Research related to measurements of atomic species in the earth's upper atmosphere Final report

Interaction kinetics of atomic oxygen and hydrogen on metal surfaces of satellite-borne mass spectrometer

The Hypothesised Female ASC Phenotype: Implications for Research and Practice

There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the behavioural manifestation of autism spectrum condition (ASC) differs between males and females, and there may be a female-specific phenotype of the condition (Lai, Lombardo, Auyeung, Chakrabarti, & Baron-Cohen, 2015). However, current conceptualisations of ASC have been developed predominately from samples of males, meaning our understanding of the condition may be male-biased (Kirkovski, Enticott, & Fitzgerald, 2013). Consequently, ASC in females may be under-diagnosed because current assessments are based on a male-specific manifestation of the condition (Mandy et al., 2012). This paper begins with a review of qualitative literature exploring the experiences of females with ASC. Building upon identified themes, quantitative research is reviewed to ascertain whether there are sex/gender differences in four areas of the hypothesised ASC female phenotype. Preliminary evidence suggests there may be sex/gender differences in ASC, but more research is needed to fully substantiate this conclusion

Performance evaluation of a six-axis generalized force-reflecting teleoperator

Work in real-time distributed computation and control has culminated in a prototype force-reflecting telemanipulation system having a dissimilar master (cable-driven, force-reflecting hand controller) and a slave (PUMA 560 robot with custom controller), an extremely high sampling rate (1000 Hz), and a low loop computation delay (5 msec). In a series of experiments with this system and five trained test operators covering over 100 hours of teleoperation, performance was measured in a series of generic and application-driven tasks with and without force feedback, and with control shared between teleoperation and local sensor referenced control. Measurements defining task performance included 100-Hz recording of six-axis force/torque information from the slave manipulator wrist, task completion time, and visual observation of predefined task errors. The task consisted of high precision peg-in-hole insertion, electrical connectors, velcro attach-de-attach, and a twist-lock multi-pin connector. Each task was repeated three times under several operating conditions: normal bilateral telemanipulation, forward position control without force feedback, and shared control. In shared control, orientation was locally servo controlled to comply with applied torques, while translation was under operator control. All performance measures improved as capability was added along a spectrum of capabilities ranging from pure position control through force-reflecting teleoperation and shared control. Performance was optimal for the bare-handed operator

Investigation of atomic oxygen-surface interactions related to measurements with dual air density explorer satellites

For a number of candidate materials of construction for the dual air density explorer satellites the rate of oxygen atom loss by adsorption, surface reaction, and recombination was determined as a function of surface and temperature. Plain aluminum and anodized aluminum surfaces exhibit a collisional atom loss probability alpha .01 in the temperature range 140 - 360 K, and an initial sticking probability. For SiO coated aluminum in the same temperature range, alpha .001 and So .001. Atom-loss on gold is relatively rapid alpha .01. The So for gold varies between 0.25 and unity in the temperature range 360 - 140 K

Persistent superfluid flow arising from the He-McKellar-Wilkens effect in molecular dipolar condensates

We show that the He-McKellar-Wilkens effect can induce a persistent flow in a Bose-Einstein condensate of polar molecules confined in a toroidal trap, with the dipolar interaction mediated via an electric dipole moment. For Bose-Einstein condensates of atoms with a magnetic dipole moment, we show that although it is theoretically possible to induce persistent flow via the Aharonov-Casher effect, the strength of electric field required is prohibitive. We also outline an experimental geometry tailored specifically for observing the He-McKellar-Wilkens effect in toroidally-trapped condensates.Comment: 5 pages 2 figure

Thomassen's Choosability Argument Revisited

Thomassen (1994) proved that every planar graph is 5-choosable. This result was generalised by {\v{S}}krekovski (1998) and He et al. (2008), who proved that every $K_5$-minor-free graph is 5-choosable. Both proofs rely on the characterisation of $K_5$-minor-free graphs due to Wagner (1937). This paper proves the same result without using Wagner's structure theorem or even planar embeddings. Given that there is no structure theorem for graphs with no $K_6$-minor, we argue that this proof suggests a possible approach for attacking the Hadwiger Conjecture

Robot-Mediated Interviews with Children : What do potential users think?

