Analysis of Algorithms for Velocity Estimation from Discrete Position Versus Time Data

Algorithms for constructing velocity approximations from discrete position versus time data are investigated. The study is limited to algorithms suitable to provide velocity information in discrete-time feedback control systems such as microprocessor-based systems with a discrete position encoder. Velocity estimators based on lines per period, reciprocal-time, Taylor series expansion, backward difference expansions, and least-square curve fits are presented. Based on computer simulations, comparisons of relative accuracies of the different algorithms are made. The least-squares velocity estimators filtered the effect of imperfect measurements best, whereas the Taylor series expansions and backward difference equation estimators respond better to velocity transients

Asymptotic Spectrum of Kerr Black Holes in the Small Angular Momentum Limit

We study analytically the highly damped quasinormal modes of Kerr black holes in the small angular momentum limit. To check the previous analytic calculations in the literature, which use a combination of radial and tortoise coordinates, we reproduce all the results using the radial coordinate only. According to the earlier calculations, the real part of the highly damped quasinormal mode frequency of Kerr black holes approaches zero in the limit where the angular momentum goes to zero. This result is not consistent with the Schwarzschild limit where the real part of the highly damped quasinormal mode frequency is equal to c^3 ln(3)/(8 pi G M). In this paper, our calculations suggest that the highly damped quasinormal modes of Kerr black holes in the zero angular momentum limit make a continuous transition from the Kerr value to the Schwarzschild value. We explore the nature of this transition using a combination of analytical and numerical techniques. Finally, we calculate the highly damped quasinormal modes of the extremal case in which the topology of Stokes/anti-Stokes lines takes a different form.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figure

Internet Predictions

More than a dozen leading experts give their opinions on where the Internet is headed and where it will be in the next decade in terms of technology, policy, and applications. They cover topics ranging from the Internet of Things to climate change to the digital storage of the future. A summary of the articles is available in the Web extras section

Revision of Paschen's Law Relating to the ESD of Aerospace Vehicle Surfaces

The purpose of this work is to develop a version of Paschens law that takes into account the flow of ambient gas past electrode surfaces. Paschens law does not consider the flow of gas past an aerospace vehicle whose surfaces may be triboelectrically charged by dust or ice crystal impingement while traversing the atmosphere. The basic hypothesis of this work is that the number of electron-ion pairs created per unit distance between electrode surfaces is mitigated by the electron-ion pairs removed per unit distance by the flow of gas. The revised theoretical model must be a function of the mean velocity vxm of the ambient gas and reduce to Paschens law when the mean velocity is zero. A new theoretical formulation of Paschens law, taking into account the Mach number and compressible dynamic pressure, derived by the authors, will be discussed. This equation has been evaluated by wind tunnel experimentation. Initial data of the baseline wind tunnel experiments show results consistent with the hypothesis. This work may enhance the safety of aerospace vehicles through a redefinition of electrostatic launch commit criteria. It is also possible for new products, such as antistatic coatings, to be formulated based on this data

Dynamic Gas Flow Effects on the ESD of Aerospace Vehicle Surfaces

The purpose of this work is to develop a dynamic version of Paschen's Law that takes into account the flow of ambient gas past aerospace vehicle surfaces. However, the classic Paschen's Law does not take into account the flow of gas of an aerospace vehicle, whose surfaces may be triboelectrically charged by dust or ice crystal impingement, traversing the atmosphere. The basic hypothesis of this work is that the number of electron-ion pairs created per unit distance by the electric field between the electrodes is mitigated by the electron-ion pairs removed per unit distance by the flow of gas. The revised Paschen equation must be a function of the mean velocity, v(sub xm), of the ambient gas and reduces to the classical version of Paschen's law when the gas mean velocity, v(sub xm) = 0. New formulations of Paschen's Law, taking into account Mach number and dynamic pressure, derived by the authors, will be discussed. These equations will be evaluated by wind tunnel experimentation later this year. Based on the results of this work, it is hoped that the safety of aerospace vehicles will be enhanced with a redefinition of electrostatic launch commit criteria. It is also possible that new products, such as new anti-static coatings, may be formulated from this data

