocket engines

Current research in intelligent control systems at the Lewis Research Center is described in the context of a functional framework. The framework is applicable to a variety of reusable space propulsion systems for existing and future launch vehicles. It provides a 'road map' technology development to enable enhanced engine performance with increased reliability, durability, and maintainability. The framework hierarchy consists of a mission coordination level, a propulsion system coordination level, and an engine control level. Each level is described in the context of the Space Shuttle Main Engine. The concept of integrating diagnostics with control is discussed within the context of the functional framework. A distributed real time simulation testbed is used to realize and evaluate the functionalities in closed loop

Implementation of a model based fault detection and diagnosis for actuation faults of the Space Shuttle main engine

In a previous study, Guo, Merrill and Duyar, 1990, reported a conceptual development of a fault detection and diagnosis system for actuation faults of the space shuttle main engine. This study, which is a continuation of the previous work, implements the developed fault detection and diagnosis scheme for the real time actuation fault diagnosis of the space shuttle main engine. The scheme will be used as an integral part of an intelligent control system demonstration experiment at NASA Lewis. The diagnosis system utilizes a model based method with real time identification and hypothesis testing for actuation, sensor, and performance degradation faults

Picking, packing, and shipping apples

"June, 1926

The non-linear transient behavior of second, third and fourth order phase-locked loops

Non-linear transient behavior of second, third, and fourth order phase-locked loop

Drifters in the Gulf Stream

In the past, the Gulf Stream has frequently been viewed as essentially a barrier between the Slope and Sargasso seas. On the other hand, surface drifters have often been observed to leave the stream to the south. To gain a better understanding of surface flow of the Gulf Stream, we used drifter trajectory data to study their drift east and patterns of loss from the current. Two sets of drifter data were used, one from the 1995–1999 Georges Bank GLOBEC program and the other from the Global Drifter Program. We also made use of atmospheric wind stress estimates from a reanalysis data set to evaluate the effect of wind forcing on their movements. Without fail, all drifters that enter into the stream eventually detrain out of the current to the south, indicating significant cross-frontal transport at the surface. A first explanation of these detrainments relies on the Ekman drift to the south due to the westerly winds over the study area. However, the exits to the south are not uniformly distributed, but aggregate in three areas where the meandering is particularly sharp: the New England Seamount Chain, the Southeast Newfoundland Rise, and the 44°N trough in the North Atlantic Current. Although, intuitively, it would seem that the largest Ekman drift losses would occur in the winter, this study shows that the detrainment to the south occurs more effectively in the summer due to a minimum in the mixed layer depth

\u3cem\u3eDe Novo\u3c/em\u3e [PSI\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e] Prion Formation Involves Multiple Pathways to Form Infectious Oligomers

Prion and other neurodegenerative diseases are associated with misfolded protein assemblies called amyloid. Research has begun to uncover common mechanisms underlying transmission of amyloids, yet how amyloids form in vivo is still unclear. Here, we take advantage of the yeast prion, [PSI +], to uncover the early steps of amyloid formation in vivo. [PSI +] is the prion form of the Sup35 protein. While [PSI +] formation is quite rare, the prion can be greatly induced by overexpression of the prion domain of the Sup35 protein. This de novo induction of [PSI +] shows the appearance of fluorescent cytoplasmic rings when the prion domain is fused with GFP. Our current work shows that de novoinduction is more complex than previously thought. Using 4D live cell imaging, we observed that fluorescent structures are formed by four different pathways to yield [PSI +] cells. Biochemical analysis of de novo induced cultures indicates that newly formed SDS resistant oligomers change in size over time and lysates made from de novo induced cultures are able to convert [psi −] cells to [PSI +] cells. Taken together, our findings suggest that newly formed prion oligomers are infectious