24,914 research outputs found
Application of parallel distributed processing to space based systems
The concept of using Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP) to enhance automated experiment monitoring and control is explored. Recent very large scale integration (VLSI) advances have made such applications an achievable goal. The PDP machine has demonstrated the ability to automatically organize stored information, handle unfamiliar and contradictory input data and perform the actions necessary. The PDP machine has demonstrated that it can perform inference and knowledge operations with greater speed and flexibility and at lower cost than traditional architectures. In applications where the rule set governing an expert system's decisions is difficult to formulate, PDP can be used to extract rules by associating the information an expert receives with the actions taken
Neonatal weight loss in breast and formula-fed infants
We have observed an increase in the number of breast fed babies presenting with dehydration and/or failure to thrive because of lactation failure and non-recognition of feeding problems. Recent reports1,2 support this experience and recommend monitoring of the weight of infants through the neonatal period. However, these reports acknowledge uncertainty as to what actually constitutes normal neonatal weight loss. Maisels and colleagues published two studies which have been quoted as giving guidance on normal loss. Both studies were designed primarily to study factors that influence breast milk jaundice. The first3 reported a mean weight loss of about 6% in 100 unselected well babies during the first 3 days. The subsequent study4 reported a mean weight loss of 6.86% in 186 infants. The timescale over which babies were weighed was not clearly indicated, although it may have only been 2-3 days. The sample was neither population based nor randomly selected, being largely preselected because of the presence of more pronounced jaundice. The distribution of data points for early neonatal weight loss are likely to be skewed, yet both studies reported the results as mean (SD). Owing to the design and method of data presentation, these studies cannot reliably inform the debate as to what constitutes the norm. Marchini and colleagues published reports also designed primarily to study other issues. One5 indicated a mean early weight loss of 5.7%. Measurements were recorded over a three day period, and no indication is given of the skewness of the data. Another study6 reported a median weight loss of about 6% recorded over a four day period. At least one baby lost > 15% of his/her birth weight during this time, but there is no clear information as to the frequency with which more extreme degrees of weight loss are observed
Skyrme Crystal In A Two-Dimensional Electron Gas
The ground state of a two-dimensional electron gas at Landau level filling
factors near is a Skyrme crystal with long range order in the
positions and orientations of the topologically and electrically charged
elementary excitations of the ferromagnetic ground state. The lowest
energy Skyrme crystal is a square lattice with opposing postures for
topological excitations on opposite sublattices. The filling factor dependence
of the electron spin-polarization, calculated for the square lattice Skyrme
crystal, is in excellent agreement with recent experiments.Comment: 3 pages, latex, 3 figures available upon request from
[email protected]
Development of a portable precision landing system
A portable, tactical approach guidance (PTAG) system, based on a novel, X-band, precision approach concept, was developed and flight tested as a part of NASA's Rotorcraft All-Weather Operations Research Program. The system is based on state-of-the-art X-band technology and digital processing techniques. The PTAG airborne hardware consists of an X-band receiver and a small microprocessor installed in conjunction with the aircraft instrument landing system (ILS) receiver. The microprocessor analyzes the X-band, PTAG pulses and outputs ILS compatible localizer and glide slope signals. The ground stations are inexpensive, portable units, each weighing less than 85 lb, including battery, that can be quickly deployed at a landing site. Results from the flight test program show that PTAG has a significant potential for providing tactical aircraft with low cost, portable, precision instrument approach capability
Realistic Earth escape strategies for solar sailing
With growing interest in solar sailing comes the requirement to provide a basis for future detailed planetary escape mission analysis by drawing together prior work, clarifying and explaining previously anomalies. Previously unexplained seasonal variations in sail escape times from Earth orbit are explained analytically and corroborated within a numerical trajectory model. Blended-sail control algorithms, explicitly independent of time, which providenear-optimal escape trajectories and maintain a safe minimum altitude and which are suitable as a potential autonomous onboard controller, are then presented. These algorithms are investigated from a range of initial conditions and are shown to maintain the optimality previously demonstrated by the use of a single-energy gain control law but without the risk of planetary collision. Finally, it is shown that the minimum sail characteristic acceleration required for escape from a polar orbit without traversing the Earth shadow cone increases exponentially as initial altitude is decreased
Cauchy's residue theorem for a class of real valued functions
Let be an interval in and let be a real valued
function defined at the endpoints of and with a certain number of
discontinuities within . Having assumed to be differentiable on a
set to the derivative , where is a subset of at whose points can take values or not be defined at all,
we adopt the convention that and are equal to 0 at all points of
and show that %, where
denotes the total value of the \textit{% Kurzweil-Henstock} integral. The
paper ends with a few examples that illustrate the theory.Comment: 6 page
Analytic Solutions to the Constraint Equation for a Force-Free Magnetosphere around a Kerr Black Hole
The Blandford-Znajek constraint equation for a stationary, axisymmetric
black-hole force-free magnetosphere is cast in a 3+1 absolute space and time
formulation, following Komissarov (2004). We derive an analytic solution for
fields and currents to the constraint equation in the far-field limit that
satisfies the Znajek condition at the event horizon. This solution generalizes
the Blandford-Znajek monopole solution for a slowly rotating black hole to
black holes with arbitrary angular momentum. Energy and angular momentum
extraction through this solution occurs mostly along the equatorial plane. We
also present a nonphysical, reverse jet-like solution.Comment: 6 pages, accepted for publication in Ap
River Discharge, in State of the Climate in 2008
The global mean temperature in 2008 was slightly cooler than that in 2007; however, it still ranks within the 10 warmest years on record. Annual mean temperatures were generally well above average in South America, northern and southern Africa, Iceland, Europe, Russia, South Asia, and Australia. In contrast, an exceptional cold outbreak occurred during January across Eurasia and over southern European Russia and southern western Siberia. There has been a general increase in land-surface temperatures and in permafrost temperatures during the last several decades throughout the Arctic region, including increases of 1° to 2°C in the last 30 to 35 years in Russia. Record setting warm summer (JJA) air temperatures were observed throughout Greenland
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