Mathematical morphology and applications in automated sunspot detection

This presentation discusses the mathematical morphology and applications in automated sunspot detection

Gait Analysis of Horses for Lameness Detection with Radar Sensors

This paper presents the preliminary investigation of the use of radar signatures to detect and assess lameness of horses and its severity. Radar sensors in this context can provide attractive contactless sensing capabilities, as a complementary or alternative technology to the current techniques for lameness assessment using video-graphics and inertial sensors attached to the horses' body. The paper presents several examples of experimental data collected at the Weipers Centre Equine Hospital at the University of Glasgow, showing the micro- Doppler signatures of horses and preliminary results of their analysis

Evolutionary growth for Space Station Freedom electrical power system

Over an operational lifetime of at least 30 yr, Space Station Freedom will encounter increased space station user requirements and advancing technologies. The space station electrical power system is designed with the flexibility to accommodate these emerging technologies and expert systems and is being designed with the necessary software hooks and hardware scars to accommodate increased growth demand. The electrical power system is planned to grow from the initial 75 kW up to 300 kW. The Phase 1 station will utilize photovoltaic arrays to produce the electrical power; however, for growth to 300 kW, solar dynamic power modules will be utilized. Pairs of 25 kW solar dynamic power modules will be added to the station to reach the power growth level. The addition of solar dynamic power in the growth phase places constraints in the initial space station systems such as guidance navigation and control, external thermal, truss structural stiffness, computational capabilities and storage which must be planned-in in order to facilitate the addition of the solar dynamic modules

Discovery of a Spin-Down State Change in the LMC Pulsar B0540-69

We report the discovery of a large, sudden, and persistent increase in the spin-down rate of B0540-69, a young pulsar in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using observations from the Swift and RXTE satellites. The relative increase in the spin-down rate of 36% is unprecedented for B0540-69. No accompanying change in the spin rate is seen, and no change is seen in the pulsed X-ray emission from B0540-69 following the change in the spin-down rate. Such large relative changes in the spin-down rate are seen in the recently discovered class of 'intermittent pulsars', and we compare the properties of B0540-69 to such pulsars. We consider possible changes in the magnetosphere of the pulsar that could cause such a large change in the spin-down rate.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

Isolation of microsatellite loci in the Capricorn silvereye, Zosterops lateralis chlorocephalus (Aves : Zosteropidae)

The Capricorn silvereye (Zosterops lateralis chlorocephalus ) is ideally suited to investigating the genetic basis of body size evolution. We have isolated and characterized a set of microsatellite markers for this species. Seven out of 11 loci were polymorphic. The number of alleles detected ranged from two to five and observed heterozygosities between 0.12 and 0.67. One locus, ZL49, was found to be sex-linked. This moderate level of diversity is consistent with that expected in an isolated, island population

Photoemission Evidence for a Remnant Fermi Surface and d-Wave-Like Dispersion in Insulating Ca2CuO2Cl2

An angle resolved photoemission study on Ca2CuO2Cl2, a parent compound of high Tc superconductors is reported. Analysis of the electron occupation probability, n(k) from the spectra shows a steep drop in spectral intensity across a contour that is close to the Fermi surface predicted by the band calculation. This analysis reveals a Fermi surface remnant even though Ca2CuO2Cl2 is a Mott insulator. The lowest energy peak exhibits a dispersion with approximately the |cos(kxa)-cos(kya)| form along this remnant Fermi surface. Together with the data from Dy doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8 + delta) these results suggest that this d-wave like dispersion of the insulator is the underlying reason for the pseudo gap in the underdoped regime.Comment: 9 pages, including 7 figures. Published in Science, one figure correcte

Paramagnetic anisotropic magnetoresistance in thin films of SrRuO3

SrRuO3 is an itinerant ferromagnet and in its thin film form when grown on miscut SrTiO3 it has Tc of ~ 150 K and strong uniaxial anisotropy. We measured both the Hall effect and the magnetoresistance (MR) of the films as a function of the angle between the applied field and the normal to the films at temperatures above Tc. We extracted the extraordinary Hall effect that is proportional to the perpendicular component of the magnetization and thus the MR for each angle of the applied field could be correlated with the magnitude and orientation of the induced magnetization. We successfully fit the MR data with a second order magnetization expansion, which indicates large anisotropic MR in the paramagnetic state. The extremum values of resistivity are not obtained for currents parallel or perpendicular to the magnetization, probably due to the crystal symmetry.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figure