Development and testing of cabin sidewall acoustic resonators for the reduction of cabin tone levels in propfan-powered aircraft

The use of Helmholtz resonators to increase the sidewall transmission loss (TL) in aircraft cabin sidewalls is evaluated. Development, construction, and test of an aircraft cabin acoustic enclosure, built in support of the Propfan Test Assessment (PTA) program, is described. Laboratory and flight test results are discussed. Resonators (448) were located between the enclosure trim panels and the fuselage shell. In addition, 152 resonators were placed between the enclosure and aircraft floors. The 600 resonators were each tuned to a propfan fundamental blade passage frequency (235 Hz). After flight testing on the PTA aircraft, noise reduction (NR) tests were performed with the enclosure in the Kelly Johnson Research and Development Center Acoustics Laboratory. Broadband and tonal excitations were used in the laboratory. Tonal excitation simulated the propfan flight test excitation. The resonators increase the NR of the cabin walls around the resonance frequency of the resonator array. Increases in NR of up to 11 dB were measured. The effects of flanking, sidewall absorption, cabin absorption, resonator loading of trim panels, and panel vibrations are presented. Resonator and sidewall panel design and test are discussed

OMCat: Catalogue of Serendipitous Sources Detected with the XMM-Newton Optical Monitor

The Optical Monitor Catalogue of serendipitous sources (OMCat) contains entries for every source detected in the publicly available XMM-Newton Optical Monitor (OM) images taken in either the imaging or ``fast'' modes. Since the OM is coaligned and records data simultaneously with the X-ray telescopes on XMM-Newton, it typically produces images in one or more near-UV/optical bands for every pointing of the observatory. As of the beginning of 2006, the public archive had covered roughly 0.5% of the sky in 2950 fields. The OMCat is not dominated by sources previously undetected at other wavelengths; the bulk of objects have optical counterparts. However, the OMCat can be used to extend optical or X-ray spectral energy distributions for known objects into the ultraviolet, to study at higher angular resolution objects detected with GALEX, or to find high-Galactic-latitude objects of interest for UV spectroscopy.Comment: 25 pages, 22 figures, submitted to PAS

Characterisation of spatial network-like patterns from junctions' geometry

We propose a new method for quantitative characterization of spatial network-like patterns with loops, such as surface fracture patterns, leaf vein networks and patterns of urban streets. Such patterns are not well characterized by purely topological estimators: also patterns that both look different and result from different morphogenetic processes can have similar topology. A local geometric cue -the angles formed by the different branches at junctions- can complement topological information and allow to quantify the large scale spatial coherence of the pattern. For patterns that grow over time, such as fracture lines on the surface of ceramics, the rank assigned by our method to each individual segment of the pattern approximates the order of appearance of that segment. We apply the method to various network-like patterns and we find a continuous but sharp dichotomy between two classes of spatial networks: hierarchical and homogeneous. The first class results from a sequential growth process and presents large scale organization, the latter presents local, but not global organization.Comment: version 2, 14 page

Coupled ferro-antiferromagnetic Heisenberg bilayers investigated by many-body Green's function theory

A theory of coupled ferro- and antiferromagnetic Heisenberg layers is developed within the framework of many-body Green's function theory (GFT) that allows non-collinear magnetic arrangements by introducing sublattice structures. As an example, the coupled ferro- antiferromagnetic (FM-AFM) bilayer is investigated. We compare the results with those of bilayers with purely ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic couplings. In each case we also show the corresponding results of mean field theory (MFT), in which magnon excitations are completely neglected. There are significant differences between GFT and MFT. A remarkable finding is that for the coupled FM-AFM bilayer the critical temperature decreases with increasing interlayer coupling strength for a simple cubic lattice, whereas the opposite is true for an fcc lattice as well as for MFT for both lattice types.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys. Condens. Matter, missing fig.5 adde

A statistical mechanical description of metastable states and hysteresis in the 3D soft-spin random-field model at T=0

We present a formalism for computing the complexity of metastable states and the zero-temperature magnetic hysteresis loop in the soft-spin random-field model in finite dimensions. The complexity is obtained as the Legendre transform of the free-energy associated to a certain action in replica space and the hysteresis loop above the critical disorder is defined as the curve in the field-magnetization plane where the complexity vanishes; the nonequilibrium magnetization is therefore obtained without having to follow the dynamical evolution. We use approximations borrowed from condensed-matter theory and based on assumptions on the structure of the direct correlation functions (or proper vertices), such as a local approximation for the self-energies, to calculate the hysteresis loop in three dimensions, the correlation functions along the loop, and the second moment of the avalanche-size distribution.Comment: 28 pages, 12 figure

