Nondestructive testing techniques used in analysis of honeycomb structure bond strength

DOT /Driver-Displacement Oriented Transducer/, applicable to both lap shear type application and honeycomb sandwich structures, measures the displacement of the honeycomb composite face sheet. It incorporates an electromagnetic driver and a displacement measuring system into a single unit to provide noncontact bond strength measurements

On the Two-Point Correlation Function for the Uq[SU(2)]U_q[SU(2)] Invariant Spin One-Half Heisenberg Chain at Roots of Unity

Using $U_q[SU(2)]$ tensor calculus we compute the two-point scalar operators (TPSO), their averages on the ground-state give the two-point correlation functions. The TPSOs are identified as elements of the Temperley-Lieb algebra and a recurrence relation is given for them. We have not tempted to derive the analytic expressions for the correlation functions in the general case but got some partial results. For $q=e^{i \pi/3}$, all correlation functions are (trivially) zero, for $q=e^{i \pi/4}$, they are related in the continuum to the correlation functions of left-handed and right-handed Majorana fields in the half plane coupled by the boundary condition. In the case $q=e^{i \pi/6}$, one gets the correlation functions of Mittag's and Stephen's parafermions for the three-state Potts model. A diagrammatic approach to compute correlation functions is also presented.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX, BONN-HE-93-3

One-dimensional infinite component vector spin glass with long-range interactions

We investigate zero and finite temperature properties of the one-dimensional spin-glass model for vector spins in the limit of an infinite number m of spin components where the interactions decay with a power, \sigma, of the distance. A diluted version of this model is also studied, but found to deviate significantly from the fully connected model. At zero temperature, defect energies are determined from the difference in ground-state energies between systems with periodic and antiperiodic boundary conditions to determine the dependence of the defect-energy exponent \theta on \sigma. A good fit to this dependence is \theta =3/4-\sigma. This implies that the upper critical value of \sigma is 3/4, corresponding to the lower critical dimension in the d-dimensional short-range version of the model. For finite temperatures the large m saddle-point equations are solved self-consistently which gives access to the correlation function, the order parameter and the spin-glass susceptibility. Special attention is paid to the different forms of finite-size scaling effects below and above the lower critical value, \sigma =5/8, which corresponds to the upper critical dimension 8 of the hypercubic short-range model.Comment: 27 pages, 27 figures, 4 table

Temperature Chaos in Two-Dimensional Ising Spin Glasses with Binary Couplings: a Further Case for Universality

We study temperature chaos in a two-dimensional Ising spin glass with random quenched bimodal couplings, by an exact computation of the partition functions on large systems. We study two temperature correlators from the total free energy and from the domain wall free energy: in the second case we detect a chaotic behavior. We determine and discuss the chaos exponent and the fractal dimension of the domain walls.Comment: 5 pages, 6 postscript figures; added reference

Uncertainty and the Entanglement of Habitat Loss and Fragmentation Effects in the Management of Northern Bobwhite

There is a need to understand the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) and other grassland bird species and relate this to conservation action and delivery, especially in areas of intensive anthropogenic development. Through our research, we investigated the factors contributing to habitat loss and fragmentation in order to prioritize management within the Gulf Coast Prairie Landscape Conservation Cooperative (GCP LCC) region of Texas, USA. For this geographic region, we completed these objectives: analyzed grassland bird habitat loss and fragmentation resulting from oil and gas development, which has become especially rapid in this region beginning in 2008, projected future habitat loss under possible future economic scenarios, modeled the outcomes of potential management alternatives, and identified drivers of habitat loss and fragmentation to direct management action toward minimizing threats to high-risk habitats. Using a modeling approach, we identified suitable bobwhite habitat and prioritized high-risk areas, particularly focusing on the best candidate areas for successful restoration. Briefly, point count data were related to patch- and landscape-level habitat characteristics using a modeling technique that formally estimated the scale of the landscape effect on bobwhite abundance. Thereafter, we identified possible management alternatives with the guidance of the GCP LCC and other stakeholders and modeled the consequences of these alternatives. Using results from this modeling, we produced an extinction risk map for northern bobwhite in this region. Our research adds to the understanding of the relationship between northern bobwhite populations and the expansion of energy extraction and also uses modeling informed by data to support a decision-making framework that incorporates uncertainty about this system to prioritize the conservation of high-risk and high-value areas of bobwhite habitat

The Stromlo Missing Satellites Survey

The Stromlo Missing Satellites (SMS) program is a critical endeavor to investigate whether cold dark matter cosmology is flawed in its ability to describe the matter distribution on galaxy scales or proves itself once again as a powerful theory to make observational predictions. The project will deliver unprecedented results on Milky Way satellite numbers, their distribution and physical properties. It is the deepest, most extended survey for optically elusive dwarf satellite galaxies to date, covering the entire 20,000 sq deg of the Southern hemisphere. 150TB of CCD images will be analysed in six photometric bands, 0.5-1.0 mag fainter than SDSS produced by the ANU SkyMapper telescope over the next five years. (For more details see: http://msowww.anu.edu.au/~jerjen/SMS_Survey.html)Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, in "Galaxies in the Local Volume" (Sydney, 8-13 July 2007), eds B. Koribalski and H. Jerjen, Springer Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings, p. 18

A field evaluation of the Hardy TB MODS Kit™ for the rapid phenotypic diagnosis of tuberculosis and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis.

