Monthly progress report

This report is the mid-year report intended for the design concepts for the communication network for the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM) facility being built at Yellow Creek near Iuka, MS. The overall network is to include heterogeneous computers, to use various protocols, and to have different bandwidths. Performance consideration must be given to the potential network applications in the network environment. The performance evaluation of X window applications was given the major emphasis in this report. A simulation study using Bones will be included later. This mid-year report has three parts: Part 1 is an investigation of X window traffic using TCP/IP over Ethernet networks; part 2 is a survey study of performance concepts of X window applications with Macintosh computers; and the last part is a tutorial on DECnet protocols. The results of this report should be useful in the design and operation of the ASRM communication network

International Control of Deep Sea Mineral Resources

The United States is committed as a matter of national policy to enter into negotiations with all countries in the United Nations in a serious attempt to bring the law of the sea in line with...the needs of modern technology and the concerns of the international community. 1 These needs and concerns are numerous and often conflicting, and their resolution is complicated by the fact that even the preliminary negotiations are being con­ducted in the political forum of the United Nations rather than on a quieter technical level as in the case of the 1958 conventions.

Sensing the human alpha rhythm using a non-contact electroencephalographic (EEG) electrode

The electroencephalogram is the recording of bioelectrical potentials on the scalp due to neural current sources in the brain and are typically recorded using wet surface electrodes that make ohmic contact with the scalp surface using an electrolyte gel. Unfortunately, wet electrodes are intrusive to the user, problematic for EEG studies requiring high spatial resolution, and are unsuitable for long-duration EEG recordings. Wet electrodes ultimately limit spatial resolution since the gel can short neighboring electrodes. They also do not meet long-duration recording demands since the gel can dry out over time. This dissertation explores the feasibility of measuring the EEG at room temperature, through hair, without scalp contact using two capacitive probe techniques. This is achieved by focusing on measurement of the alpha rhythm, an oscillatory EEG signal that is common among the population and is easily elicited with eye closure. Research results suggest that it is possible to sense the alpha rhythm within 4.0mm of scalp-probe spacing and that the ultra-high impedance fieldmeter probe technique is the most promising. Non-contact recordings are compared to wet electrode recordings and issues related to hair and motion artifact are discussed. Areas critical to the development of this technology are suggested

An investigation of networking techniques for the ASRM facility

This report is based on the early design concepts for a communications network for the Advanced Solid Rocket Motor (ASRM) facility being built at Yellow Creek near Iuka, MS. The investigators have participated in the early design concepts and in the evaluation of the initial concepts. The continuing system design effort and any modification of the plan will require a careful evaluation of the required bandwidth of the network, the capabilities of the protocol, and the requirements of the controllers and computers on the network. The overall network, which is heterogeneous in protocol and bandwidth, is being modeled, analyzed, simulated, and tested to obtain some degree of confidence in its performance capabilities and in its performance under nominal and heavy loads. The results of the proposed work should have an impact on the design and operation of the ASRM facility

Is It a Sinkhole?

Claims for sinkhole damages have increased significantly since the passage of legislation in 1969 requiring Florida insurance companies to provide sinkhole coverage for residential properties. At many sites, there is little surficial evidence of karst activity (i.e. Areas of subsidence and depressions) to provide a direct link between a suspected sinkhole and damage to the structure. Whatever the cause of the damage, sinkhole damage investigations are becoming increasingly important. The karstic terrain and limestone bedrock typical of west-central and central Florida make the area susceptible to sinkhole activity. However, the geologic setting and potential impacts to structures is complicated by the presence of shrink-swell clays that cover the limestone materials, organic infilled paleokarst features or poor construction site grading practices. Subsidence-like damage to houses can result from other mechanisms such as decay and compaction of buried organic debris and organic-rich sediments, or movement of shrink-swell clays. This paper will present investigative methods and case histories that detail the extent of the field investigations, often with conflicting conclusions

Geomorphological control on boulder transport and coastal erosion before, during and after an extreme extra-tropical cyclone

Extreme wave events in coastal zones are principal drivers of geomorphic change. Evidence of boulder entrainment and erosional impact during storms is increasing. However, there is currently poor time coupling between pre- and post-storm measurements of coastal boulder deposits. Importantly there are no data reporting shore platform erosion, boulder entrainment and/or boulder transport during storm events – rock coast dynamics during storm events are currently unexplored. Here, we use high-resolution (daily) field data to measure and characterise coastal boulder transport before, during and after the extreme Northeast Atlantic extra-tropical cyclone Johanna in March 2008. Forty-eight limestone fine-medium boulders (n = 46) and coarse cobbles (n = 2) were tracked daily over a 0.1 km2 intertidal area during this multi-day storm. Boulders were repeatedly entrained, transported and deposited, and in some cases broken down (n = 1) or quarried (n = 3), during the most intense days of the storm. Eighty-one percent (n = 39) of boulders were located at both the start and end of the storm. Of these, 92% were entrained where entrainment patterns were closely aligned to wave parameters. These data firmly demonstrate rock coasts are dynamic and vulnerable under storm conditions. No statistically significant relationship was found between boulder size (mass) and net transport distance. Graphical analyses suggest that boulder size limits the maximum longshore transport distance but that for the majority of boulders lying under this threshold, other factors influence transport distance. Paired analysis of 20 similar sized and shaped boulders in different morphogenic zones demonstrates that geomorphological control affects entrainment and transport distance – where net transport distances were up to 39 times less where geomorphological control was greatest. These results have important implications for understanding and for accurately measuring and modelling boulde