25,736 research outputs found
SgpDec : Cascade (de)compositions of finite transformation semigroups and permutation groups
We describe how the SgpDec computer algebra package can be used for composing and decomposing permutation groups and transformation semigroups hierarchically by directly constructing substructures of wreath products, the so called cascade products.Final Accepted Versio
Causal Classical Theory of Radiation Damping
It is shown how initial conditions can be appropriately defined for the
integration of Lorentz-Dirac equations of motion. The integration is performed
\QTR{it}{forward} in time. The theory is applied to the case of the motion of
an electron in an intense laser pulse, relevant to nonlinear Compton
scattering.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
Taylor\u27s contribution to cost accounting: A comment
Frederick Winslow Taylor developed a system of cost accounting while at the Midvale Steel Company (1878 to 1890). In their article on his contribution to the development of cost accounting, Chen and Pan suggest that Taylor has not received the credit he deserves. They also assert a close association between cost accounting and scientific management. Finally, Chen and Pan compare Taylor\u27s work with a book published in 1885 by Metcalfe
Some influences on the development of cost accounting
The influence of engineers on the development of cost accounting in the closing decades of last century has been well recognized. The influence of economists, the retarding effects of an obsession with industrial secrecy, and some curious effects of competition and the lack of it have not been fully explored. These matters are examined in this paper, together with some of the consequences of the efficiency movement, as seen in the costing system developed by Alexander Hamilton Church. The strengths and weaknesses of present-day cost accounting are related to this early period of development
The Adiabatic Invariance of the Action Variable in Classical Dynamics
We consider one-dimensional classical time-dependent Hamiltonian systems with
quasi-periodic orbits. It is well-known that such systems possess an adiabatic
invariant which coincides with the action variable of the Hamiltonian
formalism. We present a new proof of the adiabatic invariance of this quantity
and illustrate our arguments by means of explicit calculations for the harmonic
oscillator.
The new proof makes essential use of the Hamiltonian formalism. The key step
is the introduction of a slowly-varying quantity closely related to the action
variable. This new quantity arises naturally within the Hamiltonian framework
as follows: a canonical transformation is first performed to convert the system
to action-angle coordinates; then the new quantity is constructed as an action
integral (effectively a new action variable) using the new coordinates. The
integration required for this construction provides, in a natural way, the
averaging procedure introduced in other proofs, though here it is an average in
phase space rather than over time.Comment: 8 page
How much dystrophin is enough: the physiological consequences of different levels of dystrophin in the mdx mouse
Splice modulation therapy has shown great clinical promise in Duchenne muscular dystrophy, resulting in the production of dystrophin protein. Despite this, the relationship between restoring dystrophin to established dystrophic muscle and its ability to induce clinically relevant changes in muscle function is poorly understood. In order to robustly evaluate functional improvement, we used in situ protocols in the mdx mouse to measure muscle strength and resistance to eccentric contraction-induced damage. Here, we modelled the treatment of muscle with pre-existing dystrophic pathology using antisense oligonucleotides conjugated to a cell-penetrating peptide. We reveal that 15% homogeneous dystrophin expression is sufficient to protect against eccentric contraction-induced injury. In addition, we demonstrate a >40% increase in specific isometric force following repeated administrations. Strikingly, we show that changes in muscle strength are proportional to dystrophin expression levels. These data define the dystrophin restoration levels required to slow down or prevent disease progression and improve overall muscle function once a dystrophic environment has been established in the mdx mouse model
Scanamorphos: a map-making software for Herschel and similar scanning bolometer arrays
Scanamorphos is one of the public softwares available to post-process scan
observations performed with the Herschel photometer arrays. This
post-processing mainly consists in subtracting the total low-frequency noise
(both its thermal and non-thermal components), masking high-frequency artefacts
such as cosmic ray hits, and projecting the data onto a map. Although it was
developed for Herschel, it is also applicable with minimal adjustment to scan
observations made with some other imaging arrays subjected to low-frequency
noise, provided they entail sufficient redundancy; it was successfully applied
to P-Artemis, an instrument operating on the APEX telescope. Contrary to
matrix-inversion softwares and high-pass filters, Scanamorphos does not assume
any particular noise model, and does not apply any Fourier-space filtering to
the data, but is an empirical tool using purely the redundancy built in the
observations -- taking advantage of the fact that each portion of the sky is
sampled at multiple times by multiple bolometers. It is an interactive software
in the sense that the user is allowed to optionally visualize and control
results at each intermediate step, but the processing is fully automated. This
paper describes the principles and algorithm of Scanamorphos and presents
several examples of application.Comment: This is the final version as accepted by PASP (on July 27, 2013). A
copy with much better-quality figures is available on
http://www2.iap.fr/users/roussel/herschel
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