745 research outputs found
Luminous Intensity for Traffic Signals: A Scientific Basis for Performance Specifications
Humnan factors experiments on visual responses to simulated traffic signals using incandescent lamps and light-emitting diodes are described
VLT/NACO adaptive optics imaging of the TY CrA system - A fourth stellar component candidate detected
We report the detection of a possible subsolar mass companion to the triple
young system TY CrA using the NACO instrument at the VLT UT4 during its
commissioning. Assuming for TY CrA a distance similar to that of the close
binary system HD 176386, the photometric spectral type of this fourth stellar
component candidate is consistent with an ~M4 star. We discuss the dynamical
stability of this possible quadruple system as well as the possible location of
dusty particles inside or outside the system.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures postscrip
Drug Delivery Micropump with Built-In Monitoring
AbstractWe report on the fabrication of the first MEMS micropump including an integrated pressure sensor. The signal of this sensor allows direct insight into the pump's operating dynamics and enables real-time self-monitoring. We demonstrate the changes in the sensor signal under different pumping conditions, including the presence of air in the pumping chamber and a downstream occlusions. Deviations from normal operating conditions create clear and characteristic deviations from the normal signal. These deviations will be exploited to detect extraordinary or faulty pumping conditions during use
Laser Guide Stars for Extremely Large Telescopes: Efficient Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensor Design using Weighted center-of-gravity algorithm
Over the last few years increasing consideration has been given to the study
of Laser Guide Stars (LGS) for the measurement of the disturbance introduced by
the atmosphere in optical and near-infrared astronomical observations from the
ground. A possible method for the generation of a LGS is the excitation of the
Sodium layer in the upper atmosphere at approximately 90 km of altitude. Since
the Sodium layer is approximately 10 km thick, the artificial reference source
looks elongated, especially when observed from the edge of a large aperture.
The spot elongation strongly limits the performance of the most common
wavefront sensors. The centroiding accuracy in a Shack-Hartmann wavefront
sensor, for instance, decreases proportionally to the elongation (in a photon
noise dominated regime). To compensate for this effect a straightforward
solution is to increase the laser power, i.e. to increase the number of
detected photons per subaperture. The scope of the work presented in this paper
is twofold: an analysis of the performance of the Weighted Center of Gravity
algorithm for centroiding with elongated spots and the determination of the
required number of photons to achieve a certain average wavefront error over
the telescope aperture.Comment: 10 pages, 14 figure
An Online Survey of the Dietary Practices of Saudi Students in the UK: A Quantitative Study
There has been an abundance of research on the dietary practices of international university students in the United Kingdom (UK), as they comprise a significant proportion of the country’s undergraduate population. However, there is a paucity in the literature with regard to the dietary practices, or other health behaviours, of Saudi students studying in the UK. Therefore, this empirical study sought to provide new insights to address this gap. This study contribution to investigate the dietary practices of Saudi students in the UK. The data was collected from a sample of 212 university students and encompassed an age range from 18 to 31+ years. A quantitative methodology was adopted in the form of an exploratory survey questionnaire. The sample was recruited through voluntary and snowball sampling techniques. Questionnaire data was analysed using Microsoft Excel and SPSS for Windows, version 26. The results demonstrated that various intrapersonal, interpersonal, and environmental factors play a significant role in developing eating behaviours and dietary choices. Some favourable changes in dietary practices were observed among Saudi students in the UK as opposed to Saudi Arabia, including a higher intake of fruit and vegetables, along with a lower intake of soft drinks, sugary and fatty foods. However, there was a notable reduction in consumption of all types of meat and fish as well as the total number of daily meals. Additionally, around a third of participants regularly consumed ready-to-eat food and takeaways 2-6 times a week. Interventions should therefore consider individual, societal and environmental factors
Nulling interferometry: performance comparison between Antarctica and other ground-based sites
Detecting the presence of circumstellar dust around nearby solar-type main
sequence stars is an important pre-requisite for the design of future
life-finding space missions such as ESA's Darwin or NASA's Terrestrial Planet
Finder (TPF). The high Antarctic plateau may provide appropriate conditions to
