A generalized strategy for building resident database interfaces

A strategy for building resident interfaces to host heterogeneous distributed data base management systems is developed. The strategy is used to construct several interfaces. A set of guidelines is developed for users to construct their own interfaces

Design and manufacture of a chain driven motor shaft for Formula Electric applications

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2013.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (page 23).This document describes the design, manufacture, and testing of a motor shaft assembly that is a subcomponent of the drivetrain system in a Formula Electric racecar. The design covers detailed analysis of the bearing, sprocket, shaft, pins, and spacer created to meet a set of functional requirements. The process of determining these requirements is also covered, along with a set of best practices for thoughtful design in general. An initial phase of testing is covered as well, from the design of the testing apparatus to the execution of a torsional test on the shaft. With limited data, conclusions are hard to draw with certainty, but initial results seem to indicate that the shaft performs as expected. The intent of this document is to serve as an example of the level of detail and thoroughness that is expected when designing racecar components. To that end, this document should provide a number of unique examples of how specific problems were modeled and addressed in the design. It should also serve as a template for future documentation of such design efforts.by Jack J. Wanderman.S.B

Education for Democracy: A co-constructivist perspective

En el presente artículo describimos el papel que la educación ha de desempeñar en el proceso de mejora de la calidad de vida en el mundo moderno. El enfoque específico de este artículo enfatiza el papel que la educación debe desempeñar para promover la evolución de las formas de vida democráticas como un medio para mejorar la calidad de la vida tanto personal como colectiva e institucional. La calidad de vida, al menos en lo concerniente a la conducta orientada a fines, supone elegir los valores y alcanzar con éxito los objetivos de la vida. Esto último, está relacionado con la utilización del pensamiento y la discusión crítica para realizar elecciones vitales de tipo individual y colectivo. Lo cual, a su vez, tiene que ver con la institucionalización del ideal democrático. En este sentido, el enfoque principal de nuestro trabajo aplicado trata de promover la evolución de las formas de vida democráticas como un medio para mejorar la calidad de vida en los niveles personal, interpersonal e institucional

Constraining the Emissivity of Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Rays in the Distant Universe with the Diffuse Gamma-ray Emission

Ultra-high cosmic rays (UHECRs) with energies >10^19 eV emitted at cosmological distances will be attenuated by cosmic microwave and infrared background radiation through photohadronic processes. Lower energy extra-galactic cosmic rays (~10^18-10^19 eV) can only travel a linear distance smaller than ~Gpc in a Hubble time due to the diffusion if the extra-galactic magnetic fields are as strong as nano Gauss. These prevent us from directly observing most of the UHECRs in the universe, and thus the observed UHECR intensity reflects only the emissivity in the nearby universe within hundreds of Mpc. However, UHECRs in the distant universe, through interactions with the cosmic background photons, produce UHE electrons and gamma-rays that in turn initiate electromagnetic cascades on cosmic background photons. This secondary cascade radiation forms part of the extragalactic diffuse GeV-TeV gamma-ray radiation and, unlike the original UHECRs, is observable. Motivated by new measurements of extragalactic diffuse gamma-ray background radiation by Fermi/LAT, we obtained upper limits placed on the UHECR emissivity in the distant universe by requiring that the cascade radiation they produce not exceed the observed levels. By comparison with the gamma-ray emissivity of candidate UHECR sources (such as GRBs and AGNs) at high-redshifts, we find that the obtained upper limit for a flat proton spectrum is ~10^1.5 times larger than the gamma-ray emissivity in GRBs and ~10 times smaller than the gamma-ray emissivity in BL Lac objects. In the case of iron nuclei composition, the derived upper limit of the UHECR emissivity is a factor of 3-5 times higher. Robust upper limit on the cosmogenic neutrino flux is further obtained, which is marginally reachable by the Icecube detector and the next-generation detector JEM-EUSO.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, Replaced to match the published versio

GRBs on probation: testing the UHE CR paradigm with IceCube

Gamma ray burst (GRB) fireballs provide one of very few astrophysical environments where one can contemplate the acceleration of cosmic rays to energies that exceed 10^20 eV. The assumption that GRBs are the sources of the observed cosmic rays generates a calculable flux of neutrinos produced when the protons interact with fireball photons. With data taken during construction IceCube has already reached a sensitivity to observe neutrinos produced in temporal coincidence with individual GRBs provided that they are the sources of the observed extragalactic cosmic rays. We here point out that the GRB origin of cosmic rays is also challenged by the IceCube upper limit on a possible diffuse flux of cosmic neutrinos which should not be exceeded by the flux produced by all GRB over Hubble time. Our alternative approach has the advantage of directly relating the diffuse flux produced by all GRBs to measurements of the cosmic ray flux. It also generates both the neutrino flux produced by the sources and the associated cosmogenic neutrino flux in a synergetic way.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, matches version published in Astroparticle Physic

