Method and apparatus for measuring distance

The invention employs a continuous wave radar technique and apparatus which can be used as a distance measuring system in the presence of background clutter by utilizing small passive transponders. A first continuous electromagnetic wave signal S sub 1 at a first frequency f sub 1 is transmitted from a first location. A transponder carried by a target object positioned at a second (remote) location receives the transmitted signal, phase-coherently divides the f sub 1 frequency and its phase, and re-transmits the transmitted signal as a second continuous electromagnetic wave signal S sub 2 at a lower frequency f sub 2 which is a subharmonic of f sub 1. The re-transmitted signal is received at the first location where a measurement of the phase difference is made between the signals S sub 1 and S sub 2, such measuremnt being indicative of the distance between the first and second locations

Application of radar for automotive collision avoidance. Volume 2: Development plan and progress reports

The purpose of this project was research and development of an automobile collision avoidance radar system. Items within the scope of the one-year effort were to: (1) review previous authors' work in this field; (2) select a suitable radar approach; (3) develop a system design; (4) perform basic analyses and observations pertinent to radar design, performance, and effects; (5) fabricate and collect radar data from a data collection radar; (6) analyze and derive conclusions from the radar data; and (7) make recommendations about the likelihood of success of the investigated radar techniques. The final technical report presenting all conclusions is contained in Volume 1

Microwave microstrip resonator measurements of Y1Ba2Cu3O(7-x) and Bi2Sr2Ca1Cu2O(8-y) thin films

Radio frequency (RF) surface resistance measurement experiments on high T(sub c) thin films were performed. The method uses a microstrip resonator comprising a top gold conductor strip, an alumina dielectric layer, and a separate superconductivity ground plane. The surface resistance of the superconducting ground plane can be determined, with reference to a gold calibration standard, from the measured quality factor of the half-wave resonator. Initial results near 7 GHz over the temperature range from 25 to 300 K are presented for YBa2Cu3O(7-x) and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8-y) thin film samples deposited by an electron beam flash evaporation process. The RF surface resistance at 25 K for both materials in these samples was found to be near 25 milliohms

Influence of classical resonances on chaotic tunnelling

Dynamical tunnelling between symmetry-related stable modes is studied in the periodically driven pendulum. We present strong evidence that the tunnelling process is governed by nonlinear resonances that manifest within the regular phase-space islands on which the stable modes are localized. By means of a quantitative numerical study of the corresponding Floquet problem, we identify the trace of such resonances not only in the level splittings between near-degenerate quantum states, where they lead to prominent plateau structures, but also in overlap matrix elements of the Floquet eigenstates, which reveal characteristic sequences of avoided crossings in the Floquet spectrum. The semiclassical theory of resonance-assisted tunnelling yields good overall agreement with the quantum-tunnelling rates, and indicates that partial barriers within the chaos might play a prominent role

Method and apparatus for measuring frequency and phase difference

A system for deriving direct digital indications of frequency and phase difference between two incoming pulse trains adaptable for collision avoidance systems or the like. A pair of radar beams 152 and 152A are directed toward a target 153 and corresponding beams 154 and 154A returning therefrom are detected. A digital difference circuit 110 forms a pulse train 66 from the Doppler shift frequencies of each beam pair having a repetition rate functionally related to the difference in magnitude of the shift frequencies. Pulses from the pulse train are counted as a function of time. Visual indications thereof on display 144 are correlative to target position relative to beams 152 and 152A

Dynamical tunnelling with ultracold atoms in magnetic microtraps

The study of dynamical tunnelling in a periodically driven anharmonic potential probes the quantum-classical transition via the experimental control of the effective Planck's constant for the system. In this paper we consider the prospects for observing dynamical tunnelling with ultracold atoms in magnetic microtraps on atom chips. We outline the driven anharmonic potentials that are possible using standard magnetic traps, and find the Floquet spectrum for one of these as a function of the potential strength, modulation, and effective Planck's constant. We develop an integrable approximation to the non-integrable Hamiltonian and find that it can explain the behaviour of the tunnelling rate as a function of the effective Planck's constant in the regular region of parameter space. In the chaotic region we compare our results with the predictions of models that describe chaos-assisted tunnelling. Finally we examine the practicality of performing these experiments in the laboratory with Bose-Einstein condensates.Comment: V1: 12 pages, 10 figures. V2: 14 pages, 12 figures, significantly updated in response to referee report. Some figures are lower quality to reduce file sizes, please contact submitter for high quality versions. V3: Introduction rewritten, but mostly unchanged; updated to published versio

Dementia in residential care: education intervention trial (DIRECT); protocol for a randomised controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is scope to improve the quality of life (QOL) of people with dementia living in residential care facilities (RCF). The DIRECT study will determine if delivery of education to General Practitioners (GPs) and care staff improves the quality of life of residential care recipients with cognitive impairment.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>A prospective randomised controlled trial conduced in residential aged care facilities in the metropolitan area of Perth, Western Australia. Participants are care facility residents, aged 65 years and older and with mini-mental state examination scores less than 25. GPs and care facility staff have been independently randomised to intervention or control groups. An education programme, designed to meet the perceived needs of learners, will be delivered to GPs and care staff in the intervention groups. The primary outcome of the study will be quality of life of the people with dementia, measured using the QOL-Alzheimer's Disease Scale (QOL-AD) and Alzheimer Disease Related QOL Scale (ADRQL), 4 weeks and 6 months after the conclusion of the education intervention.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Recruitment of 351 people with dementia, cared for by staff in 39 residential facilities and 55 GPs, was undertaken between May 2007 and July 2008. Collection of baseline data is complete. Education has been delivered to GPs and Care staff between September 2008 and July 2009. Follow- up data collection is underway.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The study results will have tangible implications for proprietors, managers and staff from the residential care sector and policy makers. The results have potential to directly benefit the quality of life of both patients and carers.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>These trial methods have been prospectively registered (ACTRN12607000417482).</p

NIH Disease Funding Levels and Burden of Disease

BACKGROUND: An analysis of NIH funding in 1996 found that the strongest predictor of funding, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), explained only 39% of the variance in funding. In 1998, Congress requested that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) evaluate priority-setting criteria for NIH funding; the IOM recommended greater consideration of disease burden. We examined whether the association between current burden and funding has changed since that time. METHODS: We analyzed public data on 2006 NIH funding for 29 common conditions. Measures of US disease burden in 2004 were obtained from the World Health Organization's Global Burden of Disease study and national databases. We assessed the relationship between disease burden and NIH funding dollars in univariate and multivariable log-linear models that evaluated all measures of disease burden. Sensitivity analyses examined associations with future US burden, current and future measures of world disease burden, and a newly standardized NIH accounting method. RESULTS: In univariate and multivariable analyses, disease-specific NIH funding levels increased with burden of disease measured in DALYs (p = 0.001), which accounted for 33% of funding level variation. No other factor predicted funding in multivariable models. Conditions receiving the most funding greater than expected based on disease burden were AIDS ($2474 M), diabetes mellitus ($390 M), and perinatal conditions ($297 M). Depression ($719 M), injuries ($691 M), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ($613 M) were the most underfunded. Results were similar using estimates of future US burden, current and future world disease burden, and alternate NIH accounting methods. CONCLUSIONS: Current levels of NIH disease-specific research funding correlate modestly with US disease burden, and correlation has not improved in the last decade

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts