2,017 research outputs found
Luminance cues constrain chromatic blur discrimination in natural scene stimuli
Introducing blur into the color components of a natural scene has very little effect on its percept, whereas blur introduced into the luminance component is very noticeable. Here we quantify the dominance of luminance information in blur detection and examine a number of potential causes. We show that the interaction between chromatic and luminance information is not explained by reduced acuity or spatial resolution limitations for chromatic cues, the effective contrast of the luminance cue, or chromatic and achromatic statistical regularities in the images. Regardless of the quality of chromatic information, the visual system gives primacy to luminance signals when determining edge location. In natural viewing, luminance information appears to be specialized for detecting object boundaries while chromatic information may be used to determine surface properties
Robust Positioning in the Presence of Multipath and NLOS GNSS Signals
GNSS signals can be blocked and reflected by nearby objects, such as buildings, walls, and vehicles. They can also be reflected by the ground and by water. These effects are the dominant source of GNSS positioning errors in dense urban environments, though they can have an impact almost anywhere. Non- line-of-sight (NLOS) reception occurs when the direct path from the transmitter to the receiver is blocked and signals are received only via a reflected path. Multipath interference occurs, as the name suggests, when a signal is received via multiple paths. This can be via the direct path and one or more reflected paths, or it can be via multiple reflected paths. As their error characteristics are different, NLOS and multipath interference typically require different mitigation techniques, though some techniques are applicable to both. Antenna design and advanced receiver signal processing techniques can substantially reduce multipath errors. Unless an antenna array is used, NLOS reception has to be detected using the receiver's ranging and carrier-power-to-noise-density ratio (C/N0) measurements and mitigated within the positioning algorithm. Some NLOS mitigation techniques can also be used to combat severe multipath interference. Multipath interference, but not NLOS reception, can also be mitigated by comparing or combining code and carrier measurements, comparing ranging and C/N0 measurements from signals on different frequencies, and analyzing the time evolution of the ranging and C/N0 measurements
Stability Analyses of Earth Masses
During the past few months (January, 1966, to the present) the Division of Research has been called upon to make site investigations and analyses of foundation and slope stability at several locations in the State. These requests have emanated from various offices and divisions of the Department. Some of these investigations involved considerable effort and time to perform the subsurface exploration and to analyze the problem so that recommendations could be made. These investigations were of significant magnitude and are being summarized in this report
Constraining FeLoBAL outflows from absorption line variability
FeLoBALs are a rare class of quasar outflows with low-ionization broad
absorption lines (BALs), large column densities, and potentially large kinetic
energies that might be important for `feedback' to galaxy evolution. In order
to probe the physical properties of these outflows, we conducted a
multiple-epoch, absorption line variability study of 12 FeLoBAL quasars
spanning a redshift range between 0.7 and 1.9 over rest frame time-scales of
approximately 10 d to 7.6 yr. We detect absorption line variability with
greater than 8 sigma confidence in 3 out of the 12 sources in our sample over
time-scales of 0.6 to 7.6 yr. Variable wavelength intervals are associated with
ground and excited state Fe II multiplets, the Mg II 2796, 2803 doublet, Mg I
2852, and excited state Ni II multiplets. The observed variability along with
evidence of saturation in the absorption lines favors transverse motions of gas
across the line of sight (LOS) as the preferred scenario, and allows us to
constrain the outflow distance from the supermassive black hole (SMBH) to be
less than 69, 7, and 60 pc for our three variable sources. In combination with
other studies, these results suggest that the outflowing gas in FeLoBAL quasars
resides on a range of scales and includes matter within tens of parsecs of the
central source.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, 2 supplementary figures (attached at the end of
the manuscript), accepted to Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Societ
An Archaeological and Historical Program for Data Recovery Along Houston and Bowie Streets, San Antonio, Texas
This report presents a program for archaeological and historical data recovery along portions of Houston and Bowie Streets, San Antonio, Texas. These streets, situated just east of the Alamo Plaza Historic District, are scheduled for expansion as parts of main access routes to the inner-city Las Tiendas Mall development in San Antonio. Both the mall complex and street expansion have projected completion dates of December 1987.
