7,075 research outputs found
Further SEASAT SAR coastal ocean wave analysis
Analysis techniques used to exploit SEASAT synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data of gravity waves are discussed and the SEASAT SAR's ability to monitor large scale variations in gravity wave fields in both deep and shallow water is evaluated. The SAR analysis techniques investigated included motion compensation adjustments and the semicausal model for spectral analysis of SAR wave data. It was determined that spectra generated from fast Fourier transform analysis (FFT) of SAR wave data were not significantly altered when either range telerotation adjustments or azimuth focus shifts were used during processing of the SAR signal histories, indicating that SEASAT imagery of gravity waves is not significantly improved or degraded by motion compensation adjustments. Evaluation of the semicausal (SC) model using SEASAT SAR data from Rev. 974 indicates that the SC spectral estimates were not significantly better than the FFT results
When should acute nonvenereal conjunctivitis be treated with topical antibiotics?
Children with suspected or culture-proven acute nonvenereal bacterial conjunctivitis should be treated with topical antibiotics, which hastens clinical and microbiological remission and may prevent potentially serious morbidity. In light of recent evidence regarding the self-limiting nature of conjunctivitis in adults and the development of antibiotic resistance, a "wait-and-see"ļæ½ approach with careful follow-up may be reasonable for adults, but this approach has not been evaluated. (Grade of recommendation: C, based on extrapolation from systematic reviews of specialty clinic trials and cohort studies.
A Machine-Checked Formalization of the Generic Model and the Random Oracle Model
Most approaches to the formal analyses of cryptographic protocols make the perfect cryptography assumption, i.e. the hypothese that there is no way to obtain knowledge about the plaintext pertaining to a ciphertext without knowing the key. Ideally, one would prefer to rely on a weaker hypothesis on the computational cost of gaining information about the plaintext pertaining to a ciphertext without knowing the key. Such a view is permitted by the Generic Model and the Random Oracle Model which provide non-standard computational models in which one may reason about the computational cost of breaking a cryptographic scheme. Using the proof assistant Coq, we provide a machine-checked account of the Generic Model and the Random Oracle Mode
Enceladus: Cassini observations and implications for the search for life
Aims. The recent Cassini discovery of water vapor plumes ejected from the south pole of the Saturnian satellite, Enceladus, presents a unique window of opportunity for the detection of extant life in our solar system.
Methods. With its significant geothermal energy source propelling these plumes >80 km from the surface of the moon and the ensuing large temperature gradient with the surrounding environment, it is possible to have the weathering of rocks by liquid water at the rock/liquid interface. For the cases of the putatively detected salt-water oceans beneath the ice crusts of Europa and Callisto, an isolated subsurface ocean without photosynthesis or contact with an oxidizing atmosphere will approach chemical equilibrium and annihilate any ecosystems dependent on redox gradients unless there is a substantial alternative energy source. This thermodynamic tendency imposes severe constraints on any biota that is based on chemical energy. On Enceladus, the weathering of rocks by liquid water and any concomitant radioactive emissions are possible incipient conditions for life. If there is CO, CO2 and NH3 present in the spectra obtained from the plume, then this is possible evidence that amino acids could be formed at the rock/liquid interface of Enceladus. The combination of a hydrological cycle, chemical redox gradient and geochemical cycle give favorable conditions for life.
