3,918 research outputs found
Silica in a Mars analog environment: Ka'u Desert, Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii
Airborne Visible/Near-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) data acquired over the Ka'u Desert are atmospherically corrected to ground reflectance and used to identify the mineralogic components of relatively young basaltic materials, including 250â700 and 200â400 year old lava flows, 1971 and 1974 flows, ash deposits, and solfatara incrustations. To provide context, a geologic surface units map is constructed, verified with field observations, and supported by laboratory analyses. AVIRIS spectral end-members are identified in the visible (0.4 to 1.2 ÎŒm) and short wave infrared (2.0 to 2.5 ÎŒm) wavelength ranges. Nearly all the spectral variability is controlled by the presence of ferrous and ferric iron in such minerals as pyroxene, olivine, hematite, goethite, and poorly crystalline iron oxides or glass. A broad, nearly ubiquitous absorption feature centered at 2.25 ÎŒm is attributed to opaline (amorphous, hydrated) silica and is found to correlate spatially with mapped geologic surface units. Laboratory analyses show the silica to be consistently present as a deposited phase, including incrustations downwind from solfatara vents, cementing agent for ash duricrusts, and thin coatings on the youngest lava flow surfaces. A second, Ti-rich upper coating on young flows also influences spectral behavior. This study demonstrates that secondary silica is mobile in the Ka'u Desert on a variety of time scales and spatial domains. The investigation from remote, field, and laboratory perspectives also mimics exploration of Mars using orbital and landed missions, with important implications for spectral characterization of coated basalts and formation of opaline silica in arid, acidic alteration environments
Optimization of cw sodium laser guide star efficiency
Context: Sodium laser guide stars (LGS) are about to enter a new range of
laser powers. Previous theoretical and numerical methods are inadequate for
accurate computations of the return flux and hence for the design of the
next-generation LGS systems.
Aims: We numerically optimize the cw (continuous wave) laser format, in
particular the light polarization and spectrum.
Methods: Using Bloch equations, we simulate the mesospheric sodium atoms,
including Doppler broadening, saturation, collisional relaxation, Larmor
precession, and recoil, taking into account all 24 sodium hyperfine states and
on the order of 100 velocity groups.
Results: LGS return flux is limited by "three evils": Larmor precession due
to the geomagnetic field, atomic recoil due to radiation pressure, and
transition saturation. We study their impacts and show that the return flux can
be boosted by repumping (simultaneous excitation of the sodium D2a and D2b
lines with 10-20% of the laser power in the latter).
Conclusions: We strongly recommend the use of circularly polarized lasers and
repumping. As a rule of thumb, the bandwidth of laser radiation in MHz (at each
line) should approximately equal the launched laser power in Watts divided by
six, assuming a diffraction-limited spot size.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, to be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics,
AA/2009/1310
Emotions in context: examining pervasive affective sensing systems, applications, and analyses
Pervasive sensing has opened up new opportunities for measuring our feelings and understanding our behavior by monitoring our affective states while mobile. This review paper surveys pervasive affect sensing by examining and considering three major elements of affective pervasive systems, namely; âsensingâ, âanalysisâ, and âapplicationâ. Sensing investigates the different sensing modalities that are used in existing real-time affective applications, Analysis explores different approaches to emotion recognition and visualization based on different types of collected data, and Application investigates different leading areas of affective applications. For each of the three aspects, the paper includes an extensive survey of the literature and finally outlines some of challenges and future research opportunities of affective sensing in the context of pervasive computing
To Binge or not To Binge: viewersâ moods and behaviors during the consumption of subscribed video streaming
The popularity of internet-distributed TV entertainment services, such
as Netflix, has transformed TV consumption behavior. Currently, the level of
control viewers have over their TV experiences, along with the release of com plete seasons at once, are some of the factors that stimulate the so-called binge watching phenomenon (the consumption of several episodes of a program in a
single sitting). Most of binge-watching studies have focused on viewersâ habits
and health effects. This paper presents a study that relates to viewersâ behaviors
and moods. It was carried out with 13 young participants at their home, watching
online content, collecting physiological, inertial, and self-reported data. We iden tify and compare binge-watching with non-binge-watching behaviors. Our results
suggest that while viewers recur to online serial entertainment in pursuit of lei sure related needs, such as relaxation, relief from boredom and escapism, the act
of binge-watching tends to make them feel rather unsatisfied with no change in
Arousal. Nevertheless, in binge-watching the Positive Affect increases while the
Negative decreases. Moreover, watching a single episode only, tends to result in
