Evaluation of the HARDMAN comparability methodology for manpower, personnel and training

The methodology evaluation and recommendation are part of an effort to improve Hardware versus Manpower (HARDMAN) methodology for projecting manpower, personnel, and training (MPT) to support new acquisition. Several different validity tests are employed to evaluate the methodology. The methodology conforms fairly well with both the MPT user needs and other accepted manpower modeling techniques. Audits of three completed HARDMAN applications reveal only a small number of potential problem areas compared to the total number of issues investigated. The reliability study results conform well with the problem areas uncovered through the audits. The results of the accuracy studies suggest that the manpower life-cycle cost component is only marginally sensitive to changes in other related cost variables. Even with some minor problems, the methodology seem sound and has good near term utility to the Army. Recommendations are provided to firm up the problem areas revealed through the evaluation

Implied volatility functions: a reprise

Dumas, Fleming, Whaley (DFW, 1998) find that option models based on deterministic volatility functions (DVF) perform poorly because the estimated volatility function is unstable over time. DFW provide evidence that the DVF changes significantly on a weekly basis. This paper proposes a new class of dynamic implied volatility function models (DIVF). This class of models separates a time-invariant implied volatility function from the stochastic state variables that drive changes in the individual implied volatilities. The dynamics of the state variables are modeled explicitly. This framework facilitates consistent pricing and hedging with time-variation in the implied volatility function (IVF). In tests conducted using the full history of S&P500 futures option prices, the DIVF model is found to substantially improve pricing performance compared to static implied volatility function models and benchmark pricing models such as Black and Scholes (1973)

The Arecibo Dual-Beam Survey: Arecibo and VLA Observations

The Arecibo Dual-Beam Survey is a "blind" 21 cm search for galaxies covering \~430 deg^2 of sky. We present the data from the detection survey as well as from the follow-up observations to confirm detections and improve positions and flux measurements. We find 265 galaxies, many of which are extremely low surface brightness. Some of these previously uncataloged galaxies lie within the zone of avoidance where they are obscured by the gas and dust in our Galaxy. 81 of these sources are not previously cataloged optically and there are 11 galaxies that have no associated optical counterpart or are only tentatively associated with faint wisps of nebulosity on the Digitized Sky Survey images. We discuss the properties of the survey and in particular we make direct determinations of the completeness and reliability of the sample. The behavior of the completeness and its dependencies is essential for determining the HI mass function. We leave the discussion of the mass function for a later paper, but do note that we find many low surface brightness galaxies and 7 sources with M_HI < 10^8 Msolar.Comment: 23 pages, 20 figures, accepted ApJS. For tables 2 and 3 only the first page has been included. ASCII tables are provided separatel

Fiddlers, dancing, art and utility : what isn’t traditional?

Publisher PD

Mechanical oscillation and cooling actuated by the optical gradient force

In this work we combine the large per-photon optical gradient force with the sensitive feedback of a high quality factor whispering-gallery microcavity. The cavity geometry, consisting of a pair of silica disks separated by a nanoscale gap, shows extremely strong dynamical backaction, powerful enough to excite giant coherent oscillations even under heavily damped conditions (mechanical Q=4). In vacuum, the threshold for regenerative mechanical oscillation is lowered to an optical input power of only 270-nanoWatts, or roughly 1000 stored cavity photons, and efficient cooling of the mechanical motion is obtained with a temperature compression factor of 13-dB for 4-microWatts of dropped optical input power.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figure

Smart helmet: wearable multichannel ECG & EEG

Modern wearable technologies have enabled continuous recording of vital signs, however, for activities such as cycling, motor-racing, or military engagement, a helmet with embedded sensors would provide maximum convenience and the opportunity to monitor simultaneously both the vital signs and the electroencephalogram (EEG). To this end, we investigate the feasibility of recording the electrocardiogram (ECG), respiration, and EEG from face-lead locations, by embedding multiple electrodes within a standard helmet. The electrode positions are at the lower jaw, mastoids, and forehead, while for validation purposes a respiration belt around the thorax and a reference ECG from the chest serve as ground truth to assess the performance. The within-helmet EEG is verified by exposing the subjects to periodic visual and auditory stimuli and screening the recordings for the steady-state evoked potentials in response to these stimuli. Cycling and walking are chosen as real-world activities to illustrate how to deal with the so-induced irregular motion artifacts, which contaminate the recordings. We also propose a multivariate R-peak detection algorithm suitable for such noisy environments. Recordings in real-world scenarios support a proof of concept of the feasibility of recording vital signs and EEG from the proposed smart helmet

Finite energy shifts in SU(n) supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory on T^3xR at weak coupling

We consider a semi-classical treatment, in the regime of weak gauge coupling, of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory in a space-time of the form T^3xR with SU(n)/Z_n gauge group and a non-trivial gauge bundle. More specifically, we consider the theories obtained as power series expansions around a certain class of normalizable vacua of the classical theory, corresponding to isolated points in the moduli space of flat connections, and the perturbative corrections to the free energy eigenstates and eigenvalues in the weakly interacting theory. The perturbation theory construction of the interacting Hilbert space is complicated by the divergence of the norm of the interacting states. Consequently, the free and interacting Hilbert furnish unitarily inequivalent representation of the algebra of creation and annihilation operators of the quantum theory. We discuss a consistent redefinition of the Hilbert space norm to obtain the interacting Hilbert space and the properties of the interacting representation. In particular, we consider the lowest non-vanishing corrections to the free energy spectrum and discuss the crucial importance of supersymmetry for these corrections to be finite.Comment: 31 pages, 1 figure, v4 Minor changes, references correcte