2,787 research outputs found
Concept for sleeve induction motor with 1-msec mechanical time constant
Conductive sleeve induction motor having a 1-msec mechanical time constant is used with solid-state devices to control all-electric servo power systems. The servomotor rotor inertia is small compared to the maximum force rating of the servo motion, permitting high no-load acceleration
Improving the monitoring and evaluation of schistosomiasis by determining appropriate targets and utilizing new technologies
The World Health Organizationâs framework for the assessment of schistosomiasis morbidity control utilizes the prevalence of heavy-intensity infections in a homogenous ecological zone. The foundational research for the use of heavy-intensity infections is at least 30 years old. Research since then has illuminated the relationship between Schistosoma infection and all morbidity. In addition, severe, chronic, schistosomiasis morbidity is less common due to increasing dissemination of preventive chemotherapy. There are calls for improvements to the monitoring and evaluation framework, especially relating to the measurement of schistosomiasis morbidity.
The focus of this thesis was to improve the schistosomiasis monitoring and evaluation framework by evaluating whether those current infection measures are linked to morbidity indicators. For those measures linked to indicators, an attempt was made to calculate programmatic targets linked to morbidity using robust methods.
Targets based on microhaematuria prevalence were calculated based on community-level S. haematobium prevalence. For S. mansoni, associations between infection and morbidity were much weaker and it appears unlikely that a reliable target can be found. S. mansoni morbidity control may require changes to accurately measure the S. mansoni morbidity burden in a geographic area. Incorporating new technologies, such as portable, tablet-based ultrasound systems, may allow researchers and control programs to collect schistosomiasis morbidity indicators
RascalC: A Jackknife Approach to Estimating Single and Multi-Tracer Galaxy Covariance Matrices
To make use of clustering statistics from large cosmological surveys,
accurate and precise covariance matrices are needed. We present a new code to
estimate large scale galaxy two-point correlation function (2PCF) covariances
in arbitrary survey geometries that, due to new sampling techniques, runs times faster than previous codes, computing finely-binned covariance
matrices with negligible noise in less than 100 CPU-hours. As in previous
works, non-Gaussianity is approximated via a small rescaling of shot-noise in
the theoretical model, calibrated by comparing jackknife survey covariances to
an associated jackknife model. The flexible code, RascalC, has been publicly
released, and automatically takes care of all necessary pre- and
post-processing, requiring only a single input dataset (without a prior 2PCF
model). Deviations between large scale model covariances from a mock survey and
those from a large suite of mocks are found to be be indistinguishable from
noise. In addition, the choice of input mock are shown to be irrelevant for
desired noise levels below mocks. Coupled with its generalization
to multi-tracer data-sets, this shows the algorithm to be an excellent tool for
analysis, reducing the need for large numbers of mock simulations to be
computed.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures. Accepted by MNRAS. Code is available at
http://github.com/oliverphilcox/RascalC with documentation at
http://rascalc.readthedocs.io
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Experiments on the Effect of Atomic Electrons on the Decay Constant of Be7
Using Intelligent Agents to Manage Business Processes
This paper describes work undertaken in the ADEPT (Advanced Decision Environment for Process Tasks) project towards developing an agent-based infrastructure for managing business processes. We describe how the key technology of negotiating, service providing, autonomous agents was realised and demonstrate how this was applied to the BT business process of providing a customer quote for network services
Evaluating the impact of road infrastructure on household income in Papua New Guinea:Spatial data compilation and analysis
As part of the ADB subâproject âDeveloping Impact Evaluation Methodologies, Approaches, and Capacities in Selected Developing Member Countriesâ two closely related research projects were carried out by VU to evaluate the impact of road infrastructure on household income in Papua New Guinea. One project focused on econometric analysis (contract no. 117629âS85196), while the other developed the spatial database needed for this analysis (contract no. 117642âS84962). The current report documents the data collection process and provides a concise description of the data that were collected for the project and the analyses that were performed to enrich the available data sources to create meaningful variables for the statistical analysis. It serves as a background document with the scientific paperâthat concisely describes the findings of the two joint research projects
Guidance for Improving Foundation Layers to Increase Pavement Performance on Local Roads
This document is the second of two deliverables for the project Optimizing Pavement Base, Subbase, and Subgrade Layers for Cost and Performance on Local Roads (TR-640). The first deliverable is the 454-page Final Field Data Report. The field data report describes test results and comparative analysis from 16 different portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement sites on local city and county roads in Iowa. At each site the surface conditions of the pavement (i.e., crack survey) and foundation layer strength, stiffness, and hydraulic conductivity properties were documented. The field test results were used to calculate in situ parameters used in pavement design methodologies for AASHTO (1993) and Iowaâs Statewide Urban Design and Specifications (SUDAS). Overall, the results of the study demonstrate how in situ and lab testing can be used to assess the support conditions and design values for pavement foundation layers and how the measurements compare to the assumed design values. This guide summarizes the study results and outlines general guidelines for applying them to optimize pavement bases, subbases, and subgrade layers of local roads with PCC pavements and thus their performance
An in vitro DNA sensor-based assay to measure receptor-specific adhesion forces of eukaryotic cells and pathogens
Motility of eukaryotic cells or pathogens within tissues is mediated by the turnover of specific interactions with other cells or with the extracellular matrix. Biophysical characterization of these ligand-receptor adhesions helps to unravel the molecular mechanisms driving migration. Traction force microscopy or optical tweezers are typically used to measure the cellular forces exerted by cells on a substrate. However, the spatial resolution of traction force microscopy is limited to ~2 Îźm and performing experiments with optical traps is very time-consuming. Here we present the production of biomimetic surfaces that enable specific cell adhesion via synthetic ligands and at the same time monitor the transmitted forces by using molecular tension sensors. The ligands were coupled to double-stranded DNA probes with defined force thresholds for DNA unzipping. Receptor-mediated forces in the pN range are thereby semi-quantitatively converted into fluorescence signals, which can be detected by standard fluorescence microscopy at the resolution limit (~0.2 Îźm). The modular design of the assay allows to vary the presented ligands and the mechanical strength of the DNA probes, which provides a number of possibilities to probe the adhesion of different eukaryotic cell types and pathogens and is exemplified here with osteosarcoma cells and Plasmodium berghei Sporozoites
Use of soil moisture information in yield models
There are no author-identified significant results in this report
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