A Simulation of Optimal Dryness When Moving in the Rain or Snow Using MATLAB

The classic question of whether one should walk or run in the rain to remain the least wet has inspired a myriad of solutions ranging from physically performing test runs in raining conditions to mathematically modeling human movement through rain. This manuscript approaches the classical problem by simulating movement through rainfall using MATLAB. Our simulation was generalizable to include snowfall as well. An increase in walking speed resulted in a corresponding decrease in raindrop and snowflake collisions. When raindrops or snowflakes were given a horizontal movement vector due to wind, a local minimum in collisions was achieved when moving in parallel with the same horizontal speed as the raindrop; no local minimum was detected with antiparallel movement. In general, our simulation revealed that the faster one moves, the drier one remains.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

Influence of Mindfulness Practice on Counseling Skills Development

This study assessed the impact of mindfulness practice, incorporated alongside a five-week counselor skills training model, on the counseling skills development of master’s-level trainees (N = 59). Three groups of counseling students were studied: those who engaged in no mindfulness practice; those who engaged in a brief amount of mindfulness practice (five mindfulness practice sessions); and those who engaged in an extended amount of mindfulness practice (11 mindfulness practice sessions). The results showed improvements in counseling skills associated with mindfulness practice, although the brief and extended intervention groups did not significantly differ from one another

Energetics of smooth muscle taenia caecum of guinea-pig: a 31P-NMR study

AbstractSmooth muscle cell energetics of taenia caeci during relaxation, activity and maximal contraction were investigated using 31P-NMR. In relaxed muscle obtained in calcium-free medium, [ATP], [phosphocreatine] and [sugar phosphate] were 4.4 mM, 7.7 mM and 2.8 mM, respectively. There was only a small difference in the energetics of spontaneously active and maximally contracted muscles, but under both conditions substantial changes occurred as compared with relaxed muscles. The internal pH in relaxed muscle was found to be 7.05, which acidified to 6.5 during contraction. The level of sugar phosphates was found to be not a limiting factor in energetics

Progress Towards High Performance, Steady-state Spherical Torus

Research on the Spherical Torus (or Spherical Tokamak) is being pursued to explore the scientific benefits of modifying the field line structure from that in more moderate aspect-ratio devices, such as the conventional tokamak. The Spherical Tours (ST) experiments are being conducted in various U.S. research facilities including the MA-class National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) at Princeton, and three medium-size ST research facilities: Pegasus at University of Wisconsin, HIT-II at University of Washington, and CDX-U at Princeton. In the context of the fusion energy development path being formulated in the U.S., an ST-based Component Test Facility (CTF) and, ultimately a Demo device, are being discussed. For these, it is essential to develop high-performance, steady-state operational scenarios. The relevant scientific issues are energy confinement, MHD stability at high beta (B), noninductive sustainment, ohmic-solenoid-free start-up, and power and particle handling. In the confinement area, the NSTX experiments have shown that the confinement can be up to 50% better than the ITER-98-pby2 H-mode scaling, consistent with the requirements for an ST-based CTF and Demo. In NSTX, CTF-relevant average toroidal beta values bT of up to 35% with the near unity central betaT have been obtained. NSTX will be exploring advanced regimes where bT up to 40% can be sustained through active stabilization of resistive wall modes. To date, the most successful technique for noninductive sustainment in NSTX is the high beta-poloidal regime, where discharges with a high noninductive fraction ({approx}60% bootstrap current + neutral-beam-injected current drive) were sustained over the resistive skin time. Research on radio-frequency-based heating and current drive utilizing HHFW (High Harmonic Fast Wave) and EBW (Electron Bernstein Wave) is also pursued on NSTX, Pegasus, and CDX-U. For noninductive start-up, the Coaxial Helicity Injection (CHI), developed in HIT/HIT-II, has been adopted on NSTX to test the method up to Ip {approx} 500 kA. In parallel, start-up using radio-frequency current drive and only external poloidal field coils are being developed on NSTX. The area of power and particle handling is expected to be challenging because of the higher power density expected in the ST relative to that in conventional aspect-ratio tokamaks. Due to its promise for power and particle handling, liquid lithium is being studied in CDX-U as a potential plasma-facing surface for a fusion reactor