Solar radiation incident upon slopes of different orientations

By means of a pyranometer oriented at various tilt angles and azimuth angles with respect to the Sun, measurements of the direct and diffuse solar flux incident on slopes of various orientations have been made for clear sky conditions. The resulting data have been used to evaluate the validity of the solar flux model of Robinson[1] and to introduce certain modifications of that model to achieve better agreement of computations with measurements. It is concluded that the modified model yields significantly better results than the original for slopes oriented in the azimuth of the Sun, but results are comparable for other azimuthal orientations of the slope. The accuracy attainable by this modeling approach is considered sufficient for many practical applications.     

Territorial cognition: Assessing Altman's typology.

The empirical validity of I. Altman's (1975) typology of human territories was assessed using a modified Role Construct Repertory Grid. Urban and suburban Ss, matched on several variables, were interviewed in their homes. It was expected that suburban Ss, as compared to urban Ss, would perceive more control over secondary and public territories. Results confirm the validity of Altman's typology and the importance of the dimensions of centrality and temporal duration. The expected urban vs suburban differences were obtained. Results also indicate that primary and secondary territories, by providing the setting for interaction at varying levels of formality and exclusion, possessed role-structuring properties. Future research on human territoriality should take a multimethod approach and explore the covariation of territorial cognitions and behaviors. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development of error-compensating UI for autonomous production cells

This contribution deals with the impact of human error on the overall system reliability in flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). Autonomous production cells are used to illustrate an error-compensating system design on the basis of Sheridan's (1997) paradigm of supervisory control. In order to specify human errors and their effects in terms of system disturbances, a taxonomy of system disturbances is recommended. This taxonomic approach was derived by a value benefit analysis and is based on HEDOMS (Human Error and Disturbance Occurrence in Manufacturing Systems) with slight modifications and Reason's GEMS (Generic Error Modelling System). The taxonomy is used for data acquisition. Next, a risk priority equivalent to FMEA (Failure Mode and Effect Analysis) is introduced to structure the data according to their relevance. Then, Vicente's and Rasmussen's guidelines (1987) for an ecological interface design are related to the paradigm of supervisory control. On the basis of these guidelines four case studies are presented to show their successful applicability for interface design in FMS.     

Discerning nonstationarity from nonlinearity in seizure-free and preseizure EEG recordings from epilepsy patients

A number of recent studies indicate that nonlinear electroencephalogram (EEG) analyses allow to define a state predictive of an impending epileptic seizure. In this paper, we combine a method for detecting nonlinear determinism with a novel test for stationarity to characterize EEG recordings from both the seizure-free interval and the preseizure phase. We discuss differences between these periods, particularly an increased occurrence of stationary, nonlinear segments prior to seizures. These differences seem most prominent for recording sites within the seizure-generating area and for EEG segments less than one minute's length.     

UV vapor generation for determination of selenium by heated quartz tube atomic absorption spectrometry

A new vapor generation technique utilizing UV irradiation coupled with atomic absorption for the determination of selenium in aqueous solutions is described. In the presence of low molecular weight organic acid solutions, inorganic selenium(IV) is converted by UV irradiation to volatile selenium species, which are then rapidly transported to a heated quartz tube atomizer for detection by atomic absorption spectrometry. Optimum conditions for photochemical vapor generation and interferences from concomitant elements were investigated. Identification of the volatile products using cryotrapping GC/MS analysis revealed that inorganic selenium(IV) is converted to volatile selenium hydride, selenium carbonyl, dimethyl selenide, and diethyl selenide in the presence of formic, acetic, propionic, and malonic acids, respectively. In acetic acid solution, the efficiency of generation was estimated to be 50 +/- 10%. No interference from Ni(2+) and Co(2+) at concentrations of 500 and 100 mg L(-)(1), respectively, was evident. A detection limit of 2.5 microg L(-)(1) and a relative sensitivity of 1.2 microg L(-)(1) (1% absorption) with a precision of 1.2% (RSD, n = 11) at 50 microg L(-)(1) were obtained.     

