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Large-scale Filamentary Structures around the Virgo Cluster Revisited
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kim, Suk; Rey, Soo-Chang; Bureau, Martin; Yoon, Hyein; Chung, Aeree; Jerjen, Helmut; Lisker, Thorsten; Jeong, Hyunjin; Sung, Eon-Chang; Lee, Youngdae; Lee, Woong; Chung, Jiwon
We revisit the filamentary structures of galaxies around the Virgo cluster, exploiting a larger data set, based on the HyperLeda database, than previous studies. In particular, this includes a large number of low-luminosity galaxies, resulting in better sampled individual structures. We confirm seven known structures in the distance range 4 h -1 Mpc < SGY < 16 h -1 Mpc, now identified as filaments, where SGY is the axis of the supergalactic coordinate system roughly along the line of sight. The Hubble diagram of the filament galaxies suggests they are infalling toward the main body of the Virgo cluster. We propose that the collinear distribution of giant elliptical galaxies along the fundamental axis of the Virgo cluster is smoothly connected to two of these filaments (Leo II A and B). Behind the Virgo cluster (16 h -1 Mpc < SGY < 27 h -1 Mpc), we also identify a new filament elongated toward the NGC 5353/4 group ("NGC 5353/4 filament") and confirm a sheet that includes galaxies from the W and M clouds of the Virgo cluster ("W-M sheet"). In the Hubble diagram, the NGC 5353/4 filament galaxies show infall toward the NGC 5353/4 group, whereas the W-M sheet galaxies do not show hints of gravitational influence from the Virgo cluster. The filamentary structures identified can now be used to better understand the generic role of filaments in the build-up of galaxy clusters at z ≈ 0.
Cosmic structure formation: From first stars to large-scale filamentary structure
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cai, Zheng
Theory of cosmic structure formation outlines how stars, galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and large-scale structures formed out of primordial density fluctuations. It presents us a picture of cosmic mass assembly, and places strong constraints on cosmological model. Both observations and theories suggest that structures formation follows a "bottom up" process, in which small, low-mass component form first, and gradually develop into larger, more massive systems. This dissertation focuses on three crucial stages of cosmic structure formation: first generation stars, quasar host galaxies and the large-scale galaxy overdensities. In Chapter 1, I present an overview of structure formation, acquainting readers with a general picture from first object in the Universe to large-scale structures at later epochs. In Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, I derive strong constraints to the star formation rates (SFRs) of very massive Population III (Pop III) stars in two high redshift galaxies at z = 7. By probing the He II emission lines for both galaxies, I conclude that the contributions of very massive Pop III stars to total the SFRs are less than 3%. In Chapter 4, I move to more massive systems, quasar host galaxies at z ˜ 3. Using damped Lyman alpha absorption systems as natural coronagraphs, I report that rest-frame far-UV emission of quasar host galaxy correlates strongly with quasar luminosity. This result suggests a co-evolution of supermassive black holes and their host galaxies. In Chapter 5, I develop a novel method for searching the most massive protoclusters at z = 2--3, by utilizing intergalactic Lyman alpha absorption. My investigations suggest that large intergalactic Lyman alpha absorption systems effectively trace the most overdense regions at large scale of ˜15 h -1 Mpc. In Chapter 6, I present our imaging observations of an extreme galaxy overdensity (protocluster) BOSS1441+4000, which is discovered using the techniques developed in Chapter 5. Furthermore, I report an
Coherent array of branched filamentary scales along the wing margin of a small moth
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yoshida, Akihiro; Tejima, Shin; Sakuma, Masayuki; Sakamaki, Yositaka; Kodama, Ryuji
In butterflies and moths, the wing margins are fringed with specialized scales that are typically longer than common scales. In the hindwings of some small moths, the posterior margins are fringed with particularly long filamentary scales. Despite the small size of these moth wings, these scales are much longer than those of large moths and butterflies. In the current study, photography of the tethered flight of a small moth, Phthorimaea operculella, revealed a wide array composed of a large number of long filamentary scales. This array did not become disheveled in flight, maintaining a coherent sheet-like structure during wingbeat. Examination of the morphology of individual scales revealed that each filamentary scale consists of a proximal stalk and distal branches. Moreover, not only long scales but also shorter scales of various lengths were found to coexist in each small section of the wing margin. Scale branches were ubiquitously and densely distributed within the scale array to form a mesh-like architecture similar to a nonwoven fabric. We propose that possible mechanical interactions among branched filamentary scales, mediated by these branches, may contribute to maintaining a coherent sheet-like structure of the scale array during wingbeat.
Fine-Scale Filamentary Structure in Coronal Streamers
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Woo, Richard; Armstrong, John W.; Bird, Michael K.; Paetzold, Martin
Doppler scintillation measurements of a coronal streamer lasting several solar rotations have been conducted by Ulysses in 1991 over a heliocentric distance range of 14-77 R(sub 0). By showing that the solar corona is filamentary, and that Doppler frequency is the radio counterpart of white-light eclipse pictures processed to enhance spatial gradients, it is demonstrated that Doppler scintillation measurements provide the high spatial resolution that has long eluded white-light coronagraph measurements. The region of enhanced scintillation, spanning an angular extent of 1.8 deg in heliographic longitude, coincides with the radially expanding streamer stalk and represents filamentary structure with scale sizes at least as small as 340 km (0.5 sec) when extrapolated to the Sun. Within the stalk of the streamer, the fine-scale structure corresponding to scale sizes in the range of 20-340 km at the Sun and associated with closed magnetic fields amounts to a few percent of the mean density, while outside the stalk, the fine-scale structure associated with open fields is an order of magnitude lower. Clustering of filamentary structure that takes place within the stalk of the streamer is suggestive of multiple current sheets. Comparison with ISEE 3 in situ plasma measurements shows that significant evolution resulting from dynamic interaction with increasing heliocentric distance takes place by the time streamers reach Earth orbit.
