783 research outputs found
Midcourse maneuver operations program
Midcourse Maneuver Operations Program /MMOP/ computes the required velocity change to correct a spacecraft trajectory. The program establishes the existence of maneuvers which satisfy spacecraft constraints, explores alternate trajectories in the event that some out-of-tolerance condition forces a change in plans, and codes the maneuvers into commands
Recovery from disturbance requires resynchronization of ecosystem nutrient cycles
Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are tightly cycled in most terrestrial ecosystems, with plant uptake more than 10 times higher than the rate of supply from deposition and weathering. This near-total dependence on recycled nutrients and the stoichiometric constraints on resource use by plants and microbes mean that the two cycles have to be synchronized such that the ratio of N:P in plant uptake, litterfall, and net mineralization are nearly the same. Disturbance can disrupt this synchronization if there is a disproportionate loss of one nutrient relative to the other. We model the resynchronization of N and P cycles following harvest of a northern hardwood forest. In our simulations, nutrient loss in the harvest is small relative to postharvest losses. The low N:P ratio of harvest residue results in a preferential release of P and retention of N. The P release is in excess of plant requirements and P is lost from the active ecosystem cycle through secondary mineral formation and leaching early in succession. Because external P inputs are small, the resynchronization of the N and P cycles later in succession is achieved by a commensurate loss of N. Through succession, the ecosystem undergoes alternating periods of N limitation, then P limitation, and eventually co-limitation as the two cycles resynchronize. However, our simulations indicate that the overall rate and extent of recovery is limited by P unless a mechanism exists either to prevent the P loss early in succession (e.g., P sequestration not stoichiometrically constrained by N) or to increase the P supply to the ecosystem later in succession (e.g., biologically enhanced weathering). Our model provides a heuristic perspective from which to assess the resynchronization among tightly cycled nutrients and the effect of that resynchronization on recovery of ecosystems from disturbance
Analysis of Sub-threshold Short Gamma-ray Bursts in Fermi GBM Data
The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) is currently the most prolific
detector of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). Recently the detection rate of short GRBs
(SGRBs) has been dramatically increased through the use of ground-based
searches that analyze GBM continuous time tagged event (CTTE) data. Here we
examine the efficiency of a method developed to search CTTE data for
sub-threshold transient events in temporal coincidence with LIGO/Virgo compact
binary coalescence triggers. This targeted search operates by coherently
combining data from all 14 GBM detectors by taking into account the complex
spatial and energy dependent response of each detector. We use the method to
examine a sample of SGRBs that were independently detected by the Burst Alert
Telescope on board the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, but which were too
intrinsically weak or viewed with unfavorable instrument geometry to initiate
an on-board trigger of GBM. We find that the search can successfully recover a
majority of the BAT detected sample in the CTTE data. We show that the targeted
search of CTTE data will be crucial in increasing the GBM sensitivity, and
hence the gamma-ray horizon, to weak events such as GRB 170817A. We also
examine the properties of the GBM signal possibly associated with the LIGO
detection of GW150914 and show that it is consistent with the observed
properties of other sub-threshold SGRBs in our sample. We find that the
targeted search is capable of recovering true astrophysical signals as weak as
the signal associated with GW150914 in the untriggered data.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, submitted to Ap
Differential Associations of Apolipoprotein E ε4 Genotype With Attentional Abilities Across the Life Span of Individuals With Down Syndrome
Importance: Risk of Alzheimer disease (AD) is particularly high for individuals with Down syndrome (DS). The ε4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE ε4) is associated with an additional risk for AD. In typical development, there is evidence that the APOE ε4 genotype is associated with an early cognitive advantage. Here we investigate associations of APOE ε4 with attention across the life span of individuals with DS. Objective: To investigate associations between APOE ε4 and attentional abilities in young children and in adults with DS. Design, Settings, and Participants: In this cross-sectional study, data were collected from 80 young children with DS (8-62 months of age) and 240 adults with DS (16-71 years of age) during the period from 2013 to 2018 at a research center to examine the association between APOE status (ε4 carrier vs ε4 noncarrier) and attentional abilities. Exposure: APOE status (ε4 carrier vs ε4 noncarrier). Main Outcomes and Measures: For the children, attentional ability was assessed using an eye-tracking paradigm, the gap-overlap task; the size of the gap effect was the primary outcome. For the adults, attentional ability was assessed using the CANTAB simple reaction time task; the standard deviation of response time latencies was the primary outcome. Cross-sectional developmental trajectories were constructed linking attentional ability with age in ε4 carriers and ε4 noncarriers for children and adults separately. Results: The child sample comprised 23 ε4 carriers and 57 ε4 noncarriers. The adult sample comprised 61 ε4 carriers and 179 ε4 noncarriers. For the children, a significant difference between trajectory intercepts (ηp2 = 0.14) indicated that ε4 carriers (B = 100.24 [95% CI, 18.52-181.96]) exhibited an attentional advantage over ε4 noncarriers (B = 314.78 [95% CI, 252.17-377.39]). There was an interaction between APOE status and age (ηp2 = 0.10); while the gap effect decreased with age for ε4 noncarriers (B = -4.58 [95% CI, -6.67 to -2.48]), reflecting the development of the attention system, there was no change across age in ε4 carriers (B = 0.77 [95% CI, -1.57 to 3.12]). For the adults, there was no main effect of ε4 carrier status, but there was an interaction between APOE status and age (B = 0.02 [95% CI, 0.004-0.07]), so that ε4 carriers had poorer attentional ability than ε4 noncarriers at older ages. Conclusions and Relevance: APOE ε4 is associated with an attentional advantage early in development and a disadvantage later in life for individuals with DS, similar to the pattern reported in typical development. Understanding the differential role of APOE across the life span is an important step toward future interventions
