\u3ci\u3eOut of the Box\u3c/i\u3e: Bridging the Long-Distance Gap Between Consumer and Product in Online Experiences by Using AR to Facilitate a Deeper Connection Through Virtual Try-Ons

As consumers are more and more preferring online experiences to brick-and-mortar shopping, there is a growing need for new and creative marketing strategies that can overcome the physical distance between consumer and product. In this paper, I demonstrate how augmented reality can bridge that gap, allowing consumers to connect with a product in a way that is not possible through traditional online media forms such as images and video. To that end, this paper includes a detailed breakdown of the conception and creation of Out of the Box, an augmented-reality application developed to enable users to virtually interact with a ring by “trying on” a ring as well as by customizing the appearance of a ring in real time

Insulation for cryogenic tanks has reduced thickness and weight

Dual seal insulation, consisting of an inner layer of sealed-cell Mylar honeycomb core and an outer helium purge channel of fiber glass reinforced phenolic honeycomb core, is used as a thin, lightweight insulation for external surfaces of cryogenic-propellant tanks

The effects of quantization on signal processing

Typically an analog signal from a space system is sampled, quantized by Analog-to-Digital (A/D) conversion, merged into a bit stream, communicated to a ground station, received by the ground station, and processed by the ground station to extract useful information for dissemination to the users. The cost of each of these steps is reduced as the number of quantization steps is reduced in the A/D converter. The number of quantization steps should be as small as possible without losing the required information content. This report deals specifically with the accuracy of averages as a function of the number of quantized samples used to compute the averages with the noise on the analog signal as a parameter. For example, the success of the Visible Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (VISSR) Atmospheric Sounder (VAS) Demonstration depends upon temporally averaging multiple samples in an effort to reduce noise to a sufficiently low level such that temperature profile sounding is made possible. A tutorial description of this process is presented

Neural classification maps for distinct word combinations in Broca’s area

Humans are equipped with the remarkable ability to comprehend an infinite number of utterances. Relations between grammatical categories restrict the way words combine into phrases and sentences. How the brain recognises different word combinations remains largely unknown, although this is a necessary condition for combinatorial unboundedness in language. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging and multivariate pattern analysis to explore whether distinct neural populations of a known language network hub —Broca’s area—are specialised for recognising distinct simple word combinations. The phrases consisted of a noun (flag) occurring either with a content word, an adjective (green flag), or with a function word, a determiner (that flag). The key result is that the distribution of neural populations classifying word combination in Broca’s area seems sensitive to neuroanatomical subdivisions within this area, irrespective of task. The information patterns for adjective + noun were localised in its anterior part (BA45) whereas those for determiner + noun were localised in its posterior part (BA44). Our findings provide preliminary answers to the fundamental question of how lexical and grammatical category information interact during simple word combination, with the observation that Broca’s area is sensitive to the recognition of categorical relationships during combinatory processing, based on different demands placed on syntactic and semantic information. This supports the hypothesis that the combinatorial power of language consists of some neural computation capturing phrasal differences when processing linguistic input

Evaluating the Economic Response to Japan's Earthquake

This paper compares the 1995 Kobe earthquake with the more recent one in Tohoku. The impact of the recent earthquake on industrial production was much larger and long-lasting than that of the 1995 earthquake. We find that very little of this can be explained by differences in government expenditures or private consumption. However, we find very substantial differences in energy production in the wake of the two earthquakes. The substantial and persistent drop in energy output is likely to have exacerbated supply disruptions and may continue to slow the pace of recovery. Moreover, we provide some evidence that Japan‘s increasing reliance on fossil fuel sources of energy is likely to result in a large number of deaths and increases in morbidity due to increased air pollution. These results highlight the difficulties that Japan is likely to face in its move away from nuclear power

Position-dependent shear-induced austenite-martensite transformation in double-notched TRIP and dual-phase steel samples

