Brake lock mechanism for the two axis pointing system

Six months prior to shipment of the Broadband X-ray Telescope to the Kennedy Space Center for flight aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, a major system failure occurred. During modal survey testing of the telescope's gimbal pointing system, the roll axis brake unexpectedly released. Low level vibration and static preloads present during the modal survey were within the expected flight environment. Brake release during shuttle liftoff or ascent was an unacceptable risk to mission success; thus, a Brake Lock Mechanism (BLM) was developed

Illuminating and measuring personal development: the impact of this work on learning and teaching

This short article gives an overview of a small-scale case study research project based on a 2nd year cohort of students from the Business Information Systems area of the School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences at Northumbria University. The aim of this employability module is to prepare students for the recruitment process for their placement year in industry and to inculcate proper professional attitudes and behaviour. The teaching strategy uses the precepts of PDP, and an eportfolio is the vehicle for learning and assessment

Economical genotyping of little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) clades from feather-based DNA

Determination of clade membership is a crucial requirement for many research questions addressing phylogeography, population structure, mating patterns, speciation, and hybridisation. The little blue penguin (Eudyptula minor) can be separated into two deeply divergent clades. However, assigning clade membership in little blue penguins requires molecular methods. Genetic sequencing can be used to identify clade membership but is expensive. Here, we present an economical alternative to the use of sequencing to determine little blue penguin clade membership. We extracted DNA from feathers using a method that produced reasonable quantities of DNA. We then amplified the D-loop section of the mitochondrial control region from total genomic DNA extracts, using the primers 'C L-tRNAglu' and 'D H-Dbox' followed by digestion with the restriction enzyme AluI. When visualised on a gel, distinctive banding patterns clearly indicated clade membership. We sequenced a subset of our samples and verified the accuracy of this method. The methods we present should facilitate little blue penguin research through a cost-effective approach to clade analysis as well as a successful technique to extract DNA from feathers when blood or tissue samples are not available

Brown study an original musical recording

For a year and a spring semester, I have been in the works of a school music project. I set out to make a record of ten self-penned songs. Along the length of the project, I would discover musicians and recording artists. I notated my songs on a staff and recorded demos to assist players of drums, electric bass, French horn, and violin. I play guitar, percussion, synthesized instruments, and do all of the singing on Brown Study, the record\u27s title. The technology used to create the songs include a Tascam 2488 (home digital recording device), computers, printers, cell phones and i-phones, amplifiers, microphones and headphones, and a drum machine. This is my first attempt at collaborating with other musicians. At the defense I will be presenting 4 songs: Runaway, Lonely Heart, Topsy Turvy, and Friendliest Advice. Each song has a particular history and story to tell containing influences and aesthetic philosophies. My gift is to be shared with whoever will listen upon completing and distributing the full-length album

A theoretical study of the vibrational excitation of diatomic molecules

Exact quantum mechanical-vibrational transition probabilities are calculated for a collinear atom-diatomic molecule collision, using the real reactance matrix K. Both the Morse and harmonic binding potentials are considered. It is found that the discrepancy between the transition probabilities for these binding potentials may be large, depending on the collision parameters m and α; the discrepancy increases as m becomes large and decreases as α becomes large. Large Morse well depths (characterised by large values Of De) do not necessarily imply agreement between the transition probabilities of the two oscillators. Anharmonicity will be important in most collisions. The validity of several approximate theories when applied to this problem is investigated, It is found that the revised first order distorted wave approximation of Mies (1964a), and hence the revised first order perturbation theory approximation (Mies 1964b), are valid providing the reduced mass m is not too large or the collision too strong. Based on these investigations the one-dimensional form of the correspondence principle for strongly coupled states (Percival and Richards 1970a) is modified to include, approximately, the perturbation of the bound system. The modified theory is tested on the system of a harmonic oscillator, perturbed by a potential q2F(t) and excellent agreement with the exact quantum mechanical solution is obtained. The theory is then applied to the collinear atom-diatomic molecule collision, with a Morse molecular binding potential. For a large range of collision parameters, the results are in good agreement with the exact quantum mechanical transition probabilities, even for low order transitions. The modified correspondence principle is shown to have a larger range of validity than the revised first order perturbation theory approximation of Mies (1964b)to which it reduces in the weak perturbation limit

Direction of mistuning, magnitude of cent deviation, and timbre as factors in musicians\u27 pitch discrimination in simultaneous and sequential listening conditions

The main purpose of this study was to investigate high school and college wind instrumentalists’ pitch discrimination when judging pitch pairs separated by 0, 5, 7.5, and 10 cents. Participants listened via headphones to a pre-recorded two section perception test; each section (one sequential and one simultaneous) containing 56 tone pairs. Each pair consisted of an in-tune reference tone followed by a test tone of the same pitch (B-flat4 or E4), which was either identical in tuning or altered to one of six mistunings. Tones also varied in timbre (square or sawtooth wave) with the reference and test tones being either the same or different in timbre. Participants circled on an answer sheet whether test tones were lower, the same, or higher than their paired reference tones. The main effects of pitch, timbre, presentation order, and cent deviation were significant (p \u3c .05). Participants were significantly more accurate identifying mistunings at the 10 and 7.5 cent levels than at the 5 and 0 cent levels. Responses were least accurate when stimuli were in-tune. Different timbre pairs resulted in more correct responses than same timbre pairs and participants correctly identified the tunings and mistunings for the B-flat pitch pairs significantly more often than the E pitch pairs. Simultaneously presented pairs resulted in more accurate responses than sequentially presented pairs. University students responded more accurately than high school students at all levels of mistuning. In the timbre and cent deviation interaction, the different timbre pairs were correctly identified at a higher rate than were the same timbre pairs, except at 0 cent deviation where the reverse occurred. The pitch by cent deviation interaction produced the largest effect size of all (partial ƞ2 = .66). Participants responded more accurately to E when it was flat than when it was sharp and more accurately to B-flat when it was sharp than when it was flat, a finding that is inconsistent with listeners’ general tendency to discriminate flat better than sharp in previous research