Ultra-fine-scale filamentary structures in the Outer Corona and the Solar Magnetic Field
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Woo, Richard
Filamentary structures following magnetic field lines pervade the Sun's atmosphere and offer us insight into the solar magnetic field. Radio propagation measurements have shown that the smallest filamentary structures in the solar corona are more than 2 orders of magnitude finer than those seen in solar imaging. Here we use radio Doppler measurements to characterize their transverse density gradient and determine their finest scale in the outer corona at 20-30 R(circled dot operator), where open magnetic fields prevail. Filamentary structures overly active regions have the steepest gradient and finest scale, while those overlying coronal holes have the shallowest gradient and least finest scale. Their organization by the underlying corona implies that these subresolution structures extend radially from the entire Sun, confirming that they trace the coronal magnetic field responsible for the radial expansion of the solar wind. That they are rooted all over the Sun elucidates the association between the magnetic field of the photosphere and that of the corona, as revealed by the similarity between the power spectra of the photospheric field and the coronal density fluctuations. This association along with the persistence of filamentary structures far from the Sun demonstrate that subresolution magnetic fields must play an important role not only in magnetic coupling of the photosphere and corona, but also in coronal heating and solar wind acceleration through the process of small-scale magnetic reconnection. They also explain why current widely used theoretical models that extrapolate photospheric magnetic fields into the corona do not predict the correct source of the solar wind.
Comparison of Magnetic Field Structures on Different Scales in and around the Filamentary Dark Cloud GF 9
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Poidevin, F.; Bastien, P.
New visible polarization data combined with existing IR and FIR polarization data are used to study how the magnetic field threading the filamentary molecular cloud GF 9 connects to larger structures in its general environment. When visible and NIR polarization data are combined, no evidence is found for a plateau in the polarization above extinction AV~1.3, as seen in dark clouds in Taurus. This lack of saturation effect suggests that even in the denser parts of GF 9 magnetic fields can be probed. The visible polarization is smooth and has a well-defined orientation. In the core region, the IR and FIR data are also well defined, but each with a different direction. A multiscale analysis of the magnetic field shows that on the scale of a few times the mean radial dimension of the molecular cloud, it is as if the magnetic field were ``blind'' to the spatial distribution of the filaments, while on smaller scales in the core region, multiwavelength polarimetry shows a rotation of the magnetic field lines in these denser phases. Finally, the Chandrasekhar and Fermi method is used to evaluate the magnetic field strength, indicating that the core region is approximately magnetically critical. A global interpretation suggests that in the core region an original poloidal field could have been twisted by a rotating elongated (core+envelope) structure. There is no evidence for turbulence, and ambipolar diffusion does not seem to be effective at the present time.
Sub-ion scale intermittency and the development of filamentary current structures from the Hall effect
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chapman, S. C.; Kiyani, K. H.; Meyrand, R.; Sahraoui, F.; Osman, K.
The distinct quantitative nature of the intermittency seen on fluid and kinetic scales in solar wind plasma turbulence is now well documented from an observational point of view. The classic high-order statistical signature rapidly transitions to a monoscaling signature as one crosses to sub-ion scales. How this scaling depends upon plasma conditions, and the underlying physical implications have yet to be fully explored. We present a study focusing on 28 intervals of solar wind magnetic field data from the Cluster spacecraft sampling a broad range of plasma parameters. We show how the scaling properties vary between these intervals and more importantly, if there are any correlations between the scaling exponents and the plasma parameter variations. We supplement this observational study with a computational investigation where we study spatial samples from an 1024^3 EMHD simulation -- a model for sub-ion scale magnetic field dynamics consisting solely of the Hall effect. From this, we show that the Hall-term can generate a topological change from current sheets at fluid scales to current filaments at sub-ion scales. We conjecture that this fundamental change in the coherent structures comprising the turbulence is also responsible for the change in the intermittency that we see from our observations; and which could also be responsible for dissipation at these scales.
Multi-scale quantum point contact model for filamentary conduction in resistive random access memories devices
Lian, Xiaojuan Cartoixà, Xavier; Miranda, Enrique; Suñé, Jordi; Perniola, Luca; Rurali, Riccardo; Long, Shibing; Liu, Ming
We depart from first-principle simulations of electron transport along paths of oxygen vacancies in HfO{sub 2} to reformulate the Quantum Point Contact (QPC) model in terms of a bundle of such vacancy paths. By doing this, the number of model parameters is reduced and a much clearer link between the microscopic structure of the conductive filament (CF) and its electrical properties can be provided. The new multi-scale QPC model is applied to two different HfO{sub 2}-based devices operated in the unipolar and bipolar resistive switching (RS) modes. Extraction of the QPC model parameters from a statistically significant number of CFs allows revealing significant structural differences in the CF of these two types of devices and RS modes.
