Self-Publishing Digital Books: Options, Considerations, and Insights

This article addresses initial considerations and presents possible applications and publishing models that are presently available. A discussion of how self-publishing fits into the spectrum of social media versus academic publishing is also included

757 Path Loss Measurements

Path Loss Measurements were obtained on three (3) GPS equipped 757 aircraft. Systems measured were Marker Beacon, LOC, VOR, VHF (3), Glide Slope, ATC (2), DME (2), TCAS, and GPS. This data will provide the basis for assessing the EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) safety margins of comm/nav (communication and navigation) systems to portable electronic device emissions. These Portable Electronic Devices (PEDs) include all devices operated in or around the aircraft by crews, passengers, servicing personnel, as well as the general public in the airport terminals. EMI assessment capability is an important step in determining if one system-wide PED EMI policy is appropriate. This data may also be used comparatively with theoretical analysis and computer modeling data sponsored by NASA Langley Research Center and others

Using the NPSS Environment to Model an Altitude Test Facility

An altitude test facility was modeled using Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS). This altitude test facility model represents the most detailed facility model developed in the NPSS architecture. The current paper demonstrates the use of the NPSS system to define the required operating range of a component for the facility. A significant number of additional component models were easily developed to complete the model. Discussed in this paper are the additional components developed and what was done in the development of these components

Recursive Definitions of Monadic Functions

Using standard domain-theoretic fixed-points, we present an approach for defining recursive functions that are formulated in monadic style. The method works both in the simple option monad and the state-exception monad of Isabelle/HOL's imperative programming extension, which results in a convenient definition principle for imperative programs, which were previously hard to define. For such monadic functions, the recursion equation can always be derived without preconditions, even if the function is partial. The construction is easy to automate, and convenient induction principles can be derived automatically.Comment: In Proceedings PAR 2010, arXiv:1012.455

Pyrogenic fuels produced by savanna trees can engineer humid savannas

Natural fires ignited by lightning strikes following droughts frequently are posited as the ecological mechanism maintaining discontinuous tree cover and grass-dominated ground layers in savannas. Such fires, however, may not reliably maintain humid savannas. We propose that savanna trees producing pyrogenic shed leaves might engineer fire characteristics, affecting ground-layer plants in ways that maintain humid savannas. We explored our hypothesis in a high-rainfall, frequently burned pine savanna in which the dominant tree, longleaf pine (Pinus palustris), produces resinous needles that become highly flammable when shed and dried. We postulated that pyrogenic needles should have much greater influence on fire characteristics at ground level, and hence post-fire responses of dominant shrubs and grasses, than other abundant fine fuels (shed oak leaves and grass culms). We further reasoned that these effects should increase with amounts of needles. We managed site conditions that affect fuels (time since fire, dominant vegetation), manipulated amounts of needles in ground-layer plots, prescribed burned the plots, and measured fire characteristics at ground level. We also measured characteristics of ground-layer oaks and grasses before, then 2 and 8 months after fires. We tested our hypotheses regarding effects of pyrogenic pine fuels on fire characteristics and vegetation regrowth and explored direct and indirect effects of fuels on fire characteristics and vegetation using a structural equation model. Pine needles influenced fire characteristics, elevating maximum temperature increases, durations of heating above 60°C, and fine fuel consumption considerably above measurements when fuels only included other savanna plants. Presence of pine needles depressed post-fire numbers of oak stems and grass culms, especially in the interior of grass genets, as well as post-fire flowering of grasses. The structural equation model indicated strong direct and indirect pathways from pine needles to post-fire responses of oaks and grasses. The experimental field tests of hypotheses, bolstered by structural equation modeling, indicate pyrogenic fine fuels modify characteristics of prescribed fires at ground level, negatively affecting dominant ground-layer oaks and grasses. Frequent fires fueled by pyrogenic needles should maintain humid savannas and generate spatial pyrodiversity that affects composition and dynamics of pine savanna ground-layer vegetation

Salen Mn Complexes Mitigate Radiation Injury in Normal Tissues

Salen Mn complexes, including EUK-134, EUK-189 and a newer cyclized analog EUK-207, are synthetic SOD/catalase mimetics that have beneficial effects in many models of oxidative stress. As oxidative stress is implicated in some forms of delayed radiation injury, we are investigating whether these compounds can mitigate injury to normal tissues caused by ionizing radiation. This review describes some of this research, focusing on several tissues of therapeutic interest, namely kidney, lung, skin, and oral mucosa. These studies have demonstrated suppression of delayed radiation injury in animals treated with EUK-189 and/or EUK-207. While an antioxidant mechanism of action is postulated, it is likely that the mechanisms of radiation mitigation by these compounds in vivo are complex and may differ in the various target tissues. Indicators of oxidative stress are increased in lung and skin radiation injury models, and suppressed by salen Mn complexes. The role of oxidative stress in the renal injury model is unclear, though EUK-207 does mitigate. In certain experimental models, salen Mn complexes have shown “mito-protective” properties, that is, attenuating mitochondrial injury. Consistent with this, EUK-134 suppresses effects of ionizing radiation on mitochondrial function in rat astrocyte cultures. In summary, salen Mn complexes could be useful to mitigate delayed radiation injury to normal tissues following radiation therapy, accidental exposure, or radiological terrorism. Optimization of their mode of delivery and other key pharmaceutical properties, and increasing understanding of their mechanism(s) of action as radiation mitigators, are key issues for future study

Total Haskell is Reasonable Coq

We would like to use the Coq proof assistant to mechanically verify properties of Haskell programs. To that end, we present a tool, named hs-to-coq, that translates total Haskell programs into Coq programs via a shallow embedding. We apply our tool in three case studies -- a lawful Monad instance, "Hutton's razor", and an existing data structure library -- and prove their correctness. These examples show that this approach is viable: both that hs-to-coq applies to existing Haskell code, and that the output it produces is amenable to verification.Comment: 13 pages plus references. Published at CPP'18, In Proceedings of 7th ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Certified Programs and Proofs (CPP'18). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 201