Delay Estimation from noisy time series

We propose here a method to estimate a delay from a time series taking advantage of analysis of random walks with delay. This method is applicable to a time series coming out of a system which is or can be approximated as a linear feedback system with delay and noise. We successfully test the method with a time series generated by discrete Langevin equation with delay.Comment: Tentatively scheduled to appear as a Rapid Communication in Phys. Rev. E., March 199

Fiber optic temperature sensor

A fiber optic temperature sensor uses a light source which transmits light through an optical fiber to a sensor head at the opposite end of the optical fiber from the light source. The sensor head has a housing coupled to the end of the optical fiber. A metallic reflective surface is coupled to the housing adjacent the end of the optical fiber to form a gap having a predetermined length between the reflective surface and the optical fiber. A detection system is also coupled to the optical fiber which determines the temperature at the sensor head from an interference pattern of light which is reflected from the reflective surface

Paul Jacoulet, maître de l’ukiyo-e

Paul Jacoulet (1896-1960) quitte la France dès l’enfance et s’installe au Japon avec ses parents. Il connaît très bien l’art européen et se forme à la calligraphie japonaise et à l’ukiyo-e avec Terukada Ikeda et son épouse, fréquentant de plus en plus les milieux artistiques nippons. À partir de 1929, il parcourt l’Asie (Corée, Philippines, etc.) et les îles du Pacifique d’où il tire son inspiration. En 1933, il transforme sa maison en Institut de gravure et produit dès 1934 des gravures sur bois ukiyo-e avec quelques collaborateurs. L’immédiat après-guerre est une période faste : des expositions sont organisées en Australie, en Europe et aux États-Unis. Les trois textes présentés ici reviennent sur la vie de Jacoulet ; ses liens à l’art japonais, dont il reprend les techniques tout en l’interprétant et en y mêlant sa personnalité propre ; et sur le métissage qui marque toute sa production : franco-japonais mais aussi dû l’influence des peuples découverts au cours de ses nombreux voyages.Paul Jacoulet (1896 - 1960) left France as a child to live in Japan with his parents. He had a profound knowledge of Western art and gradually associated with Japanese artistic circles, learning Japanese calligraphy and ukiyo-e with Terakuda Ikeda and his wife. From 1929 onwards he travelled across Asia (Corea, the Philippins) and Pacific islands and was greatly inspired by these locations. In 1933 he founded a Printing Institute in his own house and in 1934 started producing ukiyo-e wood engravings with a few collaborators. He had a prosperous time after the war, with exhibitions in Australia and the United States. The three texts presented here re-examine Jacoulet’s life, his ties with Japanese art and how he re-invented its techniques by breathing his own life and personality into them. They also address the fundamental cross-cultural aspect of his work: a mix of French and Japanese of course, but also of the different influences of the peoples he came across during his many travels

Fiber optic temperature sensor

A fiber optic temperature sensor uses a light source which transmits light through an optical fiber to a sensor head at the opposite end of the optical fiber from the light source. The sensor head has a housing coupled to the end of the optical fiber. A metallic reflective surface is coupled to the housing adjacent the end of the optical fiber to form a gap having a predetermined length between the reflective surface and the optical fiber. A detection system is also coupled to the optical fiber which determines the temperature at the sensor head from an interference pattern of light which is reflected from the reflective surface

Enrichment from Birth Accelerates the Functional and Cellular Development of a Motor Control Area in the Mouse

BACKGROUND:There is strong evidence that sensory experience in early life has a profound influence on the development of sensory circuits. Very little is known, however, about the role of experience in the early development of striatal networks which regulate both motor and cognitive function. To address this, we have investigated the influence of early environmental enrichment on motor development. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Mice were raised in standard or enriched housing from birth. For animals assessed as adults, half of the mice had their rearing condition reversed at weaning to enable the examination of the effects of pre- versus post-weaning enrichment. We found that exclusively pre-weaning enrichment significantly improved performance on the Morris water maze compared to non-enriched mice. The effects of early enrichment on the emergence of motor programs were assessed by performing behavioural tests at postnatal day 10. Enriched mice traversed a significantly larger region of the test arena in an open-field test and had improved swimming ability compared to non-enriched cohorts. A potential cellular correlate of these changes was investigated using Wisteria-floribunda agglutinin (WFA) staining to mark chondroitin-sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs). We found that the previously reported transition of CSPG staining from striosome-associated clouds to matrix-associated perineuronal nets (PNNs) is accelerated in enriched mice. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:This is the first demonstration that the early emergence of exploratory as well as coordinated movement is sensitive to experience. These behavioural changes are correlated with an acceleration of the emergence of striatal PNNs suggesting that they may consolidate the neural circuits underlying these behaviours. Finally, we confirm that pre-weaning experience can lead to life long changes in the learning ability of mice