Lee, Katherine; Looney, Leslie; Johnstone, Doug; Tobin, John E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com E-mail: email@example.com
Filamentary structures are ubiquitous from large-scale molecular clouds (a few parsecs) to small-scale circumstellar envelopes around Class 0 sources ({approx}1000 AU to {approx}0.1 pc). In particular, recent observations with the Herschel Space Observatory emphasize the importance of large-scale filaments (a few parsecs) and star formation. The small-scale flattened envelopes around Class 0 sources are reminiscent of the large-scale filaments. We propose an observationally derived scenario for filamentary star formation that describes the evolution of filaments as part of the process for formation of cores and circumstellar envelopes. If such a scenario is correct, small-scale filamentary structures (0.1 pc in length) with higher densities embedded in starless cores should exist, although to date almost all the interferometers have failed to observe such structures. We perform synthetic observations of filaments at the prestellar stage by modeling the known Class 0 flattened envelope in L1157 using both the Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy (CARMA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA). We show that with reasonable estimates for the column density through the flattened envelope, the CARMA D array at 3 mm wavelengths is not able to detect such filamentary structure, so previous studies would not have detected them. However, the substructures may be detected with the CARMA D+E array at 3 mm and the CARMA E array at 1 mm as a result of more appropriate resolution and sensitivity. ALMA is also capable of detecting the substructures and showing the structures in detail compared to the CARMA results with its unprecedented sensitivity. Such detection will confirm the new proposed paradigm of non-spherical star formation.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Doolin, B. F.
Classes of large scale dynamic systems were discussed in the context of modern control theory. Specific examples discussed were in the technical fields of aeronautics, water resources and electric power.
Filamentary magnetohydrodynamic plasmas
Kinney, R.; Tajima, T.; Petviashvili, N.; McWilliams, J.C.
A filamentary construct of magnetohydrodynamical plasma dynamics, based on the Elsasser variables was developed. This approach is modeled after discrete vortex models of hydrodynamical turbulence, which cannot be expected in general to produce results identical to ones based on a Fourier decomposition of the fields. In a highly intermittent plasma, the induction force is small compared to the convective motion, and when this force is neglected. the plasma vortex system is described by a Hamiltonian. For a system with many such vortices we present a statistical treatment of a collection of discrete current-vorticity concentrations. Canonical and microcanonical statistical calculations show that both the vorticity and the current spectra are peaked at long wavelengths, and the expected states revert to known hydrodynamical states as the magnetic field vanishes. These results differ from previous Fourier-based statistical theories. but it is found that when the filament calculation is expanded to include the inductive force, the results approach the Fourier equilibria in the low-temperature limit, and the previous Hamiltonian plasma vortex results in the high-temperature limit. Numerical simulations of a large number of filaments are carried out and support the theory. A three-dimensional vortex model is outlined as well, which is also Hamiltonian when the inductive force is neglected.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gad-El-Hak, Mohamed
"Extreme" events - including climatic events, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and drought - can cause massive disruption to society, including large death tolls and property damage in the billions of dollars. Events in recent years have shown the importance of being prepared and that countries need to work together to help alleviate the resulting pain and suffering. This volume presents a review of the broad research field of large-scale disasters. It establishes a common framework for predicting, controlling and managing both manmade and natural disasters. There is a particular focus on events caused by weather and climate change. Other topics include air pollution, tsunamis, disaster modeling, the use of remote sensing and the logistics of disaster management. It will appeal to scientists, engineers, first responders and health-care professionals, in addition to graduate students and researchers who have an interest in the prediction, prevention or mitigation of large-scale disasters.
Formation of large-scale structure from cosmic strings and massive neutrinos
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Scherrer, Robert J.; Melott, Adrian L.; Bertschinger, Edmund
Numerical simulations of large-scale structure formation from cosmic strings and massive neutrinos are described. The linear power spectrum in this model resembles the cold-dark-matter power spectrum. Galaxy formation begins early, and the final distribution consists of isolated density peaks embedded in a smooth background, leading to a natural bias in the distribution of luminous matter. The distribution of clustered matter has a filamentary appearance with large voids.
Large scale traffic simulations
Nagel, K.; Barrett, C.L. |; Rickert, M. |
Large scale microscopic (i.e. vehicle-based) traffic simulations pose high demands on computational speed in at least two application areas: (i) real-time traffic forecasting, and (ii) long-term planning applications (where repeated {open_quotes}looping{close_quotes} between the microsimulation and the simulated planning of individual person`s behavior is necessary). As a rough number, a real-time simulation of an area such as Los Angeles (ca. 1 million travellers) will need a computational speed of much higher than 1 million {open_quotes}particle{close_quotes} (= vehicle) updates per second. This paper reviews how this problem is approached in different projects and how these approaches are dependent both on the specific questions and on the prospective user community. The approaches reach from highly parallel and vectorizable, single-bit implementations on parallel supercomputers for Statistical Physics questions, via more realistic implementations on coupled workstations, to more complicated driving dynamics implemented again on parallel supercomputers. 45 refs., 9 figs., 1 tab.
Large scale tracking algorithms
Hansen, Ross L.; Love, Joshua Alan; Melgaard, David Kennett; Karelitz, David B.; Pitts, Todd Alan; Zollweg, Joshua David; Anderson, Dylan Z.; Nandy, Prabal; Whitlow, Gary L.; Bender, Daniel A.; Byrne, Raymond Harry
Low signal-to-noise data processing algorithms for improved detection, tracking, discrimination and situational threat assessment are a key research challenge. As sensor technologies progress, the number of pixels will increase signi cantly. This will result in increased resolution, which could improve object discrimination, but unfortunately, will also result in a significant increase in the number of potential targets to track. Many tracking techniques, like multi-hypothesis trackers, suffer from a combinatorial explosion as the number of potential targets increase. As the resolution increases, the phenomenology applied towards detection algorithms also changes. For low resolution sensors, "blob" tracking is the norm. For higher resolution data, additional information may be employed in the detection and classfication steps. The most challenging scenarios are those where the targets cannot be fully resolved, yet must be tracked and distinguished for neighboring closely spaced objects. Tracking vehicles in an urban environment is an example of such a challenging scenario. This report evaluates several potential tracking algorithms for large-scale tracking in an urban environment.
