Adaptive data acquisition multiplexing system and method

A reconfigurable telemetry multiplexer is described which includes a monitor-terminal and a plurality of remote terminals. The remote terminals each include signal conditioning for a plurality of sensors for measuring parameters which are converted by an analog to digital converter. CPU's in the remote terminals store instructions for prompting system configuration and reconfiguration commands. The measurements, instructions, and the terminal's present configuration and status data are transmitted to the monitor-terminal and displayed. In response to menu-driven prompts generated and displayed at the monitor-terminal, data generation request commands, status and health commands, and the like are input at the monitor-terminal and transmitted to the remote terminals. The CPU in each remote terminal receives the various commands, stores them in electrically alterable memory, and reacts in accordance with the commands to reconfigure a plurality of aspects of the system. The CPU in each terminal also generates parameter measurements, status and health signals, and transmits these signals of the respective terminals to the monitor-terminal for low data rate operator viewing and to higher rate external transmission/monitor equipment. Reconfiguration may be in real time during the general period of parameter measurement acquisition, and may include alteration of the gain, automatic gain rescaling, bias, and or sampling rates associated with one or more of the parameter measurements made by the remote terminals

Approximate solutions in space mission design

In this paper, we address multi-objective space mission design problems. From a practical point of view, it is often the case that,during the preliminary phase of the design of a space mission, the solutions that are actually considered are not 'optimal' (in the Pareto sense)but belong to the basin of attraction of optimal ones (i.e. they are nearly optimal). This choice is motivated either by additional requirements that the decision maker has to take into account or, more often, by robustness considerations. For this, we suggest a novel MOEA which is a modification of the well-known NSGA-II algorithm equipped with a recently proposed archiving strategy which aims at storing the set of approximate solutions of a given MOP. Using this algorithm we will examine some space trajectory design problems and demonstrate the benefit of the novel approach

The Quantum Mechanics of Hyperion

This paper is motivated by the suggestion [W. Zurek, Physica Scripta, T76, 186 (1998)] that the chaotic tumbling of the satellite Hyperion would become non-classical within 20 years, but for the effects of environmental decoherence. The dynamics of quantum and classical probability distributions are compared for a satellite rotating perpendicular to its orbital plane, driven by the gravitational gradient. The model is studied with and without environmental decoherence. Without decoherence, the maximum quantum-classical (QC) differences in its average angular momentum scale as hbar^{2/3} for chaotic states, and as hbar^2 for non-chaotic states, leading to negligible QC differences for a macroscopic object like Hyperion. The quantum probability distributions do not approach their classical limit smoothly, having an extremely fine oscillatory structure superimposed on the smooth classical background. For a macroscopic object, this oscillatory structure is too fine to be resolved by any realistic measurement. Either a small amount of smoothing (due to the finite resolution of the apparatus) or a very small amount of environmental decoherence is sufficient ensure the classical limit. Under decoherence, the QC differences in the probability distributions scale as (hbar^2/D)^{1/6}, where D is the momentum diffusion parameter. We conclude that decoherence is not essential to explain the classical behavior of macroscopic bodies.Comment: 17 pages, 24 figure

Behavioral Inhibition as a Risk Factor for the Development of Childhood Anxiety Disorders: A Longitudinal Study

This longitudinal study examined the additive and interactive effects of behavioral inhibition and a wide range of other vulnerability factors in the development of anxiety problems in youths. A sample of 261 children, aged 5 to 8 years, 124 behaviorally inhibited and 137 control children, were followed during a 3-year period. Assessments took place on three occasions to measure children’s level of behavioral inhibition, anxiety disorder symptoms, other psychopathological symptoms, and a number of other vulnerability factors such as insecure attachment, negative parenting styles, adverse life events, and parental anxiety. Results obtained with Structural Equation Modeling indicated that behavioral inhibition primarily acted as a specific risk factor for the development of social anxiety symptoms. Furthermore, the longitudinal model showed additive as well as interactive effects for various vulnerability factors on the development of anxiety symptoms. That is, main effects of anxious rearing and parental trait anxiety were found, whereas behavioral inhibition and attachment had an interactive effect on anxiety symptomatology. Moreover, behavioral inhibition itself was also influenced by some of the vulnerability factors. These results provide support for dynamic, multifactorial models for the etiology of child anxiety problems

Contributions to the Power Spectrum of Cosmic Microwave Background from Fluctuations Caused by Clusters of Galaxies

