168 research outputs found
Application of an Optimisation Technique to an Air Force Problem
This paper deals with an optimisation technique for determining the relative effectiveness of different types of bombs being dropped over a certain target area. The measure of effectiveness is the total effort required for each type of bomb to lethalise a given fraction of the total target area and the one with the least total effort is taken to be the most cost-effective solution. The total effort takes into account the number of bombs dropped, their costs and also the costs of the sorties performed to carry out the mission. A mathematical model has been formulated and discussed in detail
Roof above the head : A qualitative assessment of rural housing in India
The development of rural housing in a manner that results in adequate, quality shelter for inhabitants of Mahatma Gandhi’s “real India” is a challenge before the nation. What are the issues confronting rural housing development in India? The litany of its woes is endless. At first impression, rural housing is vulnerable to weaknesses in the delivery system for housing materials and services. Gradually, it dawns on the observer that the sector is deeply affected by the infrastructure deficit – roads, electricity supply, drinking water and sanitation. It has been bypassed by the numerous economic revolutions that have made India a vibrant economic superpower. For instance housing finance, which played a key role in the urban housing explosion, is conspicuous by its absence in the rural setting. Additionally, the limited mobility of rural households, the lack of vibrancy in the market for village properties and the marked volatility in agricultural incomes combine to dampen the prospects of this nebulous sector.Housing
Primordial magnetic fields and the HI signal from the epoch of reionization
The implication of primordial magnetic-field-induced structure formation for
the HI signal from the epoch of reionization is studied. Using semi-analytic
models, we compute both the density and ionization inhomogeneities in this
scenario. We show that: (a) The global HI signal can only be seen in emission,
unlike in the standard CDM models, (b) the density perturbations
induced by primordial fields, leave distinctive signatures of the magnetic
field Jeans' length on the HI two-point correlation function, (c) the length
scale of ionization inhomogeneities is \la 1 \rm Mpc. We find that the peak
expected signal (two-point correlation function) is in
the range of scales for magnetic field strength in the
range . We also discuss the
detectability of the HI signal. The angular resolution of the on-going and
planned radio interferometers allows one to probe only the largest magnetic
field strengths that we consider. They have the sensitivity to detect the
magnetic field-induced features. We show that thefuture SKA has both the
angular resolution and the sensitivity to detect the magnetic field-induced
signal in the entire range of magnetic field values we consider, in an
integration time of one week.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, to appear in JCA
Assessment of short term effects of sildenafil therapy in patients with secondary pulmonary hypertension
Validation of a hemodynamic model for the study of the cerebral venous outflow system using MR imaging and echo- Color doppler data
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A comprehensive parameter model was developed to investigate correlations between cerebral hemodynamics and alterations in the extracranial venous circulation due to posture changes and/or extracranial venous obstruction (stenosis). The purpose of this work was to validate the simulation results by using MR imaging and echo-color Doppler experimental blood flow data in humans. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To validate the model outcomes, we used supine average arterial and venous extracerebral blood flow, obtained by using phase-contrast MR imaging from 49 individuals with stenosis in the acquisition plane at the level of the disc between the second and third vertebrae of the left internal jugular vein, 20 with stenosis in the acquisition plane at the level of the disc between the fifth and sixth vertebrae of the right internal jugular vein, and 38 healthy controls without stenosis. Average data from a second group of 10 healthy volunteers screened with an echo-color Doppler technique were used to evaluate flow variations due to posture change. RESULTS: There was excellent agreement between experimental and simulated supine flows. Every simulated CBF fell inside the standard error from the corresponding average experimental value, as well as most of the simulated extracerebral arterial flow (extracranial blood flow from the head and face, measured at the level of the disc between second and third vertebrae) and venous flows. Simulations of average jugular and vertebral blood flow variations due to a change of posture from supine to upright also matched the experimental data. CONCLUSIONS: The good agreement between simulated and experimental results means that the model can correctly reproduce the main factors affecting the extracranial circulation and could be used to study other types of stenotic conditions not represented by the experimental data
Dinkelbach Approach to Solving a Class of Fractional Optimal Control Problems
We consider optimal control problems with functional given by the ratio of
two integrals (fractional optimal control problems). In particular, we focus on a special
case with affine integrands and linear dynamics with respect to state and control.
