2,439 research outputs found
Long range targeting for space based rendezvous
The work performed under this grant supported the Dexterous Flight Experiment one STS-62 The project required developing hardware and software for automating a TRAC sensor on orbit. The hardware developed by for the flight has been documented through standard NASA channels since it has to pass safety, environmental, and other issues. The software has not been documented previously, therefore, this report provides a software manual for the TRAC code developed for the grant
Evaluation of the Shuttle remote manipulator
The objective initially proposed was to analyze shuttle remote manipulator (SRM) performance data collected during a Shuttle Flight. The data was to consist of video TRAC data collected via a video recorder. Unfortunately, the flight never collected the data due to higher priority experiments superseding it. As a result, the research team at Texas A&M was directed to work on several other pressing issues regarding the TRAC sensor. All but one of these issues were reported earlier in the form of periodic status reports. In fulfillment of the grant conditions, the last issue investigated is being reported as the final report. Ordinarily, a TRAC sensor determines the orientation of an object by analyzing the image reflected from a mirror target. The concern addressed is to develop a method for using the TRAC sensor when the target does not reflect a usable image
Low- and high-frequency noise from coherent two-level systems
Recent experiments indicate a connection between the low- and high-frequency
noise affecting superconducting quantum systems. We explore the possibilities
that both noises can be produced by one ensemble of microscopic modes, made up,
e.g., by sufficiently coherent two-level systems (TLS). This implies a relation
between the noise power in different frequency domains, which depends on the
distribution of the parameters of the TLSs. We show that a distribution,
natural for tunneling TLSs, with a log-uniform distribution in the tunnel
splitting and linear distribution in the bias, accounts for experimental
observations.Comment: minor corrections, references adde
When flux standards go wild: white dwarfs in the age of Kepler
White dwarf stars have been used as flux standards for decades, thanks to
their staid simplicity. We have empirically tested their photometric stability
by analyzing the light curves of 398 high-probability candidates and
spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs observed during the original Kepler
mission and later with K2 Campaigns 0-8. We find that the vast majority (>97
per cent) of non-pulsating and apparently isolated white dwarfs are stable to
better than 1 per cent in the Kepler bandpass on 1-hr to 10-d timescales,
confirming that these stellar remnants are useful flux standards. From the
cases that do exhibit significant variability, we caution that binarity,
magnetism, and pulsations are three important attributes to rule out when
establishing white dwarfs as flux standards, especially those hotter than
30,000 K.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 7 pages, 4 figures, 2 table
Clinical use of CCR5 inhibitors in HIV and beyond
Since the discovery of CCR5 as a coreceptor for HIV entry, there has been interest in blockade of the receptor for treatment and prevention of HIV infection. Although several CCR5 antagonists have been evaluated in clinical trials, only maraviroc has been approved for clinical use in the treatment of HIV-infected patients. The efficacy, safety and resistance profile of CCR5 antagonists with a focus on maraviroc are reviewed here along with their usage in special and emerging clinical situations. Despite being approved for use since 2007, the optimal use of maraviroc has yet to be well-defined in HIV and potentially in other diseases. Maraviroc and other CCR5 antagonists have the potential for use in a variety of other clinical situations such as the prevention of HIV transmission, intensification of HIV treatment and prevention of rejection in organ transplantation. The use of CCR5 antagonists may be potentiated by other agents such as rapamycin which downregulate CCR5 receptors thus decreasing CCR5 density. There may even be a role for their use in combination with other entry inhibitors. However, clinical use of CCR5 antagonists may have negative consequences in diseases such as West Nile and Tick-borne encephalitis virus infections. In summary, CCR5 antagonists have great therapeutic potential in the treatment and prevention of HIV as well as future use in novel situations such as organ transplantation. Their optimal use either alone or in combination with other agents will be defined by further investigation
Exact quantum master equation for a molecular aggregate coupled to a harmonic bath
We consider a molecular aggregate consisting of identical monomers. Each
monomer comprises two electronic levels and a single harmonic mode. The
monomers interact with each other via dipole-dipole forces. The monomer
vibrational modes are bilinearly coupled to a bath of harmonic oscillators.
This is a prototypical model for the description of coherent exciton transport,
from quantum dots to photosynthetic antennae. We derive an exact quantum master
equation for such systems. Computationally, the master equation may be useful
for the testing of various approximations employed in theories of quantum
transport. Physically, it offers a plausible explanation of the origins of
long-lived coherent optical responses of molecular aggregates in dissipative
environments
Transport properties of double-walled carbon nanotube quantum dots
The transport properties of quantum dot (QD) systems based on double-walled
carbon nanotube (DWCNT) are investigated. The interplay between microscopic
structure and strong Coulomb interaction is treated within a bosonization
framework. The linear and nonlinear G-V-V_g characteristics of the QD system is
calculated by starting from the Liouville equation for the reduced density
matrix. Depending on the intershell couplings, an 8-electron periodicity of the
Coulomb blockade peak spacing in the case of commensurate DWCNT QDs and a
4-electron periodicity in the incommensurate case are predicted. The
contribution of excited states of DWCNTs to the nonlinear transport is
investigated as well.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure
Gas Absorption in the KH 15D System: Further Evidence for Dust Settling in the Circumbinary Disk
Na I D lines in the spectrum of the young binary KH 15D have been analyzed in
detail. We find an excess absorption component that may be attributed to
foreground interstellar absorption, and to gas possibly associated with the
solids in the circumbinary disk. The derived column density is log N_NaI = 12.5
cm^-2, centered on a radial velocity that is consistent with the systemic
velocity. Subtracting the likely contribution of the ISM leaves log N_NaI ~
12.3 cm^-2. There is no detectable change in the gas column density across the
"knife edge" formed by the opaque grain disk, indicating that the gas and
solids have very different scale heights, with the solids being highly settled.
Our data support a picture of this circumbinary disk as being composed of a
very thin particulate grain layer composed of millimeter-sized or larger
objects that are settled within whatever remaining gas may be present. This
phase of disk evolution has been hypothesized to exist as a prelude to the
formation of planetesimals through gravitational fragmentation, and is expected
to be short-lived if much gas were still present in such a disk. Our analysis
also reveals the presence of excess Na I emission relative to the comparison
spectrum at the radial velocity of the currently visible star that plausibly
arises within the magnetosphere of this still-accreting young star.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 23 pages, 6 figure
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