8,659 research outputs found
Some effects of adverse weather conditions on performance of airplane antiskid braking systems
The performance of current antiskid braking systems operating under adverse weather conditions was analyzed in an effort to both identify the causes of locked-wheel skids which sometimes occur when the runway is slippery and to find possible solutions to this operational problem. This analysis was made possible by the quantitative test data provided by recently completed landing research programs using fully instrumented flight test airplanes and was further supported by tests performed at the Langley aircraft landing loads and traction facility. The antiskid system logic for brake control and for both touchdown and locked-wheel protection is described and its response behavior in adverse weather is discussed in detail with the aid of available data. The analysis indicates that the operational performance of the antiskid logic circuits is highly dependent upon wheel spin-up acceleration and can be adversely affected by certain pilot braking inputs when accelerations are low. Normal antiskid performance is assured if the tire-to-runway traction is sufficient to provide high wheel spin-up accelerations or if the system is provided a continuous, accurate ground speed reference. The design of antiskid systems is complicated by the necessity for tradeoffs between tire braking and cornering capabilities, both of which are necessary to provide safe operations in the presence of cross winds, particularly under slippery runway conditions
Resonantly Enhanced Axion-Photon Regeneration
We point out that photon regeneration-experiments that search for the axion,
or axion-like particles, may be resonantly enhanced by employing matched
Fabry-Perot optical cavities encompassing both the axion production and
conversion magnetic field regions. Compared to a simple photon regeneration
experiment, which uses the laser in a single-pass geometry, this technique can
result in a gain in rate of order , where is the finesse
of the cavities. This gain could feasibly be , corresponding to
an improvement in sensitivity in the axion-photon coupling,
, of order , permitting a practical purely
laboratory search to probe axion-photon couplings not previously excluded by
stellar evolution limits, or solar axion searches.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Electronic and structural properties of alkali doped SWNT
Comprehensive experiments on structural and transport properties of alkali intercalated
single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) are presented. The increasing electron density was
measured as a shift of the Drude-edge in optical reflectivity in-situ with progressive doping. In
saturation-doped samples the Drude-edge shifts into the visible (to 25,000 - 30,000 cm— 1 for potassium
and rubidium doped samples) and the samples have a golden-brown color, similar to stage I
graphite. X-ray diffraction reveals a crystalline rope structure with expanded lattice constant, similar
to results of Duclaux et al. The change in the low temperature divergence of the resistivity after
degassing at high temperature and high vacuum and after K-doping is studied in-situ
Wide range optical studies on transparent SWNT films
We present transmission spectra from the far infrared through the ultraviolet region on
freestanding SWNT films at temperatures between 40 and 300 K. Several interesting features are
observed in the low-frequency part of the spectrum: the Drude-like frequency dependence of the
metallic tubes as well as a (sample-dependent) peak in the conductivity around 0.01 eV. We also
studied the accidental nitrate doping of the SWNT samples during purification by nitric acid. Asprepared
purified samples exhibit increased metallic absorption and decreased interband transitions;
these features disappear on heating in vacuum
Achieving high coverage of larval-stage mosquito surveillance: challenges for a community-based mosquito control programme in urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Background: Preventing malaria by controlling mosquitoes in their larval stages requires regular sensitive monitoring of vector populations and intervention coverage. The study assessed the effectiveness of operational, community-based larval habitat surveillance systems within the Urban Malaria Control Programme (UMCP) in urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Methods: Cross-sectional surveys were carried out to assess the ability of community-owned resource persons (CORPs) to detect mosquito breeding sites and larvae in areas with and without larviciding. Potential environmental and programmatic determinants of habitat detection coverage and detection sensitivity of mosquito larvae were recorded during guided walks with 64 different CORPs to assess the accuracy of data each had collected the previous day. Results: CORPs reported the presence of 66.2% of all aquatic habitats (1,963/2,965), but only detected Anopheles larvae in 12.6% (29/230) of habitats that contained them. Detection sensitivity was particularly low for late-stage Anopheles (2.7%, 3/111), the most direct programmatic indicator of malaria vector productivity. Whether a CORP found a wet habitat or not was associated with his/her unfamiliarity with the area (Odds Ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 0.16 [0.130, 0.203], P < 0.001), the habitat type (P < 0.001) or a fence around the compound (OR [95% CI] = 0.50 [0.386, 0.646], P < 0.001). The majority of mosquito larvae (Anophelines 57.8% (133/230) and Culicines 55.9% (461/825) were not reported because their habitats were not found. The only factor affecting detection of Anopheline larvae in habitats that were reported by CORPs was larviciding, which reduced sensitivity (OR [95% CI] = 0.37 [0.142, 0.965], P = 0.042). Conclusions: Accessibility of habitats in urban settings presents a major challenge because the majority of compounds are fenced for security reasons. Furthermore, CORPs under-reported larvae especially where larvicides were applied. This UMCP system for larval surveillance in cities must be urgently revised to improve access to enclosed compounds and the sensitivity with which habitats are searched for larvae
Optical conductivity for a dimer in the Dynamic Hubbard model
The Dynamic Hubbard Model represents the physics of a multi-band Hubbard
model by using a pseudo-spin degree of freedom to dynamically modify the
on-site Coulomb interaction. Here we use a dimer system to obtain analytical
results for this model. The spectral function and the optical conductivity are
calculated analytically for any number of electrons, and the distribution of
optical spectral weight is analyzed in great detail. The impact of polaron-like
effects due to overlaps between pseudo-spin states on the optical spectral
weight distribution is derived analytically. Our conclusions support results
obtained previously with different models and techniques: holes are less mobile
than electrons.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
The free will and punishment scale: Efficient measurement and predictive validity across diverse and nationally representative adult samples
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