Revision of Paschen's Law Relating to the ESD of Aerospace Vehicle Surfaces

The purpose of this work is to develop a form of Paschen's law that takes into account the flow of gas past electrode surfaces. This work was performed under a NASA Science Innovation Fund (SIF) project at the Kennedy Space Center in collaboration with the University of Central Florida. In 2010 the Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory (ESPL) at the Kennedy Space Center performed an electrostatic safety analysis on the flight termination system (FTS) antenna for the Ares I rocket. Paschen's law, derived by Friedrich Paschen in 1889 to relate sparking voltage to gas pressure and electrode separation, does not take into account the effect of flowing gas between the electrodes. The safety of the FTS housing to triboelectric charging was shown only after extensive laboratory testing. Potential benefits are of a form of Paschen's law that considers gas velocity. This work is applicable to current and planned rockets and aerospace vehicles and could lead to possible relaxation of electrostatic launch criteria. Launch aborts can cost up to about a million US dollars depending on the vehicle. [ElectroStatic Discharge (ESD)

Equation of State for Natural Almandine, Spessartine, Pyrope Garnet: Implications for Quartz-In-Garnet Elastic Geobarometry

The equation of state (EoS) of a natural almandine74spessartine13pyrope10grossular3 garnet of a typical composition found in metamorphic rocks in Earth’s crust was obtained using single crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction under isothermal room temperature compression. A third-order Birch-Murnaghan EoS was fitted to P-V data and the results are compared with published EoS for iron, manganese, magnesium, and calcium garnet compositional end-members. This comparison reveals that ideal solid solution mixing can reproduce the EoS for this intermediate composition of garnet. Additionally, this new EoS was used to calculate geobarometry on a garnet sample from the same rock, which was collected from the Albion Mountains of southern Idaho. Quartz-ingarnet elastic geobarometry was used to calculate pressures of quartz inclusion entrapment using alternative methods of garnet mixing and both the hydrostatic and Grunëisen tensor approaches. QuiG barometry pressures overlap within uncertainty when calculated using EoS for pure endmember almandine, the weighted averages of end-member EoS, and the EoS presented in this study. Grunëisen tensors produce apparent higher pressures relative to the hydrostatic method, but with large uncertainties

Loss of Tumor Suppressor TMEM127 Drives Ret-Mediated Transformation Through Disrupted Membrane Dynamics

Internalization from the cell membrane and endosomal trafficking of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are important regulators of signaling in normal cells that can frequently be disrupted in cancer. The adrenal tumor pheochromocytoma (PCC) can be caused by activating mutations of the rearranged during transfection (RET) receptor tyrosine kinase, or inactivation of TMEM127, a transmembrane tumor suppressor implicated in trafficking of endosomal cargos. However, the role of aberrant receptor trafficking in PCC is not well understood. Here, we show that loss of TMEM127 causes wildtype RET protein accumulation on the cell surface, where increased receptor density facilitates constitutive ligand-independent activity and downstream signaling, driving cell proliferation. Loss of TMEM127 altered normal cell membrane organization and recruitment and stabilization of membrane protein complexes, impaired assembly, and maturation of clathrin-coated pits, and reduced internalization and degradation of cell surface RET. In addition to RTKs, TMEM127 depletion also promoted surface accumulation of several other transmembrane proteins, suggesting it may cause global defects in surface protein activity and function. Together, our data identify TMEM127 as an important determinant of membrane organization including membrane protein diffusability and protein complex assembly and provide a novel paradigm for oncogenesis in PCC where altered membrane dynamics promotes cell surface accumulation and constitutive activity of growth factor receptors to drive aberrant signaling and promote transformation