increased arousal and but not necessarily in increased satisfaction. This prelimi nary finding can be the starting point of fruitful future investigations on unpack ing further motives and nuances from this outcome.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Search for the Neutron Decay n X+ where X is a dark matter particle
In a recent paper submitted to Physical Review Letters, Fornal and Grinstein
have suggested that the discrepancy between two different methods of neutron
lifetime measurements, the beam and bottle methods can be explained by a
previously unobserved dark matter decay mode, n X+ where X
is a dark matter particle. We have performed a search for this decay mode over
the allowed range of energies of the monoenergetic gamma ray for X to be a dark
matter particle. We exclude the possibility of a sufficiently strong branch to
explain the lifetime discrepancy with greater than 4 sigma confidence.Comment: 6 pages 3 figure
Reduced Toxicity Conditioning (RTC) and Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation (alloSCT) in 100 Consecutive Pediatric Recipients: Very Low Incidence of Day 100 Transplant Related Mortality (TRM)
Variability in Proto-Planetary Nebulae: I. Light Curve Studies of 12 Carbon-Rich Objects
We have carried out long-term (14 years) V and R photometric monitoring of 12
carbon-rich proto-planetary nebulae. The light and color curves display
variability in all of them. The light curves are complex and suggest multiple
periods, changing periods, and/or changing amplitudes, which are attributed to
pulsation. A dominant period has been determined for each and found to be in
the range of ~150 d for the coolest (G8) to 35-40 d for the warmest (F3). A
clear, linear inverse relationship has been found in the sample between the
pulsation period and the effective temperature and also an inverse linear
relationship between the amplitude of light variation and the effective
temperature. These are consistent with the expectation for a pulsating post-AGB
star evolving toward higher temperature at constant luminosity. The published
spectral energy distributions and mid-infrared images show these objects to
have cool (200 K), detached dust shells and published models imply that
intensive mass loss ended a few thousand years ago. The detection of periods as
long as 150 d in these requires a revision in the published post-AGB evolution
models that couple the pulsation period to the mass loss rate and that assume
that intensive mass loss ended when the pulsation period had decreased to 100
d. This revision will have the effect of extending the time scale for the early
phases of post-AGB evolution. It appears that real time evolution in the
pulsation periods of individual objects may be detectable on the time scale of
two decades
The American Association for the Surgery of Trauma renal injury grading scale: Implications of the 2018 revisions for injury reclassification and predicting bleeding interventions.
BackgroundIn 2018, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST) published revisions to the renal injury grading system to reflect the increased reliance on computed tomography scans and non-operative management of high-grade renal trauma (HGRT). We aimed to evaluate how these revisions will change the grading of HGRT and if it outperforms the original 1989 grading in predicting bleeding control interventions.MethodsData on HGRT were collected from 14 Level-1 trauma centers from 2014 to 2017. Patients with initial computed tomography scans were included. Two radiologists reviewed the scans to regrade the injuries according to the 1989 and 2018 AAST grading systems. Descriptive statistics were used to assess grade reclassifications. Mixed-effect multivariable logistic regression was used to measure the predictive ability of each grading system. The areas under the curves were compared.ResultsOf the 322 injuries included, 27.0% were upgraded, 3.4% were downgraded, and 69.5% remained unchanged. Of the injuries graded as III or lower using the 1989 AAST, 33.5% were upgraded to grade IV using the 2018 AAST. Of the grade V injuries, 58.8% were downgraded using the 2018 AAST. There was no statistically significant difference in the overall areas under the curves between the 2018 and 1989 AAST grading system for predicting bleeding interventions (0.72 vs. 0.68, p = 0.34).ConclusionAbout one third of the injuries previously classified as grade III will be upgraded to grade IV using the 2018 AAST, which adds to the heterogeneity of grade IV injuries. Although the 2018 AAST grading provides more anatomic details on injury patterns and includes important radiologic findings, it did not outperform the 1989 AAST grading in predicting bleeding interventions.Level of evidencePrognostic and Epidemiological Study, level III
Tree method for quantum vortex dynamics
We present a numerical method to compute the evolution of vortex filaments in
superfluid helium. The method is based on a tree algorithm which considerably
speeds up the calculation of Biot-Savart integrals. We show that the
computational cost scales as Nlog{(N) rather than N squared, where is the
number of discretization points. We test the method and its properties for a
variety of vortex configurations, ranging from simple vortex rings to a
counterflow vortex tangle, and compare results against the Local Induction
Approximation and the exact Biot-Savart law.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure
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