An Analysis of the Effects of RFID Tags on Narrowband Navigation and Communication Receivers

The simulated effects of the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag emissions on ILS Localizer and ILS Glide Slope functions match the analytical models developed in support of DO-294B provided that the measured peak power levels are adjusted for 1) peak-to-average power ratio, 2) effective duty cycle, and 3) spectrum analyzer measurement bandwidth. When these adjustments are made, simulated and theoretical results are in extraordinarily good agreement. The relationships hold over a large range of potential interference-to-desired signal power ratios, provided that the adjusted interference power is significantly higher than the sum of the receiver noise floor and the noise-like contributions of all other interference sources. When the duty-factor adjusted power spectral densities are applied in the evaluation process described in Section 6 of DO-294B, most narrowband guidance and communications radios performance parameters are unaffected by moderate levels of RFID interference. Specific conclusions and recommendations are provided

Exact solutions for a mean-field Abelian sandpile

We introduce a model for a sandpile, with N sites, critical height N and each site connected to every other site. It is thus a mean-field model in the spin-glass sense. We find an exact solution for the steady state probability distribution of avalanche sizes, and discuss its asymptotics for large N.Comment: 10 pages, LaTe

Vibration and Operational Characteristics of a Composite-Steel (Hybrid) Gear

Hybrid gears have been tested consisting of metallic gear teeth and shafting connected by composite web. Both free vibration and dynamic operation tests were completed at the NASA Glenn Spur Gear Fatigue Test Facility, comparing these hybrid gears to their steel counterparts. The free vibration tests indicated that the natural frequency of the hybrid gear was approximately 800 Hz lower than the steel test gear. The dynamic vibration tests were conducted at five different rotational speeds and three levels of torque in a four square test configuration. The hybrid gears were tested both as fabricated (machined, composite layup, then composite cure) and after regrinding the gear teeth to the required aerospace tolerance. The dynamic vibration tests indicated that the level of vibration for either type of gearing was sensitive to the level of load and rotational speed

Scientific productivity as a random walk

The expectation that scientific productivity follows regular patterns over a career underpins many scholarly evaluations, including hiring, promotion and tenure, awards, and grant funding. However, recent studies of individual productivity patterns reveal a puzzle: on the one hand, the average number of papers published per year robustly follows the "canonical trajectory" of a rapid rise to an early peak followed by a graduate decline, but on the other hand, only about 20% of individual researchers' productivity follows this pattern. We resolve this puzzle by modeling scientific productivity as a parameterized random walk, showing that the canonical pattern can be explained as a decrease in the variance in changes to productivity in the early-to-mid career. By empirically characterizing the variable structure of 2,085 productivity trajectories of computer science faculty at 205 PhD-granting institutions, spanning 29,119 publications over 1980--2016, we (i) discover remarkably simple patterns in both early-career and year-to-year changes to productivity, and (ii) show that a random walk model of productivity both reproduces the canonical trajectory in the average productivity and captures much of the diversity of individual-level trajectories. These results highlight the fundamental role of a panoply of contingent factors in shaping individual scientific productivity, opening up new avenues for characterizing how systemic incentives and opportunities can be directed for aggregate effect

N=4N=4 super KdV equation

We construct $N=4$ supersymmetric KdV equation as a hamiltonian flow on the $N=4\;SU(2)$ super Virasoro algebra. The $N=4$ KdV superfield, the hamiltonian and the related Poisson structure are concisely formulated in $1D \;N=4$ harmonic superspace. The most general hamiltonian is shown to necessarily involve $SU(2)$ breaking parameters which are combined in a traceless rank 2 $SU(2)$ tensor. First nontrivial conserved charges of $N=4$ super KdV (of dimensions 2 and 4) are found to exist if and only if the $SU(2)$ breaking tensor is a bilinear of some $SU(2)$ vector with a fixed length proportional to the inverse of the central charge of $N=4\;SU(2)$ algebra. After the reduction to $N=2$ this restricted version of $N=4$ super KdV goes over to the $a=4$ integrable case of $N=2$ super KdV and so is expected to be integrable. We show that it is bi-hamiltonian like its $N=2$ prototype.Comment: 11 pages, preprint ENSLAPP-L-415-9