While earlier studies on transformation-induced-plasticity (TRIP) steels focused on the determination of the austenite-to-martensite decomposition in uniform deformation or thermal fields, the current research focuses on the determination of the local retained austenite-to-martensite transformation behaviour in an inhomogeneous yet carefully controlled shear-loaded region of double-notched TRIP and dual-phase (DP) steel samples. A detailed powder analysis has been performed to simultaneously monitor the evolution of the phase fraction and the changes in average carbon concentration of metastable austenite together with the local strain components in the constituent phases as a function of the macroscopic stress and location with respect to the shear band. The metastable retained austenite shows a mechanically induced martensitic transformation in the localized shear zone, which is accompanied by an increase in average carbon concentration of the remaining austenite due to a preferred transformation of the austenite grains with the lowest carbon concentration. At the later deformation stages the geometry of the shear test samples results in the development of an additional tensile component. The experimental strain field within the probed sample area is in good agreement with finite element calculations. The strain development observed in the low-alloyed TRIP steel with metastable austenite is compared with that of steels with the same chemical composition containing either no austenite (a DP grade) or stable retained austenite (a TRIP grade produced at a long bainitic holding time). The transformation of metastable austenite under shear is a complex interplay between the local microstructure and the evolving strain fields

Clinical Laboratory Assessment of \u3cem\u3eMycoplasma genitalium\u3c/em\u3e Transcription-Mediated Amplification Using Primary Female Urogenital Specimens

Following analysis of primary cervix, vagina, and first-void female urine specimens for Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Trichomonas vaginalis via commercial transcription-mediated amplification (TMA), residual material was subjected to Mycoplasma genitalium research-use-only TMA. Representation within a 2,478-specimen retrospective study set was established by comparison to a 6-month audit of clinical C. trachomatis TMA (12,999 specimens) on the basis of the C. trachomatis detection rate, specimen source distribution, clinic location, and age. M. genitalium was detected in 282 (11.4%) patients. This rate was higher than those seen with T. vaginalis (9.0%; P _ 0.005), C. trachomatis (6.2%), and N. gonorrhoeae (1.4%). Positive M. genitalium results were confirmed by repeat testing or alternative-target TMA at a rate of 98.7%. The mean age of the M. genitalium-infected females (24.7 years) was lower than that of the T. vaginalis-infected females (mean, 30.1 years; P\u3c0.0001) and higher than that of the C. trachomatis-infected females (mean, 23.8 years; P_0.003). Of 566 patient encounters positive for at least one sexually transmitted infection (STI), 35.9% exhibited sole detection of M. genitalium (P \u3c 0.0004 versus sole detection of other STI agents) and 26.1% were solely positive for T. vaginalis (P \u3c 0.0002 versus C. trachomatis). The M. genitalium and T. vaginalis detection rates among 755 patients at urban emergency departments were 14.6% and 13.0%, respectively (P _ 0.37). A 10.0% M. genitalium detection rate from other facilities exceeded that of T. vaginalis (7.2%; P _ 0.004). Incorporation of M. genitalium TMA into comprehensive testing programs would detect M. genitalium in a significant proportion of females, particularly those in outpatient obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN) settings

Sequential and direct ionic excitation in the strong-field ionization of 1-butene molecules

We study the Strong-Field Ionization (SFI) of the hydrocarbon 1-butene as a function of wavelength using photoion-photoelectron covariance and coincidence spectroscopy. We observe a striking transition in the fragment-associated photoelectron spectra: from a single Above Threshold Ionization (ATI) progression for photon energies less than the cation D0–D1 gap to two ATI progressions for a photon energy greater than this gap. For the first case, electronically excited cations are created by SFI populating the ground cationic state D0, followed by sequential post-ionization excitation. For the second case, direct sub-cycle SFI to the D1 excited cation state contributes significantly. Our experiments access ionization dynamics in a regime where strong-field and resonance-enhanced processes can interplay

Anomalous temperature behaviour of subcritical crack growth in silica

Silica shows the effect of subcritical crack growth in humid environments. Measurements in liquid water show increasing subcritical crack growth velocities when the temperature is increased as was shown by Wiederhorn and Bolz. Since this has been generally found for glasses, this effect is called normal subcritical crack growth. For measurements on silica in water vapour environment the astonishing effect of decreasing crack-growth rate v at an increased temperature was observed for constant partial water pressure in the humid environment. This surprising result observed in v-K experiments by Suratwala and Steele is called anomalous subcritical crack growth behavior. In the present report we consider the effects of reduced water concentration at silica surfaces and volume swelling by hydroxyl generation as the reasons for anomalous subcritical crack growth. From our computation, we can conclude that silica shows normal subcritical crack growth, when it is taken into account that the real physical stress intensity factor K$_{I}$ is used that describes the stresses in the singular crack-tip field, i.e. when v-is plotted vs. K$_{tip}$