Results. We discuss the search for signatures of these species and organics in the Cassini UVIS spectra of the plume and implications for the possible detection of life
A physical control interface with proprioceptive feedback and multiple degrees of freedom
The use of the drug thalidomide by pregnant mothers in Britain resulted in a variety of deformities including the birth of children having no arms. Such children were provided with powered artificial arms with up to five degrees of freedom simultaneously controlled in real time by shoulder movement. The physiological sense of proprioception was extended from the user into the device, reducing the need for visual feedback and conscious control. With the banning of thalidomide, this technique fell into disuse but it is now being re-examined as a control mechanism for other artificial limbs and it may have other medical applications to allow patients to control formerly paralyzed limbs moved by electrical stimulation. It may also have commercial applications in robotic manipulation or physical interaction with virtual environments. To allow it to be investigated further, the original pneumatic control system has recently been converted to an electrical analogue to allow interfacing to electronic and computer-assisted systems. A harness incorporates force-sensitive resistors and linear potentiomenters for sensing position and force at the interface with the skin, and miniature electric motors and lead screws for feeding back to the user the position of the robotic arm and the forces applied to it. In the present system, control is applied to four degrees of freedom using elevation/depression and protraction/reaction of each shoulder so that each collar bone emulates a joystick. However, both electrical and mechanical components have been built in modular form to allow rapid replication and testing of a variety of force and position control strategies
Recent results on the properties of two-phase argon avalanche detectors
The characteristic properties of two-phase Ar avalanche detectors, including
those obtained with CsI photocathode, are further studied. Such detectors are
relevant in the field of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering and dark matter
search experiments. The detectors investigated comprised a 1 cm thick liquid Ar
layer followed by a triple-GEM multiplier. In these detectors, typical gains
reaching 10000 were obtained with good reproducibility and a stable operation
for at least one day was demonstrated. Amplitude and pulse-shape
characteristics are presented under irradiation with X-rays, gamma-rays and
neutrons from different radioactive sources. The detection of both primary
scintillation and ionization signals at higher gains, at a deposited energy of
60 keV, has been demonstrated.Comment: 6 pages, 11 figures. Presented at Xth Int. Conf. for Collid. Beam
Phys., Feb 28 - March 6, 2008, Novosibirsk, to be published in Nucl. Instr.
Meth.
Spectral signatures of photosynthesis II: coevolution with other stars and the atmosphere on extrasolar worlds
As photosynthesis on Earth produces the primary signatures of life that can
be detected astronomically at the global scale, a strong focus of the search
for extrasolar life will be photosynthesis, particularly photosynthesis that
has evolved with a different parent star. We take planetary atmospheric
compositions simulated by Segura, et al. (2003, 2005) for Earth-like planets
around observed F2V and K2V stars, modeled M1V and M5V stars, and around the
active M4.5V star AD Leo; our scenarios use Earth's atmospheric composition as
well as very low O2 content in case anoxygenic photosynthesis dominates. We
calculate the incident spectral photon flux densities at the surface of the
planet and under water. We identify bands of available photosynthetically
relevant radiation and find that photosynthetic pigments on planets around F2V
stars may peak in absorbance in the blue, K2V in the red-orange, and M stars in
the NIR, in bands at 0.93-1.1 microns, 1.1-1.4 microns, 1.5-1.8 microns, and
1.8-2.5 microns. In addition, we calculate wavelength restrictions for
underwater organisms and depths of water at which they would be protected from
UV flares in the early life of M stars. We estimate the potential productivity
for both surface and underwater photosynthesis, for both oxygenic and
anoxygenic photosynthesis, and for hypothetical photosynthesis in which longer
wavelength, multi-photosystem series are used.Comment: 59 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables, forthcoming in Astrobiology ~March
200
The Physics of Heavy Flavours at SuperB
This is a review of the SuperB project, covering the accelerator, detector,
and highlights of the broad physics programme. SuperB is a flavour factory
capable of performing precision measurements and searches for rare and
forbidden decays of , , and
particles. These results can be used to test fundamental symmetries and
expectations of the Standard Model, and to constrain many different
hypothesised types of new physics. In some cases these measurements can be used
to place constraints on the existence of light dark matter and light Higgs
particles with masses below . The potential impact of the
measurements that will be made by SuperB on the field of high energy physics is
also discussed in the context of data taken at both high energy in the region
around the \Upsilon({\mathrm{4S}})$, and near charm threshold.Comment: 49 pages, topical review submitted to J. Phys
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