Magnetic Field Morphology Studied by Multi-scale Polarimetry in and around the Filamentary Dark Cloud GF-9
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Poidevin, F.; Bastien, P.
We present a summary of results obtained by Poidevin & Bastien (2006) in the GF-9 core region. Multi-scale analysis is used and suggests that an original poloidal magnetic field could have been twisted by a rotating elongated (core+envelope) structure.
Formation of sub-ion scale filamentary force-free structures in the vicinity of reconnection region
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zelenyi, L. M.; Frank, A. G.; Artemyev, A. V.; Petrukovich, A. A.; Nakamura, R.
In this paper we review the results of spacecraft observations of current sheets (CSs) of sub-ion spatial scales in the Earth's magnetotail as well as experiments with these structures in laboratory devices. We demonstrate that such sub-ion CSs having a thickness less than the ion gyroradius are usually formed in the vicinity of the magnetic reconnection region and are supported by strong electron currents flowing along magnetic field lines. The magnetic field configuration of sub-ion CSs is close to the force-free configuration, with a strong shear magnetic field component in the CS central region. Spacecraft observations suggest that parallel electron currents are generated by electron beams (pronounced enhancement of the phase space density for electrons with small pitch angles and energies ˜1-3 keV). We discuss several models describing such force-free sub-ion CSs.
Magnetosheath Filamentary Structures
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rojas-Castillo, D. I.; Blanco-Cano, X.; Omidi, N.; Kajdic, P.
The terrestrial magnetosheath is full of highly perturbed plasma. The inhomogeneity of this region leads to temperature anisotropies that can originate waves; e.g, mirror mode and ion cyclotron waves. Other structures like the magnetosheath filamentary structures (MFS) can also be present. These are structures reported from results of global hybrid simulations by Omidi et al. (2014) that are formed in the quasi-parallel region of the bow shock and they are convected into the magnetosheath. The MFS are characterized by field aligned enhancements of density and temperature that are anti-correlated. In this work we analyze magnetic field and plasma data from the THEMIS mission to explore the possible existence of MFS.
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Vanderplaats, Garrett; Townsend, James C. (Technical Monitor)
The purpose of this research under the NASA Small Business Innovative Research program was to develop algorithms and associated software to solve very large nonlinear, constrained optimization tasks. Key issues included efficiency, reliability, memory, and gradient calculation requirements. This report describes the general optimization problem, ten candidate methods, and detailed evaluations of four candidates. The algorithm chosen for final development is a modern recreation of a 1960s external penalty function method that uses very limited computer memory and computational time. Although of lower efficiency, the new method can solve problems orders of magnitude larger than current methods. The resulting BIGDOT software has been demonstrated on problems with 50,000 variables and about 50,000 active constraints. For unconstrained optimization, it has solved a problem in excess of 135,000 variables. The method includes a technique for solving discrete variable problems that finds a "good" design, although a theoretical optimum cannot be guaranteed. It is very scalable in that the number of function and gradient evaluations does not change significantly with increased problem size. Test cases are provided to demonstrate the efficiency and reliability of the methods and software.
Numerical Simulations of Star Formation in Filamentary Dark Molecular Clouds
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Li, Pak Shing; Klein, Richard I.; McKee, Christopher
Infrared Dark Clouds (IRDCs) are believed to be the precursors to star clusters and massive stars (e.g. Bergin & Tafalla 2007). The complex intertwined braid-like structure of IRDCs (e.g. André et al. 2014) poses a challenge to theorists to explain their dynamics and formation. We have performed large-scale adaptive mesh refinement, driven turbulence, MHD simulations to study the structure and formation of IRDCs. Filamentary structure emerges naturally from the simulations. Magnetic field lines pierce the dark cloud filament primarily in the direction normal to the filament axis. The column density profiles of the main features are well fit by the power law as observations have found (e.g. Hill et al. 2011, Arzoumanian et al. 2011). The dark cloud filaments in the simulation resemble the dark cloud SDC13 (Peretto et al. 2014) and the 3D information from the simulation can be used to explain the observed structure and dynamics of SDC13. We have carried out a detailed analysis of the magnetic field properties of the cloud clumps in our simulations (Li et al. 2015), finding good agreement with the Zeeman observations of Crutcher et al. (2010). We then added radiation, zoomed into the main IRDC filament, and continued one of the simulations to study the star formation inside IRDCs. By including radiation feedback and proto-stellar outflows, we obtain a proto-stellar mass function (PMF) for comparison with theoretical PMFs (McKee & Offner 2010) and the Chabrier IMF. In this presentation, we summarize what we have learned about the formation of filamentary IRDCs, their complex braided filamentary structure, the magnetic properties of cloud clumps inside the IRDC filaments, and star formation in the first half of a free fall time of the system.
Filamentary structure in the Orion molecular cloud
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bally, J.; Langer, W. D.; Bally, J.; Langer, W. D.; Bally, J.; Langer, W. D.
A large scale 13CO map (containing 33,000 spectra) of the giant molecular cloud located in the southern part of Orion is presented which contains the Orion Nebula, NGC1977, and the LI641 dark cloud complex. The overall structure of the cloud is filamentary, with individual features having a length up to 40 times their width. This morphology may result from the effects of star formation in the region or embedded magnetic fields in the cloud. We suggest a simple picture for the evolution of the Orion-A cloud and the formation of the major filament. A rotating proto-cloud (counter rotating with respect to the galaxy) contians a b-field aligned with the galaxtic plane. The northern protion of this cloud collapsed first, perhaps triggered by the pressure of the Ori I OB association. The magnetic field combined with the anisotropic pressure produced by the OB-association breaks the symmetry of the pancake instability, a filament rather than a disc is produced. The growth of instabilities in the filament formed sub-condensations which are recent sites of star formation.
