Length summation in noise

To investigate the effect of background noise on visual summation, we measured the contrast detection thresholds for targets with or without a white noise mask in luminance contrast. The targets were Gabor patterns placed at 3° eccentricity to either the left or right of the fixation and elongated along an arc of the same radius to ensure equidistance from fixation for every point along the long axis. The task was a spatial two-alternative forced-choice (2AFC) paradigm in which the observer had to indicate whether the target was on the left or the right of the fixation. The threshold was measured at 75% accuracy with a staircase procedure. The detection threshold decreased with target length with slope −1/2 on log-log coordinates for target lengths between 30′ and 300′ half-height full-width (HHFW), defining a range of ideal matched-filter summation extending up to about 200′ (or about 16× the center width of the Gabor targets). The summation curves for different noise contrasts were shifted copies of each other. For the threshold versus mask contrast (TvN) functions, the target threshold was constant for noise levels up to about −22 dB, then increased with noise contrast to a linear asymptote on log-log coordinates. Since the “elbow” of the target threshold versus noise function is an index of the level of the equivalent noise experienced by the visual system during target detection, our results suggest that the signal-to-noise ratio was invariant with target length. We further show that a linear-nonlinear-linear gain-control model can fully account for these results with far fewer parameters than a matched-filter model

Silicon nitride-aluminum oxide solid solution (SiAION) formation and densification by pressure sintering

Stirred-ball-mill-blended Si3N4 and Al2O3 powders were pressure sintered in order to investigate the mechanism of solid solution formation and densification in the Si3N4-Al2O3 system. Powder blends with Si3N4:Al2O3 mole ratios of 4:1, 3:2, and 2:3 were pressure sintered at 27.6-MN/sq m pressure at temperatures to 17000 C (3090 F). The compaction behavior of the powder blends during pressure sintering was determined by observing the density of the powder compact as a function of temperature and time starting from room temperature. This information, combined with the results of X-ray diffraction and metallographic analyses regarding solutioning and phase transformation phenomena in the Si3N4-Al2O3 system, was used to describe the densification behavior

Comparison of heat transfer characteristics of three cooling configurations for air-cooled turbine vanes tested in a turbojet engine

A comparison was made of the heat transfer characteristics of three air cooled vanes. The vanes incorporated cooling schemes such as impingement cooling, film cooling, and convection cooling with and without extended surfaces. A redesign study was made for two vanes to improve the cooling effectiveness. An average impingement heat transfer coefficient was calculated on the bases of experimentally determined temperatures at the leading edge and a one dimensional heat transfer calculation. This heat transfer coefficient was compared with existing impingement heat transfer correlations

Average and worst-case specifications of precipitating auroral electron environment

The precipitation electrons in the auroral environment are highly variable in their energy and intensity in both space and time. As such they are a source of potential hazard to the operation of the Space Shuttle and other large spacecraft operating in polar orbit. In order to assess these hazards both the average and extreme states of the precipitating electrons must be determined. Work aimed at such a specification is presented. First results of a global study of the average characteristics are presented. In this study the high latitude region was divided into spatial elements in magnetic local time and corrected geomagnetic latitude. The average electron spectrum was then determined in each spatial element for seven different levels of activity as measured by K sub p using an extremely large data set of auroral observations. Second a case study of an extreme auroral electron environment is presented, in which the electrons are accelerated through field aligned potential as high as 30,000 volts and in which the spacecraft is seen to charge negatively to a potential approaching .5 kilovolts

Comparison of cooling effectiveness of turbine vanes with and without film cooling

The cooling effectiveness of three film-cooled vanes were compared to the cooling effectiveness of two non-film-cooled vanes. The comparison indicated that, for the vane configurations and test conditions examined, film cooling had an adverse effect near the suction-surface trailing edge of the vanes. Film cooling was found to be beneficial on the pressure surface of the vanes

Crossflow effects on impingement cooling of a turbine vane

An air-cooled turbine vane was tested in a four-vane cascade. Heat transfer characteristics of the impingement cooled midchord region are reported. Experimental Nusselt numbers of six midchord locations are examined for the effect of crossflow and compared to those predicted by impingement correlations found in the literature

