137 research outputs found
Photoheliograph Functional Verification Unit Test and Operations Plan, November 1967 - June 1968
Test and operations plan for functional verification unit of photoheliograph to be used with Apollo telescope moun
Use of Carbon Arc Lamps as Solar Simulation in Environmental Testing
This report covers work done by the authors on the solar simulator for the six-foot diameter space simulator presently in use at JPL. The space simulator was made by modifying an existent vacuum chamber and uses carbon arc lamps for solar simulation. All Ranger vehicles flown to date have been tested in this facility. The report also contains a series of appendixes covering various aspects of space-simulation design and use. Some of these appendixes contain detailed analyses of space-simulator design criteria. Others cover the techniques used in studying carbon-arc lamps and in applying them as solar simulation
Gedanken experiments with Casimir forces, vacuum energy, and gravity
Gedanken experiments are used to explore properties of quantum vacuum energy
that are currently challenging to explore experimentally. A constant lateral
Casimir force is predicted to exist between two overlapping finite parallel
plates at 0 K, otherwise it would be possible to extract an arbitrary amount of
energy from the quantum vacuum. A rigid unpowered object cannot be accelerated
by the quantum vacuum because of the translational symmetry of space. By
considering systems in which vacuum energy and other forms of energy are
exchanged, we demonstrate that a change {\Delta}E in vacuum energy, whether
positive or negative with respect to the free field, corresponds to an
equivalent inertial mass and equivalent gravitational mass
{\Delta}M={\Delta}E/c^2. We consider the possibility of a gravitational shield,
and show that, if it exists, the energy to operate it would have to cancel the
net energy extracted from the gravitational field, otherwise we could extract
an arbitrary amount of energy from the field.Comment: 24 pages, 3 figure
Filled pauses in Hungarian: Their phonetic form and function
Filled pauses are natural occurrences in spontaneous speech and they may turn up at any level of the speech planning process and in a number of functions. The aim of this paper is to find out whether the diverse functions of filled pauses correlate with diverse articulations resulting in diverse acoustic structures. Spontaneous narratives are used as research material. The duration of the filled pauses and the frequency values of their first two formants are analyzed. The most frequent form, schwa, shows function-dependent realizations as confirmed by the durational values and by the second formant values of these vowel-like sounds
The validity of using ICD-9 codes and pharmacy records to identify patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Background: Administrative data is often used to identify patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), yet the validity of this approach is unclear. We sought to develop a predictive model utilizing administrative data to accurately identify patients with COPD.
Methods: Sequential logistic regression models were constructed using 9573 patients with postbronchodilator spirometry at two Veterans Affairs medical centers (2003-2007). COPD was defined as: 1) FEV1/FVC <0.70, and 2) FEV1/FVC < lower limits of normal. Model inputs included age, outpatient or inpatient COPD-related ICD-9 codes, and the number of metered does inhalers (MDI) prescribed over the one year prior to and one year post spirometry. Model performance was assessed using standard criteria.
Results: 4564 of 9573 patients (47.7%) had an FEV1/FVC < 0.70. The presence of ≥1 outpatient COPD visit had a sensitivity of 76% and specificity of 67%; the AUC was 0.75 (95% CI 0.74-0.76). Adding the use of albuterol MDI increased the AUC of this model to 0.76 (95% CI 0.75-0.77) while the addition of ipratropium bromide MDI increased the AUC to 0.77 (95% CI 0.76-0.78). The best performing model included: ≥6 albuterol MDI, ≥3 ipratropium MDI, ≥1 outpatient ICD-9 code, ≥1 inpatient ICD-9 code, and age, achieving an AUC of 0.79 (95% CI 0.78-0.80).
Conclusion: Commonly used definitions of COPD in observational studies misclassify the majority of patients as having COPD. Using multiple diagnostic codes in combination with pharmacy data improves the ability to accurately identify patients with COPD.Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research and Development (DHA), American Lung Association (CI- 51755-N) awarded to DHA, the American Thoracic Society Fellow Career Development AwardPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/84155/1/Cooke - ICD9 validity in COPD.pd
Normal and Lateral Casimir Forces between Deformed Plates
The Casimir force between macroscopic bodies depends strongly on their shape
and orientation. To study this geometry dependence in the case of two deformed
metal plates, we use a path integral quantization of the electromagnetic field
which properly treats the many-body nature of the interaction, going beyond the
commonly used pairwise summation (PWS) of van der Waals forces. For arbitrary
deformations we provide an analytical result for the deformation induced change
in Casimir energy, which is exact to second order in the deformation amplitude.