Effect of molecular architecture on the crystalline structure and stiffness of iPP homopolymers: modeling based on annealing experiments

Five PP homopolymers were selected and their molecular structure was thoroughly characterized to determine the effect of molecular architecture on their annealing behavior and on the ultimate stiffness achieved by heat treatment. Molecular mass and its distribution were characterized by rheological measurements, while chain regularity was determined by calorimetry, by the stepwise isothermal segregation technique (SIST). The samples were annealed in two different ways. Tensile bars were treated in an oven at 165 °C for increasing times to determine changes in stiffness. Various defects developed during the annealing of tensile specimens that did not allow the reliable determination of modulus by direct measurement. On the other hand, the second approach, the annealing of small samples in a DSC cell clearly showed the changes occurring in crystalline structure and also the effect of nucleation and molecular architecture on them. The large molecular weight fraction used to facilitate nucleation hinders crystal perfection, while the presence of a heterogeneous nucleating agent increases overall crystallinity, but does not influence recrystallization during annealing. Melting traces were transformed into lamella thickness distributions, from which average lamella thickness was derived. Lamella thickness and crystallinity, the independent variables of the empirical equation used for the calculation of modulus, were extrapolated to infinite annealing time to predict maximum stiffness. The value obtained, 3.5 GPa, is very far from the theoretically predicted 40 GPa of oriented crystals, which cannot be achieved under practical conditions

Ten_m3 Regulates Eye-Specific Patterning in the Mammalian Visual Pathway and Is Required for Binocular Vision

Binocular vision requires an exquisite matching of projections from each eye to form a cohesive representation of the visual world. Eye-specific inputs are anatomically segregated, but in register in the visual thalamus, and overlap within the binocular region of primary visual cortex. Here, we show that the transmembrane protein Ten_m3 regulates the alignment of ipsilateral and contralateral projections. It is expressed in a gradient in the developing visual pathway, which is consistently highest in regions that represent dorsal visual field. Mice that lack Ten_m3 show profound abnormalities in mapping of ipsilateral, but not contralateral, projections, and exhibit pronounced deficits when performing visually mediated behavioural tasks. It is likely that the functional deficits arise from the interocular mismatch, because they are reversed by acute monocular inactivation. We conclude that Ten_m3 plays a key regulatory role in the development of aligned binocular maps, which are required for normal vision

Computational Lattice-Gas Modeling of the Electrosorption of Small Molecules and Ions

We present two recent applications of lattice-gas modeling techniques to electrochemical adsorption on catalytically active metal substrates: urea on Pt(100) and (bi)sulfate on Rh(111). Both involve the specific adsorption of small molecules or ions on well-characterized single-crystal electrodes, and they provide a particularly good fit between the adsorbate geometry and the substrate structure. The close geometric fit facilitates the formation of ordered submonolayer adsorbate phases in a range of electrode potential positive of the range in which an adsorbed monolayer of hydrogen is stable. In both systems the ordered-phase region is separated from the adsorbed- hydrogen region by a phase transition, signified in cyclic voltammograms by a sharp current peak. Based on data from {\it in situ\/} radiochemical surface concentration measurements, cyclic voltammetry, and scanning tunneling micro- scopy, and {\it ex situ\/} Auger electron spectroscopy and low-energy electron diffraction, we have developed specific lattice-gas models for the two systems. These models were studied by group-theoretical ground-state calcu- lations and numerical Monte Carlo simulations, and effective lattice-gas inter- action parameters were determined so as to provide agreement with experiments.Comment: 17 pp. uuencoded postscript, FSU-SCRI-94C-9