Large-scale structural optimization
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sobieszczanski-Sobieski, J.
Problems encountered by aerospace designers in attempting to optimize whole aircraft are discussed, along with possible solutions. Large scale optimization, as opposed to component-by-component optimization, is hindered by computational costs, software inflexibility, concentration on a single, rather than trade-off, design methodology and the incompatibility of large-scale optimization with single program, single computer methods. The software problem can be approached by placing the full analysis outside of the optimization loop. Full analysis is then performed only periodically. Problem-dependent software can be removed from the generic code using a systems programming technique, and then embody the definitions of design variables, objective function and design constraints. Trade-off algorithms can be used at the design points to obtain quantitative answers. Finally, decomposing the large-scale problem into independent subproblems allows systematic optimization of the problems by an organization of people and machines.
Galaxy clustering on large scales.
Efstathiou, G
I describe some recent observations of large-scale structure in the galaxy distribution. The best constraints come from two-dimensional galaxy surveys and studies of angular correlation functions. Results from galaxy redshift surveys are much less precise but are consistent with the angular correlations, provided the distortions in mapping between real-space and redshift-space are relatively weak. The galaxy two-point correlation function, rich-cluster two-point correlation function, and galaxy-cluster cross-correlation function are all well described on large scales ( greater, similar 20h-1 Mpc, where the Hubble constant, H0 = 100h km.s-1.Mpc; 1 pc = 3.09 x 10(16) m) by the power spectrum of an initially scale-invariant, adiabatic, cold-dark-matter Universe with Gamma = Omegah approximately 0.2. I discuss how this fits in with the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite detection of large-scale anisotropies in the microwave background radiation and other measures of large-scale structure in the Universe. PMID:11607400
Formation of large-scale structure from cosmic-string loops and cold dark matter
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Melott, Adrian L.; Scherrer, Robert J.
Some results from a numerical simulation of the formation of large-scale structure from cosmic-string loops are presented. It is found that even though G x mu is required to be lower than 2 x 10 to the -6th (where mu is the mass per unit length of the string) to give a low enough autocorrelation amplitude, there is excessive power on smaller scales, so that galaxies would be more dense than observed. The large-scale structure does not include a filamentary or connected appearance and shares with more conventional models based on Gaussian perturbations the lack of cluster-cluster correlation at the mean cluster separation scale as well as excessively small bulk velocities at these scales.
Method and apparatus for synthesizing filamentary structures
Height, Murray J.; Howard, Jack B.; Vandersande, John B.
Method and apparatus for producing filamentary structures. The structures include single-walled nanotubes. The method includes combusting hydrocarbon fuel and oxygen to establish a non-sooting flame and providing an unsupported catalyst to synthesize the filamentary structure in a post-flame region of the flame. Residence time is selected to favor filamentary structure growth.
Large scale cluster computing workshop
Dane Skow; Alan Silverman
Recent revolutions in computer hardware and software technologies have paved the way for the large-scale deployment of clusters of commodity computers to address problems heretofore the domain of tightly coupled SMP processors. Near term projects within High Energy Physics and other computing communities will deploy clusters of scale 1000s of processors and be used by 100s to 1000s of independent users. This will expand the reach in both dimensions by an order of magnitude from the current successful production facilities. The goals of this workshop were: (1) to determine what tools exist which can scale up to the cluster sizes foreseen for the next generation of HENP experiments (several thousand nodes) and by implication to identify areas where some investment of money or effort is likely to be needed. (2) To compare and record experimences gained with such tools. (3) To produce a practical guide to all stages of planning, installing, building and operating a large computing cluster in HENP. (4) To identify and connect groups with similar interest within HENP and the larger clustering community.
Optical characteristics of the filamentary and diffuse modes in surface dielectric barrier discharge
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhang, Ying; Li, Jie; Jiang, Nan; Shang, Ke-Feng; Lu, Na; Wu, Yan
Surface dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasmas generally exhibits filamentary and diffuse discharges at atmospheric air. The focus of this investigation is on the different optical characteristics and quantitative research about morphological features of two discharge modes. The temporally and spatially resolved characteristics of discharge phenomenon together with the gas temperature are presented with microsecond time scale. Discharge area is estimated by the sum of pixels that equal to "1" in MATLAB software. The formation of diffuse plasma mainly depends on an increase of the ionization coefficient and a creation of sufficient seed electrons by the Penning effect at low electric fields. Accordingly, experimental measurements show that diffuse discharge during the negative half cycle has good uniformity and stability compared with filamentary discharge during the positive half cycle. The rotational temperatures of plasma are determined by comparing the experimental spectra with the simulated spectra that have been investigated. The plasma gas temperature keeps almost constant in the filamentary discharge phase and subsequently increased by about 115 K during the diffuse discharge. In addition, it is shown to be nearly identical in the axial direction. Non-uniform temperature distribution can be observed in the radial direction with large fluctuations. The plasma length is demonstrated almost the same between two discharge modes.
Fast wave evanescence in filamentary boundary plasmas
Myra, J. R.
Radio frequency waves for heating and current drive of plasmas in tokamaks and other magnetic confinement devices must first traverse the scrape-off-layer (SOL) before they can be put to their intended use. The SOL plasma is strongly turbulent and intermittent in space and time. These turbulent properties of the SOL, which are not routinely taken into account in wave propagation codes, can have an important effect on the coupling of waves through an evanescent SOL or edge plasma region. The effective scale length for fast wave (FW) evanescence in the presence of short-scale field-aligned filamentary plasma turbulence is addressed in this paper. It is shown that although the FW wavelength or evanescent scale length is long compared with the dimensions of the turbulence, the FW does not simply average over the turbulent density; rather, the average is over the exponentiation rate. Implications for practical situations are discussed.
