2,650 research outputs found
Technology requirements for advanced earth-orbital transportation systems, dual-mode propulsion
The application of dual-mode propulsion concepts to fully reusable single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicles is discussed. Dual-mode propulsion uses main rocket engines that consume hydrocarbon fuels as well as liquid hydrogen fuel. Liquid oxygen is used as the oxidizer. These engine concepts were integrated into transportation vehicle designs capable of vertical takeoff, delivering a payload to earth orbit, and return to earth with a horizontal landing. Benefits of these vehicles were assessed and compared with vehicles using single-mode propulsion (liquid hydrogen and oxygen engines). Technology requirements for such advanced transportation systems were identified. Figures of merit, including life-cycle cost savings and research costs, were derived for dual-mode technology programs, and were used for assessments of potential benefits of proposed technology activities. Dual-mode propulsion concepts display potential for significant cost and performance benefits when applied to SSTO vehicles
Technology requirements for advanced earth-orbital transportation systems: Summary report
Areas of advanced technology that are either critical or offer significant benefits to the development of future Earth-orbit transportation systems were identified. Technology assessment was based on the application of these technologies to fully reusable, single-state-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicle concepts with horizontal landing capability. Study guidelines included mission requirements similar to space shuttle, an operational capability beginning in 1995, and main propulsion to be advanced hydrogen-fueled rocket engines. The technical and economic feasibility of this class of SSTO concepts were evaluated as well as the comparative features of three operational take-off modes, which were vertical boost, horizontal sled launch, and horizontal take-off with subsequent inflight fueling. Projections of both normal and accelerated technology growth were made. Figures of merit were derived to provide relative rankings of technology areas. The influence of selected accelerated areas on vehicle design and program costs was analyzed by developing near-optimum point designs
2D vs. 3D pain visualization: User preferences in a spinal cord injury cohort
This is the post-print version of the Article. The official published version can be accessed from the link below - Copyright @ 2011 Springer VerlagResearch on pain experienced after Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) has revealed that not only are there several types of pain present in the same individual with this kind of trauma, but also that people who suffer such an injury can describe the characteristics of the same type of pain in different ways. Making it possible, therefore, to more precisely describe pain experience could prove to be vital for an increased quality of life. Accordingly, fifteen individuals with pain after SCI were asked to describe their pain experience using a 3 Dimensional (3D) model of the human body that could be used as an aid in communicating their pain. The results of this study suggest that the consensus of the participants approved the ability of the 3D model to more accurately describe their pain, an encouraging outcome towards the use of 3D technology in support of post SCI pain rehabilitation
On the two-loop contributions to the pion mass
We derive a simplified representation for the pion mass to two loops in
three-flavour chiral perturbation theory. For this purpose, we first determine
the reduced expressions for the tensorial two-loop 2-point sunset integrals
arising in chiral perturbation theory calculations. Making use of those
relations, we obtain the expression for the pion mass in terms of the minimal
set of master integrals. On the basis of known results for these, we arrive at
an explicit analytic representation, up to the contribution from K-K-eta
intermediate states where a closed-form expression for the corresponding sunset
integral is missing. However, the expansion of this function for a small pion
mass leads to a simple representation which yields a very accurate
approximation of this contribution. Finally, we also give a discussion of the
numerical implications of our results.Comment: Typos corrected and minor changes in Table 2. Published version. 19
pages, 1 figure, 2 table
Generic and Layered Framework Components for the Control of a Large Scale Data Acquisition System
The complexity of today's experiments in High Energy Physics results in a large amount of readout channels which can count up to a million and above. The experiments in general consist of various subsystems which themselves comprise a large amount of detectors requiring sophisticated DAQ and readout electronics. We report here on the structured software layers to control such a data acquisition system for the case of LHCb which is one of the four experiments for LHC. Additional focus is given on the protocols in use as well as the required hardware. An abstraction layer was implemented to allow access on the different and distinct hardware types in a coherent and generic manner. The hierarchical structure which allows propagating commands down to the subsystems is explained. Via finite state machines an expert system with auto-recovery abilities can be modeled