Evaluation of a Variable Thickness Hybrid Composite Bull Gear

For several years, NASA Glenn Research Center and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory have been investigating hybrid (composite/steel) gear technology for use in vertical lift drive systems. The hybrid gear concept replaces the structural portion of a gear between the shaft and the gear rim with a lightweight carbon fiber composite, in an effort to reduce the overall weight of a gear and increase the drive system power density. Past research includes both small-scale and large-scale hybrid gear concepts, all of which have a constant composite thickness throughout. The design described in this paper is of a variable thickness, such that the composite is thickest at the inner diameter and this thickness is gradually reduced toward the outer diameter. The resulting "stair stepped" design stems from dropping plies of the braided carbon fiber prepreg composite fabric gradually with increased radius. Additionally, the interlock pattern at the inner metallic adapter was adjusted slightly from previous designs to obtain a better stress distribution on the inner metallic adapter. The manufactured variable thickness web was tested both in static torsion tests and operationally in a relevant gearbox environment. The results of these experiments will be presented and compared to a baseline steel configuration

Stability of a Nonequilibrium Interface in a Driven Phase Segregating System

We investigate the dynamics of a nonequilibrium interface between coexisting phases in a system described by a Cahn-Hilliard equation with an additional driving term. By means of a matched asymptotic expansion we derive equations for the interface motion. A linear stability analysis of these equations results in a condition for the stability of a flat interface. We find that the stability properties of a flat interface depend on the structure of the driving term in the original equation.Comment: 14 pages Latex, 1 postscript-figur

Shifts of attention in the early blind: an ERP study of attentional control processes in the absence of visual spatial information

To investigate the role of visual spatial information in the control of spatial attention, event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a tactile attention task for a group of totally blind participants who were either congenitally blind or had lost vision during infancy, and for an age-matched, sighted control group who performed the task in the dark. Participants had to shift attention to the left or right hand (as indicated by an auditory cue presented at the start of each trial) in order to detect infrequent tactile targets delivered to this hand. Effects of tactile attention on the processing of tactile events, as reflected by attentional modulations of somatosensory ERPs to tactile stimuli, were very similar for early blind and sighted participants, suggesting that the capacity to selectively process tactile information from one hand versus the other does not differ systematically between the blind and the sighted. ERPs measured during the cue–target interval revealed an anterior directing attention negativity (ADAN) that was present for the early blind group as well as for the sighted control group. In contrast, the subsequent posterior late direction attention negativity (LDAP) was absent in both groups. These results suggest that these two components reflect functionally distinct attentional control mechanisms which differ in their dependence on the availability of visually coded representations of external space

Cold Air Distribution in Office Buildings: Technology Assessment for California

This paper presents the results of a study to assess the current state of practice, and energy and operating cost implications of cold air distribution in California, and to identify the key research needs for the continued development of this technology in new commercial buildings in the state. Whole-building energy simulations were made to compare the energy performance of a prototypical office building in three California climates using conventional and cold air distribution, with and without ice storage, to show the impacts of load shifting, energy use, and utility costs for three typical utility rate structures. The merits of economizers and fan-powered mixing boxes were also studied when used in conjunction with cold air delivery. A survey was conducted to assess the perceived strengths and limitations of this technology, perceived barriers to its widespread use, and user experience. The survey was based on interviews with consulting engineers, equipment manufacturers, researchers, utility representatives, and other users of cold air distribution technology. Selected findings from the industry survey are also discussed. Cold air distribution (CoAD) is found to always reduce fan energy use in comparison to conventional 55 F (13 C) air distribution systems, when conditioned air is delivered directly to the space (no fan-powered mixing boxes). Total building energy use for ice storage/CoAD systems was always higher than a well-designed conventional system, but significantly lower than a commonly-installed packaged system. When a favorable utility rate structure was applied, the load-shifting benefits of ice storage/CoAD systems produced the lowest annual operating costs of all system-plant configurations studied