30,810 research outputs found
Standardized field testing of assistant robots in a Mars-like environment
Controlled testing on standard tasks and within standard environments can provide meaningful performance comparisons between robots of heterogeneous design. But because they must perform practical tasks in unstructured, and therefore non-standard, environments, the benefits of this approach have barely begun to accrue for field robots. This work describes a desert trial of six student prototypes of astronaut-support robots using a set of standardized engineering tests developed by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), along with three operational tests in natural Mars-like terrain. The results suggest that standards developed for emergency response robots are also applicable to the astronaut support domain, yielding useful insights into the differences in capabilities between robots and real design improvements. The exercise shows the value of combining repeatable engineering tests with task-specific application-testing in the field
Spin resonance in the superconducting state of LiFeODFeSe observed by neutron spectroscopy
We have performed inelastic neutron scattering measurements on a powder
sample of the superconductor lithium iron selenide hydroxide
LiFeODFeSe (, \,K). The spectrum shows an enhanced intensity below over an
energy range , where is the
superconducting gap, with maxima at the wave vectors \,\AA and \,\AA. The behavior of this
feature is consistent with the spin resonance mode found in other
unconventional superconductors, and strongly resembles the spin resonance
observed in the spectrum of the molecular-intercalated iron selenide,
Li(ND)(ND)FeSe. The signal can
be described with a characteristic two-dimensional wave vector
in the Brillouin zone of the iron square lattice, consistent with the nesting
vector between electron Fermi sheets
Follow-up after treatment for head and neck cancer: United Kingdom National Multidisciplinary Guidelines
This is the official guideline endorsed by the specialty associations involved in the care of head and neck cancer patients in the UK. In the absence of high-level evidence base for follow-up practices, the duration and frequency are often at the discretion of local centres. By reviewing the existing literature and collating experience from varying practices across the UK, this paper provides recommendations on the work up and management of lateral skull base cancer based on the existing evidence base for this rare condition
The invertebrate Caenorhabditis elegans biosynthesizes ascorbate.
l-Ascorbate, commonly known as vitamin C, serves as an antioxidant and cofactor essential for many biological processes. Distinct ascorbate biosynthetic pathways have been established for animals and plants, but little is known about the presence or synthesis of this molecule in invertebrate species. We have investigated ascorbate metabolism in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, where this molecule would be expected to play roles in oxidative stress resistance and as cofactor in collagen and neurotransmitter synthesis. Using high-performance liquid chromatography and gas-chromatography mass spectrometry, we determined that ascorbate is present at low amounts in the egg stage, L1 larvae, and mixed animal populations, with the egg stage containing the highest concentrations. Incubating C. elegans with precursor molecules necessary for ascorbate synthesis in plants and animals did not significantly alter ascorbate levels. Furthermore, bioinformatic analyses did not support the presence in C. elegans of either the plant or the animal biosynthetic pathway. However, we observed the complete (13)C-labeling of ascorbate when C. elegans was grown with (13)C-labeled Escherichia coli as a food source. These results support the hypothesis that ascorbate biosynthesis in invertebrates may proceed by a novel pathway and lay the foundation for a broader understanding of its biological role
Soil acidity and liming in the Lower Great Southern
In the 375 to 750 millimetre rainfall area of the Lower Great Southern, reports of loss of subterranean clover from established pastures, reduced carrying capacity for sheep and increasing soil acidity lead to the establishment in 1981 of a research programme into the effects of soil acidity on pasture productivity in that region
Oceanic flow over varying bottom topography
A study has been made of steady barotropic flows on the β plane over a bottom topography that varies in a direction inclined to the circles of latitude. The solutions obtained, starting with both the Eulerian and the Lagrangian systems of equations, are shown to be identical in the case of flow over a single-depth discontinuity...
Large anomalous Hall effect in ferromagnetic insulator-topological insulator heterostructures
We demonstrate the van der Waals epitaxy of the topological insulator
compound Bi2Te3 on the ferromagnetic insulator Cr2Ge2Te6. The layers are
oriented with (001) of Bi2Te3 parallel to (001) of Cr2Ge2Te6 and (110) of
Bi2Te3 parallel to (100) of Cr2Ge2Te6. Cross-sectional transmission electron
microscopy indicates the formation of a sharp interface. At low temperatures,
bilayers consisting of Bi2Te3 on Cr2Ge2Te6 exhibit a large anomalous Hall
effect (AHE). Tilted field studies of the AHE indicate that the easy axis lies
along the c-axis of the heterostructure, consistent with magnetization
measurements in bulk Cr2Ge2Te6. The 61 K Curie temperature of Cr2Ge2Te6 and the
use of near-stoichiometric materials may lead to the development of spintronic
devices based on the AHE.Comment: Related papers at http://pettagroup.princeton.ed
Transform-limited X-ray pulse generation from a high-brightness self-amplified spontaneous-emission free-electron laser
A method to achieve high-brightness self-amplified spontaneous emission (HB-SASE) in the free-electron laser (FEL) is described. The method uses repeated nonequal electron beam delays to delocalize the collective FEL interaction and break the radiation coherence length dependence on the FEL cooperation length. The method requires no external seeding or photon optics and so is applicable at any wavelength or repetition rate. It is demonstrated, using linear theory and numerical simulations, that the radiation coherence length can be increased by approximately 2 orders of magnitude over SASE with a corresponding increase in spectral brightness. Examples are shown of HB-SASE generating transform-limited FEL pulses in the soft x-ray and near transform-limited pulses in the hard x-ray. Such pulses may greatly benefit existing applications and may also open up new areas of scientific research
Cauchy-characteristic Evolution of Einstein-Klein-Gordon Systems: The Black Hole Regime
The Cauchy+characteristic matching (CCM) problem for the scalar wave equation
is investigated in the background geometry of a Schwarzschild black hole.
Previously reported work developed the CCM framework for the coupled
Einstein-Klein-Gordon system of equations, assuming a regular center of
symmetry. Here, the time evolution after the formation of a black hole is
pursued, using a CCM formulation of the governing equations perturbed around
the Schwarzschild background. An extension of the matching scheme allows for
arbitrary matching boundary motion across the coordinate grid. As a proof of
concept, the late time behavior of the dynamics of the scalar field is
explored. The power-law tails in both the time-like and null infinity limits
are verified.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. D, 9 pages, revtex, 5 figures available at
http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/nr/preprints.htm
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