Electromagnetic corrections in eta --> 3 pi decays
We re-evaluate the electromagnetic corrections to eta --> 3 pi decays at
next-to-leading order in the chiral expansion, arguing that effects of order
e^2(m_u-m_d) disregarded so far are not negligible compared to other
contributions of order e^2 times a light quark mass. Despite the appearance of
the Coulomb pole in eta --> pi+ pi- pi0 and cusps in eta --> 3 pi0, the overall
corrections remain small.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures; references updated, version published in EPJ
Performance of the LHCb muon system
The performance of the LHCb Muon system and its stability across the full
2010 data taking with LHC running at ps = 7 TeV energy is studied. The
optimization of the detector setting and the time calibration performed with
the first collisions delivered by LHC is described. Particle rates, measured
for the wide range of luminosities and beam operation conditions experienced
during the run, are compared with the values expected from simulation. The
space and time alignment of the detectors, chamber efficiency, time resolution
and cluster size are evaluated. The detector performance is found to be as
expected from specifications or better. Notably the overall efficiency is well
above the design requirementsComment: JINST_015P_1112 201
Two-loop representations of low-energy pion form factors and pi-pi scattering phases in the presence of isospin breaking
Dispersive representations of the pi-pi scattering amplitudes and pion form
factors, valid at two-loop accuracy in the low-energy expansion, are
constructed in the presence of isospin-breaking effects induced by the
difference between the charged and neutral pion masses. Analytical expressions
for the corresponding phases of the scalar and vector pion form factors are
computed. It is shown that each of these phases consists of the sum of a
"universal" part and a form-factor dependent contribution. The first one is
entirely determined in terms of the pi-pi scattering amplitudes alone, and
reduces to the phase satisfying Watson's theorem in the isospin limit. The
second one can be sizeable, although it vanishes in the same limit. The
dependence of these isospin corrections with respect to the parameters of the
subthreshold expansion of the pi-pi amplitude is studied, and an equivalent
representation in terms of the S-wave scattering lengths is also briefly
presented and discussed. In addition, partially analytical expressions for the
two-loop form factors and pi-pi scattering amplitudes in the presence of
isospin breaking are provided.Comment: 57 pages, 12 figure
Performance of the LHCb Vertex Detector Alignment Algorithm determined with Beam Test Data
LHCb is the dedicated heavy flavour experiment at the Large Hadron Collider
at CERN. The partially assembled silicon vertex locator (VELO) of the LHCb
experiment has been tested in a beam test. The data from this beam test have
been used to determine the performance of the VELO alignment algorithm. The
relative alignment of the two silicon sensors in a module and the relative
alignment of the modules has been extracted. This alignment is shown to be
accurate at a level of approximately 2 micron and 0.1 mrad for translations and
rotations, respectively in the plane of the sensors. A single hit precision at
normal track incidence of about 10 micron is obtained for the sensors. The
alignment of the system is shown to be stable at better than the 10 micron
level under air to vacuum pressure changes and mechanical movements of the
assembled system.Comment: accepted for publication in NIM
PainDroid: An android-based virtual reality application for pain assessment
Earlier studies in the field of pain research suggest that little efficient intervention currently exists in response to the exponential increase in the prevalence of pain. In this paper, we present an Android application (PainDroid) with multimodal functionality that could be enhanced with Virtual Reality (VR) technology, which has been designed for the purpose of improving the assessment of this notoriously difficult medical concern. Pain- Droid has been evaluated for its usability and acceptability with a pilot group of potential users and clinicians, with initial results suggesting that it can be an effective and usable tool for improving the assessment of pain. Participant experiences indicated that the application was easy to use and the potential of the application was similarly appreciated by the clinicians involved in the evaluation. Our findings may be of considerable interest to healthcare providers, policy makers, and other parties that might be actively involved in the area of pain and VR research
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