Filamentary and hierarchical pictures - Kinetic energy criterion
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Klypin, Anatoly A.; Melott, Adrian L.
We present a new criterion for formation of second-generation filaments. The criterion called the kinetic energy ratio, KR, is based on comparison of peculiar velocities at different scales. We suggest that the clumpiness of the distribution in some cases might be less important than the 'coldness' or 'hotness' of the flow for formation of coherent structures. The kinetic energy ratio is analogous to the Mach number except for one essential difference. If at some scale KR is greater than 1, as estimated at the linear stage, then when fluctuations of this scale reach nonlinearity, the objects they produce must be anisotropic ('filamentary'). In the case of power-law initial spectra the kinetic ratio criterion suggests that the border line is the power-spectrum with the slope n = -1.
Evolution of baryons in cosmic large scale structure
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Snedden, Ali
We introduce a new self-consistent structure finding algorithm that parses large scale cosmological structure into clusters, filaments and voids. This algorithm probes the structure at multiple scales and classifies the appropriate regions with the most probable structure type and size. We use this structure finding algorithm to parse and follow the evolution of poor clusters, filaments and voids in large scale simulations. We trace the complete evolution of the baryons in the gas phase and the star formation history within each structure. We vary the structure measure threshold to probe the complex inner structure of star forming regions in poor clusters, filaments and voids. We find the majority of star formation occurs in cold condensed gas in filaments at all redshifts and that it peaks at intermediate redshifts (z ~ 3). We also show that much of the star formation above a redshift z = 3 occurs in low contrast regions of filaments, but as the density contrast increases at lower redshift, star formation switches to high contrast regions or the inner parts of filaments. Since filaments bridge between void and cluster regions, this suggests that the majority of star formation occurs in galaxies in intermediate density regions prior to the accretion onto poor clusters. We find that at the present epoch, the gas phase distribution is 43.1%, 30.0%, 24.7% and 2.2% in the diffuse, WHIM, hot halo and condensed phases, respectively. Most of the WHIM is found to be in filamentary structures. Moreover 8.77%, 79.1%, 2.11% and 9.98% of the gas is located in poor clusters, filaments, voids and unassigned regions respectively. We find that both filaments and poor clusters are multiphase environments at redshift z = 0.
Large-Scale Sequence Comparison.
Lal, Devi; Verma, Mansi
There are millions of sequences deposited in genomic databases, and it is an important task to categorize them according to their structural and functional roles. Sequence comparison is a prerequisite for proper categorization of both DNA and protein sequences, and helps in assigning a putative or hypothetical structure and function to a given sequence. There are various methods available for comparing sequences, alignment being first and foremost for sequences with a small number of base pairs as well as for large-scale genome comparison. Various tools are available for performing pairwise large sequence comparison. The best known tools either perform global alignment or generate local alignments between the two sequences. In this chapter we first provide basic information regarding sequence comparison. This is followed by the description of the PAM and BLOSUM matrices that form the basis of sequence comparison. We also give a practical overview of currently available methods such as BLAST and FASTA, followed by a description and overview of tools available for genome comparison including LAGAN, MumMER, BLASTZ, and AVID.
Large-scale PACS implementation.
Carrino, J A; Unkel, P J; Miller, I D; Bowser, C L; Freckleton, M W; Johnson, T G
The transition to filmless radiology is a much more formidable task than making the request for proposal to purchase a (Picture Archiving and Communications System) PACS. The Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration have been pioneers in the transformation of medical diagnostic imaging to the electronic environment. Many civilian sites are expected to implement large-scale PACS in the next five to ten years. This presentation will related the empirical insights gleaned at our institution from a large-scale PACS implementation. Our PACS integration was introduced into a fully operational department (not a new hospital) in which work flow had to continue with minimal impact. Impediments to user acceptance will be addressed. The critical components of this enormous task will be discussed. The topics covered during this session will include issues such as phased implementation, DICOM (digital imaging and communications in medicine) standard-based interaction of devices, hospital information system (HIS)/radiology information system (RIS) interface, user approval, networking, workstation deployment and backup procedures. The presentation will make specific suggestions regarding the implementation team, operating instructions, quality control (QC), training and education. The concept of identifying key functional areas is relevant to transitioning the facility to be entirely on line. Special attention must be paid to specific functional areas such as the operating rooms and trauma rooms where the clinical requirements may not match the PACS capabilities. The printing of films may be necessary for certain circumstances. The integration of teleradiology and remote clinics into a PACS is a salient topic with respect to the overall role of the radiologists providing rapid consultation. A Web-based server allows a clinician to review images and reports on a desk-top (personal) computer and thus reduce the number of dedicated PACS review workstations. This session
Large-scale filaments associated with Milky Way spiral arms
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, Ke; Testi, Leonardo; Ginsburg, Adam; Walmsley, C. Malcolm; Molinari, Sergio; Schisano, Eugenio
The ubiquity of filamentary structure at various scales throughout the Galaxy has triggered a renewed interest in their formation, evolution, and role in star formation. The largest filaments can reach up to Galactic scale as part of the spiral arm structure. However, such large-scale filaments are hard to identify systematically due to limitations in identifying methodology (i.e. as extinction features). We present a new approach to directly search for the largest, coldest, and densest filaments in the Galaxy, making use of sensitive Herschel Hi-GAL (Herschel Infrared Galactic Plane Survey) data complemented by spectral line cubes. We present a sample of the nine most prominent Herschel filaments, including six identified from a pilot search field plus three from outside the field. These filaments measure 37-99 pc long and 0.6-3.0 pc wide with masses (0.5-8.3) × 104 M⊙, and beam-averaged (28 arcsec, or 0.4-0.7 pc) peak H2 column densities of (1.7-9.3)× 1022 cm- 2. The bulk of the filaments are relatively cold (17-21 K), while some local clumps have a dust temperature up to 25-47 K. All the filaments are located within ≲60 pc from the Galactic mid-plane. Comparing the filaments to a recent spiral arm model incorporating the latest parallax measurements, we find that 7/9 of them reside within arms, but most are close to arm edges. These filaments are comparable in length to the Galactic scaleheight and therefore are not simply part of a grander turbulent cascade.
