Tilted guides with friction in web conveyance systems

One challenge in designing web conveyance systems is controlling the displacement and vibration of the webs by guides without introducing instabilities or higher frequency disturbances from flange impacts. A solution to this problem is to use an actively or passively tilted guide or roller to steer the web. In this paper, a model of tilted guides with friction is developed, and it is shown that tilted guides produce a change in the web’s displacement, slope, bending moment, and shear force. When the web is conceptually unwrapped from its path, the normal force between the web and a tilted guide has a component that acts in the direction of the web’s lateral displacement, resulting in an equivalent force and bending moment acting on the web. The model is validated by measurements, and is compared to a previously existing model of guide tilt. In the configurations studied, the displacement of the web near the guide is linearly dependent on the tilt angle and tension and it increases exponentially with the web’s span length. When the guide’s tilt is oriented towards the center of the web’s wrap around the guide, the equivalent bending moment is zero in the absence of friction, and there is good agreement between the model developed in this paper and the previously existing model. However, when the center of the web’s wrap is oriented 90° away from the guide’s tilt orientation, the equivalent force is zero in the absence of friction, and measurements demonstrate the necessity of the equivalent bending moment

Consideration of Technology Transfer in Tenure and Promotion

Universities face increasing expectations from both the public and elected officials to contribute to the economic development of their respective states, geographical regions, and the country. Technology transfer activities have proven to be a key way to meet these new imperatives. Despite the university’s expanded mission and the growing role of tech transfer, the academic community has yet to produce a consistent framework for evaluating faculty activities in technology transfer and their societal benefits. In response to this situation, the authors, working as the APLU Task Force on Tenure, Promotion, and Technology Transfer, surveyed US and Canadian universities to ascertain current approaches for defining technology transfer activities and recognizing them in assessing faculty performance. Building on the results of that survey, the authors offered the following five recommendations: 1) university policy statements should acknowledge the merit of technology transfer as part of the university’s work, while including safeguards against conflicts of interest or commitment; 2) technology transfer activities should be explicitly included among the criteria relevant for promotion and tenure at the university, college, and department levels, as appropriate to the respective disciplines; 3) technology transfer activities should be an optional component of the review process, one that will be rewarded when present but not seen as a requirement for everyone; 4) recognizing the unique character of technology transfer, the criteria should be flexible enough to encompass high-quality work in many forms of creative expression; and 5) technology transfer activities should be evaluated for intellectual contribution and expected social benefit consistent with the accepted process of peer review and without reliance on artificial metrics

LakeCC: a tool for efficiently identifying lake basins with application to palaeogeographic reconstructions of North America

Along the margins of continental ice sheets, lakes formed in isostatically depressed basins duringglacial retreat. Their shorelines and extent are sensitive to the ice margin and the glacial history of the region.Proglacial lakes, in turn, also impact the glacial isostatic adjustment due to loading, and ice dynamics by posing amarine‐like boundary condition at the ice margin. In this study we present a tool that efficiently identifies lake basinsand the corresponding maximum water level for a given ice sheet and topography reconstruction. This algorithm,called the LakeCC model, iteratively checks the whole map for a set of increasing water levels and fills isolated basinsuntil they overflow into the ocean. We apply it to the present‐day Great Lakes and the results show good agreement(∼1−4%) with measured lake volume and depth. We then apply it to two topography reconstructions of NorthAmerica between the Last Glacial Maximum and the present. The model successfully reconstructs glacial lakes suchas Lake Agassiz, Lake McConnell and the predecessors of the Great Lakes. LakeCC can be used to judge the quality ofice sheet reconstructions

Simulation of space-borne tsunami detection using GNSS-Reflectometry applied to tsunamis in the Indian Ocean