For the specific case of sinusoidally corrugated plates, we calculate both the
normal and the lateral Casimir forces. The deformation induced change in the
Casimir interaction of a flat and a corrugated plate shows an interesting
crossover as a function of the ratio of the mean platedistance H to the
corrugation length \lambda: For \lambda \ll H we find a slower decay \sim
H^{-4}, compared to the H^{-5} behavior predicted by PWS which we show to be
valid only for \lambda \gg H. The amplitude of the lateral force between two
corrugated plates which are out of registry is shown to have a maximum at an
optimal wavelength of \lambda \approx 2.5 H. With increasing H/\lambda \gtrsim
0.3 the PWS approach becomes a progressively worse description of the lateral
force due to many-body effects. These results may be of relevance for the
design and operation of novel microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and other
nanoscale devices.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figure
The Role of Circulating Serotonin in the Development of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking is a major risk factor in the development of age-related chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The serotonin transporter (SERT) gene polymorphism has been reported to be associated with COPD, and the degree of cigarette smoking has been shown to be a significant mediator in this relationship. The interrelation between circulating serotonin (5-hydroxytyptamine, 5-HT), cigarette smoking and COPD is however largely unknown. The current study aimed at investigating the mediation effects of plasma 5-HT on cigarette smoking-induced COPD and the relation between plasma 5-HT levels and age. METHODS: The association between plasma 5-HT, age and COPD was analyzed in a total of 62 COPD patients (ever-smokers) and 117 control subjects (healthy non-smokers and ever-smokers). Plasma 5-HT levels were measured by enzyme-linked immuno assay (EIA). RESULTS: The elevated plasma 5-HT levels were significantly associated with increased odds for COPD (OR = 1.221, 95% CI = 1.123 to 1.319, p<0.0001). The effect remained significant after being adjusted for age and pack-years smoked (OR = 1.271, 95% CI = 1.134 to 1.408, p = 0.0003). Furthermore, plasma 5-HT was found to mediate the relation between pack-years smoked and COPD. A positive correlation (r = 0.303, p = 0.017) was found between plasma 5-HT levels and age in COPD, but not in the control subjects (r = -0.149, p = 0.108). CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that cigarette smoke-induced COPD is partially mediated by the plasma levels of 5-HT, and that these become elevated with increased age in COPD. The elevated plasma 5-HT levels in COPD might contribute to the pathogenesis of this disease.published_or_final_versio
Vacuum Stress and Closed Paths in Rectangles, Pistons, and Pistols
Rectangular cavities are solvable models that nevertheless touch on many of
the controversial or mysterious aspects of the vacuum energy of quantum fields.
This paper is a thorough study of the two-dimensional scalar field in a
rectangle by the method of images, or closed classical (or optical) paths,
which is exact in this case. For each point r and each specularly reflecting
path beginning and ending at r, we provide formulas for all components of the
stress tensor T_{\mu\nu}(r), for all values of the curvature coupling constant
\xi and all values of an ultraviolet cutoff parameter. Arbitrary combinations
of Dirichlet and Neumann conditions on the four sides can be treated. The total
energy is also investigated, path by path. These results are used in an attempt
to clarify the physical reality of the repulsive (outward) force on the sides
of the box predicted by calculations that neglect both boundary divergences and
the exterior of the box. Previous authors have studied "piston" geometries that
avoid these problems and have found the force to be attractive. We consider a
"pistol" geometry that comes closer to the original problem of a box with a
movable lid. We find again an attractive force, although its origin and
detailed behavior are somewhat different from the piston case. However, the
pistol (and the piston) model can be criticized for extending idealized
boundary conditions into short distances where they are physically implausible.
Therefore, it is of interest to see whether leaving the ultraviolet cutoff
finite yields results that are more plausible. We then find that the force
depends strongly on a geometrical parameter; it can be made repulsive, but only
by forcing that parameter into the regime where the model is least convincing
physically.Comment: 45 pages, 12 figures. V.2 has minor clarifications, additions, and
corrections; v.3 has still more reformulations of conclusions, and updated
reference
Speaker- versus listener-oriented disfluency: A re-examination of arguments and assumptions from autism spectrum disorder
We re-evaluate conclusions about disfluency production in high-functioning forms of autism spectrum disorder (HFA). Previous studies examined individuals with HFA to address a theoretical question regarding speaker- and listener-oriented disfluencies. Individuals with HFA tend to be self-centric and have poor pragmatic language skills, and should be less likely to produce listener-oriented disfluency. However, previous studies did not account for individual differences variables that affect disfluency. We show that both matched and unmatched controls produce fewer repairs than individuals with HFA. For silent pauses, there was no difference between matched controls and HFA, but both groups produced more than unmatched controls. These results identify limitations in prior research and shed light on the relationship between autism spectrum disorders and disfluent speech
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