Correlation tracking study for meter-class solar telescope on space shuttle

The theory and expected performance level of correlation trackers used to control the pointing of a solar telescope in space using white light granulation as a target were studied. Three specific trackers were modeled and their performance levels predicted for telescopes of various apertures. The performance of the computer model trackers on computer enhanced granulation photographs was evaluated. Parametric equations for predicting tracker performance are presented

All the colours of the rainbow.

Our perception of colour has always been a source of fascination, so it's little wonder that studies of the phenomenon date back hundreds of years. What, though, can modern scientists learn from medieval literature — and how do we go about it

All the colours of the rainbow

Our perception of colour has always been a source of fascination, so it's little wonder that studies of the phenomenon date back hundreds of years. What, though, can modern scientists learn from medieval literature — and how do we go about it

Automated Data Management Information System (ADMIS)

ADMIS stores and controls data and documents associated with manned space flight effort. System contains all data oriented toward a specific document; it is primary source of reports generated by the system. Each group of records is composed of one document record, one distribution record for each recipient of the document, and one summary record

The independent group looks at London's west end

In the early 1950s, British culture was dominated by welfare-state visions of urban reconstruction. These projections of a stable civic society were premised on a particular way of looking at and reading the metropolitan environment. At odds with this project, the Independent Group's discussions and collaborative work developed an alternative urban semiology, which found the city to be already rich in visual resources for fashioning a more profound form of social democracy. Soon, this critical engagement would develop in different directions, represented here by Lawrence Alloway's commentary on Piccadilly Circus in his essay 'City Notes' and the London footage inserted by John McHale into his film for the Smithsons' Berlin Hauptstadt project (both 1959). By the end of the 1950s, members of the erstwhile Independent Group had produced two contrasting critical accounts of how the metropolitan centre should be looked at, which challenged the strictures of post-war reconstruction in distinct and conflicting ways. © The Author(s), 2013

Self-Compassion in Chinese Young Adults: Its Measurement and Measurement Construct

This is the final version. Available on open access from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this recordAvailability of Data and Analysis Syntax: All data and data analysis syntax are available upon request from the authors.OBJECTIVES: Self-compassion is the ability to be kind to oneself in adversity. This multidimensional construct is typically assessed by the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS). In Chinese samples, there have been inconsistent psychometric findings that impede cross-cultural research. This study aimed to explore the factor structure of the Chinese version (SCS-C). METHODS: Two samples of young Chinese adults were recruited (Sample 1, N = 465, 141 men, Mean age [Mage] = 20.26; Sample 2, N = 392, 71 men; Mage = 18.97). Confirmatory factor analyses and exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) were used to examine previously reported four- and six-factor structures of SCS-C. RESULTS: Although ESEM supported the six-factor structure when a problematic item was omitted, we found stronger evidence for a novel four-factor structure of the SCS-C revealed with self-kindness, common humanity, mindfulness, and uncompassionate self-responding. This suggests that Chinese individuals have a different understanding of the negative components of the original self-compassion definition, which was based on the United States and other mostly Western samples. Omega coefficients of the bifactor models suggested that using the SCS total score in Chinese samples is inappropriate. However, high factor determinacy and construct replicability indicated that the general factor of SCS-C could be used in a structural equation modeling context for both four-factor and six-factor structures. CONCLUSIONS: When using the existing SCS-C in path models, researchers should use a latent variable approach and establish the measurement construct rather than sum scores of the scale or subscales without checking the factor structure in future empirical studies. Also, the SCS-C needs to be revised, and we proposed directions forward for future research.University of Exete

Rebuilding terrestrial ecosystems after the end-Devonian mass extinction: insights from the TW:eed Project

The TW:eed (Tetrapod World: early evolution and diversification) project is a major research initiative that will generate a coherent picture of the biotic, environmental and geological conditions of the 15-20 million years recovery period following the major extinction event at the end-Devonian that was a major turning point in terrestrial evolution. A paucity of terrestrial invertebrates and few fossils of early tetrapods have been found in post-Devonian successions from the immediate aftermath (Romer’s Gap) and yet, during a relatively brief time period in the Early Carboniferous, fully terrestrial vertebrates evolved, terrestrial arthropods radiated, ray-finned fishes took over from lobe-finned forms and plant groups diversified. Several new localities in Carboniferous successions in southern Scotland and northern England are providing completely new insights into this pivotal period for the evolution of life on land. Significant new tetrapod material is helping to populate Romer’s Gap. Localities are also yielding a diverse fauna of fish (gyracanthids, lungfish, rhizodonts and actinopterygians), invertebrates (malacostracans, eurypterids, ostracods, scorpions and myriapods) and plants. The fossil localities are within the Ballagan Formation, a distinctive unit comprising mudstones with interbedded sandstones, palaeosols and thin beds of dolomitic “cementstone”. The sediments were deposited on an extensive low relief, muddy, vegetated floodplain that was traversed by numerous river systems. Periodically the river-derived floods submerged the floodplains generating extensive shallow freshwater lakes. The presence of gypsum and anhydrite indicates that there were occasional marine transgressions across a marginal coastal plain. So far, most of the fossils have been found towards the top of the Ballagan Formation, but a coastal exposure of the entire formation provides a unique opportunity to search for fossils across a time interval of about 15 million years at the base of the Carboniferous. In addition to the detailed analysis of key outcrops, a drilling program in the Tweed Basin is in the process of acquiring 500 m of continuous core through these earliest Carboniferous successions. A tight stratigraphic framework for tetrapod localities across the region will be generated by integrating the sedimentological (lithostratigraphy), micropalaeontological (biostratigraphy), chemostratigraphical (carbon and oxygen stable isotopes) and petrophysical data from the core and outcrops. The borehole will provide the high-resolution datasets required to investigate the local, and potentially, global palaeoclimate and its evolution through this time interval. This multifaceted project is a unique opportunity to examine the progression, causes and context of the rebuilding of an ecosystem following a major extinction