58,608 research outputs found
Adjustable tension wire guide Patent
Adjustable spiral wire winding devic
Electronic position indicator for latching solenoid valves
Electronic circuit connected to solenoid valve coils visually indicates the position of the valve stem. Transient suppression is provided to prevent damaging voltage spikes
When is an alternative possibility robust?
According to some, free will requires alternative possibilities. But not any old alternative possibility will do. Sometimes, being able to bring about an alternative does not bestow any control on an agent. In order to bestow control, and so be directly relevant qua alternative to grounding the agent's moral responsibility, alternatives need to be robust. Here, I investigate the nature of robust alternatives. I argue that Derk Pereboom's latest robustness criterion is too strong, and I suggest a different criterion based on the idea that what agents need to be able to do is keep open the possibility of securing their blamelessness, rather than needing to directly ensure their own blamelessness at the time of decision
Multiplicative Auditory Spatial Receptive Fields Created by a Hierarchy of Population Codes
A multiplicative combination of tuning to interaural time difference (ITD) and interaural level difference (ILD) contributes to the generation of spatially selective auditory neurons in the owl's midbrain. Previous analyses of multiplicative responses in the owl have not taken into consideration the frequency-dependence of ITD and ILD cues that occur under natural listening conditions. Here, we present a model for the responses of ITD- and ILD-sensitive neurons in the barn owl's inferior colliculus which satisfies constraints raised by experimental data on frequency convergence, multiplicative interaction of ITD and ILD, and response properties of afferent neurons. We propose that multiplication between ITD- and ILD-dependent signals occurs only within frequency channels and that frequency integration occurs using a linear-threshold mechanism. The model reproduces the experimentally observed nonlinear responses to ITD and ILD in the inferior colliculus, with greater accuracy than previous models. We show that linear-threshold frequency integration allows the system to represent multiple sound sources with natural sound localization cues, whereas multiplicative frequency integration does not. Nonlinear responses in the owl's inferior colliculus can thus be generated using a combination of cellular and network mechanisms, showing that multiple elements of previous theories can be combined in a single system
Enhanced tracer transport by the spiral defect chaos state of a convecting fluid
To understand how spatiotemporal chaos may modify material transport, we use
direct numerical simulations of the three-dimensional Boussinesq equations and
of an advection-diffusion equation to study the transport of a passive tracer
by the spiral defect chaos state of a convecting fluid. The simulations show
that the transport is diffusive and is enhanced by the spatiotemporal chaos.
The enhancement in tracer diffusivity follows two regimes. For large Peclet
numbers (that is, small molecular diffusivities of the tracer), we find that
the enhancement is proportional to the Peclet number. For small Peclet numbers,
the enhancement is proportional to the square root of the Peclet number. We
explain the presence of these two regimes in terms of how the local transport
depends on the local wave numbers of the convection rolls. For large Peclet
numbers, we further find that defects cause the tracer diffusivity to be
enhanced locally in the direction orthogonal to the local wave vector but
suppressed in the direction of the local wave vector.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure
A formal definition and a new security mechanism of physical unclonable functions
The characteristic novelty of what is generally meant by a "physical
unclonable function" (PUF) is precisely defined, in order to supply a firm
basis for security evaluations and the proposal of new security mechanisms. A
PUF is defined as a hardware device which implements a physical function with
an output value that changes with its argument. A PUF can be clonable, but a
secure PUF must be unclonable. This proposed meaning of a PUF is cleanly
delineated from the closely related concepts of "conventional unclonable
function", "physically obfuscated key", "random-number generator", "controlled
PUF" and "strong PUF". The structure of a systematic security evaluation of a
PUF enabled by the proposed formal definition is outlined. Practically all
current and novel physical (but not conventional) unclonable physical functions
are PUFs by our definition. Thereby the proposed definition captures the
existing intuition about what is a PUF and remains flexible enough to encompass
further research. In a second part we quantitatively characterize two classes
of PUF security mechanisms, the standard one, based on a minimum secret
read-out time, and a novel one, based on challenge-dependent erasure of stored
information. The new mechanism is shown to allow in principle the construction
of a "quantum-PUF", that is absolutely secure while not requiring the storage
of an exponentially large secret. The construction of a PUF that is
mathematically and physically unclonable in principle does not contradict the
laws of physics.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure, Conference Proceedings MMB & DFT 2012,
Kaiserslautern, German
Compensation of Effective Field in the Field-Induced Superconductor k-(BETS)2FeBr4 Observed by 77Se NMR
We report results of 77Se NMR frequency shift in the normal state of the
organic charge-transfer-salt k-(BETS)2FeBr4 which shows magnetic field-induced
superconductivity (FISC). From a simple mean field analysis, we determined the
field and the temperature dependences of the magnetization m_{pi} of the \pi
conduction electrons on BETS molecules. We found that the Fe spins are
antiferromagnetically coupled to the pi electrons and determined the exchange
field to be J = -2.3T/mu_B. The exchange field from the fully saturated Fe
moments (5 mu_B) is compensated by an external field of 12T. This is close to
the central field of the FISC phase, consistent with the Jaccarino-Peter local
field-compensation mechanism for FISC (Phys. Rev. Lett. 9, 290 (1962))
Spin-Orbit Coupling in LaAlO/SrTiO interfaces: Magnetism and Orbital Ordering
The combination of Rashba spin-orbit coupling and electron correlations can
induce unusual phenomena in the metallic interface between SrTiO and
LaAlO. We consider effects of Rashba spin-orbit coupling at this interface
in the context of the recent observation of anisotropic magnetism. Firstly, we
show how Rashba spin-orbit coupling in a system near a band-edge can account
for the observed magnetic anisotropy. Secondly, we investigate the coupling
between in-plane magnetic-moment anisotropy and nematicity in the form of an
orbital imbalance between d / d orbitals. We estimate this
coupling to be substantial in the low electron density regime. Such an orbital
ordering can affect magneto transport
Characterization of the domain chaos convection state by the largest Lyapunov exponent
Using numerical integrations of the Boussinesq equations in rotating cylindrical domains with realistic boundary conditions, we have computed the value of the largest Lyapunov exponent lambda1 for a variety of aspect ratios and driving strengths. We study in particular the domain chaos state, which bifurcates supercritically from the conducting fluid state and involves extended propagating fronts as well as point defects. We compare our results with those from Egolf et al., [Nature 404, 733 (2000)], who suggested that the value of lambda1 for the spiral defect chaos state of a convecting fluid was determined primarily by bursts of instability arising from short-lived, spatially localized dislocation nucleation events. We also show that the quantity lambda1 is not intensive for aspect ratios Gamma over the range 20<Gamma<40 and that the scaling exponent of lambda1 near onset is consistent with the value predicted by the amplitude equation formalism
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