Spatial, High-Accuracy, Positioning-Encoding Sensor (SHAPES) for large space system control applications

The Spatial, High-Accuracy, Position-Encoding Sensor is a controls sensor suitable for the determination of the static shape and vibrational motion of large space structures and similar systems and for the determination of position and velocity in rendezvous and docking. It uses a combination of electro-optical techniques to measure the three-dimensional coordinates distributed over the structure at reading rates high compared to the rates at which the coordinates are changing. The technical approach is that of measuring the distance to and the direction of points on the structure from a single sensor head. Many points can be measured simultaneously from a single head without significantly increasing the complexity of the system

Light position locating system Patent

Electro-optical detector for determining position of light sourc

Crafting sustainable repairs: practice-based approaches to extending the life of clothes

Mass-produced ‘fast fashion’ has changed our relationship with clothing – cheap and easy to acquire, we are unlikely to take time to undertake simple repairs or address issues of maintenance, often caused or exacerbated by poor construction and low quality materials (see for example Goworek et al., 2012; You Gov, 2012; Fletcher, 2008; Birtwistle & Moore, 2007). Through complete lifecycle assessment, extending the useful life of clothes has been identified as the most significant intervention in reducing the impact of the clothing industry (Wrap, 2012). However, academic research emerging from both the UK and Scandinavia has identified practical, social, socioeconomic, systemic and psychological barriers that prevent consumers from performing even the most basic of repairs, and as a result damaged or worn items are discarded or taken out of active use (see for example Armstrong et al., 2014; Middleton, 2014; Cooper et al., 2014; Fletcher, 2013; Goworek et al., 2012; Laitala & Boks, 2012). This paper explores the barriers to mending, different perspectives on the reasons behind them, suggested solutions and contemporary approaches to overcoming them. As textile designers and academics whose work is embedded in sustainable principles, we discuss the findings of our own practice-based approaches in relation to these, in order to consider the role fashion and textile designers can play in enabling solutions. Research has been gathered through participatory design workshops and public engagement events, informed by review of historical, existing and emerging repair practices, and personal craft-led design praxis. We have explored ways to address the barriers, add value to the acts of repair by re-framing them as social design-led sharing activities, and discuss the potential of participatory craft praxis as a tool to motivate greater public engagement in repair practice

Dynamics, control and sensor issues pertinent to robotic hands for the EVA retriever system

Basic dynamics, sensor, control, and related artificial intelligence issues pertinent to smart robotic hands for the Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) Retriever system are summarized and discussed. These smart hands are to be used as end effectors on arms attached to manned maneuvering units (MMU). The Retriever robotic systems comprised of MMU, arm and smart hands, are being developed to aid crewmen in the performance of routine EVA tasks including tool and object retrieval. The ultimate goal is to enhance the effectiveness of EVA crewmen

The essential architecture of the learning experience in history museums : a phenomenological study

University of Technology, Sydney. UTS Business School.This study undertakes an in-depth investigation of the learning experience of selected visitors to three Australian museums. The research questions guiding the study were: Central Research Question: What is the essence of the learning experience in history museums? Sub-questions: 1. What is the essential structure of the museum learning experience? 2. What are the constituent elements of that essential structure? 3. How is meaning created by the visitor during the museum learning experience? 4. What are the key implications for the management and marketing of museums arising from an understanding of the above? Having established from the literature the importance of learning to the museum experience and emotion to such learning, the methodology assumes an emergent construction progressing through three separate but interrelated qualitative phases. The first two assume a broadly ethnographic approach while the third, in an attempt to achieve a deeper understanding, adopts a hermeneutic phenomenological approach referring in particular to the work of Husserl, Heidegger and Van Manen. The research incorporates a range of investigative methods including preparation of Personal Meaning Maps (Falk, 2002); audio recording of participant visit conversations; and in-depth interviews during a ‘return to the experience’ by individual participants and the researcher immediately subsequent to the visit. The first two stages identifies learning to have occurred by way of a number of principal concepts around which the data is grouped as well as a series of themes by which meaning is evidenced. Emotion is seen to be an influencing factor with respect to both concepts and meaning. The third stage identified the essence of the learning experience as a relationship between the visitor’s emergent interpretation of exhibits and their feelings of interest. From this the essential structure is identified as the interrelationship between such emergent interpretation in narrative form, interest and the self. The emergent narrative is thereafter deconstructed to its elemental processes of remembering, thinking and imagining, linked together by way of constructivist narratology. The identified themes, providing meaning to the experience, are then incorporated into the model. The learning experience is then seen as the on-going dialectic between the constructivist processes of the emergent narrative and the de-constructive processes of meaning-making. The conceptual model provides new insight into the museum learning experience by providing the interrelationship between the fundamental elements that constitute the essence of the phenomenon and upon which it might be argued other theories of museum learning are built

