Atmospheric variability and air-sea interaction

The topics studied include: (1) processing of Northern Hemispheric precipitation data, in order to fill in the transition seasons to provide a continuous 40 year data base on the variability of continental precipitation; (2) comparison of seasonally averaged fields of sea surface temperature obtained from ship observations in the North Atlantic and North Pacific in 1970 with the corresponding fields inferred from satellite observations; (3) estimation of seasonal average of total precipitable water at those admittedly few oceanic stations where repeated vertical soundings were made in 1970 and comparison with corresponding values inferred from satellite measurements; (4) comparison of seasonally averaged evaporation fields determined from ground based observations in 1970 with the field of divergence of the seasonal total horizontal water vapor flux inferred from satellite total water measurements and NMC wind data for the lower troposphere; (5) examination of meaning of convection-inversion index

Supersonic aircraft Patent

Design of supersonic aircraft with novel fixed, swept wing planfor

Crew Motion and the Dynamic Environment of Spaceborne Experiments

Analytical study of crew motion on dynamic environment of orbiting laboratorie

A Hard X-Ray Study of Ultraluminous X-ray Source NGC 5204 X-1 with NuSTAR and XMM-Newton

We present the results from coordinated X-ray observations of the ultraluminous X-ray source NGC 5204 X-1 performed by NuSTAR and XMM-Newton in early 2013. These observations provide the first detection of NGC 5204 X-1 above 10 keV, extending the broadband coverage to 0.3-20 keV. The observations were carried out in two epochs separated by approximately 10 days, and showed little spectral variation, with an observed luminosity of Lx = (4.95+/-0.11)e39 erg/s. The broadband spectrum confirms the presence of a clear spectral downturn above 10 keV seen in some previous observations. This cutoff is inconsistent with the standard low/hard state seen in Galactic black hole binaries, as would be expected from an intermediate mass black hole accreting at significantly sub-Eddington rates given the observed luminosity. The continuum is apparently dominated by two optically thick thermal-like components, potentially accompanied by a faint high energy tail. The broadband spectrum is likely associated with an accretion disk that differs from a standard Shakura & Sunyaev thin disk.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

Type and Timing of Rehabilitation Following Acute and Subacute Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review

Objectives: The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature to address the following clinical questions: In adult patients with acute and subacute complete or incomplete traumatic SCI, (1) does the time interval between injury and commencing rehabilitation affect outcome?; (2) what is the comparative effectiveness of different rehabilitation strategies, including different intensities and durations of treatment?; (3) are there patient or injury characteristics that affect the efficacy of rehabilitation?; and (4) what is the cost-effectiveness of various rehabilitation strategies? Methods: A systematic search was conducted for literature published through March 31, 2015 that evaluated rehabilitation strategies in adults with acute or subacute traumatic SCI at any level. Studies were critically appraised individually and the overall strength of evidence was evaluated using methods proposed by the GRADE (Grades of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation) working group. Results: The search strategy yielded 384 articles, 19 of which met our inclusion criteria. Based on our results, there was no difference between body weight–supported treadmill training and conventional rehabilitation with respect to improvements in Functional Independence Measure (FIM) Locomotor score, Lower Extremity Motor Scores, the distance walked in 6 minutes or gait velocity over 15.2 m. Functional electrical therapy resulted in slightly better FIM Motor, FIM Self-Care, and Spinal Cord Independence Measure Self-Care subscores compared with conventional occupational therapy. Comparisons using the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute Hand Function Test demonstrated no differences between groups in 7 of 9 domains. There were no clinically important differences in Maximal Lean Test, Maximal Sidewards Reach Test, T-shirt Test, or the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure between unsupported sitting training and standard in-patient rehabilitation. Conclusion: The current evidence base for rehabilitation following acute and subacute spinal cord injury is limited. Methodological challenges have contributed to this and further research is still needed. © 2017, © The Author(s) 2017

Ground-State Roughness of the Disordered Substrate and Flux Line in d=2

We apply optimization algorithms to the problem of finding ground states for crystalline surfaces and flux lines arrays in presence of disorder. The algorithms provide ground states in polynomial time, which provides for a more precise study of the interface widths than from Monte Carlo simulations at finite temperature. Using $d=2$ systems up to size $420^2$, with a minimum of $2 \times 10^3$ realizations at each size, we find very strong evidence for a $\ln^2(L)$ super-rough state at low temperatures.Comment: 10 pages, 3 PS figures, to appear in PR

On the Effects of Changing the Boundary Conditions on the Ground State of Ising Spin Glasses

We compute and analyze couples of ground states of 3D spin glass systems with the same quenched noise but periodic and anti-periodic boundary conditions for different lattice sizes. We discuss the possible different behaviors of the system, we analyze the average link overlap, the probability distribution of window overlaps (among ground states computed with different boundary conditions) and the spatial overlap and link overlap correlation functions. We establish that the picture based on Replica Symmetry Breaking correctly describes the behavior of 3D Spin Glasses.Comment: 25 pages with 11 ps figures include

Strangelets: Who is Looking, and How?

It has been over 30 years since the first suggestion that the true ground state of cold hadronic matter might be not nuclear matter but rather strange quark matter (SQM). Ever since, searches for stable SQM have been proceeding in various forms and have observed a handful of interesting events but have neither been able to find compelling evidence for stable strangelets nor to rule out their existence. I will survey the current status and near future of such searches with particular emphasis on the idea of SQM from strange star collisions as part of the cosmic ray flux.Comment: Talk given at International Conference on Strangeness in Quark Matter, 2006. 8 pages. 1 figur