Within the German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System project GITEWS (Rudloff et al., 2009), a feasibility study on a future tsunami detection system from space has been carried out. The Global Navigation Satellite System Reflectometry (GNSS-R) is an innovative way of using reflected GNSS signals for remote sensing, e.g. sea surface altimetry. In contrast to conventional satellite radar altimetry, multiple height measurements within a wide field of view can be made simultaneously. With a dedicated Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation of satellites equipped with GNSS-R, densely spaced sea surface height measurements could be established to detect tsunamis. This simulation study compares the Walker and the meshed comb constellation with respect to their global reflection point distribution. The detection performance of various LEO constellation scenarios with GPS, GLONASS and Galileo as signal sources is investigated. The study concentrates on the detection performance for six historic tsunami events in the Indian Ocean generated by earthquakes of different magnitudes, as well as on different constellation types and orbit parameters. The GNSS-R carrier phase is compared with the PARIS or code altimetry approach. The study shows that Walker constellations have a much better reflection point distribution compared to the meshed comb constellation. Considering simulation assumptions and assuming technical feasibility it can be demonstrated that strong tsunamis with magnitudes (<i>M</i>) ≥8.5 can be detected with certainty from any orbit altitude within 15–25 min by a 48/8 or 81/9 Walker constellation if tsunami waves of 20 cm or higher can be detected by space-borne GNSS-R. The carrier phase approach outperforms the PARIS altimetry approach especially at low orbit altitudes and for a low number of LEO satellites

GNSS remote sensing of the Australian tropopause

Radio occultation (RO) techniques that use signals transmitted by Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) have emerged over the past decade as an important tool for measuring global changes in tropopause temperature and height, a valuable capacity given the tropopause’s sensitivity to temperature variations. This study uses 45,091 RO data from the CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload, 80 months), GRACE (Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment, 23 months) and COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate, 20 months) satellites to analyse the variability of the tropopause’s height and temperature over Australia. GNSS RO temperature profiles from CHAMP, GRACE, and COSMIC are first validated using radiosonde observations provided by the Bureau of Meteorology (Australia). These are compared to RO soundings from between 2001 and 2007 that occurred within 3 h and 100 km of a radiosonde.The results indicate that RO soundings provide data of a comparable quality to radiosonde observations in the tropopause region, with temperature deviations of less than 0.5 ± 1.5 K. An analysis of tropopause height and temperature anomalies indicates a height increase over Australia as a whole of ca. 4.8 ± 1.3 m between September 2001 and April 2008, with a corresponding temperature decrease of −0.019 ± 0.007 K. A similar pattern of increasing height/decreasing temperature was generally observed when determining the spatial distribution of the tropopause height and temperature rate of change over Australia. Although only a short period has been considered in this study, a function of the operating time of these satellites, the results nonetheless show an increase in the height of the tropopause over Australia during this period and thus may indicate regional warming. Several mechanisms could be responsible for these changes, such as an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and lower stratospheric cooling due to ozone loss, both of which have been observed during the last decades

Prevalence of Non-O157:H7 Shiga Toxin-Producing \u3ci\u3eEscherichia coli\u3c/i\u3e in Diarrheal Stool Samples from Nebraska

We determined the prevalence of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in diarrheal stool samples from Nebraska by three methods: cefixime-tellurite sorbitol MacConkey (CT-SMAC) culture, enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) enzyme immunoassay, and stx1,2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Fourteen (4.2%) of 335 specimens were positive by at least one method (CT-SMAC culture [6 of 14], EHEC enzyme immunoassay [13 of 14], stx1,2 PCR [14 of 14]). Six contained serogroup 0157, while non-0157 were as prevalent as 0157 serogroups

Remote Predictive Mapping 3. Optical Remote Sensing – A Review for Remote Predictive Geological Mapping in Northern Canada

