25,682 research outputs found
Research and technology program perspectives for general aviation and commuter aircraft
The uses, benefits, and technology needs of the U.S. general aviation industry were studied in light of growing competition from foreign general aviation manufacturers, especially in the commuter and business jet aircraft markets
Managing urban socio-technical change? Comparing energy technology controversies in three European contexts
A {\em local graph partitioning algorithm} finds a set of vertices with small
conductance (i.e. a sparse cut) by adaptively exploring part of a large graph
, starting from a specified vertex. For the algorithm to be local, its
complexity must be bounded in terms of the size of the set that it outputs,
with at most a weak dependence on the number of vertices in . Previous
local partitioning algorithms find sparse cuts using random walks and
personalized PageRank. In this paper, we introduce a randomized local
partitioning algorithm that finds a sparse cut by simulating the {\em
volume-biased evolving set process}, which is a Markov chain on sets of
vertices. We prove that for any set of vertices that has conductance at
most , for at least half of the starting vertices in our algorithm
will output (with probability at least half), a set of conductance
. We prove that for a given run of the algorithm,
the expected ratio between its computational complexity and the volume of the
set that it outputs is . In comparison, the best
previous local partitioning algorithm, due to Andersen, Chung, and Lang, has
the same approximation guarantee, but a larger ratio of between the complexity and output volume. Using our local
partitioning algorithm as a subroutine, we construct a fast algorithm for
finding balanced cuts. Given a fixed value of , the resulting algorithm
has complexity and returns a cut with
conductance and volume at least ,
where is the largest volume of any set with conductance at most
.Comment: 20 pages, no figure
Models of collective cell spreading with variable cell aspect ration: a motivation for degenerate diffusion models
Continuum diffusion models are often used to represent the collective motion of cell populations. Most previous studies have simply used linear diffusion to represent collective cell spreading, while others found that degenerate nonlinear diffusion provides a better match to experimental cell density profiles. In the cell modeling literature there is no guidance available with regard to which approach is more appropriate for representing the spreading of cell populations. Furthermore, there is no knowledge of particular experimental measurements that can be made to distinguish between situations where these two models are appropriate. Here we provide a link between individual-based and continuum models using a multiscale approach in which we analyze the collective motion of a population of interacting agents in a generalized lattice-based exclusion process. For round agents that occupy a single lattice site, we find that the relevant continuum description of the system is a linear diffusion equation, whereas for elongated rod-shaped agents that occupy L adjacent lattice sites we find that the relevant continuum description is connected to the porous media equation (PME). The exponent in the nonlinear diffusivity function is related to the aspect ratio of the agents. Our work provides a physical connection between modeling collective cell spreading and the use of either the linear diffusion equation or the PME to represent cell density profiles. Results suggest that when using continuum models to represent cell population spreading, we should take care to account for variations in the cell aspect ratio because different aspect ratios lead to different continuum models
Low-power radio galaxy environments in the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field at z~0.5
We present multi-object spectroscopy of galaxies in the immediate (Mpc-scale)
environments of four low-power (L_1.4 GHz < 10^25 W/Hz) radio galaxies at
z~0.5, selected from the Subaru/XMM-Newton Deep Field. We use the spectra to
calculate velocity dispersions and central redshifts of the groups the radio
galaxies inhabit, and combined with XMM-Newton (0.3-10 keV) X-ray observations
investigate the L_X--sigma_v and T_X--sigma_v scaling relationships. All the
radio galaxies reside in moderately rich groups -- intermediate environments
between poor groups and rich clusters, with remarkably similar X-ray
properties. We concentrate our discussion on our best statistical example that
we interpret as a low-power (FRI) source triggered within a sub-group, which in
turn is interacting with a nearby group of galaxies, containing the bulk of the
X-ray emission for the system -- a basic scenario which can be compared to more
powerful radio sources at both high (z>4) and low (z<0.1) redshifts. This
suggests that galaxy-galaxy interactions triggered by group mergers may play an
important role in the life-cycle of radio galaxies at all epochs and
luminosities.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. High
resolution version available upon reques
Tradeoff analysis of technology needs for public service helicopters