Components required for in vitro cleavage and polyadenylation of eukaryotic mRNA

We have studied in vitro cleavage/polyadenylation of precursor RNA containing herpes simplex virus type 2 poly A site sequences and have analysed four RNA/protein complexes which form during in vitro reactions. Two complexes, A and B, form extremely rapidly and are then progressively replaced by a third complex, C which is produced following cleavage and polyadenylation of precursor RNA. Substitution of ATP with cordycepin triphosphate prevents polyadenylation and the formation of complex C however a fourth complex, D, results which contains cleaved RNA. A precursor RNA lacking GU-rich downstream sequences required for efficient cleavage/ polyadenylation fails to form complex B and produces a markedly reduced amount of complex A. As these GU-rich sequences are required for efficient cleavage, this establishes a relationship between complex B formation and cleavage/polyadenylation of precursor RNA in vitro. The components required for in vitro RNA processing have been separated by fractionation of the nuclear extract on Q-Sepharose and Biorex 70 columns. A Q-Sepharose fraction forms complex B but does not process RNA. Addition of a Biorex 70 fraction restores cleavage activity at the poly A site but this fraction does not appear to contribute to complex formation. Moreover, in the absence of polyethylene glycol, precursor RNA is not cleaved and polyadenylated, however, complexes A and B readily form. Thus, while complex B is necessary for in vitro cleavage and polyadenylation, it may not contain all the components required for this processing

2,2,2-Tris(pyrazol-1-yl)ethanol

The title compound TPE, C11H12N6O, was prepared by slow evaporation from diethyl ether. In the crystal, there is a hydrogen bond between the alcohol H atom and an N in the pyrazole ring of a neighboring mol­ecule

Inhibition of hepatitis C virus RNA replication by ISG15 does not require its conjugation to protein substrates by the HERC5 E3 ligase

Chronic infection of the liver by hepatitis C virus (HCV) induces a range of host factors including IFN-stimulated genes such as ISG15. ISG15 functions as an antiviral factor that limits virus replication. Previous studies have suggested that ISG15 could influence HCV replication in both a positive and a negative manner. In this report, we determined the effect of ISG15 on HCV RNA replication in two independent cell lines that support viral genome synthesis by inhibiting ISG15 expression through small interfering RNA, short-hairpin RNA and CRISPR/Cas9 gene knockout approaches. Our results demonstrated that ISG15 impairs HCV RNA replication in both the presence and absence of IFN stimulation, consistent with an antiviral role for ISG15 during HCV infection. ISG15 conjugation to protein substrates typically requires the E3 ligase, HERC5. Our results showed that the inhibitory effect of ISG15 on HCV RNA replication does not require its conjugation to substrates by HERC5

pH Electrodes: Studies and Applications in the Upper G.I. Tract

The use of electrodes for measuring pH in the gastrointestinal tract is on the increase. Improvement in electrode manufacturing techniques has coincided with the miniaturisation of recording equipment and the widespread availability of personal computers. Commercial software packages of ever increasing sophistication enable the clinician to analyse data recorded from these electrodes with an ease which would scarcely have been thought possible only a decade ago. The temptation to use these systems to generate data without a full understanding of their limitations is a real one. I have set out to clarify some of these fundamental problems. The thesis opens with an overview of the currently available methods for measuring G.I. pH. The advantages and disadvantages of aspiration, in situ titration, dialysis and ion-exchange resins are discussed. The theoretical basis of pH electrodes, both ion-selective and metal-metal oxide, along with methods of recording and display are then presented. The two electrodes most commonly used in clinical practice are glass and antimony. A comparative study is presented in which the in vitro operating characteristics (response, sensitivity and drift) of glass are shown to be superior to those of antimony. This study also investigates the influence of the siting of the reference electrode on recorded pH values and concludes that combined electrodes should be used in preference to electrodes with either a skin or buccal reference electrode. Measurement of pH using aspiration and electrodes are then compared by passing two electrodes and a feeding tube to the same level in the stomach of a volunteer. Both techniques are used simultaneously to follow pH changes during fasting and after ingestion of liquids and solids. This study shows close correlation between the two methods as long as aspiration is possible. In the fasting state there may not be sufficient gastric content for aspiration and after a solid meal the tube can obstruct. For these reasons, the glass electrode is superior to aspiration. The difference between hydrogen ion concentration and activity and the significance of bile staining in the acid stomach are also discussed. An account of recent developments in pH sensor technology is then given. The working principles of two devices that, although at present unavailable for clinical use, may become useful in the future are described. These are ion-selective field effect transitors and optrodes. Steep pH gradients are characteristic of the proximal duodenum and many attempts have been made to maintain electrode position there. After reviewing these various methods, it is concluded that to date there is no satisfactory means of achieving this goal. There follows an account of debate surrounding regional variations in intragastric pH. There is no agreement in the literature as to which areas of the stomach are characterised by high or low pH and some authors question the existence of these differences. In order to answer these questions, the author has developed a new technique which enables accurate placement and fixation of pH electrodes at any point in the upper G.I.T. within the range of a gastroscope. The electrodes are localised endoscopically and held in place by stainless steel clips applied through the biopsy channel of a wide-channel gastroscope. preliminary studies on cadaver stomachs to assess the safety of the technique are described, as are the results of attempted fixation of pH electrodes for a period of 24 hours in the antrum of 40 patients. Refinements which converted an initial success rate of one only out of the first ten to the point where failure is now virtually unknown are ennumerated. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.)