Large-scale wave-front reconstruction for adaptive optics systems by use of a recursive filtering algorithm

We propose a new recursive filtering algorithm for wave-front reconstruction in a large-scale adaptive optics system. An embedding step is used in this recursive filtering algorithm to permit fast methods to be used for wave-front reconstruction on an annular aperture. This embedding step can be used alone with a direct residual error updating procedure or used with the preconditioned conjugate-gradient method as a preconditioning step. We derive the Hudgin and Fried filters for spectral-domain filtering, using the eigenvalue decomposition method. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we compare the performance of discrete Fourier transform domain filtering, discrete cosine transform domain filtering, multigrid, and alternative-direction-implicit methods in the embedding step of the recursive filtering algorithm. We also simulate the performance of this recursive filtering in a closed-loop adaptive optics system

Visual Programming Language with Natural User Interface

One of the fastest-growing fields of interest in computer science, fueled primarily by gaming, is the Natural User Interface (NUI). NUI encompasses technologies which would replace the typical mouse-and-keyboard approach to interaction with computer systems, with the goal of making human-computer interactions more similar to face-to-face interpersonal interactions. This is done by using technologies such as gesture recognition or speech recognition and speech synthesis, which use interpersonal skills we learn and practice on a daily basis. Visual Programming Languages (VPLs) are languages that allow the creation of a program by arranging graphical representations of program behavior, rather than textual program code. Visual programming tools are used in various disciplines, but are used most often for K-12 programming education, as a way to introduce fundamental programming concepts. This project is an application which combines these two ideas as an attempt to answer a question: Is it possible to do meaningful programming without actually touching a computer? The application uses the Leap Motion controller for gesture recognition, C# speech recognition functionality for speech recognition, and C# and WPF for the user interface design and logic

Arroyo

Arroyo is an open source, cross-platform C++ class library project designed for modeling of electromagnetic wave propagation through atmospheric turbulence and adaptive optics systems. This paper describes the functionality available in the library and discusses future plans for this project

Numerical simulations of single conjugate adaptive optics systems

This paper presents a series of studies of single conjugate adaptive optics systems that use numerical simulation to investigate aspects of system performance not addressed by traditional statistical metrics. These studies include investigations of temporal control loop dynamics and quantitative comparisons of system performance using different types of reconstructors

Tetraria triangularis (Boeck.) C.B. Clarke and the Cape fold archipelago : an analysis of genetic and morphological variation in a high-altitude species native to the moutains of the Cape floristic region

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-127).The Cape Floristic Region (CPR) is renowned for its high plant species richness and high floristic endemism (Marloth 1929, Takahatjan, 1986, Goldblatt and Manning 2000, Linder 2003). A small number of clades (33) account for 50% of the species diversity, indicating that much of the diversification has occurred in situ, rendering it reminiscent of island archipelago radiations (Marloth 1929, Linder 2003). At a higher taxonomic level, 16.2 % of genera and four families are endemic to the area (Goldblatt et al. 2005

Citizen involvement in policing - a critical but under-researched aspect of policing

The forms that direct citizen involvement in policing take vary widely across different national contexts. What is more consistent internationally is the relative neglect the different formations of direct involvement in policing have experienced from policymakers, politicians, professionals and academics. Police volunteers play a significant part in policing in many communities, across many countries. In a large number of national settings, including England and Wales, Scotland, USA, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, Australia and the Netherlands a new significance is being attached to police volunteers and to wider elements of public participation in policing. There are social policy drivers in these national settings which are underpinning substantial increases in the scale of voluntarism and in the roles that volunteers perform. Increasingly, this expansion in voluntarism internationally is playing a significant part in police reform. In contrast, many other country’s policing systems do not have any direct mechanisms for police volunteering. Beyond police volunteering, there are also wide variations in the forms that public involvement takes across police accountability, crime prevention and problem-solving, police-youth engagement and community consultation. The paper will draw from three research projects. Firstly, it will present initial findings from the ‘Citizens in Policing’ research programme. The research programme is the largest of its kind ever conducted in the UK, empirically exploring a range of different manifestations of citizen involvement in policing. The research draws on in-depth interviews with serving and former Special Constables and Police Support Volunteers across England and Wales, also engaging with ‘Regular’ police officers to explore issues of cultural integration in respect of volunteers, and with senior police leaders to explore issues of strategic culture in respect of citizen involvement. Secondly, the paper will discuss the analysis of the findings from the national ‘Citizens in Policing’ survey undertaken in early 2016 in England and Wales. Finally, the paper introduces a new comparative research programme across police citizen involvement internationally. The paper explores the implications of different models of citizen involvement in policing, and in particular the apparent bifurcation internationally between policing systems increasing underpinned by direct citizen involvement, and those that are not. It situates developments in police citizen involvement within wider developments in citizen involvement, co-production, responsibilisation and ownership in public services, and discusses the social implications of a further growth in police voluntarism, plotting out several possible courses for the future development of citizen involvement in policing

Simulations of adaptive optics systems on 30-m-class telescopes

In this paper we describe the development of a C++ class library for the simulation of adaptive optics systems. This library includes functionality to simulate the propagation of electromagnetic waves through a randomly generated turbulent atmosphere and through an adaptive optical system. It includes support for extended emitters and laser guide stars, and for different types of wavefront sensors and reconstructors. The library also aims to support parallelization of simulations across symmetric multiprocessor and cluster supercomputers

Children’s experience and attitudes towards the police, personal safety and public spaces: findings from the 2009/10 British Crime Survey interviews with children aged 10 to 15, supplementary volume 3 to Crime in England and Wales 2009/10

The British Crime Survey (BCS) is a face-to-face victimisation survey of around 46,000 adults resident in households in England and Wales. The survey has been carried out since 19821, asking adults aged 16 or over about their experiences of crime in the 12 months prior to interview as well as their attitudes towards different crime-related issues such as the police, criminal justice system, and perceptions of crime and anti-social behaviour. One of the key recommendations of crime statistics reviews carried out in 2006 was that the BCS should be extended to include populations currently not covered by the survey, for example, people aged under 16 (Smith, 2006; Statistics Commission, 2006). An announcement was made in May 2008 that the BCS would be extended to include children aged 10 to 15 following independent expert advice (Pickering et al., 2008). After a period of testing, development and consultation, data collection began in January 2009. A methodological report detailing all aspects of this process was published on 21 October 2010 (see Fitzpatrick et al., 2010)