3,097 research outputs found
Failure rate analysis of Goddard Space Flight Center spacecraft performance during orbital life
Space life performance data on 57 Goddard Space Flight Center spacecraft are analyzed from the standpoint of determining an appropriate reliability model and the associated reliability parameters. Data from published NASA reports, which cover the space performance of GSFC spacecraft launched in the 1960-1970 decade, form the basis of the analyses. The results of the analyses show that the time distribution of 449 malfunctions, of which 248 were classified as failures (not necessarily catastrophic), follow a reliability growth pattern that can be described with either the Duane model or a Weibull distribution. The advantages of both mathematical models are used in order to: identify space failure rates, observe chronological trends, and compare failure rates with those experienced during the prelaunch environmental tests of the flight model spacecraft
Secondary forest succession differs through naturalised gorse and native kānuka near Wellington and Nelson
The dominant native woody species forming early successional vegetation on formerly forested sites
in lowland New Zealand were kānuka (Kunzea ericoides) and mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium) (Myrtaceae).
These have been replaced extensively by gorse (Ulex europaeus, Fabaceae), a naturalised species in New
Zealand. Because gorse typically gives way to native broadleaved (angiosperm) forest in about 30 years, it is
often considered desirable for facilitating native forest restoration. We tested three hypotheses, derived from the
New Zealand literature, on gorse and kānuka: (1) kānuka stands have a different species composition and greater
species richness than gorse stands at comparable successional stages; (2) differences between gorse and kānuka
stands do not lessen over time; and (3) several native plant taxa are absent from or less common in gorse than
in kānuka stands. We sampled 48 scrub or low-forest sites in two regions, Wellington and Nelson. Sites were
classified into one of four predefined categories – young gorse, young kānuka, old gorse, old kānuka – based
on canopy height of the succession and the dominant early-successional woody species. Few characteristics of
the sites and surrounding landscapes differed significantly among site categories, and none consistently across
regions. The vegetation composition of gorse and kānuka and their immediate successors differed in both
regions, mainly in native woody species. Species richness was often lower in gorse and there were fewer smallleaved
shrubs and orchids in gorse. Persistent differences at the older sites suggest the successional trajectories
will not converge in the immediate future; gorse leads to different forest from that developed through kānuka.
Gorse-dominated succession is therefore not a direct substitute for native successions. We suggest areas of early
native succession should be preserved, and initiated in landscapes where successions are dominated by gorse
or other naturalised shrubs.Research was funded
by the Department of Conservation under science
investigation number 3591
Test of Chemical freeze-out at RHIC
We present the results of a systematic test applying statistical thermal
model fits in a consistent way for different particle ratios, and different
system sizes using the various particle yields measured in the STAR experiment.
Comparison between central and peripheral Au+Au and Cu+Cu collisions with data
from p+p collisions provides an interesting tool to verify the dependence with
the system size. We also present a study of the rapidity dependence of the
thermal fit parameters using available data from RHIC in the forward rapidity
regions and also using different parameterization for the rapidity distribution
of different particles.Comment: SQM2008 conference proceeding
Fluctuation and flow probes of early-time correlations in relativistic heavy ion collisions
Fluctuation and correlation observables are often measured using
multi-particle correlation methods and therefore mutually probe the origins of
genuine correlations present in multi-particle distribution functions. We
investigate the common influence of correlations arising from the spatially
inhomogeneous initial state on multiplicity and momentum fluctuations as well
as flow fluctuations. Although these observables reflect different aspects of
the initial state, taken together, they can constrain a correlation scale set
at the earliest moments of the collision. We calculate both the correlation
scale in an initial stage Glasma flux tube picture and the modification to
these correlations from later stage hydrodynamic flow and find quantitative
agreement with experimental measurements over a range of collision systems and
energies.Comment: Proceedings of the 28th Winter Workshop on Nuclear Dynamics, Dorado
del Mar, Puerto Rico, April 7-14, 201
The dose-response of the nordic hamstring exercise on biceps femoris architecture and eccentric knee flexor strength : A randomized interventional trial
