Method and apparatus for battery charge control Patent

Battery charging system with cell to cell voltage balanc

Circuit prevents overcharging of secondary cell batteries

Circuit prevents battery cell overcharging by detecting and reducing the charging voltage to the open-circuit voltage of the battery when this current falls to a predetermined value. The voltage control depends on the fact that the charging current falls significantly when the battery nears its fully charged state

Geologic mapping of the Urvara and Yalode Quadrangles of Ceres

We conducted geologic mapping of the Urvara (Ac-13) and Yalode (Ac-14) Quadrangles (21–66°S, 180–360°E) of the dwarf planet Ceres utilizing morphologic, topographic, and compositional information acquired by NASA's Dawn mission. The geologic characteristics of the two large impact basins Urvara (170 km diameter) and Yalode (260 km diameter) and their surroundings were investigated using Dawn Framing Camera datasets, including Survey (415 m/pixel), HAMO (140 m/pixel), and LAMO (35 m/pixel) images and mosaics, color and color ratio images, and DTMs derived from stereo-photogrammetry. Geologic mapping demonstrates that impact cratering has dominated the geologic history of the Urvara and Yalode Quadrangles, with early cratered terrain formation followed by formation of the large basins and widespread emplacement of basin-related smooth material. Impact craters display a wide range of preservation states from nearly completely buried/degraded forms to more recent pristine craters with terraced inner walls and lobate ejecta deposits. Cross-cutting relationships and morphologic signatures show that the Urvara impact followed the Yalode impact, consistent with ages derived from crater size-frequency distributions (580 ± 40 Ma for Yalode and 550 ± 50 Ma for Urvara). Observed differences in basin materials and rim morphology suggest heterogeneities in the substrate excavated by impact. Smooth deposits that cover large areas of the quadrangles, including the basin floors, rims, and exterior zones, are interpreted to be dominated by Urvara ejecta but Yalode ejecta and localized ice-rich flow material may be minor components. Geologic mapping results and simulations of ejecta emplacement suggest that Urvara and Yalode ejecta deposits extend for large distances (more than two crater diameters from the basin centers) and may serve as important stratigraphic markers for the geologic record of Ceres

Perceiving greater commitment increases selfish behaviors among disagreeable people

Perceiving that a partner is highly committed tends to benefit close relationships. However, there may be drawbacks to perceiving that a partner is committed. Considering high commitment may signal that a partner is unlikely to leave the relationship, people may feel more comfortable behaving in a selfish manner to the extent that they perceive that their partner is highly committed to the relationship. This may be particularly likely for people who are low in agreeableness. Specifically, I hypothesized that perceiving that one’s partner is committed will be associated with greater selfish behaviors toward that partner among people who are low in agreeableness, but associated with less selfish behavior among people who are high in agreeableness. Two initial studies supported these predictions. In Study 3, two hundred and forty-nine undergraduate participants (126 couples) completed an evaluative priming task and received false feedback based on their partner’s responses suggesting that their partners were either high or low in commitment. Participants then engaged in a noise blast task that served as an indicator of selfishness and completed a questionnaire assessing the likelihood that they would engage in selfish relationship behaviors. Results demonstrated that perceiving that a partner is highly committed resulted in more selfish behavior among disagreeable participants, but less selfish behavior among agreeable participants. Together, these results suggest that signaling commitment to disagreeable partners may backfire in romantic relationships

Sustainable Management of Water Resources

The Dawn spacecraft arrived at dwarf planet Ceres in spring 2015 and imaged its surface from four successively lower polar orbits at ground sampling dimensions between ∼1.3 km/px and ∼35 m/px. To understand the geological history of Ceres a mapping campaign was initiated to produce a set of 15 quadrangle-based geological maps using the highest-resolution Framing Camera imagery. Here we present the geological map of the Ac-10 Rongo Quadrangle, which is located at the equator encompassing the region from 22°N to 22°S and 288° to 360°E. The total relief within the quadrangle is 11.1 km with altitudes ranging from about −7.3 km to +3.8 km. We identified nine geological units based on surface morphology and surface textural characteristics. The dominant and most widespread unit is the cratered terrain (crt) representing ancient reworked crustal material. Its consistent formation age across the quadrangle is 1.8 Ga. Two edifices (unit th), Ahuna Mons and an unnamed tholus within Begbalel Crater, are interpreted to be of (cryo)volcanic origin. The southwest portion of the quadrangle is dominated by ejecta material (Ye) emplaced during the formation of the 260-km diameter Yalode impact basin at about 580 Ma. Rayed crater ejecta material (cr) is dominant in the eastern part of the quadrangle but also occurs in isolated patches up to a distance of 455 km from the 34 km diameter source crater Haulani. The remaining five geological units also represent impact crater materials: degraded rim (crdeg), bright crater (cb), hummocky floor (cfh), talus (ta), and crater (c) materials. Widespread Yalode and Haulani ejecta materials can potentially be utilised as stratigraphic markers. Therefore, it is essential to consistently map their full areal extent and to date their formations using impact crater statistics

Results from the Mars Phoenix Lander Robotic Arm experiment

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95618/1/jgre2693.pd

The One Health Approach to Toxoplasmosis: Epidemiology, Control, and Prevention Strategies

One Health is a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort that seeks optimal health for people, animals, plants, and the environment. Toxoplasmosis, caused by Toxoplasma gondii, is an intracellular protozoan infection distributed worldwide, with a heteroxenous life cycle that practically affects all homeotherms and in which felines act as definitive reservoirs. Herein, we review the natural history of T. gondii, its transmission and impacts in humans, domestic animals, wildlife both terrestrial and aquatic, and ecosystems. The epidemiology, prevention, and control strategies are reviewed, with the objective of facilitating awareness of this disease and promoting transdisciplinary collaborations, integrative research, and capacity building among universities, government agencies, NGOs, policy makers, practicing physicians, veterinarians, and the general public

Extensive water ice within Ceres’ aqueously altered regolith: Evidence from nuclear spectroscopy

The surface elemental composition of dwarf planet Ceres constrains its regolith ice content, aqueous alteration processes, and interior evolution. Using nuclear spectroscopy data acquired by NASA’s Dawn mission, we determined the concentrations of H, Fe, and K on Ceres. The data show that surface materials were processed by the action of water within the interior. The non-icy portion of Ceres’ C-bearing regolith contains similar amounts of H to aqueously altered carbonaceous chondrites, but less Fe. This allows for the possibility that Ceres experienced modest ice-rock fractionation, resulting in differences between surface and bulk composition. At mid-to-high latitudes, the regolith contains high concentrations of H, consistent with broad expanses of water ice, confirming theoretical predictions that ice can survive for billions of years just beneath the surface