The design requirements for a family or type of Public Service Helicopter (PSH) is examined which will satisfy the needs of municipal and state governments in the following mission areas: Emergency Medical Service--Airborne Rescue Squad; Law Enforcement; Search and Rescue; and Environmental Control (Fire Fighting, Pollution, Resource Management). The report compares both design and performance requirements as specified by the PSH user's group against current technological capabilities, RTOPS and US Army LHX design requirements. The study explores various design trade-offs and options available to the aircraft designer/manufacturer in order to meet the several criteria specified by the PSH user's group. In addition, the report includes a brief assessment of the feasibility of employing certain advanced rotorcraft designs to meet the stringent combination of operational capabilities desired by the Public Service Helicopter Users
Two quantum Simpson's paradoxes
The so-called Simpson's "paradox", or Yule-Simpson (YS) effect, occurs in
classical statistics when the correlations that are present among different
sets of samples are reversed if the sets are combined together, thus ignoring
one or more lurking variables. Here we illustrate the occurrence of two
analogue effects in quantum measurements. The first, which we term
quantum-classical YS effect, may occur with quantum limited measurements and
with lurking variables coming from the mixing of states, whereas the second,
here referred to as quantum-quantum YS effect, may take place when coherent
superpositions of quantum states are allowed. By analyzing quantum measurements
on low dimensional systems (qubits and qutrits), we show that the two effects
may occur independently, and that the quantum-quantum YS effect is more likely
to occur than the corresponding quantum-classical one. We also found that there
exist classes of superposition states for which the quantum-classical YS effect
cannot occur for any measurement and, at the same time, the quantum-quantum YS
effect takes place in a consistent fraction of the possible measurement
settings. The occurrence of the effect in the presence of partial coherence is
discussed as well as its possible implications for quantum hypothesis testing.Comment: published versio
Estimating the masses of extra-solar planets
All extra-solar planet masses that have been derived spectroscopically are
lower limits since the inclination of the orbit to our line-of-sight is unknown
except for transiting systems. It is, however, possible to determine the
inclination angle, i, between the rotation axis of a star and an observer's
line-of-sight from measurements of the projected equatorial velocity (v sin i),
the stellar rotation period (P_rot) and the stellar radius (R_star). This
allows the removal of the sin i dependency of spectroscopically derived
extra-solar planet masses under the assumption that the planetary orbits lie
perpendicular to the stellar rotation axis. We have carried out an extensive
literature search and present a catalogue of v sin i, P_rot, and R_star
estimates for exoplanet host stars. In addition, we have used Hipparcos
parallaxes and the Barnes-Evans relationship to further supplement the R_star
estimates obtained from the literature. Using this catalogue, we have obtained
sin i estimates using a Markov-chain Monte Carlo analysis. This allows proper
1-sigma two-tailed confidence limits to be placed on the derived sin i's along
with the transit probability for each planet to be determined. While a small
proportion of systems yield sin i's significantly greater than 1, most likely
due to poor P_rot estimations, the large majority are acceptable. We are
further encouraged by the cases where we have data on transiting systems, as
the technique indicates inclinations of ~90 degrees and high transit
probabilities. In total, we estimate the true masses of 133 extra-solar
planets. Of these, only 6 have revised masses that place them above the 13
Jupiter mass deuterium burning limit. Our work reveals a population of
high-mass planets with low eccentricities and we speculate that these may
represent the signature of different planetary formation mechanisms at work.Comment: 40 pages, 6 tables, 2 figures. Accepted for publication in the
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society after editing of Tables 1 &
6 for electronic publication. Html abstract shortened for astro-ph submissio
Constraints on radiative decay of the 17-keV neutrino from COBE Measurements
It is shown that, for a nontrivial radiative decay channel of the 17-keV
neutrino, the photons would distort the microwave background radiation through
ionization of the universe. The constraint on the branching ratio of such
decays from COBE measurements is found to be more stringent than that from
other considerations. The limit on the branching ratio in terms of the Compton
parameter is for an
universe.Comment: 7 pages. (figures will be sent on request) (To appear in Phys. Rev.
D.
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A biomass burning source of C1- C4alkyl nitrates
We report the first observations of the emission of five C1-C4alkyl nitrates (methyl-, ethyl-, n-propyl-, i-propyl-, and 2-butyl nitrate) from savanna burning. Average alkyl nitrate mixing ratios in the immediate vicinity of three bushfires in Northern Australia were 47-122 times higher than local background mixing ratios. These are the highest alkyl nitrate mixing ratios we have ever detected, with maximum mixing ratios exceeding 3 ppbv for methyl nitrate. Methyl nitrate dominated the alkyl nitrate emissions during the flaming stage of savanna burning, whereas C2-C4alkyl nitrates were mostly emitted during the smoldering stage. To explain the formation of alkyl nitrates from biomass burning, we propose a reaction mechanism involving the combination of reactive radicals at high temperature. Bearing in mind the uncertainties associated with extrapolating small data sets to much larger scales, alkyl nitrate emissions from global savanna burning are estimated to be on the order of 8 Gg/yr
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