Optical remotely sensed data have broad application for geological mapping in Canada’s North. Diverse remote sensors and digital image processing techniques have specific mapping functions, as demonstrated by numerous examples and associated interpretations. Moderate resolution optical sensors are useful for discriminating rock types, whereas sensors that offer increased spectral resolution (i.e. hyperspectral sensors) allow the geologist to identify certain rock types (mainly different types of carbonates, Fe-bearing rocks, sulphates and hydroxyl-(clay-) bearing rocks) as opposed to merely discriminating between them. Increased spatial resolution and the ability to visualize the earth’s surface in stereo are now offered by a host of optical sensors. However, the usefulness of optical remote sensing for geological mapping is highly dependent on the geologic, surficial and biophysical environment, and bedrock predictive mapping is most successful in areas not obscured by thick drift and vegetation/lichen cover, which is typical of environments proximal to coasts. In general, predictive mapping of surficial materials has fewer restrictions. Optical imagery can be enhanced in a variety of ways and fused with other geo-science datasets to produce imagery that can be visually interpreted in a GIS environment. Computer processing techniques are useful for undertaking more quantitative analyses of imagery for mapping bedrock, surficial materials and geomorphic or glacial features. SOMMAIRE Les données recueillies par télédétection optique offrent beaucoup de possibilités pour la cartographie géologique des régions nordiques canadiennes. La diversité des télécapteurs et des techniques de traitement numérique des données permet la définition de fonctions de cartographie spécifique, tel que l’illustre de nombreux exemples et interprétations associées. Des capteurs optiques de moyenne résolution sont utiles pour différencier les types de roche, alors que les capteurs à plus fines résolutions (les capteurs hyperspectraux, par ex.) permettent au géologue de subdiviser certains types de roches (principalement différents types de carbonates, roches ferrugineuses, roches à sulfates et à hydroxyle (argile). Une meilleure résolution spatiale et la fonction de vision stéréoscopique sont maintenant offertes sur une gamme de capteurs optiques. Cela dit, l’utilité de la télédétection optique pour la cartographie géologique est fortement tributaire des conditions de la géologie de surface et de son environnement biophysique, le potentiel prédictif de la télécartographie étant maximal pour les régions exemptes d’une couverture épaisse de dépôts glaciaires ou d’une couverture végétale/lichen caractéristique typique des environnements longeant les côtes. Divers procédés permettent de rehausser l’imagerie optique et de réaliser des fusions avec d’autres jeux de données géoscientifiques et de produire une imagerie visuellement inter-prétable en environnement de SIG. Les techniques de traitement de données par ordinateur sont utiles pour d’autres types d’analyse quantitative d’imagerie pour la cartographie des matériaux de couverture du socle et pour répertorier des formes glaciaires et géomorphologiques

Observations and analysis of polar stratospheric clouds detected by POAM III and SAGE III during the SOLVE II/VINTERSOL campaign in the 2002/2003 Northern Hemisphere winter

The Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement and Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment instruments both observed high numbers of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) in the polar region during the second SAGE Ozone Loss and Validation (SOLVE II) and Validation of INTERnational Satellites and Study of Ozone Loss (VINTERSOL) campaign, conducted during the 2002/2003 Northern Hemisphere winter. Between 15 November 2002 (14 November 2002) and 18 March 2003 (21 March 2003) SAGE (POAM) observed 122 (151) aerosol extinction profiles containing PSCs. PSCs were observed on an almost daily basis, from early December through 15 January, in both instruments. No PSCs were observed from either instrument from 15 January until 4 February, and from then only sparingly in three periods in mid- and late February and mid-March. In early December, PSCs were observed in the potential temperature range from roughly 375 K to 750 K. Throughout December the top of this range decreases to near 600 K. In February and March, PSC observations were primarily constrained to potential temperatures below 500 K. The PSC observation frequency as a function of ambient temperature relative to the nitric acid-trihydrate saturation point (using a nitric acid profile prior to denitrification) was used to infer irreversible denitrification. By late December 38% denitrification was inferred at both the 400–475 K and 475–550 K potential temperature ranges. By early January extensive levels of denitrification near 80% were inferred at both potential temperature ranges, and the air remained denitrified at least through early March