Dynamical Effects from Asteroid Belts for Planetary Systems

The orbital evolution and stability of planetary systems with interaction from the belts is studied using the standard phase-plane analysis. In addition to the fixed point which corresponds to the Keplerian orbit, there are other fixed points around the inner and outer edges of the belt. Our results show that for the planets, the probability to move stably around the inner edge is larger than the one to move around the outer edge. It is also interesting that there is a limit cycle of semi-attractor for a particular case. Applying our results to the Solar System, we find that our results could provide a natural mechanism to do the orbit rearrangement for the larger Kuiper Belt Objects and thus successfully explain the absence of these objects beyond 50 AU.Comment: accepted by International Journal of Bifurcation and Chaos in Aug. 2003, AAS Latex, 27 pages with 6 color figure

An analysis of returns from farm and nonfarm employment opportunities on Shelby-Grundy-Haig soils

The objective of this study is to examine alternative methods for increasing incomes of farm families on Shelby-Grundy-Haig soils of southern Iowa. Prospects for increasing incomes through greater capital use, improved technology, larger farm size, part-time farming and shifts to non-farm occupations are considered. Linear programming is used in deriving optimum farm plans and farm size under various resource situations. Plans are first computed for typical or modal resource situations on farms of 80, 160 and 210 acres, using current farming techniques of the soil area. These plans provide, for each farm size, a benchmark income figure for comparison of earnings from other farm and non-farm alternatives. The benchmark income for each farm size is first compared with incomes from farm plans where capital is increased and all other resources and technology remain at the benchmark level. Returns on this additional capital are high for all three farm sizes studied. Computed next are increases in income possible from use of improved farming techniques while operating capital and other resources are held constant at the benchmark level. Use of improved techniques with capital held constant also produces high returns. When improved techniques and greater capital are used together, however, the income increases are greater than from either used alone. This complementarity suggests a need for integrated educational and credit programs

Scattering-free plasmonic optics with anisotropic metamaterials

We develop an approach to utilize anisotropic metamaterials to solve one of the fundamental problems of modern plasmonics -- parasitic scattering of surface waves into free-space modes, opening the road to truly two-dimensional plasmonic optics. We illustrate the developed formalism on examples of plasmonic refractor and plasmonic crystal, and discuss limitations of the developed technique and its possible applications for sensing and imaging structures, high-performance mode couplers, optical cloaking structures, and dynamically reconfigurable electro-plasmonic circuits

Dimensionality of superconductivity in the infinite-layer high-temperature cuprate Sr0.9M0.1CuO2 (M = La, Gd)

The high magnetic field phase diagram of the electron-doped infinite layer high-temperature superconducting (high-T_c) compound Sr_{0.9}La_{0.1}CuO_2 was probed by means of penetration depth and magnetization measurements in pulsed fields to 60 T. An anisotropy ratio of 8 was detected for the upper critical fields with H parallel (H_{c2}^{ab}) and perpendicular (H_{c2}^c) to the CuO_2 planes, with H_{c2}^{ab} extrapolating to near the Pauli paramagnetic limit of 160 T. The longer superconducting coherence length than the lattice constant along the c-axis indicates that the orbital degrees of freedom of the pairing wavefunction are three dimensional. By contrast, low-field magnetization and specific heat measurements of Sr_{0.9}Gd_{0.1}CuO_2 indicate a coexistence of bulk s-wave superconductivity with large moment Gd paramagnetism close to the CuO_2 planes, suggesting a strong confinement of the spin degrees of freedom of the Cooper pair to the CuO_2 planes. The region between H_{c2}^{ab} and the irreversibility line in the magnetization, H_{irr}^{ab}, is anomalously large for an electron-doped high-T_c cuprate, suggesting the existence of additional quantum fluctuations perhaps due to a competing spin-density wave order.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B, Rapid Communications (2004). Corresponding author: Nai-Chang Yeh (E-mail: [email protected]