Film type SO-168 radiation study

Investigations were performed to determine optimum exposure and processing procedures necessary to partially offset the effect of radiation to which film type SO-168 will be exposed during the Skylab Mission. This task became necessary when it was determined that original predictions of 2 to 3 RADS of radiation to which the film will be exposed were too low, and that levels as high as 3.5 to 4.0 RADS may be incurred, thus reducing image quality below an acceptable level. Tests results show that forced processing of type SO-168 film tended to reduce the density range to an unusable level, and that processing to a lower ASA value would provide greater image quality for the user

Stop Co-Annihilation in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model Revisited

We re-examine the stop co-annihilation scenario of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, wherein a bino-like lightest supersymmetric particle has a thermal relic density set by co-annihilations with a scalar partner of the top quark in the early universe. We concentrate on the case where only the top partner sector is relevant for the cosmology, and other particles are heavy. We discuss the cosmology with focus on low energy parameters and an emphasis on the implications of the measured Higgs boson mass and its properties. We find that the irreducible direct detection signal correlated with this cosmology is generically well below projected experimental sensitivity, and in most cases lies below the neutrino background. A larger, detectable, direct detection rate is possible, but is unrelated to the co-annihilation cosmology. LHC searches for compressed spectra are crucial for probing this scenario

Discrimination of form in images corrupted by speckle

The problem investigated is that of a human observer having to distinguish between certain specified geometrical forms corrupted by speckle-an idealization of the problem of a scientist studying a synthetic aperture radar map. Specifically, the cases of two simple alternative forms and of two and four orientations of a simple form have been considered. A theoretical model is developed for the observer's decision process by analogy with optimal receiver theory, and the probability of a correct decision is related to form parameters like size, contrast, and looks. These calculations are verified by psychophysical experiments using computer-simulated pictures

Effect of pixel dimensions on SAR picture quality

In an SAR mapping system, the product of looks per pixel and number of pixels in the scene is kept constant. Assuming that the returns from all resolution cells obey Rayleigh statistics, the expression for pixel SNR incorporating both speckle and additive white Gaussian noise was derived. It is shown that it is possible to use fine resolution and leave the large-area estimate slightly but not much worse than if a larger pixel size had been initially decided upon

Helicopter vibration suppression using simple pendulum absorbers on the rotor blade

A comprehensive anaytical design procedure for the installation of simple pendulums on the blades of a helicopter rotor to suppress the root reactions is presented. A frequency response anaysis is conducted of typical rotor blades excited by a harmonic variation of spanwise airload distributions as well as a concentrated load at the tip. The results presented included the effect of pendulum tuning on the minimization of the hub reactions. It is found that a properly designed flapping pendulum attenuates the root out-of-plane force and moment whereas the optimum designed lead-lag pendulum attenuates the root in-plane reactions. For optimum pendulum tuning the parameters to be determined are the pendulum uncoupled natural frequency, the pendulum spanwise location and its mass. It is found that the optimum pendulum frequency is in the vicinity of the excitation frequency. For the optimum pendulum a parametric study is conducted. The parameters varied include prepitch, pretwist, precone and pendulum hinge offset

Top quark asymmetry from a non-Abelian horizontal symmetry

Motivated by the persistence of a large measured top quark forward-backward asymmetry at the Tevatron, we examine a model of non-Abelian flavor gauge symmetry. The exchange of the gauge bosons in the $t$-channel can give a large asymmetry due to the forward Rutherford scattering peak. We address generic constraints on non-Abelian $t$-channel physics models including flavor diagonal resonances and potentially dangerous contributions to inclusive top pair cross sections. We caution on the general difficulty of comparing theoretical predictions for top quark signals to the existing experimental results due to potentially important acceptance effects. The first signature at the Large Hadron Collider can be a large inclusive top pair cross section, or like-sign dilepton events, although the latter signal is much smaller than in Abelian models. Deviations of the invariant mass distributions at the LHC will also be promising signatures. A more direct consistency check of the Tevatron asymmetry through the LHC asymmetry is more likely to be relevant at a later stage.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure

Double Jeopardy: Patents of Invention as Contracts, Invention Disclosure as Consideration, and Where Oil States Went Wrong

Patents in England were once favors granted by the King with the requirement that the subject matter be practiced, or worked, for the benefit of the public. However, by the late eighteenth century patents were viewed as contracts with the government. Concomitant with this shift, the requirement to practice an invention was replaced by submission of a written specification disclosing to the public how to work the subject matter of the patent. In essence, advancement of the public good by grant of an exclusionary right to practice an invention at royal discretion was substituted with public disclosure as consideration for grant of that right by contract. The contractual nature of patents that evolved in England was adopted in the United States shortly after its founding. Disclosure of an invention can be offered as consideration by an inventor because, unlike most substance of sovereign dispensation, it is not otherwise available. Also unlike favor, disclosure of an invention cannot be withdrawn once it has been made. The Supreme Court in Oil States v. Greene’s Energy Group failed to acknowledge these distinctions by improperly construing nineteenth century dicta to conclude that patents “take from the public rights of immense value” and by asserting more recent dicta that inter partes review is nothing but “a second look” at an earlier administrative decision. Dismissing the genesis and irretrievable nature of invention disclosure by implying that patent rights are taken from the public by virtue of patent grant obliterates the distinction made over two hundred years ago that patents are not privileges subject to sovereign volition. The Supreme Court’s new understanding of patents causes an overlap of Article I “legislative courts” under the purview of the executive branch, with “constitutional courts” controlled by Article III of the Constitution. The result is double jeopardy for patentees and reduced certainty in the business community, both of which are anathema to the intent behind creation of ex parte reexamination, introduced under the Bayh–Dole Act of 1980, and extending to the several proceedings inaugurated with the America Invents Act, such as inter partes review

Neonatal maternal separation in mice as a pre-clinical model for female chronic pelvic pain

Chronic pelvic pain is currently estimated to impact 9.2 million women in the United States. As many as half of these women will have comorbid conditions, such as chronic pain in multiple pelvic organs, mood disorder, and/or somatic functional pain disorders, which are often of unknown etiology and complicate already less-than-optimal treatment strategies. Functional pain patients are more likely than the general population to report histories of early life adverse events, including abuse, neglect, and trauma. Exposure to these early life stressors can have a profound lifelong impact on neurodevelopment, behavior, and the neuroendocrine response to stress by influencing the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the tone of which is set during this critical period of development. Using an animal model of early life stress, this project evaluated changes in behavior and urogenital hypersensitivity in adulthood, assessed alterations in the regulation of the HPA axis, and investigated voluntary exercise as a potential therapeutic intervention. This project was the first of its kind to study the impact of early life stress on adult behavior relevant to pain and associated comorbidities in female mice. Specifically, molecular approaches evaluated how early life stress influenced long-term changes in the expression of genes that regulate the HPA axis. The impact of early life stress on the neuroendocrine response to acute stress in adulthood was evaluated by characterizing HPA axis output and the downstream immune response to stress in the pelvic organs. Finally, this project provided novel preclinical model of exercise as an intervention for early life stress-induced urogenital pain and associated comorbid behaviors. Together, this work provides insight into how early life stress alters the function of the nervous system, impacts the neuroimmune profile of the female genitourinary tract, and whether exercise, an easily translatable intervention method, can attenuate the impact of early life adverse events