Large-Scale Information Systems
D. M. Nicol; H. R. Ammerlahn; M. E. Goldsby; M. M. Johnson; D. E. Rhodes; A. S. Yoshimura
Large enterprises are ever more dependent on their Large-Scale Information Systems (LSLS), computer systems that are distinguished architecturally by distributed components--data sources, networks, computing engines, simulations, human-in-the-loop control and remote access stations. These systems provide such capabilities as workflow, data fusion and distributed database access. The Nuclear Weapons Complex (NWC) contains many examples of LSIS components, a fact that motivates this research. However, most LSIS in use grew up from collections of separate subsystems that were not designed to be components of an integrated system. For this reason, they are often difficult to analyze and control. The problem is made more difficult by the size of a typical system, its diversity of information sources, and the institutional complexities associated with its geographic distribution across the enterprise. Moreover, there is no integrated approach for analyzing or managing such systems. Indeed, integrated development of LSIS is an active area of academic research. This work developed such an approach by simulating the various components of the LSIS and allowing the simulated components to interact with real LSIS subsystems. This research demonstrated two benefits. First, applying it to a particular LSIS provided a thorough understanding of the interfaces between the system's components. Second, it demonstrated how more rapid and detailed answers could be obtained to questions significant to the enterprise by interacting with the relevant LSIS subsystems through simulated components designed with those questions in mind. In a final, added phase of the project, investigations were made on extending this research to wireless communication networks in support of telemetry applications.
Large Scale Magnetostrictive Valve Actuator
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Richard, James A.; Holleman, Elizabeth; Eddleman, David
Marshall Space Flight Center's Valves, Actuators and Ducts Design and Development Branch developed a large scale magnetostrictive valve actuator. The potential advantages of this technology are faster, more efficient valve actuators that consume less power and provide precise position control and deliver higher flow rates than conventional solenoid valves. Magnetostrictive materials change dimensions when a magnetic field is applied; this property is referred to as magnetostriction. Magnetostriction is caused by the alignment of the magnetic domains in the material s crystalline structure and the applied magnetic field lines. Typically, the material changes shape by elongating in the axial direction and constricting in the radial direction, resulting in no net change in volume. All hardware and testing is complete. This paper will discuss: the potential applications of the technology; overview of the as built actuator design; discuss problems that were uncovered during the development testing; review test data and evaluate weaknesses of the design; and discuss areas for improvement for future work. This actuator holds promises of a low power, high load, proportionally controlled actuator for valves requiring 440 to 1500 newtons load.
Probing large-scale structure with radio observations
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Brown, Shea D.
This thesis focuses on detecting magnetized relativistic plasma in the intergalactic medium (IGM) of filamentary large-scale structure (LSS) by observing synchrotron emission emitted by structure formation shocks. Little is known about the IGM beyond the largest clusters of galaxies, and synchrotron emission holds enormous promise as a means of probing magnetic fields and relativistic particle populations in these low density regions. I'll first report on observations taken at the Very Large Array and the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope of the diffuse radio source 0809+39. I use these observations to demonstrate that 0809+39 is likely the first "radio relic" discovered that is not associated with a rich |"X-ray emitting cluster of galaxies. I then demonstrate that an unconventional reprocessing of the NVSS polarization survey can reveal structures on scales from 15' to hundreds of degrees, far larger than the nominal shortest-baseline scale. This yields hundreds of new diffuse sources as well as the identification of a new nearby galactic loop . These observations also highlight the major obstacle that diffuse galactic foreground emission poses for any search for large-scale, low surface- brightness extragalactic emission. I therefore explore the cross-correlation of diffuse radio emission with optical tracers of LSS as a means of statistically detecting the presence of magnetic fields in the low-density regions of the cosmic web. This initial study with the Bonn 1.4 GHz radio survey yields an upper limit of 0.2 mG for large-scale filament magnetic fields. Finally, I report on new Green Bank Telescope and Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope observations of the famous Coma cluster of galaxies. Major findings include an extension to the Coma cluster radio relic source 1253+275 which makes its total extent ~2 Mpc, as well as a sharp edge, or "front", on the Western side of the radio halo which shows a strong correlation with merger activity associated with an
Fragmentation in filamentary molecular clouds
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Contreras, Yanett; Garay, Guido; Rathborne, Jill M.; Sanhueza, Patricio
Recent surveys of dust continuum emission at sub-mm wavelengths have shown that filamentary molecular clouds are ubiquitous along the Galactic plane. These structures are inhomogeneous, with overdensities that are sometimes associated with infrared emission and active of star formation. To investigate the connection between filaments and star formation, requires an understanding of the processes that lead to the fragmentation of filaments and a determination of the physical properties of the overdensities (clumps). In this paper, we present a multiwavelength study of five filamentary molecular clouds, containing several clumps in different evolutionary stages of star formation. We analyse the fragmentation of the filaments and derive the physical properties of their clumps. We find that the clumps in all filaments have a characteristic spacing consistent with the prediction of the `sausage' instability theory, regardless of the complex morphology of the filaments or their evolutionary stage. We also find that most clumps have sufficient mass and density to form high-mass stars, supporting the idea that high-mass stars and clusters form within filaments.