Luke Wood, Hagen Lehmann, Kerstin Dautenhahn, Ben Robins, Austen Rayner, and Dag Syrdal, ‘Robot-Mediated Interviews with Children: What do potential users think?’, paper presented at the 50th Annual Convention of the Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and the Simulation of Behaviour, 1 April 2014 – 4 April 2014, London, UK.When police officers are conducting interviews with children, some of the disclosures can be quite shocking. This can make it difficult for an officer to maintain their composure without subtly indicating their shock to the child, which can in turn impede the information acquisition process. Using a robotic interviewer could eliminate this problem as the behaviours and expressions of the robot can be consciously controlled. To date research investigating the potential of Robot-Mediated Interviews has focused on establishing whether children will respond to robots in an interview scenario and if so how well. The results of these studies indicate that children will talk to a robot in an interview scenario in a similar way to which they talk to a human interviewer. However, in order to test if this approach would work in a real world setting, it is important to establish what the experts (e.g. specialist child interviewers) would require from the system. To determine the needs of the users we conducted a user panel with a group of potential real world users to gather their views of our current system and find out what they would require for the system to be useful to them. The user group we worked with consisted of specialist child protection police officers based in the UK. The findings from this panel suggest that a Robot-Mediated Interviewing system would need to be more flexible than our current system in order to respond to unpredictable situations and paths of investigation. This paper gives an insight into what real world users would need from a Robot-Mediated Interviewing system

Optical and ROSAT X-ray observations of the dwarf nova OY Carinae in superoutburst and quiescence

We present ROSAT X-ray and optical light curves of the 1994 February superoutburst of the eclipsing SU UMa dwarf nova OY Carinae. There is no eclipse of the flux in the ROSAT HRI light curve. Contemporaneous `wide B' band optical light curves show extensive superhump activity and dips at superhump maximum. Eclipse mapping of these optical light curves reveals a disc with a considerable physical flare, even three days into the superoutburst decline. We include a later (1994 July) ROSAT PSPC observation of OY Car that allows us to put constraints on the quiescent X-ray spectrum. We find that while there is little to choose between OY Car and its fellow high inclination systems with regard to the temperature of the emitting gas and the emission measure, we have difficulties reconciling the column density found from our X-ray observation with the column found in HST UV observations by Horne et al. (1994). The obvious option is to invoke time variability.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Warm dust in the terrestrial planet zone of a sun-like Pleiad: collisions between planetary embryos?

Only a few solar-type main sequence stars are known to be orbited by warm dust particles; the most extreme is the G0 field star BD+20 307 that emits ~4% of its energy at mid-infrared wavelengths. We report the identification of a similarly dusty star HD 23514, an F6-type member of the Pleiades cluster. A strong mid-IR silicate emission feature indicates the presence of small warm dust particles, but with the primary flux density peak at the non-standard wavelength of ~9 micron. The existence of so much dust within an AU or so of these stars is not easily accounted for given the very brief lifetime in orbit of small particles. The apparent absence of very hot (>~1000 K) dust at both stars suggests the possible presence of a planet closer to the stars than the dust. The observed frequency of the BD+20 307/HD 23514 phenomenon indicates that the mass equivalent of Earth's Moon must be converted, via collisions of massive bodies, to tiny dust particles that find their way to the terrestrial planet zone during the first few hundred million years of the life of many (most?) sun-like stars. Identification of these two dusty systems among youthful nearby solar-type stars suggests that terrestrial planet formation is common.Comment: ApJ in press, 19 pages including 3 figures and 2 tables, minor changes to the tables and figure

Phase and amplitude scintillations of microwave signals over an elevated atmospheric path

Phase and amplitude scintillations of microwave signals over elevated atmospheric path for obtaining atmospheric density profile