The development of a prototype intelligent user interface subsystem for NASA's scientific database systems

The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) has initiated an Intelligent Data Management (IDM) research effort which has as one of its components the development of an Intelligent User Interface (IUI).The intent of the latter is to develop a friendly and intelligent user interface service that is based on expert systems and natural language processing technologies. The purpose is to support the large number of potential scientific and engineering users presently having need of space and land related research and technical data but who have little or no experience in query languages or understanding of the information content or architecture of the databases involved. This technical memorandum presents prototype Intelligent User Interface Subsystem (IUIS) using the Crustal Dynamics Project Database as a test bed for the implementation of the CRUDDES (Crustal Dynamics Expert System). The knowledge base has more than 200 rules and represents a single application view and the architectural view. Operational performance using CRUDDES has allowed nondatabase users to obtain useful information from the database previously accessible only to an expert database user or the database designer

SAtlas: Spherical Versions of the Atlas Stellar Atmosphere Program

Context: The current stellar atmosphere programs still cannot match some fundamental observations of the brightest stars, and with new techniques, such as optical interferometry, providing new data for these stars, additional development of stellar atmosphere codes is required. Aims: To modify the open-source model atmosphere program Atlas to treat spherical geometry, creating a test-bed stellar atmosphere code for stars with extended atmospheres. Methods: The plane-parallel Atlas has been changed by introducing the necessary spherical modifications in the pressure structure, in the radiative transfer and in the temperature correction. Results: Several test models show that the spherical program matches the plane-parallel models in the high surface gravity regime, and matches spherical models computed by Phoenix and by MARCS in the low gravity case.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, Accepted for publication in A&

Direct measurement of sub-pixel structure of the EPIC MOS CCD on-board th e XMM/NEWTON satellite

We have used a mesh experiment in order to measure the sub-pixel structure of the EPIC MOS CCDs on-board the XMM/NEWTON satellite. The EPIC MOS CCDs have 40 $\mu$m-square pixels which have an open electrode structure in order to improve the detection efficiency for low-energy X-rays. We obtained restored pixel images for various X-ray event grades (e.g. split-pixel events, single pixel events, etc.) at various X-ray energies. We confirmed that the open electrode structure results in a distorted horizontal pixel boundary. The open electrode region generates both single pixel events and vertically split events, but no horizontally split events. Because the single pixel events usually show the best energy resolution, we discuss a method of increasing the fraction of single pixel events from the open electrode region. Furthermore, we have directly measured the thickness of the electrodes and dead-layers by comparing spectra from the open electrode region with those from the other regions: electrodes, electrode finger and channel stop. We can say that EPIC MOS CCDs are more radiation hard than front-illumination chips of ACIS on-board Chandra X-ray Observatory because of their extra absorption thickness above the charge transfer channel. We calcurated the mean pixel response and found that our estimation has a good agreement with that of the ground calibration of EPIC MOS CCD.Comment: 20pages including 2 tables, 10 figures,Accepted for publication in : Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research

Thermal Characteristics of Douglas-Fir Bark Fiber—25 C to 250 C

To determine if extractives control the thermal properties of Douglas-fir [Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco] bark fiber at lower temperatures and limit its utility for reinforcing plastic, fiber and its extractives were subjected to differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analyses. In addition, the amount and composition of volatiles were measured as a function of temperature and fiber recovery process.Heating bark fiber to 250 C yielded water and carbon dioxide as the major volatiles, the amounts increasing disproportionately as the extractive content of the fiber increased. Because the extractives were thermally less stable than the fiber wall, recovering bark fiber of low extractive content by pressurized refining reduced volatilization more than fiber recovery by atmospheric refining or alkali extraction

Superconductivity and Cobalt Oxidation State in Metastable Na(x)CoO(2-delta)*yH2O (x ~ 1/3; y ~ 4x)

We report the synthesis and superconducting properties of a metastable form of the known superconductor NaxCoO2*yH2O (x ~ 1/3, y ~ 4x). Instead of using the conventional bromine-acetonitrile mixture for sodium deintercalation, we use an aqueous bromine solution. Using this method, we oxidize the sample to a point that the sodium cobaltate becomes unstable, leading to formation of other products if not controlled. This compound has the same structure as the reported superconductor, yet it exhibits a systematic variation of the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) as a function of time. Immediately after synthesis, this compound is not a superconductor, even though it contains appropriate amounts of sodium and water. The samples become superconducting with low Tc values after ~ 90 h. Tc continually increases until it reaches a maximum value (4.5 K) after about 260 h. Then Tc drops drastically, becoming non-superconducting approximately 100 h later. Corresponding time-dependent neutron powder diffraction data shows that the changes in superconductivity exhibited by the metastable cobaltate correspond to slow formation of oxygen vacancies in the CoO2 layers. In effect, the formation of these defects continually reduces the cobalt oxidation state causing the sample to evolve through its superconducting life cycle. Thus, the dome-shaped superconducting phase diagram is mapped as a function of cobalt oxidation state using a single sample. The width of this dome based on the formal oxidation state of cobalt is very narrow - approximately 0.1 valence units wide. Interestingly, the maximum Tc in NaxCoO2*yH2O occurs when the cobalt oxidation state is near 3.5. Thus, we speculate that the maximum Tc occurs near the charge ordered insulating state that correlates with the average cobalt oxidation state of 3.5.Comment: 22 pages, 9 figures, 1 tabl

The crustal dynamics intelligent user interface anthology

The National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) has initiated an Intelligent Data Management (IDM) research effort which has, as one of its components, the development of an Intelligent User Interface (IUI). The intent of the IUI is to develop a friendly and intelligent user interface service based on expert systems and natural language processing technologies. The purpose of such a service is to support the large number of potential scientific and engineering users that have need of space and land-related research and technical data, but have little or no experience in query languages or understanding of the information content or architecture of the databases of interest. This document presents the design concepts, development approach and evaluation of the performance of a prototype IUI system for the Crustal Dynamics Project Database, which was developed using a microcomputer-based expert system tool (M. 1), the natural language query processor THEMIS, and the graphics software system GSS. The IUI design is based on a multiple view representation of a database from both the user and database perspective, with intelligent processes to translate between the views