perform such a survey from the ground. We investigate the performance of a
nulling interferometer optimised for the detection of exozodiacal discs at Dome
C, on the high Antarctic plateau, and compare it to the expected performance of
similar instruments at temperate sites. Based on the currently available
measurements of the turbulence characteristics at Dome C, we adapt the GENIEsim
software (Absil et al. 2006, A&A 448) to simulate the performance of a nulling
interferometer on the high Antarctic plateau. To feed a realistic instrumental
configuration into the simulator, we propose a conceptual design for ALADDIN,
the Antarctic L-band Astrophysics Discovery Demonstrator for Interferometric
Nulling. We assume that this instrument can be placed above the 30-m high
boundary layer, where most of the atmospheric turbulence originates. We show
that an optimised nulling interferometer operating on a pair of 1-m class
telescopes located 30 m above the ground could achieve a better sensitivity
than a similar instrument working with two 8-m class telescopes at a temperate
site such as Cerro Paranal. The detection of circumstellar discs about 20 times
as dense as our local zodiacal cloud seems within reach for typical Darwin/TPF
targets in a integration time of a few hours. Moreover, the exceptional
turbulence conditions significantly relax the requirements on real-time control
loops, which has favourable consequences on the feasibility of the nulling
instrument.Comment: 10 pages, accepted for publication in A&
\u3ci\u3eScaphanocephalus\u3c/i\u3e-Associated Dermatitis as the Basis for Black Spot Disease in Acanthuridae of St. Kitts, West Indies
Acanthurus spp. of St. Kitts and other Caribbean islands, including ocean surgeonfish A. bahianus, doctorfish A. chirurgus, and blue tang A. coeruleus, frequently show multifocal cutaneous pigmentation. Initial reports from the Leeward Antilles raised suspicion of a parasitic etiology. The aim of this study was to quantify the prevalence of the disease in St. Kitts’ Acanthuridae and describe its pathology and etiology. Visual surveys demonstrated consistently high adjusted mean prevalence at 3 shallow reefs in St. Kitts in 2017 (38.9%, 95% CI: 33.8−43.9) and 2018 (51.5%; 95% CI: 46.2−56.9). There were no differences in prevalence across species or reefs, but juvenile fish were less commonly affected than adults. A total of 29 dermatopathy-affected acanthurids were sampled by spearfishing for comprehensive postmortem examination. Digenean metacercariae were dissected from \u3c1 mm cysts within pigmented lesions. Using partial 28S rDNA sequence data they were classified as Family Heterophyidae, members of which are commonly implicated in black spot disease of other fishes. Morphological features of the parasite were most typical of Scaphanocephalus spp. (Creplin, 1842), and 2 genetic profiles were obtained suggesting more than 1 digenean species. Histologically, pigmented lesions had mild chronic perivascular dermatitis and increased melanophores and melanin density, often centered on encysted digenean metacercariae. In 1 affected A. chirurgus, similar metacercariae were histologically identified in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Further research is needed to clarify impact on host fitness, establish the number of heterophyid digenean species that cause black spots on Caribbean fishes and to determine the intermediate and definitive host species
The FALCON concept: multi-object spectroscopy combined with MCAO in near-IR
A large fraction of the present-day stellar mass was formed between z=0.5 and
z~3 and our understanding of the formation mechanisms at work at these epochs
requires both high spatial and high spectral resolution: one shall
simultaneously} obtain images of objects with typical sizes as small as
1-2kpc(~0''.1), while achieving 20-50 km/s (R >= 5000) spectral resolution. The
obvious instrumental solution to adopt in order to tackle the science goal is
therefore a combination of multi-object 3D spectrograph with multi-conjugate
adaptive optics in large fields. A partial, but still competitive correction
shall be prefered, over a much wider field of view. This can be done by
estimating the turbulent volume from sets of natural guide stars, by optimizing
the correction to several and discrete small areas of few arcsec2 selected in a
large field (Nasmyth field of 25 arcmin) and by correcting up to the 6th, and
eventually, up to the 60th Zernike modes. Simulations on real extragalactic
fields, show that for most sources (>80%), the recovered resolution could reach
0".15-0".25 in the J and H bands. Detection of point-like objects is improved
by factors from 3 to >10, when compared with an instrument without adaptive
correction. The proposed instrument concept, FALCON, is equiped with deployable
mini-integral field units (IFUs), achieving spectral resolutions between R=5000
and 20000. Its multiplex capability, combined with high spatial and spectral
resolution characteristics, is a natural ground based complement to the next
generation of space telescopes.Comment: ESO Workshop Proceedings: Scientific Drivers for ESO Future VLT/VLTI
Instrumentation, 10 pages and 5 figure
- …