Purpose: To examine the dose–response of the Nordic hamstring exercise (NHE) on biceps femoris long head (BFlh) architecture and eccentric knee flexor strength. Design: Randomized interventional trial. Methods: Forty recreationally active males completed a 6-week NHE training program consisting of either intermittent low volumes (group 1; n = 10), low volumes (group 2; n = 10), initial high volumes followed by low volumes (group 3; n = 10), or progressively increasing volumes (group 4; n = 10). A 4-week detraining period followed each program. Muscle architecture was assessed weekly during training and after 2 and 4 weeks of detraining. Eccentric knee flexor strength was assessed preintervention and postintervention and after 2 and 4 weeks of detraining. Results: Following 6 weeks of training, BFlh fascicle length (FL) increased in group 3 (mean difference = 0.83 cm, d = 0.45, P = .027, +7%) and group 4 (mean difference = 1.48 cm, d = 0.94, P = .004, +14%). FL returned to baseline following detraining in groups 3 and 4. Strength increased in group 2 (mean difference = 53.6 N, d = 0.55, P = .002, +14%), group 3 (mean difference = 63.4 N, d = 0.72, P = .027, +17%), and group 4 (mean difference = 74.7, d = 0.83, P = .006, +19%) following training. Strength returned to baseline following detraining in groups 2 and 3 but not in group 4. Conclusions: Initial high volumes of the NHE followed by lower volumes, as well as progressively increasing volumes, can elicit increases in BFlh FL and eccentric knee flexor strength. Low volumes of the NHE were insufficient to increase FL, although as few as 48 repetitions in 6 weeks did increase strength
Genetic basis for variation in wheat grain yield in response to varying nitrogen application
Nitrogen (N) is a major nutrient needed to attain optimal grain yield (GY) in all environments. Nitrogen fertilisers represent a significant production cost, in both monetary and environmental terms. Developing genotypes capable of taking up N early during development while limiting biomass production after establishment and showing high N-use efficiency (NUE) would be economically beneficial. Genetic variation in NUE has been shown previously. Here we describe the genetic characterisation of NUE and identify genetic loci underlying N response under different N fertiliser regimes in a bread wheat population of doubled-haploid lines derived from a cross between two Australian genotypes (RAC875 × Kukri) bred for a similar production environment. NUE field trials were carried out at four sites in South Australia and two in Western Australia across three seasons. There was genotype-by-environment- by-treatment interaction across the sites and also good transgressive segregation for yield under different N supply in the population. We detected some significant Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) associated with NUE and N response at different rates of N application across the sites and years. It was also possible to identify lines showing positive N response based on the rankings of their Best Linear Unbiased Predictions (BLUPs) within a trial. Dissecting the complexity of the N effect on yield through QTL analysis is a key step towards elucidating the molecular and physiological basis of NUE in wheat.Saba Mahjourimajd, Julian Taylor, Beata Sznajder, Andy Timmins, Fahimeh Shahinnia, Zed Rengel, Hossein Khabaz-Saberi, Haydn Kuchel, Mamoru Okamoto, Peter Langridg
Strange Particle Production at RHIC
We report STAR measurements of mid-rapidity yields for the ,
, , , , , and
particles in Cu+Cu and Au+Au GeV
collisions. We show that at a given number of participating nucleons, bulk
strangeness production is higher in Cu+Cu collisions compared to Au+Au
collisions at the same center of mass energy, counter to predictions from the
Canonical formalism. We compare both the Cu+Cu and Au+Au yields to AMPT and
EPOS predictions, and find they reproduce key qualitative aspects of the data.
Finally, we investigate other scaling parameters and find bulk strangeness
production for both the measured data and theoretical predictions, scales
better with the number participants that undergo more than one collision.Comment: Conference proceedings for Hot Quarks 2008, 5 pages and 4 figure
System Size Dependence of Particle Production at the SPS
Recent results on the system size dependence of net-baryon and hyperon
production as measured at the CERN SPS are discussed. The observed Npart
dependences of yields, but also of dynamical properties, such as average
transverse momenta, can be described in the context of the core corona
approach. Other observables, such as antiproton yields and net-protons at
forward rapidities, do not follow the predictions of this model. Possible
implications for a search for a critical point in the QCD phase diagram are
discussed. Event-by-event fluctuations of the relative core to corona source
contributions might influence fluctuation observables (e.g. multiplicity
fluctuations). The magnitude of this effect is investigated.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figurs. Proceedings of the 6th International Workshop on
Critical Point and Onset of Deconfinement in Dubna, Aug. 201
- …