A brief discussion of the street modifications, the archaeological and historical significance of the study area, and preliminary investigations are presented as an introduction to a description of limited testing. Based on past field work and archival reviews, recommendations for further work are presented with particular emphasis on research design, strategy, and methodologies.
All field work to date and portions of the background historical research have been conducted by the Archaeology Office, Community Factors Section, Highway Design Division, Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation (SDHPT), Austin. In cooperation with the SDHPT and Day-Zimmermann, Inc. (consulting managers of the Las Tiendas Project), the Center for Archaeological Research, the University of Texas at San Antonio (CAR-UTSA) has also furnished a preliminary archival review for the project area. Extracts from these data are included in Section II-Bof this report
Quasar outflow energetics from broad absorption line variability
Quasar outflows have long been recognized as potential contributors to the
co-evolution between supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and their host galaxies.
The role of outflows in AGN feedback processes can be better understood by
placing observational constraints on wind locations and kinetic energies. We
utilize broad absorption line (BAL) variability to investigate the properties
of a sample of 71 BAL quasars with PV broad absorption. The
presence of PV BALs indicates that other BALs like CIV
are saturated, such that variability in those lines favours clouds crossing the
line of sight. We use these constraints with measurements of BAL variability to
estimate outflow locations and energetics. Our data set consists of
multiple-epoch spectra from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and MDM Observatory.
We detect significant (4) BAL variations from 10 quasars in our sample
over rest frame time-scales between < 0.2-3.8 yr. Our derived distances for the
10 variable outflows are nominally < 1-10 pc from the SMBH using the
transverse-motion scenario, and < 100-1000 pc from the central source using
ionization-change considerations. These distances, in combination with the
estimated high outflow column densities (i.e. > 10
cm), yield outflow kinetic luminosities between ~ 0.001-1 times the
bolometric luminosity of the quasar, indicating that many absorber energies
within our sample are viable for AGN feedback.Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures, 4 tables, 1 supplementary figure, accepted to
MNRA
Bistable Gradient Networks II: Storage Capacity and Behaviour Near Saturation
We examine numerically the storage capacity and the behaviour near saturation
of an attractor neural network consisting of bistable elements with an
adjustable coupling strength, the Bistable Gradient Network (BGN). For strong
coupling, we find evidence of a first-order "memory blackout" phase transition
as in the Hopfield network. For weak coupling, on the other hand, there is no
evidence of such a transition and memorized patterns can be stable even at high
levels of loading. The enhanced storage capacity comes, however, at the cost of
imperfect retrieval of the patterns from corrupted versions.Comment: 15 pages, 12 eps figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. E. Sequel to
cond-mat/020356
Scanning Laser Acoustic Microscope Visualization of Solid Inclusions in Silicon Nitride
The Scanning Laser Acoustic Microscope (SLAM) operating at a frequency of 100 MHz is used to characterize solid inclusions in silicon nitride. Ten, seven millimeter thick discs, with 100 and 400 micron implanted inclusions are analyzed. We find that the images of a solid inclusion are characterized by a bright high transmission central zone, a well defined dark boundary and a characteristic diffraction ring pattern. These image features differentiate solid inclusions from pores and voids which may also be encountered in the samples. The images of the implanted flaws were generally found to be larger than anticipated. This can be understood in terms of the divergence of the sound due to diffraction and due to lens action of the curved boundary of the flaw. Our initial observations suggest that accurate estimates of defect size may be obtaiRable from a more complete analysis of SLAM micrographs
Differentiation of Various Flaw Types in Ceramics Using the Scanning Laser Acoustic Microscope
High frequency acoustic imaging represents a powerful technique for the nondestructive evaluation of optically opaque materials. In this report the Scanning Laser Acoustic Microscope (SLAM) is used to detect and characterize flaws in ceramics. SLAM micrographs showing typical examples of cracks, laminar flaws, porosity and solid inclusions. are presented. The various flaw types are easily differentiated on the basis of their characteristic acoustic signatures. The importance of an imaging approach to the nondestructive evaluation of ceramics is demonstrated
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