Clocking connector replaces adapter cables

Single cable using simplified, versatile clocking connector satisfies clocking variations that previously required many cables. Connector consists of specially fabricated grommet follower dial housing, dial assembly, and modified insert

State-Space Inference and Learning with Gaussian Processes

State-space inference and learning with Gaussian processes (GPs) is an unsolved problem. We propose a new, general methodology for inference and learning in nonlinear state-space models that are described probabilistically by non-parametric GP models. We apply the expectation maximization algorithm to iterate between inference in the latent state-space and learning the parameters of the underlying GP dynamics model. Copyright 2010 by the authors

What is a Good Plan? Cultural Variations in Expert Planners’ Concepts of Plan Quality

This article presents the results of a field research study examining commonalities and differences between American and British operational planners’ mental models of planning. We conducted Cultural Network Analysis (CNA) interviews with 14 experienced operational planners in the US and UK. Our results demonstrate the existence of fundamental differences between the way American and British expert planners conceive of a high quality plan. Our results revealed that the American planners’ model focused on specification of action to achieve synchronization, providing little autonomy at the level of execution, and included the belief that increasing contingencies reduces risk. The British planners’ model stressed the internal coherence of the plan, to support shared situational awareness and thereby flexibility at the level of execution. The British model also emphasized the belief that reducing the number of assumptions decreases risk. Overall, the American ideal plan serves a controlling function, whereas the British ideal plan supports an enabling function. Interestingly, both the US and UK would view the other’s ideal plan as riskier than their own. The implications of cultural models of plans and planning are described for establishing performance measures and designing systems to support multinational planning teams

US/UK Mental Models of Planning: The Relationship Between Plan Detail and Plan Quality

This paper presents the results of a research study applying a new cultural analysis method to capture commonalities and differences between US and UK mental models of operational planning. The results demonstrate the existence of fundamental differences between the way US and UK planners think about what it means to have a high quality plan. Specifically, the present study captures differences in how US and UK planners conceptualize plan quality. Explicit models of cultural differences in conceptions of plan quality are useful for establishing performance metrics for multinational planning teams. This paper discusses the prospects of enabling automatic evaluation of multinational team performance by combining recent advances in cultural modelling with enhanced ontology languages

A wind tunnel investigation of the shape of uncharged raindrops in the presence of an external, electric field

Results of a wind tunnel experiment in which electrically uncharged water drops of 500 to 3000 microns equivalent radius are freely suspended in the vertical air stream of the UCLA cloud tunnel are presented. During this suspension the drops were exposed to external vertical electric fields of 500 to 8,000 volts/cm. The change in drop shape with drop size and electric field strength was noted and is discussed in the light of theoretical work cited in the literature which unfortunately does not take into account the effects of air flow past the drop. The wind tunnel study is documented by stills from a 16 mm film record that demonstrates the shape of water drops in response to both hydrodynamic and electric forces

Recent Pythia 8 developments: Hard diffraction, Colour reconnection and γγ\gamma\gamma collisions

An overview of recent developments in \pythia~8 is given. First the new hard diffraction model, which is implemented as a part of the multiparton interactions (MPI) framework, is discussed. Then the new colour reconnection model, which includes beyond leading colour effects that can become important when MPI are present, is briefly reviewed. As a last topic an introduction is given to our implementation of photon-photon collisions. In particular photon PDFs, required modifications for the initial state radiation algorithm and beam remnant handling with photon beams is discussed.Comment: Contribution to proceedings of 7th International Workshop on Multiple Partonic Interactions at the LHC, 23 - 27 November 2015, Miramare, Trieste, Ital

Origins of elastic properties in ordered nanocomposites

We predict a diblock copolymer melt in the lamellar phase with added spherical nanoparticles that have an affinity for one block to have a lower tensile modulus than a pure diblock copolymer system. This weakening is due to the swelling of the lamellar domain by nanoparticles and the displacement of polymer by elastically inert fillers. Despite the overall decrease in the tensile modulus of a polydomain sample, the shear modulus for a single domain increases dramatically

Study of the characteristics of seismic signals generated by natural and cultural phenomena

Seismic data recorded at the Tonto Forest Seismological Observatory in Arizona and the Uinta Basin Seismological Observatory in Utah were used to compare the frequency of occurrence, severity, and spectral content of ground motions resulting from earthquakes, and other natural and man-made sources with the motions generated by sonic booms. A search of data recorded at the two observatories yielded a classification of over 180,000 earthquake phase arrivals on the basis of frequency of occurrence versus maximum ground velocity. The majority of the large ground velocities were produced by seismic surface waves from moderate to large earthquakes in the western United States, and particularly along the Pacific Coast of the United States and northern Mexico. A visual analysis of raw film seismogram data over a 3-year period indicates that local and regional seismic events, including quarry blasts, are frequent in occurrence, but do not produce ground motions at the observatories comparable to either the large western United States earthquakes or to sonic booms. Seismic data from the Nevada Test Site nuclear blasts were used to derive magnitude-distance-sonic boom overpressure relations

What Americans Think of the New Insurance Marketplaces and Medicaid Expansion: Findings from the Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Marketplace Survey, 2013

The Affordable Care Act's health insurance marketplaces are opening for enrollment on October 1, 2013. The Commonwealth Fund Health Insurance Marketplace Survey, 2013, finds that only two of five adults are aware of the marketplaces or of potential financial help that may be available to them to pay for plans purchased though the marketplaces. However, three of five adults who might be eligible for these new options said they were likely to take advantage of them. The survey also finds broad support for state expansion of the Medicaid program, even in states that have not yet decided to expand their programs. While outreach and education are critical to ensuring that those eligible for the new coverage options will enroll, the survey results suggest that eligible Americans will likely take advantage of the law's insurance reforms in the months and years to come