Since the standard optimal control theory cannot be used directly to solve a problem
of this kind, we apply Dinkelbach’s approach to linearize it. Indeed, the fractional optimal
control problem can be transformed into an equivalent monoparametric family
{ P q } of linear optimal control problems. The special structure of the class of problems
considered allows solving the fractional problem either explicitly or requiring
straightforward classical numerical techniques to solve a single equation. An application
to advertising efficiency maximization is presented
Validation of a Hemodynamic Model for the Study of the Cerebral Venous Outflow System Using MR Imaging and Echo-Color Doppler Data
The First Magnetic Fields
We review current ideas on the origin of galactic and extragalactic magnetic
fields. We begin by summarizing observations of magnetic fields at cosmological
redshifts and on cosmological scales. These observations translate into
constraints on the strength and scale magnetic fields must have during the
early stages of galaxy formation in order to seed the galactic dynamo. We
examine mechanisms for the generation of magnetic fields that operate prior
during inflation and during subsequent phase transitions such as electroweak
symmetry breaking and the quark-hadron phase transition. The implications of
strong primordial magnetic fields for the reionization epoch as well as the
first generation of stars is discussed in detail. The exotic, early-Universe
mechanisms are contrasted with astrophysical processes that generate fields
after recombination. For example, a Biermann-type battery can operate in a
proto-galaxy during the early stages of structure formation. Moreover, magnetic
fields in either an early generation of stars or active galactic nuclei can be
dispersed into the intergalactic medium.Comment: Accepted for publication in Space Science Reviews. Pdf can be also
downloaded from http://canopus.cnu.ac.kr/ryu/cosmic-mag1.pd
Tests of sunspot number sequences: 1. Using ionosonde data
More than 70 years ago it was recognised that ionospheric F2-layer critical frequencies [foF2] had a strong relationship to sunspot number. Using historic datasets from the Slough and Washington ionosondes, we evaluate the best statistical fits of foF2 to sunspot numbers (at each Universal Time [UT] separately) in order to search for drifts and abrupt changes in the fit residuals over Solar Cycles 17-21. This test is carried out for the original composite of the Wolf/Zürich/International sunspot number [R], the new “backbone” group sunspot number [RBB] and the proposed “corrected sunspot number” [RC]. Polynomial fits are made both with and without allowance for the white-light facular area, which has been reported as being associated with cycle-to-cycle changes in the sunspot number - foF2 relationship. Over the interval studied here, R, RBB, and RC largely differ in their allowance for the “Waldmeier discontinuity” around 1945 (the correction factor for which for R, RBB and RC is, respectively, zero, effectively over 20 %, and explicitly 11.6 %). It is shown that for Solar Cycles 18-21, all three sunspot data sequences perform well, but that the fit residuals are lowest and most uniform for RBB. We here use foF2 for those UTs for which R, RBB, and RC all give correlations exceeding 0.99 for intervals both before and after the Waldmeier discontinuity. The error introduced by the Waldmeier discontinuity causes R to underestimate the fitted values based on the foF2 data for 1932-1945 but RBB overestimates them by almost the same factor, implying that the correction for the Waldmeier discontinuity inherent in RBB is too large by a factor of two. Fit residuals are smallest and most uniform for RC and the ionospheric data support the optimum discontinuity multiplicative correction factor derived from the independent Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO) sunspot group data for the same interval
Fragmentation and Multifragmentation of 10.6A GeV Gold Nuclei
We present the results of a study performed on the interactions of 10.6A GeV
gold nuclei in nuclear emulsions. In a minimum bias sample of 1311 interac-
tions, 5260 helium nuclei and 2622 heavy fragments were observed as Au projec-
tile fragments. The experimental data are analyzed with particular emphasis of
target separation interactions in emulsions and study of criticalexponents.
Multiplicity distributions of the fast-moving projectile fragments are inves-
tigated. Charged fragment moments, conditional moments as well as two and three
-body asymmetries of the fast moving projectile particles are determined in
terms of the total charge remaining bound in the multiply charged projectile
fragments. Some differences in the average yields of helium nuclei and heavier
fragments are observed, which may be attributed to a target effect. However,
two and three-body asymmetries and conditional moments indicate that the
breakup mechanism of the projectile seems to be independent of target mass. We
looked for evidence of critical point observable in finite nuclei by study the
resulting charged fragments distributions. We have obtained the values for the
critical exponents gamma, beta and tau and compare our results with those at
lower energy experiment (1.0A GeV data). The values suggest that a phase
transition like behavior, is observed.Comment: latex, revtex, 28 pages, 12 figures, 3tables, submitted to Europysics
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