4,549 research outputs found
Motion software for a synergistic six-degree-of-freedom motion base
Computer software for the conversion of fixed-base simulations into moving-base simulations utilizing a synergistic six-degree-of-freedom motion simulator has been developed. This software includes an actuator extension transformation, inverse actuator extension transformation, a centroid transformation, and a washout circuit. Particular emphasis is placed upon the washout circuitry as adapted to fit the synergistic motion simulator. The description of the washout circuitry and illustration by means of a sample flight emphasize that translational cue representation may be of good fidelity, but care in the selection of parameters is very necessary, particularly in regard to anomalous rotational cues
Turbulence and Mixing in the Intracluster Medium
The intracluster medium (ICM) is stably stratified in the hydrodynamic sense
with the entropy increasing outwards. However, thermal conduction along
magnetic field lines fundamentally changes the stability of the ICM, leading to
the "heat-flux buoyancy instability" when and the "magnetothermal
instability" when . The ICM is thus buoyantly unstable regardless of
the signs of and . On the other hand, these
temperature-gradient-driven instabilities saturate by reorienting the magnetic
field (perpendicular to when and parallel to when ), without generating sustained convection. We show that
after an anisotropically conducting plasma reaches this nonlinearly stable
magnetic configuration, it experiences a buoyant restoring force that resists
further distortions of the magnetic field. This restoring force is analogous to
the buoyant restoring force experienced by a stably stratified adiabatic
plasma. We argue that in order for a driving mechanism (e.g, galaxy motions or
cosmic-ray buoyancy) to overcome this restoring force and generate turbulence
in the ICM, the strength of the driving must exceed a threshold, corresponding
to turbulent velocities . For weaker driving, the ICM
remains in its nonlinearly stable magnetic configuration, and turbulent mixing
is effectively absent. We discuss the implications of these findings for the
turbulent diffusion of metals and heat in the ICM.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figs., submitted to the conference proceedings of "The
Monster's Fiery Breath;" a follow up of arXiv:0901.4786 focusing on the
general mixing properties of the IC
Therapeutic and educational objectives in robot assisted play for children with autism
âThis material is presented to ensure timely dissemination of scholarly and technical work. Copyright and all rights therein are retained by authors or by other copyright holders. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and constraints invoked by each author's copyright. In most cases, these works may not be reposted without the explicit permission of the copyright holder." âCopyright IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.â DOI: 10.1109/ROMAN.2009.5326251This article is a methodological paper that describes the therapeutic and educational objectives that were identified during the design process of a robot aimed at robot assisted play. The work described in this paper is part of the IROMEC project (Interactive Robotic Social Mediators as Companions) that recognizes the important role of play in child development and targets children who are prevented from or inhibited in playing. The project investigates the role of an interactive, autonomous robotic toy in therapy and education for children with special needs. This paper specifically addresses the therapeutic and educational objectives related to children with autism. In recent years, robots have already been used to teach basic social interaction skills to children with autism. The added value of the IROMEC robot is that play scenarios have been developed taking children's specific strengths and needs into consideration and covering a wide range of objectives in children's development areas (sensory, communicational and interaction, motor, cognitive and social and emotional). The paper describes children's developmental areas and illustrates how different experiences and interactions with the IROMEC robot are designed to target objectives in these areas.Final Published versio
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Arizonaâs Rising STEM Occupational Demands and Declining Participation in the Scientific Workforce: An Examination of Attitudes among African Americans toward STEM College Majors and Careers
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2008), science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) occupations constitute a growing sector of Arizonaâs economy. However, the number of African Americans earning degrees related to these occupations has not kept pace with this growth. Increasing the participation of African Americans in STEM education fields and subsequent related occupations in Arizona is vital to growing and maintaining the stateâs economic stature. This objective is made even more compelling given that each year, from 2008â 2018, there are 3,671 projected job openings in STEM fields in Arizona. This study explores the extent to which the attitudes held by African Americans in Arizona toward STEM related majors and careers influence their likelihood of joining the stateâs scientific workforce. Our analyses reveal the importance of career consideration, confidence in oneâs ability to be successful in a STEM related field, and family support of the pursuit of STEM education and careers.Educatio
The relation between gas density and velocity power spectra in galaxy clusters: qualitative treatment and cosmological simulations
We address the problem of evaluating the power spectrum of the velocity field
of the ICM using only information on the plasma density fluctuations, which can
be measured today by Chandra and XMM-Newton observatories. We argue that for
relaxed clusters there is a linear relation between the rms density and
velocity fluctuations across a range of scales, from the largest ones, where
motions are dominated by buoyancy, down to small, turbulent scales:
, where
is the spectral amplitude of the density perturbations at wave number ,
is the mean square component of the velocity field,
is the sound speed, and is a dimensionless constant of order unity.
Using cosmological simulations of relaxed galaxy clusters, we calibrate this
relation and find . We argue that this value is set at
large scales by buoyancy physics, while at small scales the density and
velocity power spectra are proportional because the former are a passive scalar
advected by the latter. This opens an interesting possibility to use gas
density power spectra as a proxy for the velocity power spectra in relaxed
clusters, across a wide range of scales.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to ApJ Letter
Processor architectures utilizing magnetic bubble and semi-conductor memories
To aid work being conducted on the feasibility of a low cost Omega navigational receiver, a control panel was designed and constructed according to supplied specifications. Since the proposed Omega receiver is designed around a microprocessor, software engineering necessary for control panel operation is included in the design. The control panel is to be used as an operational model for use in the design of a prototype receiver. A detailed description of the hardware design is presented along with a description of the software needed to operate the panel. A complete description of the operating procedures for the panel are also included
Spherical Accretion with Anisotropic Thermal Conduction
We study the effects of anisotropic thermal conduction on magnetized
spherical accretion flows using global axisymmetric MHD simulations. In low
collisionality plasmas, the Bondi spherical accretion solution is unstable to
the magnetothermal instability (MTI). The MTI grows rapidly at large radii
where the inflow is subsonic. For a weak initial field, the MTI saturates by
creating a primarily radial magnetic field, i.e., by aligning the field lines
with the background temperature gradient. The saturation is quasilinear in the
sense that the magnetic field is amplified by a factor of
independent of the initial field strength (for weak fields). In the saturated
state, the conductive heat flux is much larger than the convective heat flux,
and is comparable to the field-free (Spitzer) value (since the field lines are
largely radial). The MTI by itself does not appreciably change the accretion
rate relative to the Bondi rate . However, the radial field
lines created by the MTI are amplified by flux freezing as the plasma flows in
to small radii. Oppositely directed field lines are brought together by the
converging inflow, leading to significant resistive heating. When the magnetic
energy density is comparable to the gravitational potential energy density, the
plasma is heated to roughly the virial temperature; the mean inflow is highly
subsonic; most of the energy released by accretion is transported to large
radii by thermal conduction; and the accretion rate . The
predominantly radial magnetic field created by the MTI at large radii in
spherical accretion flows may account for the stable Faraday rotation measure
towards Sgr A* in the Galactic Center.Comment: accepted in MNRAS with some modifications suggested by the referee;
15 pages, 16 figure
Comparative Cognition: Past, Present, and Future
Comparative cognition is the field of inquiry concerned with understanding the cognitive abilities and mechanisms that are evident in nonhuman species. Assessments of animal cognition have a long history, but in recent years there has been an explosion of new research topics, and a general broadening of the phylogenetic map of animal cognition. To review the past of comparative cognition, we describe the historical trends. In regards to the present state, we examine current âhot topicsâ in comparative cognition. Finally, we offer our unique and combined thoughts on the future of the field
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