We estimate the contributions to the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) power spectrum from the static and kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effects, and from the moving cluster of galaxies (MCG) effect. We conclude, in agreement with other studies, that at sufficiently small scales secondary fluctuations caused by clusters provide important contributions to the CMBR. At $\ell \gtrsim 3000$, these secondary fluctuations become important relative to lensed primordial fluctuations. Gravitational lensing at small angular scales has been proposed as a way to break the ``geometric degeneracy'' in determining fundamental cosmological parameters. We show that this method requires the separation of the static SZ effect, but the kinematic SZ effect and the MCG effect are less important. The power spectrum of secondary fluctuations caused by clusters of galaxies, if separated from the spectrum of lensed primordial fluctuations, might provide an independent constraint on several important cosmological parameters.Comment: LateX, 41 pages and 10 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

A review of research into business coaching supervision

A systematic search of the coaching literature for original peer-reviewed studies into business coaching supervision yielded seven research reports. Evaluation of these studies showed them to be low in the reporting of methodological rigour. However, as an emerging area of research with great importance for the development of the profession of business coaching these studies provide valuable insights into the functions of supervision and its benefits. Gaps in knowledge and directions for future research are identified. There is a need for future research to be more rigorous in its reporting of methods and analytic procedures, small scale qualitative research that can provide insight into the issues and challenges of coaching supervision in specific contexts, and large scale quantitative research which can provide broader and generalizable understandings into the uses and benefits of supervision

Target mass number dependence of subthreshold antiproton production in proton-, deuteron- and alpha-particle-induced reactions

Data from KEK on subthreshold \bar{\mrm{p}} as well as on $\pi^\pm$ and \mrm{K}^\pm production in proton-, deuteron- and $\alpha$-induced reactions at energies between 2.0 and 12.0 A GeV for C, Cu and Pb targets are described within a unified approach. We use a model which considers a nuclear reaction as an incoherent sum over collisions of varying numbers of projectile and target nucleons. It samples complete events and thus allows for the simultaneous consideration of all final particles including the decay products of the nuclear residues. The enormous enhancement of the \bar{\mrm{p}} cross section, as well as the moderate increase of meson production in deuteron and $\alpha$ induced compared to proton-induced reactions, is well reproduced for all target nuclei. In our approach, the observed enhancement near the production threshold is mainly due to the contributions from the interactions of few-nucleon clusters by simultaneously considering fragmentation processes of the nuclear residues. The ability of the model to reproduce the target mass dependence may be considered as a further proof of the validity of the cluster concept.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Phenomenological analysis of K+ meson production in proton-nucleus collisions

Total and differential cross sections from literature, on the production of K+ mesons in pA interactions at projectile energies between T=0.8 and 2.9 GeV, covering the transition across the free nucleon-nucleon threshold at 1.58 GeV, have been investigated. From the target-mass dependence of the production cross sections no evidence for the expected change of the dominant reaction mechanism from two-step to direct kaon production was found. At T=1.0 GeV the A dependences of the total cross sections and of the most recent data from COSY-Juelich, differential cross sections measured under forward angles, are strongly different. The invariant K+ production cross sections show an overall exponential scaling behavior with the squared four-momentum transfer between the beam proton and the produced K+ meson for t< -0.05 GeV^2 independent of the beam energy and emission angle. The data from COSY-Juelich reveal a strongly different t dependence in the region of t>0 GeV^2. Further data at forward angles and different beam energies should be taken in order to explore this region of kinematically extreme conditions.Comment: 9 Pages, 11 Figure

The Abnormally Weighting Energy Hypothesis: the Missing Link between Dark Matter and Dark Energy

We generalize tensor-scalar theories of gravitation by the introduction of an abnormally weighting type of energy. This theory of tensor-scalar anomalous gravity is based on a relaxation of the weak equivalence principle that is now restricted to ordinary visible matter only. As a consequence, the convergence mechanism toward general relativity is modified and produces naturally cosmic acceleration as an inescapable gravitational feedback induced by the mass-variation of some invisible sector. The cosmological implications of this new theoretical framework are studied. From the Hubble diagram cosmological test \textit{alone}, this theory provides an estimation of the amount of baryons and dark matter in the Universe that is consistent with the independent cosmological tests of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN). Cosmic coincidence is naturally achieved from a equally natural assumption on the amplitude of the scalar coupling strength. Finally, from the adequacy to supernovae data, we derive a new intriguing relation between the space-time dependences of the gravitational coupling and the dark matter mass, providing an example of crucial constraint on microphysics from cosmology. This glimpses at an enticing new symmetry between the visible and invisible sectors, namely that the scalar charges of visible and invisible matter are exactly opposite.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figures, new version with extended discussions and added references. Accepted for publication in JCAP (sept. 2008