53,731 research outputs found
CO2 removal by solid amine sorbents. 1: Experimental studies of amine resin IR-45 with regard to spacecraft applications. 2: Computer program for predicting the transient performance of solid amine sorbent systems
The sorbent behavior of solid amine resin IR-45 with regard to potential use in regenerative CO2-removal systems for manned spacecraft is considered. Measurements of equilibrium sorption capacity of IR-45 for water and for CO2 are reported, and the dynamic mass transfer behavior of IR-45 beds is studied under conditions representative of those expected in a manned spacecraft. A digital computer program was written for the transient performance prediction of CO2 removal systems comprised of solid amine beds. Also evaluated are systems employing inorganic molecular-sieve sorbents. Tests show that there is definitely an effect of water loading on the absorption rate
Sketching-out virtual humans: A smart interface for human modelling and animation
In this paper, we present a fast and intuitive interface for sketching out
3D virtual humans and animation. The user draws stick figure key frames first and
chooses one for âfleshing-outâ with freehand body contours. The system
automatically constructs a plausible 3D skin surface from the rendered figure, and
maps it onto the posed stick figures to produce the 3D character animation. A
âcreative model-based methodâ is developed, which performs a human perception
process to generate 3D human bodies of various body sizes, shapes and fat
distributions. In this approach, an anatomical 3D generic model has been created with
three distinct layers: skeleton, fat tissue, and skin. It can be transformed sequentially
through rigid morphing, fatness morphing, and surface fitting to match the original
2D sketch. An auto-beautification function is also offered to regularise the 3D
asymmetrical bodies from usersâ imperfect figure sketches. Our current system
delivers character animation in various forms, including articulated figure animation,
3D mesh model animation, 2D contour figure animation, and even 2D NPR animation
with personalised drawing styles. The system has been formally tested by various
users on Tablet PC. After minimal training, even a beginner can create vivid virtual
humans and animate them within minutes
Sketching-out virtual humans: From 2d storyboarding to immediate 3d character animation
Virtual beings are playing a remarkable role in todayâs public entertainment, while ordinary users are still treated as audiences due to the lack of appropriate expertise, equipment, and computer skills. In this paper, we present a fast and intuitive storyboarding interface, which enables users to sketch-out 3D virtual humans, 2D/3D animations, and character intercommunication. We devised an intuitive âstick figurefleshing-outskin mappingâ graphical animation pipeline, which realises the whole process of key framing, 3D pose reconstruction, virtual human modelling, motion path/timing control, and the final animation synthesis by almost pure 2D sketching. A âcreative model-based methodâ is developed, which emulates a human perception process, to generate the 3D human bodies of variational sizes, shapes, and fat distributions. Meanwhile, our current system also supports the sketch-based crowd animation and the storyboarding of the 3D multiple character intercommunication. This system has been formally tested by various users on Tablet PC. After minimal training, even a beginner can create vivid virtual humans and animate them within minutes
Directional genetic differentiation and asymmetric migration
Understanding the population structure and patterns of gene flow within
species is of fundamental importance to the study of evolution. In the fields
of population and evolutionary genetics, measures of genetic differentiation
are commonly used to gather this information. One potential caveat is that
these measures assume gene flow to be symmetric. However, asymmetric gene flow
is common in nature, especially in systems driven by physical processes such as
wind or water currents. Since information about levels of asymmetric gene flow
among populations is essential for the correct interpretation of the
distribution of contemporary genetic diversity within species, this should not
be overlooked. To obtain information on asymmetric migration patterns from
genetic data, complex models based on maximum likelihood or Bayesian approaches
generally need to be employed, often at great computational cost. Here, a new
simpler and more efficient approach for understanding gene flow patterns is
presented. This approach allows the estimation of directional components of
genetic divergence between pairs of populations at low computational effort,
using any of the classical or modern measures of genetic differentiation. These
directional measures of genetic differentiation can further be used to
calculate directional relative migration and to detect asymmetries in gene flow
patterns. This can be done in a user-friendly web application called
divMigrate-online introduced in this paper. Using simulated data sets with
known gene flow regimes, we demonstrate that the method is capable of resolving
complex migration patterns under a range of study designs.Comment: 25 pages, 8 (+3) figures, 1 tabl
y-scaling in Quasielastic Electron Scattering from Nuclei
A relativistic single particle model is used to calculate the inclusive
reaction from 12, 40, 56, 197, and 208 nuclei in the quasielastic
region. We have shown that this model provides a very good description of the
available experimental cross sections when they are dominated by the
quasielastic process. In this paper we use this model to investigate the
dependence of -scaling on electron kinematics, particularly the electron
scattering angle, for a range of squared four momentum transfer
(GeV/c). In this kinematic domain, Coulomb distortion of the electron does
not significantly affect scaling, but final state interactions of the knocked
out nucleon do affect scaling particularly when the nucleons have lower
energies. In general, we find that scaling works for this reaction, but at
lower values of the four momentum transfer, the scaling function does have some
dependence on the electron scattering angle. We also consider a modification of
y-scaling to include small binding energy effects as a function of Z and A and
show that there is some improvement in scaling.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figure
Impact of Information Technology on Employee Attitudes: A Longitudinal Field Study
This longitudinal study examined the impact of an information technology system on the job and employee attitudes in a parts distribution center for a Fortune 500 company. Data were collected prior to, during, and following the implementation of an automated information technology system. Results of both the within subjects (N=24) and between subjects (N=58) analyses indicated that the automated technology reduced motivational and increased mechanistic aspects of the job as well as reduced employee attitudes
Logical equivalence between generalized urn models and finite automata
To every generalized urn model there exists a finite (Mealy) automaton with
identical propositional calculus. The converse is true as well.Comment: 9 pages, minor change
Probing the circulation of ring-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates
This paper reports the results of a theoretical and experimental study of how
the initial circulation of ring-shaped Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) can be
probed by time-of-flight (TOF) images. We have studied theoretically the
dynamics of a BEC after release from a toroidal trap potential by solving the
3D Gross-Pitaevskii (GP) equation. The trap and condensate characteristics
matched those of a recent experiment. The circulation, experimentally imparted
to the condensate by stirring, was simulated theoretically by imprinting a
linear azimuthal phase on the initial condensate wave function. The theoretical
TOF images were in good agreement with the experimental data. We find that upon
release the dynamics of the ring--shaped condensate proceeds in two distinct
phases. First, the condensate expands rapidly inward, filling in the initial
hole until it reaches a minimum radius that depends on the initial circulation.
In the second phase, the density at the inner radius increases to a maximum
after which the hole radius begins slowly to expand. During this second phase a
series of concentric rings appears due to the interference of ingoing and
outgoing matter waves from the inner radius. The results of the GP equation
predict that the hole area is a quadratic function of the initial circulation
when the condensate is released directly from the trap in which it was stirred
and is a linear function of the circulation if the trap is relaxed before
release. These scalings matched the data. Thus, hole size after TOF can be used
as a reliable probe of initial condensate circulation. This connection between
circulation and hole size after TOF will facilitate future studies of
atomtronic systems that are implemented in ultracold quantum gases.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
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