521 research outputs found
Investigation of varying gray scale levels for remote manipulation
A study was conducted to investigate the effects of variant monitor gray scale levels and workplace illumination levels on operators' ability to discriminate between different colors on a monochrome monitor. It was determined that 8-gray scale viewing resulted in significantly worse discrimination performance compared to 16- and 32-gray scale viewing and that there was only a negligible difference found between 16 and 32 shades of gray. Therefore, it is recommended that monitors used while performing remote manipulation tasks have 16 or above shades of gray since this evaluation has found levels lower than this to be unacceptable for color discrimination task. There was no significant performance difference found between a high and a low workplace illumination condition. Further analysis was conducted to determine which specific combinations of colors can be used in conjunction with each other to ensure errorfree color coding/brightness discrimination performance while viewing a monochrome monitor. It was found that 92 three-color combination and 9 four-color combinations could be used with 100 percent accuracy. The results can help to determine which gray scale levels should be provided on monochrome monitors as well as which colors to use to ensure the maximal performance of remotely-viewed color discrimination/coding tasks
The Casimir spectrum revisited
We examine the mathematical and physical significance of the spectral density
sigma(w) introduced by Ford in Phys. Rev. D38, 528 (1988), defining the
contribution of each frequency to the renormalised energy density of a quantum
field. Firstly, by considering a simple example, we argue that sigma(w) is well
defined, in the sense of being regulator independent, despite an apparently
regulator dependent definition. We then suggest that sigma(w) is a spectral
distribution, rather than a function, which only produces physically meaningful
results when integrated over a sufficiently large range of frequencies and with
a high energy smooth enough regulator. Moreover, sigma(w) is seen to be simply
the difference between the bare spectral density and the spectral density of
the reference background. This interpretation yields a simple `rule of thumb'
to writing down a (formal) expression for sigma(w) as shown in an explicit
example. Finally, by considering an example in which the sign of the Casimir
force varies, we show that the spectrum carries no manifest information about
this sign; it can only be inferred by integrating sigma(w).Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure
Space Station Freedom coupling tasks: An evaluation of their space operational compatibility
The development of the Space Station Freedom tasks that are compatible with both telerobotic as well as extravehicular activity is a necessary redundancy in order to insure successful day to day operation. One task to be routinely performed aboard Freedom will be the changeout of various quick disconnect fluid connectors. In an attempt to resolve these potentially contradictory issues of compatibility, mock-ups of couplings suitable to both extravehicular as well as telerobotic activity were designed and built. An evaluation performed at the Remote Operator Interaction Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center is discussed, which assessed the prototype couplings as well as three standard coupling designs. Data collected during manual and telerobotic manipulation of the couplings indicated that the custom coupling was in fact shown to be faster to operate and generally preferred over the standard coupling designs
A human factors evaluation of the robotic interface for Space Station Freedom orbital replaceable units
An orbital replaceable unit (ORU) is often defined as any orbital unit aboard Space Station with a wearout life of less than 30 years. The capability of successful changeout of these units by remote manipulation is critical to the ORU to telerobot interface design. A human factors evaluation of the selected interface showed certain inadequacies of the alignment target concept that was part of the interface package. Alternative target concepts which addressed these inadequacies were developed and are presented. Recommendations will be incorporated into NASA requirements documents which ORU suppliers and manufacturers must then build to
Evaluation of restraint system concepts for the Japanese Experiment Module flight demonstration
The current International Space Station configuration includes a Japanese Experiment Module which relies on a large manipulator and a smaller dexterous manipulator to operate outside the pressurized environment of the experiment module. The module's flight demonstration is a payload that will be mounted in the aft flight deck on STS-87 to evaluate a prototype of the dexterous manipulator. Since the payload operations entail two 8-hour scenarios on consecutive days, adequate operator restraint at the workstation will be critical to the perceived success or failure of the payload. Simulations in reduced gravity environment on the KC-135A were the only way to evaluate the restraint systems and workstation configuration. Two astronaut and two non-astronaut operators evaluated the Advanced Lower Body Extremities Restraint Test and a foot loop restraint system by performing representative tasks at the workstation in each of the two restraint systems; at the end of each flight they gave their impressions of each system and the workstation. Results indicated that access to the workstation switch panels was difficult and manipulation of the hand controllers forced operators too low for optimal viewing of the aft flight deck monitors. The workstation panel should be angled for better visibility, and infrequently used switches should be on the aft flight deck panel. Pitch angle and placement of the hand controllers should optimize the operator's eye position with respect to the monitors. The lower body restraint was preferred over the foot loops because it allowed operators to maintain a more relaxed posture during long-duration tasks, its height adjustability allowed better viewing of aft flight deck monitors, and it provided better restraint for reacting forces imparted on the operator at the workstation. The foot loops provide adequate restraint for the flight demonstration tasks identified. Since results will impact the design of the workstation, both restraints should be flown and used during operation of the flight demonstration payload to evaluate the effect of restraint during long-duration tasks
Speech versus manual control of camera functions during a telerobotic task
This investigation has evaluated the voice-commanded camera control concept. For this particular task, total voice control of continuous and discrete camera functions was significantly slower than manual control. There was no significant difference between voice and manual input for several types of errors. There was not a clear trend in subjective preference of camera command input modality. Task performance, in terms of both accuracy and speed, was very similar across both levels of experience
Questioning the proverb ‘more haste, less speed’: classic versus metabarcoding approaches for the diet study of a remote island endemic gecko
Dietary studies can reveal valuable information on how species exploit their habitats and
are of particular importance for insular endemics conservation as these species present
higher risk of extinction. Reptiles are often neglected in island systems, principally the
ones inhabiting remote areas, therefore little is known on their ecological networks.
