Radio Astrometry

The utilization of conventional and VLBI interferometer techniques for accurate determination of UTI, polar motion, and radio source position catalog data is discussed

Pneumatic inflatable end effector

The invention relates to an end effector device for robot or teleoperated type space vehicle which includes an inflatable balloon member carried on the end of tubular member which has a hollow center or conduit through which a suitable pressurized fluid is supplied. The device may be inserted into a variety of shaped openings or truss-type structures for handling in space

Does perceived organisational support influence career intentions?:The qualitative stories shared by UK early career doctors

Our thanks to all those FP2 doctors who participated in the interviews. Our thanks also to the Foundation Programme Directorate staff in the Scotland Deanery, NHS Education for Scotland, for sending out the email correspondence to the two regions involved in the interviews. No patients or any members of the public were involved in this study. Funding: Our thanks go to NHS Education for Scotland for funding Gillian Scanlan’s programme of work through the Scottish Medical Education Research Consortium (SMERC) and for funding the open-access fee for this paper.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Does initial postgraduate career intention and social demographics predict perceived career behaviour?:A national cross-sectional survey of UK postgraduate doctors

Acknowledgements: Our thanks to all those FP2 doctors who participated in the survey. Our thanks also to the Foundation Programme Directors across the UK for allowing permission to conduct research on this data set. No patients or any members of the public were involved in this study. Funding: Our thanks go to NHS Education for Scotland for funding Gillian Scanlan’s programme of work through the Scottish Medical Education Research Consortium (SMERC). Data sharing statement: The data reported is from the UKFPO dataset, and any data shared would need the permission of the UK Foundation Programme directorsPeer reviewedPublisher PD

A Radio--Optical Reference Frame VIII. CCD observations from KPNO and CTIO: internal calibration and first results

In this pilot investigation, precise optical positions in the FK5 system are presented for a set of 16 compact extragalactic radio sources, which will be part of the future radio--optical reference frame. The 0.9 m KPNO and CTIO telescopes equipped with 2K CCD's have been used for this project. The astrometric properties of these instruments are investigated in detail. New techniques of using wide field CCD observations for astrometry in general are developed. An internal precision of 5 to 31 mas in position per single exposure is found, depending on the brightness of the object. The tie to the primary optical reference system is established by photographic astrometry using dedicated astrographs on both hemispheres. An accuracy of $\approx 30$ mas per source is estimated for the multi--step reduction procedure when based on the future Hipparcos catalog, while the FK5--based positions suffer from system errors of 100 to 200 mas as compared to the radio positions. This work provides a contribution to the international effort to link the Hipparcos instrumental coordinate system to the quasi--inertial VLBI radio reference frame. Precise radio and optical astrometry of a large sample of compact extragalactic sources will also contribute to the astrophysics of these objects by comparing the respective centers of emission at the optical and radio wavelengths.Comment: AAS v.4 LaTeX, 2 parts on 1 file (main text + deluxetable), accepted by AJ, Dec.95, fig. with reprint

Subsonic longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics and engine pressure distributions for an aircraft with an integrated scramjet designed for Mach 6 cruise

A 1/10-scale model of a proposed hypersonic aircraft with an integrated scramjet was tested. The investigation took place over a Mach number range from 0.2 to 0.7 and an angle of attack range from 2 deg to approximately 17 deg at a sideslip angle of 0 deg. The primary configuration variables studied were engine location, internal engine geometry, and external engine geometry. The results are presented without analysis

Application of Remote Sensing Techniques for Appraising Changes in Wildlife Habitat

An attempt was made to investigate the potential of airborne, multispectral, line scanner data acquisition and computer-implemented automatic recognition techniques for providing useful information about waterfowl breeding habitat in North Dakota. The spectral characteristics of the components of a landscape containing waterfowl habitat can be detected with airborne scanners. By analyzing these spectral characteristics it is possible to identify and map the landscape components through analog and digital processing methods. At the present stage of development multispectral remote sensing techniques are not ready for operational application to surveys of migratory bird habitat and other such resources. Further developments are needed to: (1) increase accuracy; (2) decrease retrieval and processing time; and (3) reduce costs