66,033 research outputs found
Space medicine considerations: Skeletal and calcium homeostasis
Based on the information obtained from space missions, particularly Skylab and the longer Salyut missions, it is clear that bone and mineral metabolism is substantially altered during space flight. Calcium balance becomes increasingly more negative throughout the flight, and the bone mineral content of the os calcis declines. The major health hazards associated with skeletal changes include the signs and symptoms of hypercalcemia with rapid bone turnover, the risk of kidney stones because of hypercalciuria, the lengthy recovery of lost bone mass after flight, the possibility of irreversible bone loss (particularly the trabecular bone), the possible effects of metastated calcification in the soft tissues, and the possible increase in fracture potential. For these reasons, major efforts need to be directed toward elucidating the fundamental mechanisms by which bone is lost in space and developing more effective countermeasures to prevent both short-term and long-term complications
On the parsing of context-free languages by pushdown automata
Straightforward algorithm for converting context free grammars into pushdown-store automat
Relations between three-point configuration space shear and convergence statistics
With the growing interest in and ability of using weak lensing studies to
probe the non-Gaussian properties of the matter density field, there is an
increasing need for the study of suitable statistical measures, e.g. shear
three-point statistics. In this paper we establish the relations between the
three-point configuration space shear and convergence statistics, which are an
important missing link between different weak lensing three-point statistics
and provide an alternative way of relating observation and theory. The method
we use also allows us to derive the relations between other two- and
three-point correlation functions. We show the consistency of the relations
obtained with already established results and demonstrate how they can be
evaluated numerically. As a direct application, we use these relations to
formulate the condition for E/B-mode decomposition of lensing three-point
statistics, which is the basis for constructing new three-point statistics
which allow for exact E/B-mode separation. Our work applies also to other
two-dimensional polarization fields such as that of the Cosmic Microwave
Background.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures, submitted to A&
Load limiting energy absorbing lightweight debris catcher
In the representative embodiment of the invention disclosed, a load limiting, energy absorbing net is arranged to overlay a normally-covered vent opening in the rear bulkhead of the space orbiter vehicle. Spatially-disposed flexible retainer straps are extended from the net and respectively secured to bulkhead brackets spaced around the vent opening. The intermediate portions of the straps are doubled over and stitched together in a pattern enabling the doubled-over portions to progressively separate at a predicable load designed to be well below the tensile capability of the straps as the stitches are successively torn apart by the forces imposed on the retainer members whenever the cover plate is explosively separated from the bulkhead and propelled into the net. By arranging these stitches to be successively torn away at a load below the strap strength in response to forces acting on the retainers that are less than the combined strength of the retainers, this tearing action serves as a predictable compact energy absorber for safely halting the cover plate as the retainers are extended as the net is deployed. The invention further includes a block of an energy-absorbing material positioned in the net for receiving loose debris produced by the explosive release of the cover plate
Putting time into proof outlines
A logic for reasoning about timing of concurrent programs is presented. The logic is based on proof outlines and can handle maximal parallelism as well as resource-constrained execution environments. The correctness proof for a mutual exclusion protocol that uses execution timings in a subtle way illustrates the logic in action
Magnetic field induced finite size effect in type-II superconductors
We explore the occurrence of a magnetic field induced finite size effect on
the specific heat and correlation lengths of anisotropic type-II
superconductors near the zero field transition temperature Tc. Since near the
zero field transition thermal fluctuations are expected to dominate and with
increasing field strength these fluctuations become one dimensional, whereupon
the effect of fluctuations increases, it appears unavoidable to account for
thermal fluctuations. Invoking the scaling theory of critical phenomena it is
shown that the specific heat data of nearly optimally doped YBa2Cu3O7-x are
inconsistent with the traditional mean-field and lowest Landau level
predictions of a continuous superconductor to normal state transition along an
upper critical field Hc2(T). On the contrary, we observe agreement with a
magnetic field induced finite size effect, whereupon even the correlation
length longitudinal to the applied field H cannot grow beyond the limiting
magnetic length L(H). It arises because with increasing magnetic field the
density of vortex lines becomes greater, but this cannot continue indefinitely.
L(H) is then roughly set on the proximity of vortex lines by the overlapping of
their cores. Thus, the shift and the rounding of the specific heat peak in an
applied field is traced back to a magnetic field induced finite size effect in
the correlation length longitudinal to the applied field.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Universal features in sequential and nonsequential two-photon double ionization of helium
We analyze two-photon double ionization of helium in both the nonsequential
and sequential regime. We show that the energy spacing between the two emitted
electrons provides the key parameter that controls both the energy and the
angular distribution and reveals the universal features present in both the
nonsequential and sequential regime. This universality, i.e., independence of
photon energy, is a manifestation of the continuity across the threshold for
sequential double ionization. For all photon energies, the energy distribution
can be described by a universal shape function that contains only the spectral
and temporal information entering second-order time-dependent perturbation
theory. Angular correlations and distributions are found to be more sensitive
to the photon energy. In particular, shake-up interferences have a large effect
on the angular distribution. Energy spectra, angular distributions
parameterized by the anisotropy parameters, and total cross sections presented
in this paper are obtained by fully correlated time-dependent ab initio
calculations.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure
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