The Selvagens gecko Tarentola (boettgeri) bischoffi, endemic to the remote and integral
reserve of Selvagens Archipelago, is classified as Vulnerable by the Portuguese Red
Data Book. Little is known about this gecko’s ecology and dietary habits, but it is
assumed to be exclusively insectivorous. The diet of the continental Tarentola species
was already studied using classical methods. Only two studies have used next-generation
sequencing (NGS) techniques for this genus thus far, and very few NGS studies have
been employed for reptiles in general. Considering the lack of information on its diet
and the conservation interest of the Selvagens gecko, we used morphological and
DNA metabarcoding approaches to characterize its diet. The traditional method of
morphological identification of prey remains in faecal pellets collected over a longer
period was compared with metabarcoding of samples collected during rapid surveys.
Molecular results revealed that this species is a generalist, feeding on invertebrate, plant
and vertebrate items, whereas the morphological approaches were unable to detect the
latter two. These results opened up new questions on the ecological role of the Selvagens
gecko that deserves to be further explored, such as the possible predation on seabirds,
plant services or trophic competition with the sympatric Madeira lizard Teira dugesii.
Metabarcoding identified a greater diversity of dietary items at higher taxonomic
resolution, but morphological identification enabled calculation of relative abundances
and biomasses of ingested arthropods, and detected a dietary shift on invertebrate
preys between seasons. Results of this study highlight the global applicability of rapid
metabarcoding surveys for understudied taxa on remote islands that are difficult to
access. We recommend using the metabarcoding approach, even if ‘speedy’ sampling
only is possible, but we must highlight that disregarding long-term ecological data may
lead to ‘hasty’ conclusion.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Scalar Casimir Effect on a D-dimensional Einstein Static Universe
We compute the renormalised energy momentum tensor of a free scalar field
coupled to gravity on an (n+1)-dimensional Einstein Static Universe (ESU),
RxS^n, with arbitrary low energy effective operators (up to mass dimension
n+1). A generic class of regulators is used, together with the Abel-Plana
formula, leading to a manifestly regulator independent result. The general
structure of the divergences is analysed to show that all the gravitational
couplings (not just the cosmological constant) are renormalised for an
arbitrary regulator. Various commonly used methods (damping function,
point-splitting, momentum cut-off and zeta function) are shown to, effectively,
belong to the given class. The final results depend strongly on the parity of
n. A detailed analytical and numerical analysis is performed for the behaviours
of the renormalised energy density and a quantity `sigma' which determines if
the strong energy condition holds for the `quantum fluid'. We briefly discuss
the quantum fluid back-reaction problem, via the higher dimensional Friedmann
and Raychaudhuri equations, observe that equilibrium radii exist and unveil the
possibility of a `Casimir stabilisation of Einstein Static Universes'.Comment: 37 pages, 15 figures, v2: minor changes in sections 1, 2.5, 3 and 4;
version published in CQ
Association between intratumoral lymphatic microvessel density (LMVD) and clinicopathologic features in endometrial cancer: a retrospective cohort study
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lymph node metastasis in endometrial cancer significantly decreases survival rate. Few data on the influence of intratumoral lymphatic microvessel density (LMVD) on survival in endometrial cancer are available. Our aim was to assess the intratumoral LMVD of endometrial carcinomas and to investigate its association with classical pathological factors, lymph node metastasis and survival.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fifty-seven patients with endometrial carcinoma diagnosed between 2000 and 2008 underwent complete surgical staging and evaluation of intratumoral LMVD and other histologic variables. Lymphatic microvessels were identified by immunohistochemical staining using monoclonal antibody against human podoplanin (clone D2-40) and evaluated by counting the number of immunostained lymphatic vessels in 10 hot spot areas at 400× magnification. The LMVD was expressed by the mean number of vessels in these 10 hot spot microscopic fields. We next investigated the association of LMVD with the clinicopathologic findings and prognosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean number of lymphatic vessels counted in all cases ranged between 0 and 4.7. The median value of mean LMVD was 0.5, and defined the cut-off for low and high LMVD. We identified low intratumoral LMVD in 27 (47.4%) patients and high LMVD in 30 (52.6%) patients. High intratumoral LMVD was associated with lesser miometrial and adnaexal infiltration, lesser cervical and peritoneal involvement, and fewer fatal cases. Although there was lower lymph node involvement among cases with high LMVD, the difference did not reach significance. No association was seen between LMVD and FIGO staging, histological type, or vascular invasion. On the other hand, low intratumoral LMVD was associated with poor outcome. Seventy-five percent of deaths occurred in patients with low intratumoral LMVD.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results show association of high intratumoral LMVD with features related to more localized disease and better outcome. We discuss the role of lymphangiogenesis as an early event in the endometrial carcinogenesis.</p
Evidence of random magnetic anisotropy in ferrihydrite nanoparticles based on analysis of statistical distributions
We show that the magnetic anisotropy energy of antiferromagnetic ferrihydrite
depends on the square root of the nanoparticles volume, using a method based on
the analysis of statistical distributions. The size distribution was obtained
by transmission electron microscopy, and the anisotropy energy distributions
were obtained from ac magnetic susceptibility and magnetic relaxation. The
square root dependence corresponds to random local anisotropy, whose average is
given by its variance, and can be understood in terms of the recently proposed
single phase homogeneous structure of ferrihydrite.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
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