3,767 research outputs found
A NASA/RAE cooperation in the development of a real-time knowledge-based autopilot
As part of a US/UK cooperative aeronautical research program, a joint activity between the NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility and the Royal Aerospace Establishment on knowledge-based systems was established. This joint activity is concerned with tools and techniques for the implementation and validation of real-time knowledge-based systems. The proposed next stage of this research is described, in which some of the problems of implementing and validating a knowledge-based autopilot for a generic high-performance aircraft are investigated
Teaching forest stand dynamics or what happens when you thin your Marigold plantation
Teaching forestry students about forest stand dynamics can be an abstract activity. Very quickly concepts are reduced to mathematical formulae, graphs and diagrams, all with relatively complicated explanations. Alternatively, computer simulation and individual tree models can be used to demonstrate important concepts such as the \u273/2 Power law\u27 of self thinning. Students can also be taken to visit plantations to talk about practical issues of density management and perhaps produce a thinning prescription. However, no single teaching strategy enables students to have \u27hands on\u27 practice at manipulating a real plant population while being able to wait and see the results of their work
Conditional preparation of states containing a definite number of photons
A technique for conditionally creating single- or multimode photon-number
states is analyzed using Bayesian theory. We consider the heralded N-photon
states created from the photons produced by an unseeded optical parametric
amplifier when the heralding detector is the time-multiplexed
photon-number-resolving detector recently demonstrated by Fitch, et al. [Phys.
Rev. A 68, 043814 (2003).] and simultaneously by Achilles, et al. [Opt. Lett.
28, 2387 (2003).]. We find that even with significant loss in the heralding
detector, fields with sub-Poissonian photon-number distributions can be
created. We also show that heralded multimode fields created using this
technique are more robust against detector loss than are single-mode fields.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, reference added, typos corrected, content update
Foam nest components of the tĂșngara frog: a cocktail of proteins conferring physical and biological resilience
The foam nests of the tĂșngara frog (Engystomops pustulosus) form a biocompatible incubation medium for eggs and sperm while resisting considerable environmental and microbiological assault. We have shown that much of this behaviour can be attributed to a cocktail of six proteins, designated ranaspumins (Rsn-1 to Rsn-6), which predominate in the foam. These fall into two discernable classes based on sequence analysis and biophysical properties. Rsn-2, with an amphiphilic amino acid sequence unlike any hitherto reported, exhibits substantial detergent-like surfactant activity necessary for production of foam, yet is harmless to the membranes of eggs and spermatozoa. A further four (Rsn-3 to Rsn-6) are lectins, three of which are similar to fucolectins found in teleosts but not previously identified in a land vertebrate, though with a carbohydrate binding specificity different from previously described fucolectins. The sixth, Rsn-1, is structurally similar to proteinase inhibitors of the cystatin class, but does not itself appear to exhibit any such activity. The nest foam itself, however, does exhibit potent cystatin activity. Rsn-encoding genes are transcribed in many tissues of the adult frogs, but the full cocktail is present only in oviduct glands. Combinations of lectins and cystatins have known roles in plants and animals for defence against microbial colonization and insect attack. TĂșngara nest foam displays a novel synergy of selected elements of innate defence plus a specialized surfactant protein, comprising a previously unreported strategy for protection of unattended reproductive stages of animals
Operation of EMEP âsupersitesâ in the United Kingdom. Annual report for 2008.
As part of its commitment to the UN-ECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution the United Kingdom operates two âsupersitesâ reporting data to the Co-operative Programme for Monitoring and Evaluation of the Long-range Transmission of Air Pollutants in Europe (EMEP).
This report provides the annual summary for 2008, the second full calendar year of operation of the first EMEP âsupersiteâ to be established in the United Kingdom. Detailed operational reports have been submitted to Defra every 3 months, with unratified data. This annual report contains a summary of the ratified data for 2008.
The EMEP âsupersiteâ is located in central southern Scotland at Auchencorth (3.2oW, 55.8oN), a remote rural moorland site ~20 km south-west of Edinburgh. Monitoring operations started formally on 1 June 2006.
In addition to measurements made specifically under this contract, the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology also acts as local site operator for measurements made under other UK monitoring networks: the Automated Urban and Rural Network (AURN), the UK Eutrophication and Acidification Network (UKEAP), the UK Hydrocarbons Network, and the UK Heavy Metals Rural Network. Some measurements were also made under the auspices of the âAir Pollution Deposition Processesâ contract. All these associated networks are funded by Defra.
This report summarises the measurements made between January and December 2008, and presents summary statistics on average concentrations.
The site is dominated by winds from the south-west, but wind direction data highlight potential sources of airborne pollutants (power stations, conurbations).
The average diurnal patterns of gases and particles are consistent with those expected for a remote rural site.
The frequency distributions are presented for data where there was good data capture throughout the whole period. Some components (e.g. black carbon) show log-normal frequency distributions, while other components (e.g. ozone) have more nearly normal frequency distributions.
A case study is presented for a period in June 2008, showing the influence of regional air pollutants at this remote rural site.
All the data reported under the contract are shown graphically in the Appendix
Sensitivity of the interlayer magnetoresistance of layered metals to intralayer anisotropies
Many of the most interesting and technologically important electronic
materials discovered in the past two decades have two common features: a
layered crystal structure and strong interactions between electrons. Two of the
most fundamental questions about such layered metals concern the origin of
intralayer anisotropies and the coherence of interlayer charge transport. We
show that angle dependent magnetoresistance oscillations (AMRO) are sensitive
to anisotropies around an intralayer Fermi surface. Hence, AMRO can be a probe
of intralayer anisotropies that is complementary to angle-resolved
photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM).
However, AMRO are not very sensitive to the coherence of the interlayer
transport. We illustrate this with comparisons to recent AMRO experiments on an
overdoped cuprate.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
Megadrought and Megadeath in 16th Century Mexico
The native population collapse in 16th century Mexico was a demographic catastrophe with one of the highest death rates in history. Recently developed tree-ring evidence has allowed the levels of precipitation to be reconstructed for north central Mexico, adding to the growing body of epidemiologic evidence and indicating that the 1545 and 1576 epidemics of cocoliztli (Nahuatl for "pestâ) were indigenous hemorrhagic fevers transmitted by rodent hosts and aggravated by extreme drought conditions
Analytical sun synchronous low-thrust manoeuvres
Article describes analytical sun synchronous low-thrust manoeuvres
Oxidative delignification with oxygen/alkali to high-yield pulps: pulping of softwoods - loblolly pine. Project 3264, report 2 : a progress report to members of the Institute of Paper Chemistry
"January 19, 1978.""The Institute of Paper Chemistry, Ronald D. McKelvey ... Earl W. Malcolm.
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