Magnetic and structural quantum phase transitions in CeCu6-xAux are independent

The heavy-fermion compound CeCu$_{6-x}$Au$_x$ has become a model system for unconventional magnetic quantum criticality. For small Au concentrations $0 \leq x < 0.16$, the compound undergoes a structural transition from orthorhombic to monoclinic crystal symmetry at a temperature $T_{s}$ with $T_{s} \rightarrow 0$ for $x \approx 0.15$. Antiferromagnetic order sets in close to $x \approx 0.1$. To shed light on the interplay between quantum critical magnetic and structural fluctuations we performed neutron-scattering and thermodynamic measurements on samples with $0 \leq x\leq 0.3$. The resulting phase diagram shows that the antiferromagnetic and monoclinic phase coexist in a tiny Au concentration range between $x\approx 0.1$ and $0.15$. The application of hydrostatic and chemical pressure allows to clearly separate the transitions from each other and to explore a possible effect of the structural transition on the magnetic quantum critical behavior. Our measurements demonstrate that at low temperatures the unconventional quantum criticality exclusively arises from magnetic fluctuations and is not affected by the monoclinic distortion.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

The X-ray Structure and Spectrum of the Pulsar Wind Nebula Surrounding PSR B1853+01 in W44

We present the result of a Chandra ACIS observation of the pulsar PSR B1853+01 and its associated pulsar wind nebula (PWN), embedded within the supernova remnant W44. A hard band ACIS map cleanly distinguishes the PWN from the thermal emission of W44. The nebula is extended in the north-south direction, with an extent about half that of the radio emission. Morphological differences between the X-ray and radio images are apparent. Spectral fitting reveals a clear difference in spectral index between the hard emission from PSR B1853+01 (Gamma ~ 1.4) and the extended nebula (Gamma ~ 2.2). The more accurate values for the X-ray flux and spectral index are used refine estimates for PWN parameters, including magnetic field strength, the average Lorentz factor, gamma, of the particles in the wind, the magnetization parameter, sigma, and the ratio k of electrons to other particles.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Ap

Using Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarker Testing to Target Treatment to Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Objective Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers are shown to facilitate a risk identification of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) into different risk levels of progression to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Knowing a patient’s risk level provides an opportunity for earlier interventions, which could result in potential greater benefits. We assessed the cost effectiveness of the use of CSF biomarkers in MCI patients where the treatment decision was based on patients’ risk level. Methods We developed a state-transition model to project lifetime quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and costs for a cohort of 65-year-old MCI patients from a US societal perspective. We compared four test-and-treat strategies where the decision to treat was based on a patient’s risk level (low, intermediate, high) of progressing to AD with two strategies without testing, one where no patients were treated during the MCI phase and in the other all patients were treated. We performed deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses to evaluate parameter uncertainty. Results Testing and treating low-risk MCI patients was the most cost-effective strategy with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of US$37,700 per QALY. Our results were most sensitive to the level of treatment effectiveness for patients with mild AD and for MCI patients. Moreover, the ICERs for this strategy at the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles were US$18,900 and US$50,100 per QALY, respectively. Conclusion Based on the best available evidence regarding the treatment effectiveness for MCI, this study suggests the potential value of performing CSF biomarker testing for early targeted treatments among MCI patients with a narrow range for the ICER

An XMM-Newton Observation of the Local Bubble Using a Shadowing Filament in the Southern Galactic Hemisphere

We present an analysis of the X-ray spectrum of the Local Bubble, obtained by simultaneously analyzing spectra from two XMM-Newton pointings on and off an absorbing filament in the Southern galactic hemisphere (b ~ -45 deg). We use the difference in the Galactic column density in these two directions to deduce the contributions of the unabsorbed foreground emission due to the Local Bubble, and the absorbed emission from the Galactic halo and the extragalactic background. We find the Local Bubble emission is consistent with emission from a plasma in collisional ionization equilibrium with a temperature $\log T_{LB} = 6.06^{+0.02}_{-0.04}$ and an emission measure of 0.018 cm^{-6} pc. Our measured temperature is in good agreement with values obtained from ROSAT All-Sky Survey data, but is lower than that measured by other recent XMM-Newton observations of the Local Bubble, which find $\log T_{LB} \approx 6.2$ (although for some of these observations it is possible that the foreground emission is contaminated by non-Local Bubble emission from Loop I). The higher temperature observed towards other directions is inconsistent with our data, when combined with a FUSE measurement of the Galactic halo O VI intensity. This therefore suggests that the Local Bubble is thermally anisotropic. Our data are unable to rule out a non-equilibrium model in which the plasma is underionized. However, an overionized recombining plasma model, while observationally acceptable for certain densities and temperatures, generally gives an implausibly young age for the Local Bubble (\la 6 \times 10^5 yr).Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal. 16 pages, 9 figure

Destabilizing effects of visual environment motions simulating eye movements or head movements

In the present paper, we explore effects on the human of exposure to a visual virtual environment which has been enslaved to simulate the human user's head movements or eye movements. Specifically, we have studied the capacity of our experimental subjects to maintain stable spatial orientation in the context of moving their entire visible surroundings by using the parameters of the subjects' natural movements. Our index of the subjects' spatial orientation was the extent of involuntary sways of the body while attempting to stand still, as measured by translations and rotations of the head. We also observed, informally, their symptoms of motion sickness