Stellar black holes at the dawn of the universe

It is well established that between 380000 and 1 billion years after the Big Bang the Inter Galactic Medium (IGM) underwent a "phase transformation" from cold and fully neutral to warm (~10^4 K) and ionized. Whether this phase transformation was fully driven and completed by photoionization by young hot stars is a question of topical interest in cosmology. AIMS. We propose here that besides the ultraviolet radiation from massive stars, feedback from accreting black holes in high-mass X-ray binaries (BH-HMXBs) was an additional, important source of heating and reionization of the IGM in regions of low gas density at large distances from star-forming galaxies. METHODS. We use current theoretical models on the formation and evolution of primitive massive stars of low metallicity, and the observations of compact stellar remnants in the near and distant universe, to infer that a significant fraction of the first generations of massive stars end up as BH-HMXBs. The total number of energetic ionizing photons from an accreting stellar black hole in an HMXB is comparable to the total number of ionizing photons of its progenitor star. However, the X-ray photons emitted by the accreting black hole are capable of producing several secondary ionizations and the ionizing power of the resulting black hole could be greater than that of its progenitor. Feedback by the large populations of BH-HMXBs heats the IGM to temperatures of ~10^4 K and maintains it ionized on large distance scales. BH-HMXBs determine the early thermal history of the universe and mantain it as ionized over large volumes of space in regions of low density. This has a direct impact on the properties of the faintest galaxies at high redshifts, the smallest dwarf galaxies in the local universe, and on the existing and future surveys at radio wavelengths of atomic hydrogen in the early universe.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, accepted to be published in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Population III stars and the Long Gamma Ray Burst rate

Because massive, low-metallicity population III (PopIII) stars may produce very powerful long gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs), high-redshift GRB observations could probe the properties of the first stars. We analyze the correlation between early PopIII stars and LGRBs by using cosmological N-body/hydrodynamical simulations, which include detailed chemical evolution, cooling, star formation, feedback effects and the transition between PopIII and more standard population I/II (PopII/I) stars. From the Swift observed rate of LGRBs, we estimate the fraction of black holes that will produce a GRB from PopII/I stars to be in the range 0.028<f_{GRB}<0.140, depending on the assumed upper metallicity of the progenitor. Assuming that as of today no GRB event has been associated to a PopIII star, we estimate the upper limit for the fraction of LGRBs produced by PopIII stars to be in the range 0.006<f_{GRB}<0.022. When we apply a detection threshold compatible with the BAT instrument, we find that the expected fraction of PopIII GRBs (GRB3) is ~10% of the full LGRB population at z>6, becoming as high has 40% at z>10. Finally, we study the properties of the galaxies hosting our sample of GRB3. We find that the average metallicity of the galaxies hosting a GRB3 is typically higher than the critical metallicity used to select the PopIII stars, due to the efficiency in polluting the gas above such low values. We also find that the highest probability of finding a GRB3 is within galaxies with a stellar mass <10^7 Msun, independently from the redshift.Comment: 8 pages,3 figures. Submitted to MNRAS, revised version after referee's comment

Does Recombinant Human Bone Morphogenic Protein 2 Affect Perioperative Blood Loss after Lumbar and Thoracic Spinal Fusion?

Study Design Retrospective cohort design. Purpose This study aimed to determine whether recombinant human bone morphogenic protein 2 (rhBMP-2) reduces total perioperative blood loss during lumbar and thoracic fusion. Overview of Literature Previous studies on rhBMP-2 versus iliac crest bone grafting in thoracic and lumbar fusions have yielded mixed results regarding reductions in blood loss and have largely neglected the postoperative period when analyzing total blood loss. Additionally, these studies have been limited by heterogeneity and sample size. Methods We analyzed the blood loss patterns of 617 consecutive adult patients undergoing lumbar and/or thoracic fusions requiring subfascial drain placement at a single institution from January 2009 to December 2016. Patients were divided into BMP and non-BMP cohorts, and a propensity score analysis was conducted to account for the differences between cohorts. Results At a per-level fused basis, the BMP group exhibited a significant reduction in the intraoperative (66.1 mL per-level fused basis; 95% confidence interval [CI], 127.9 to 4.25 mL; p=0.036) and total perioperative blood loss (100.7 mL per-level fused basis; 95% CI, 200.9 to 0.5 mL; p=0.049). However, no significant differences were observed in an analysis when not controlling for the number of levels or when examining the postoperative drain output. Conclusion RhBMP-2 appears to reduce both intraoperative and total blood loss during lumbar and thoracic fusions on a per-level fused basis. This total reduction in blood loss was achieved via intraoperative effects because RhBMP-2 had no significant effect on the postoperative drain output