Fear of the unknown: a pre-departure qualitative study of Turkish international students
This paper presents findings from eleven in-depth interviews with Turkish undergraduate students, who were, by the time of data collection, about to spend a semester at a European university under the Erasmus exchange scheme. The students all agreed to be interviewed about their feelings about studying in a foreign culture, and were found to be anxious prior to departure about the quality of accommodation in the new destination, their language ability and the opportunity to form friendships. Fears were expressed about possible misconceptions over Turkey as a Muslim and a developing country. Suggestions are made for HEI interventions to allay student travellers’ concerns
Long-Horizon Consumption Risk and the Cross-Section of Returns: New Tests and International Evidence
This paper investigates whether measuring consumption risk over long horizons can improve the empirical performance of the Consumption CAPM for size and value premia in international stock markets (US, UK, and Germany). In order to account for commonalities in size and book-tomarket sorted portfolios, we also include industry portfolios in our set of test assets. Our results show that, contrary to the findings of Parker and Julliard (2005), the model falls short of providing an accurate description of the cross-section of returns under our modified empirical approach. At the same time, however, measuring consumption risk over longer horizons typically yields lower risk-aversion estimates. Thus, our results suggest that more plausible parameter estimates - as opposed to lower pricing errors - can be regarded as the main achievement of the long-horizon Consumption CAPM
Photo- and Electroproduction of Eta Mesons
Eta photo- and electroproduction off the nucleon is investigated in an
effective lagrangian approach that contains Born terms and both vector meson
and nucleon resonance contributions. In particular, we review and develop the
formalism for coincidence experiments with polarization degrees of freedom. The
different response functions appearing in single and double polarization
experiments have been studied. We will present calculations for structure
functions and kinematical conditions that are most sensitive to details of the
lagrangian, in particular with regard to contributions of nucleon resonances
beyond the dominant (1535) resonance.Comment: 24 pages RevTeX/LaTeX2.09, NFSS1, 13 figures (in separate file
(tar,gzip and uue)), accepted for publication in Z. Phys.
Improved Classification of Alzheimer's Disease Data via Removal of Nuisance Variability
Diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is based on the results of neuropsychological tests and available supporting biomarkers such as the results of imaging studies. The results of the tests and the values of biomarkers are dependent on the nuisance features, such as age and gender. In order to improve diagnostic power, the effects of the nuisance features have to be removed from the data. In this paper, four types of interactions between classification features and nuisance features were identified. Three methods were tested to remove these interactions from the classification data. In stratified analysis, a homogeneous subgroup was generated from a training set. Data correction method utilized linear regression model to remove the effects of nuisance features from data. The third method was a combination of these two methods. The methods were tested using all the baseline data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database in two classification studies: classifying control subjects from Alzheimer's disease patients and discriminating stable and progressive mild cognitive impairment subjects. The results show that both stratified analysis and data correction are able to statistically significantly improve the classification accuracy of several neuropsychological tests and imaging biomarkers. The improvements were especially large for the classification of stable and progressive mild cognitive impairment subjects, where the best improvements observed were 6% units. The data correction method gave better results for imaging biomarkers, whereas stratified analysis worked well with the neuropsychological tests. In conclusion, the study shows that the excess variability caused by nuisance features should be removed from the data to improve the classification accuracy, and therefore, the reliability of diagnosis making
A Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor Search for Electromagnetic Signals Coincident with Gravitational-wave Candidates in Advanced LIGO\u27s First Observing Run
We present a search for prompt gamma-ray counterparts to compact binary coalescence gravitational wave (GW) candidates from Advanced LIGO\u27s first observing run (O1). As demonstrated by the multimessenger observations of GW170817/GRB 170817A, electromagnetic and GW observations provide complementary information about the astrophysical source, and in the case of weaker candidates, may strengthen the case for an astrophysical origin. Here we investigate low-significance GW candidates from the O1 compact binary coalescence searches using the Fermi Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM), leveraging its all sky and broad energy coverage. Candidates are ranked and compared to background to measure the significance. Those with false alarm rates (FARs) of less than 10 -5 Hz (about one per day, yielding a total of 81 candidates) are used as the search sample for gamma-ray follow-up. No GW candidates were found to be coincident with gamma-ray transients independently identified by blind searches of the GBM data. In addition, GW candidate event times were followed up by a separate targeted search of GBM data. Among the resulting GBM events, the two with the lowest FARs were the gamma-ray transient GW150914-GBM presented in Connaughton et al. and a solar flare in chance coincidence with a GW candidate
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