BACKGROUND: Even though the WHO-endorsed, non-commercial MODS assay offers rapid, reliable TB liquid culture and phenotypic drug susceptibility testing (DST) at lower cost than any other diagnostic, uptake has been patchy. In part this reflects misperceptions about in-house assay quality assurance, but user convenience of one-stop procurement is also important. A commercial MODS kit was developed by Hardy Diagnostics (Santa Maria, CA, USA) with PATH (Seattle, WA, USA) to facilitate procurement, simplify procedures through readymade media, and enhance safety with a sealing silicone plate lid. Here we report the results from a large-scale field evaluation of the MODS kit in a government service laboratory. METHODS & FINDINGS: 2446 sputum samples were cultured in parallel in Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ), conventional MODS and in the MODS kit. MODS kit DST was compared with conventional MODS (direct) DST and proportion method (indirect) DST. 778 samples (31.8%) were Mycobacterium tuberculosis culture-positive. Compared to conventional MODS the sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative predictive values (95% confidence intervals) of the MODS Kit were 99.3% (98.3-99.8%), 98.3% (97.5-98.8%), 95.8% (94.0-97.1%), and 99.7% (99.3-99.9%). Median (interquartile ranges) time to culture-positivity (and rifampicin and isoniazid DST) was 10 (9-13) days for conventional MODS and 8.5 (7-11) for MODS Kit (p<0.01). Direct rifampicin and isoniazid DST in MODS kit was almost universally concordant with conventional MODS (97.9% agreement, 665/679 evaluable samples) and reference indirect DST (97.9% agreement, 687/702 evaluable samples). CONCLUSIONS: MODS kit delivers performance indistinguishable from conventional MODS and offers a convenient, affordable alternative with enhanced safety from the sealing silicone lid. The availability in the marketplace of this platform, which conforms to European standards (CE-marked), readily repurposed for second-line DST in the near future, provides a fresh opportunity for improving equity of access to TB diagnosis and first and second-line DST in settings where the need is greatest

Andromeda's Parachute: A Bright Quadruply Lensed Quasar at z=2.377

We present Keck Cosmic Web Imager spectroscopy of the four putative images of the lensed quasar candidate J014709+463037 recently discovered by Berghea et al. (2017). The data verify the source as a quadruply lensed, broad absorption-line quasar having z_S = 2.377 +/- 0.007. We detect intervening absorption in the FeII 2586, 2600, MgII 2796, 2803, and/or CIV 1548, 1550 transitions in eight foreground systems, three of which have redshifts consistent with the photometric-redshift estimate reported for the lensing galaxy (z_L ~ 0.57). By virtue of their positions on the sky, the source images probe these absorbers over transverse physical scales of ~0.3-21 kpc, permitting assessment of the variation in metal-line equivalent width W_r as a function of sight-line separation. We measure differences in W_r,2796 of <40% across all sight-line pairs subtending 7-21 kpc, suggestive of a high degree of spatial coherence for MgII-absorbing material. W_r,2600 is observed to vary by >50% over the same scales across the majority of sight-line pairs, while CIV absorption exhibits a wide range in W_r,1548 differences of ~5-80% within transverse distances less than ~3 kpc. J014709+463037 is one of only a handful of z > 2 quadruply lensed systems for which all four source images are very bright (r = 15.4-17.7 mag) and are easily separated in ground-based seeing conditions. As such, it is an ideal candidate for higher-resolution spectroscopy probing the spatial variation in the kinematic structure and physical state of intervening absorbers.Comment: Submitted to ApJL. 9 pages, 3 figures. Uses aastex61 forma

Integration of Arrival-Time Datasets for Consistent Quality Control: A Case Study of Amphibious Experiments along the Middle America Trench

We have integrated waveform and arrival-onset data collected in Costa Rica as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored Costa Rica Seismogenic Zone Experiment (CRSEIZE) and along central Costa Rica and Nicaragua as part of the German SFB 574 program. The five arrays, composed of different sensor types (one-and three-component land and ocean bottom seismometers and hydrophones), were archived using different software packages (Antelope and SEISAN) and were automatically and manually picked using various quality criteria resulting in a disparate set of pick weights. We evaluate pick quality using automated arrival detection and picking algorithm based on the wavelet transform and Akaike information criterion picker. The consistency of the arrival information over various scales provides a basis for assigning a quality to the analyst pick. Approximately 31% of P arrival times and 26% of S times have been classified as high-quality picks (quality 0-1). An additional 21% of P times and 27% of S arrivals are good quality (quality 2-3). The revised quality picks are mapped directly into new pick weights for inversion studies. We explore the effect of new weighting and removal of poor data by relocating hypocenters through a minimum 1D velocity model and conducting double-difference local earthquake tomography (LET). Analysis of the hypocenter relocation and seismic velocity tomography results suggest that using the improved quality determinations have a greater effect on improving sharpness in the velocity images than on the magnitude of hypocentral movement