Development of matrix patches for transdermal delivery of a highly lipophilic antiestrogen

The aim of this study was to develop matrix-type transdermal systems (TDSs) containing the highly lipophilic (log P = 5.82) antiestrogen (AE) and the permeation enhancers propylene glycol and lauric acid. For that purpose, permeation of AE from various adhesive matrices through excised skin of hairless mice was evaluated. It was found that pretreatment of the skin with permeation enhancers raised the transdermal flux of subsequently applied antiestrogen. Highest steady-state transdermal fluxes (1.1 µg cm^-2 h^-1) were obtained from Gelva®, polyacrylate adhesive, followed by 0.55 µg cm^-2 h^-1 from Oppanol® polyisobutylene, 0.31 µg cm^-2 h^-1 from BIO-PSA® silicone, and 0.12 µg cm^-2 h^-1 from Sekisui polyacrylate matrices. In order to develop TDS with high content of fluid permeation enhancer propylene glycol, two different strategies were investigated. One strategy was the addition of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) as thickening agent to Gelva matrices. This allowed for propylene glycol loading levels of up to 30%, resulting in transdermal AE fluxes of 0.09 µg cm^-2 h^-1. On the other hand, a fleece-laminated backing foil was loaded with the described permeation enhancer formulation and laminated with polyacrylate adhesive layer, resulting in transdermal AE fluxes of 0.06 µg cm^-2 h^-1. However, application of these TDSs on skin pretreated with permeation enhancers raised the fluxes to 2.6 µg cm^-2 h^-1 from Gelva/HPC and 0.46 µg cm^-2 h^-1 from fleece/Sekisui.     

Contrasting reduced overshadowing and blocking.

Preexposure of a cue without an outcome (X-) prior to compound pairings with the outcome (XZ→O) can reduce overshadowing of a target cue (Z). Moreover, pairing a cue with an outcome (X→O) before compound training can enhance its ability to compete with another cue (i.e., blocking). Four experiments were conducted in a conditioned bar-press suppression preparation with rats to determine whether spacing of the X- or X→O trials would differentially affect reduced overshadowing and blocking. Experiment 1a showed that reduced overshadowing was larger with massed trials than with spaced trials. Experiment 1b found that blocking was larger with spaced trials than with massed trials. Experiments 2a and 2b indicated that these effects of trial spacing were both mediated by the associative status of the context at test. The results are interpreted in the framework of contemporary learning theories. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mode Coupling in Plastic Optical Fiber Enables 40-Gb/s Performance

We report 40-Gb/s capability of 50-mum core plastic optical fiber using differential modal delay measurements and power penalty due to intersymbol interference computations. The results are explained via a comprehensive multimode fiber model that includes mode coupling (MC) and differential modal attenuation (DMA). We show that strong MC can enable 40-Gb/s transmission for reach in excess of 100 m even in the presence of irregularities in the refractive index profile that prevent 10-Gb/s performance without MC. Furthermore, we show that DMA effects are negligible and that the mode power distributions are not a good indicator of bandwidth.     

Harwell The Enigma revealed * Nick Hance * Enhance Publishing, Buckland, Oxon, UK * ISBN 0-09553055-0-0, 336 pp (2006), {pound}20 (Hard cover)

In 1940, before the Manhattan Project was created, the Britishgovernment had established the secret MAUD committee, whosepurpose was to pursue the advice of several distinguished scientists,including Otto Frisch and Rudolph Pierls, that the recent discoveryof nuclear fission might lead to the ability to construct an‘atomic bomb’. Then at war with Germany, the UKwas well placed to collect and monitor intelligence on thissubject, both from the flood of information made available byscientists leaving the mainland of Europe in search of asylumfrom Nazi tyranny and because of its own expertise in nuclearphysics at its universities, particularly at Cambridge underthe leadership of Ernest Rutherford. Under the code name ‘TheDirectorate of Tube Alloys’, much of the information gleanedby the British was shared with the US government and assistedthe formation of the Manhattan Project.     

3D point of interest detection via spectral irregularity diffusion

This paper presents a method for detecting points of interest on 3D meshes. It comprises two major stages. In the first, we capture saliency in the spectral domain by detecting spectral irregularities of a mesh. Such saliency corresponds to the interesting portions of surface in the spatial domain. In the second stage, to transfer saliency information from the spectral domain to the spatial domain, we rely on spectral irregularity diffusion (SID) based on heat diffusion. SID captures not only the information about neighbourhoods of a given point in a multiscale manner, but also cues related to the global structure of a shape. It thus preserves information about both local and global saliency. We finally extract points of interest by looking for global and local maxima of the saliency map. We demonstrate the advantages of our proposed method using both visual and quantitative comparisons based on a publicly available benchmark.