Development of an annoyance model based upon elementary auditory sensations for steady-state aircraft interior noise containing tonal components

The purpose of this investigation was to develop a noise annoyance model, superior to those already in use, for evaluating passenger response to sounds containing tonal components which may be heard within current and future commercial aircraft. The sound spectra investigated ranged from those being experienced by passengers on board turbofan powered aircraft now in service to those cabin noise spectra passengers may experience within advanced propeller-driven aircraft of the future. A total of 240 sounds were tested in this experiment. Sixty-six of these 240 sounds were steady state, while the other 174 varied temporally due to tonal beating. Here, the entire experiment is described, but the analysis is limited to those responses elicited by the 66 steady-state sounds

Electron microscopic visualization of tRNA genes with ferritin-avidin: biotin labels

A method is described for indirect electron microscopic visualization and mapping of tRNA and other short transcripts hybridized to DNA. This method depends upon the attachment of the electron-dense protein ferritin to the RNA, the binding being mediated by the remarkably strong association of the egg white protein avidin with biotin. Biotin is covalently attached to the 3' end of tRNA using an NH2 (CH2) 5NH2 bridge. The tRNA-biotin adduct is hybridized to complementcrry DNA sequences present in a single stranded nonhomology loop of a DNA:DNA heteroduplex. Avidin, covalently crosslinked to ferritin is mixed with the heteroduplex and becomes bound to the hybridized tRNA-biotin. Observation of the DNA:RNA-biotin:avidin-ferritin complex by electron microsdopy specifically and accurately reveals the position of the tRNA gene, with a frequency of labeling of approximately 50%

Pricing in C2C Sharing Platforms

Sharing platforms such as zilok.com enable sharing of durable goods among consumers, and seek to maximize profits by charging transaction-based platform fees. We develop a model in which consumers who have heterogeneous needs concerning the use of a durable good decide whether to purchase and share (i.e., be a lender) or borrow (i.e., be a borrower), and a monopoly sharing platform determines the platform fees. We find, first, that consumers with greater need to use a durable good purchase and share, and that consumers with lesser need borrow. Second, sharing platforms maximize profits only if the supply of a durable good matches demand—that is, the market must clear in order for platform fees to be profit maximizing. Third, the market-clearing condition requires lender and borrower fees are classic strategic complements. Fourth, to maintain the market-clearing condition, sharing platforms have to increase their lender fee or decrease their borrower fee in response to increases in the sharing price, increases in usage capacity, and decreases in the purchase price of a durable good, and vice versa. These findings indicate that commonly applied one-sided pricing models in sharing platforms can be improved

Reservoir fracture characterizations from seismic scattered waves

The measurements of fracture parameters, such as fracture orientation, fracture density and fracture compliance, in a reservoir is very important for field development and exploration. Traditional seismic methods for fracture characterization include shear wave birefringence (Gaiser and Dok, 2001; Dok et al., 2001; Angerer et al., 2002; Vetri et al., 2003) and amplitude variations with offset and azimuth (AVOA) (Ruger, 1998; Shen et al., 2002; Hall et al., 2003; Liu et al., 2010; Lynn et al., 2010). These methods are based on the equivalent medium theory with the assumption that fracture dimension and spacing are small relative to the seismic wave length, so a fracture zone behaves like an equivalent anisotropic medium. But fractures on the order of seismic wave length are also very important for enhanced oil recovery, and they are one of the important subsurface scattering sources that generate scattered seismic waves. Willis et al. (2006) developed the Scattering Index method to extract the fracture scattering characteristics by calculating the transfer funtion of a fracture zone. Fang et al. (2011) proposed a modification of the SI method (the Fracture Transfer Function (FTF) method) that leads to a more robust fracture characterization. In this paper, we use both laboratory data and field data to explore the capability of the FTF method.Eni-MIT Energy Initiative Founding Member Progra

Mackintosh lecture: Association and cognition: two processes, one system

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this record.There is another ORE record for this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/33264This paper argues that the dual-process position can be a useful first approximation when studying human mental life, but it cannot be the whole truth. Instead, we argue that cognition is built on association, in that associative processes provide the fundamental building blocks that enable propositional thought. One consequence of this position is to suggest that humans are able to learn associatively in a similar fashion to a rat or a pigeon, but another is that we must typically suppress the expression of basic associative learning in favour of rule-based computation. This stance conceptualizes us as capable of symbolic computation, but acknowledges that, given certain circumstances, we will learn associatively and, more importantly, be seen to do so. We present three types of evidence that support this position: The first is data on human Pavlovian conditioning that directly supports this view. The second is data taken from task switching experiments that provides convergent evidence for at least two modes of processing, one of which is automatic and carried out “in the background”. And the last suggests that when the output of propositional processes is uncertain, then the influence of associative processes on behaviour can manifest

Phase I/II study of the anti-oestrogen zindoxifene (D16726) in the treatment of advanced breast cancer. A Cancer Research Campaign Phase I/II Clinical Trials Committee study.

We report a phase I/II study of the indole derivative, zindoxifene, an anti-oestrogen with intrinsic oestrogenic activity. We have treated 28 women with advanced breast cancer of whom 26 had received prior endocrine therapy. Oral zindoxifene doses ranged from 10 to 100 mg daily; doses were escalated in some patients. Twenty-five patients were assessed for response; the remaining three patients completed less than 3 weeks of treatment. There were no objective responses; disease stabilised in seven patients for up to 5 months and progressed in the remaining 18. Five patients (including three treated with tamoxifen) responded to subsequent endocrine therapy. Nausea, which was dose-limiting, affected half of the patients treated with 80 mg daily. Metabolites of zindoxifene were detectable in serum at all doses used, and sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels showed a strong tendency to rise at the higher doses, indicating that zindoxifene is absorbed and has biological activity. We conclude that zindoxifene in the doses used in this study has only marginal therapeutic activity in the treatment of advanced breast cancer

The PANDA GEM-based TPC Prototype

We report on the development of a GEM-based TPC prototype for the PANDA experiment. The design and requirements of this device will be illustrated, with particular emphasis on the properties of the recently tested GEM-detector, the characterization of the read-out electronics and the development of the tracking software that allows to evaluate the GEM-TPC data.Comment: submitted to NIMA 4 pages, 6 picture

Nan-O-Style – experiments and arts

In this project, high school students (aged 16-17) tested various protocols of experiments in nanotechnology and evaluated them whether such experiments could also be performed by middle school students (aged 11-15) or even elementary school students (aged 6-10). Protocols pre-selected and provided by the instructing team consisting of Sciencetainment and the Department of Biosciences, University of Salzburg were applied. Laboratory techniques such as thin-layer chromatography, measuring the contact angle by high-resolution 3D microscopy and analyzing and constructing surface layers represented some of the experiments performed. Moreover, students produced short video clips and images and designed photo-collages out of microscopic and electron microscopic pictures. Hence, the school students acquired a number of soft skills during this special science day