Controllable high voltage source having fast settling time

A high voltage dc stepping power supply for sampling a utilization device such as an electrostatic analyzer has a relatively fast settling time for voltage steps. The supply includes a waveform generator for deriving a low voltage staircase waveform that feeds a relatively long response time power supply, deriving a high output voltage generally equal to a predetermined multiple of the input voltage. In the power supply, an ac voltage modulated by the staircase waveform is applied to a step-up transformer and then to a voltage multiplier stack to form a high voltage, relatively poor replica of the input waveform at an intermediate output terminal. A constant dc source, applied to the input of the power supply, biases the voltage at the intermediate output terminal to be in excess of the predetermined multiple of the input voltage

The Impact of the E.coli Spinach Outbreak on Acreage Decisions Under Uncertainty

This article quantifies the effect of the 2006 food-borne illness spinach outbreak on harvested acreage for the fresh spinach market. In September 2006, fresh spinach contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 caused hundreds of consumer illnesses across the U.S. and a few deaths. The outbreak was detrimental to the spinach industry causing a significant decrease in the demand for spinach. Spinach growers were prohibited from harvesting spinach until more was known about the contamination. According to the Census of Agriculture, harvested spinach acreage for the fresh market fell by 17% from before the outbreak. Due to the unanticipated effects resulting from the outbreak, farms potentially decreased their acreage of fresh market spinach to reduce profit uncertainty caused by the probability of a future outbreak. Alternatively, farms may have increased the acreage of a less risky commodity in order to provide a method to remove potential contamination.Production, Acreage, Uncertainty, Spinach outbreak, Food safety, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Risk and Uncertainty, Q11, Q18,

High-voltage stepping supply with fast settling time

Waveform generator is used to derive low-voltage staircase waveform that feeds relatively long response time power supply. Power supply has high output voltage that is predetermined multiple of the input voltage

Two-axis flux gate magnetometer

Magnetometer uses single sensing head to measure magnetic flux density along two axes simultaneously. The sensor head consists of permalloy core and four windings. Two windings perform a multivibrator function, the two remaining windings sense magnetic fields. The smaller magnetometer performs same functions as more complex devices

MOMA: Visual Mobile Marker Odometry

In this paper, we present a cooperative odometry scheme based on the detection of mobile markers in line with the idea of cooperative positioning for multiple robots [1]. To this end, we introduce a simple optimization scheme that realizes visual mobile marker odometry via accurate fixed marker-based camera positioning and analyse the characteristics of errors inherent to the method compared to classical fixed marker-based navigation and visual odometry. In addition, we provide a specific UAV-UGV configuration that allows for continuous movements of the UAV without doing stops and a minimal caterpillar-like configuration that works with one UGV alone. Finally, we present a real-world implementation and evaluation for the proposed UAV-UGV configuration

Modification to shock fitting program

A modified form of the Lepping - Argentiero single spacecraft, shock normal determination procedure is presented. The modified method incorporates a simple predictor-corrector algorithm which allows a faster convergence rate and the use of average values of the parameters for the starting vector