2,631 research outputs found
The infrared imaging spectrograph (IRIS) for TMT: electronics-cable architecture
The InfraRed Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) is a first-light instrument for the
Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). It combines a diffraction limited imager and an
integral field spectrograph. This paper focuses on the electrical system of
IRIS. With an instrument of the size and complexity of IRIS we face several
electrical challenges. Many of the major controllers must be located directly
on the cryostat to reduce cable lengths, and others require multiple bulkheads
and must pass through a large cable wrap. Cooling and vibration due to the
rotation of the instrument are also major challenges. We will present our
selection of cables and connectors for both room temperature and cryogenic
environments, packaging in the various cabinets and enclosures, and techniques
for complex bulkheads including for large detectors at the cryostat wall
Simulation, modelling and development of the metris RCA
In partnership with Metris UK we discuss the utilisation of modelling and simulation methods in the development of a revolutionary 7-axis Robot CMM Arm (RCA). An offline virtual model is described, facilitating pre-emptive collision avoidance and assessment of optimal placement of the RCA relative to scan specimens. Workspace accessibility of the RCA is examined under a range of geometrical assumptions and we discuss the effects of arbitrary offsets resulting from manufacturing tolerances. Degeneracy is identified in the number of ways a given pose may be attained and it is demonstrated how a simplified model may be exploited to solve the inverse kinematics problem of finding the âcorrectâ set of joint angles. We demonstrate how the seventh axis may be utilised to avoid obstacles or otherwise awkward poses, giving the unit greater dexterity than traditional CMMs. The results of finite element analysis and static force modelling on the RCA are presented which provide an estimate of the forces exerted on the internal measurement arm in a range of poses
Component greenhouse gas fluxes and radiative balance from two deltaic marshes in Louisiana: Pairing chamber techniques and eddy covariance
Coastal marshes take up atmospheric CO2 while emitting CO2, CH4, and N2O. This ability to sequester carbon (C) is much greater for wetlands on a per area basis than from most ecosystems, facilitating scientific, political, and economic interest in their value as greenhouse gas sinks. However, the greenhouse gas balance of Gulf of Mexico wetlands is particularly understudied. We describe the net ecosystem exchange (NEEc) of CO2 and CH4 using eddy covariance (EC) in comparison with fluxes of CO2, CH4, and N2O using chambers from brackish and freshwater marshes in Louisiana, USA. From EC, we found that 182 g Cm-2 yr-1 was lost through NEEc from the brackish marsh. Of this, 11 g Cm-2 yr-1 resulted from net CH4 emissions and the remaining 171 g Cm-2 yr-1 resulted from net CO2 emissions. In contrast, -290 g Cm2 yr-1 was taken up through NEEc by the freshwater marsh, with 47 g Cm-2 yr-1 emitted as CH4 and -337 g Cm-2 yr-1 taken up as CO2. From chambers, we discovered that neither site had large fluxes of N2O. Sustained-flux greenhouse gas accounting metrics indicated that both marshes had a positive (warming) radiative balance, with the brackish marsh having a substantially greater warming effect than the freshwater marsh. That net respiratory emissions of CO2 and CH4 as estimated through chamber techniques were 2â4 times different from emissions estimated through EC requires additional understanding of the artifacts created by different spatial and temporal sampling footprints between techniques
A multi-centre qualitative study exploring the experiences of UK South Asian and White Diabetic Patients referred for renal care
Background
An exploration of renal complications of diabetes from the patient perspective is important for developing quality care through the diabetic renal disease care pathway.
Methods
Newly referred South Asian and White diabetic renal patients over 16 years were recruited from nephrology outpatient clinics in three UK centres - Luton, West London and Leicester â and their experiences of the diabetes and renal care recorded.
A semi-structured qualitative interview was conducted with 48 patients. Interview transcripts were analysed thematically and comparisons made between the White and South Asian groups.
Results
23 South Asian patients and 25 White patients were interviewed. Patient experience of diabetes ranged from a few months to 35 years with a mean time since diagnosis of 12.1 years and 17.1 years for the South Asian and White patients respectively. Confusion emerged as a response to referral shared by both groups. This sense of confusion was associated with reported lack of information at the time of referral, but also before referral. Language barriers exacerbated confusion for South Asian patients.
Conclusions
The diabetic renal patients who have been referred for specialist renal care and found the referral process confusing have poor of awareness of kidney complications of diabetes. Healthcare providers should be more aware of the ongoing information needs of long term diabetics as well as the context of any information exchange including language barriers
The History of the Mysterious Eclipses of KH 15D II. Asiago, Kiso, Kitt Peak, Mt. Wilson, Palomar, Tautenburg and Rozhen Observatories, 1954-97
The unusual pre-main-sequence binary star named KH 15D undergoes remarkably
deep and long-lasting periodic eclipses. Some clues about the reason for these
eclipses have come from the observed evolution of the system's light curve over
the last century. Here we present UBVRI photometry of KH 15D based on
photographic plates from various observatories, ranging in time from 1954 to
1997. The system has been variable at the ~1 mag level since at least 1965.
There is no evidence for color variations, with a typical limit of Delta(B-V) <
0.2 mag. We confirm some previously published results that were based on a
smaller sample of plates: from approximately 1965 to 1990, the total flux was
modulated with the 48-day orbital period of the binary, but the maximum flux
was larger, the fractional variations were smaller, and the phase of minimum
flux was shifted by almost a half-cycle relative to the modern light curve. All
these results are consistent with the recently proposed theory that KH 15D is
being occulted by an inclined, precessing, circumbinary ring.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in
Astronomical Journa
GraphCombEx: A Software Tool for Exploration of Combinatorial Optimisation Properties of Large Graphs
We present a prototype of a software tool for exploration of multiple
combinatorial optimisation problems in large real-world and synthetic complex
networks. Our tool, called GraphCombEx (an acronym of Graph Combinatorial
Explorer), provides a unified framework for scalable computation and
presentation of high-quality suboptimal solutions and bounds for a number of
widely studied combinatorial optimisation problems. Efficient representation
and applicability to large-scale graphs and complex networks are particularly
considered in its design. The problems currently supported include maximum
clique, graph colouring, maximum independent set, minimum vertex clique
covering, minimum dominating set, as well as the longest simple cycle problem.
Suboptimal solutions and intervals for optimal objective values are estimated
using scalable heuristics. The tool is designed with extensibility in mind,
with the view of further problems and both new fast and high-performance
heuristics to be added in the future. GraphCombEx has already been successfully
used as a support tool in a number of recent research studies using
combinatorial optimisation to analyse complex networks, indicating its promise
as a research software tool
Anthropic prediction in a large toy landscape
The successful anthropic prediction of the cosmological constant depends
crucially on the assumption of a flat prior distribution. However, previous
calculations in simplified landscape models showed that the prior distribution
is staggered, suggesting a conflict with anthropic predictions. Here we
analytically calculate the full distribution, including the prior and anthropic
selection effects, in a toy landscape model with a realistic number of vacua,
. We show that it is possible for the fractal prior
distribution we find to behave as an effectively flat distribution in a wide
class of landscapes, depending on the regime of parameter space. Whether or not
this possibility is realized depends on presently unknown details of the
landscape.Comment: 13 page
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