Jackson, James M.; Finn, Susanna C.; Chambers, Edward T.; Rathborne, Jill M.; Simon, Robert E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com E-mail: email@example.com
The 'Nessie' Nebula is a filamentary infrared dark cloud (IRDC) with a large aspect ratio of over 150:1 (1.{sup 0}5 x 0.{sup 0}01 or 80 pc x 0.5 pc at a kinematic distance of 3.1 kpc). Maps of HNC (1-0) emission, a tracer of dense molecular gas, made with the Australia Telescope National Facility Mopra telescope, show an excellent morphological match to the mid-IR extinction. Moreover, because the molecular line emission from the entire nebula has the same radial velocity to within {+-}3.4 km s{sup -1}, the nebula is a single, coherent cloud and not the chance alignment of multiple unrelated clouds along the line of sight. The Nessie Nebula contains a number of compact, dense molecular cores which have a characteristic projected spacing of {approx}4.5 pc along the filament. The theory of gravitationally bound gaseous cylinders predicts the existence of such cores, which, due to the 'sausage' or 'varicose' fluid instability, fragment from the cylinder at a characteristic length scale. If turbulent pressure dominates over thermal pressure in Nessie, then the observed core spacing matches theoretical predictions. We speculate that the formation of high-mass stars and massive star clusters arises from the fragmentation of filamentary IRDCs caused by the 'sausage' fluid instability that leads to the formation of massive, dense molecular cores. The filamentary molecular gas clouds often found near high-mass star-forming regions (e.g., Orion, NGC 6334, etc.) may represent a later stage of IRDC evolution.
Large-scale Digitoxin Intoxication
Lely, A. H.; Van Enter, C. H. J.
Because of an error in the manufacture of digoxin tablets a large number of patients took tablets that contained 0·20 mg. of digitoxin and 0·05 mg. of digoxin instead of the prescribed 0·25 mg. of digoxin. The symptoms are described of 179 patients who took these tablets and suffered from digitalis intoxication. Of these patients, 125 had taken the faultily composed tablets for more than three weeks. In 48 patients 105 separate disturbances in rhythm or in atrioventricular conduction were observed on the electrocardiogram. Extreme fatigue and serious eye conditions were observed in 95% of the patients. Twelve patients had a transient psychosis. Extensive ophthalmological observations indicated that the visual complaints were most probably caused by a transient retrobulbar neuritis. PMID:5273245
On the large-scale structures formed by wakes of open cosmic strings
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hara, Tetsuya; Morioka, Shoji; Miyoshi, Shigeru
Large-scale structures of the universe have been variously described as sheetlike, filamentary, cellular, bubbles or spongelike. Recently cosmic strings became one of viable candidates for a galaxy formation scenario, and some of the large-scale structures seem to be simply explained by the open cosmic strings. According to this scenario, sheets are wakes which are traces of moving open cosmic strings where dark matter and baryonic matter have accumulated. Filaments are intersections of such wakes and high density regions are places where three wakes intersect almost orthogonally. The wakes formed at t sub eq become the largest surface density among all wakes, where t sub eq is the epoch when matter density equals to radiation density. If we assume that there is one open cosmic string per each horizon, then it can be explained that the typical distances among wakes, filaments and clusters are also approx. 10(exp 2) Mpc. This model does not exclude a much more large scale structure. Open cosmic string may move even now and accumulate cold dark matter after its traces. However, the surface density is much smaller than the ones formed at t sub eq. From this model, it is expected that the typical high density region will have extended features such as six filaments and three sheets and be surrounded by eight empty regions (voids). Here, the authors are mainly concerned with such structures and have made numerical simulations for the formation of such large scale structures.
Large Scale Metal Additive Techniques Review
Nycz, Andrzej; Adediran, Adeola I; Noakes, Mark W; Love, Lonnie J
In recent years additive manufacturing made long strides toward becoming a main stream production technology. Particularly strong progress has been made in large-scale polymer deposition. However, large scale metal additive has not yet reached parity with large scale polymer. This paper is a review study of the metal additive techniques in the context of building large structures. Current commercial devices are capable of printing metal parts on the order of several cubic feet compared to hundreds of cubic feet for the polymer side. In order to follow the polymer progress path several factors are considered: potential to scale, economy, environment friendliness, material properties, feedstock availability, robustness of the process, quality and accuracy, potential for defects, and post processing as well as potential applications. This paper focuses on current state of art of large scale metal additive technology with a focus on expanding the geometric limits.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nigro, G.; Pongkitiwanichakul, P.; Cattaneo, F.; Tobias, S. M.
We consider kinematic dynamo action in a sheared helical flow at moderate to high values of the magnetic Reynolds number (Rm). We find exponentially growing solutions which, for large enough shear, take the form of a coherent part embedded in incoherent fluctuations. We argue that at large Rm large-scale dynamo action should be identified by the presence of structures coherent in time, rather than those at large spatial scales. We further argue that although the growth rate is determined by small-scale processes, the period of the coherent structures is set by mean-field considerations.
Survey on large scale system control methods
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Mercadal, Mathieu
The problem inherent to large scale systems such as power network, communication network and economic or ecological systems were studied. The increase in size and flexibility of future spacecraft has put those dynamical systems into the category of large scale systems, and tools specific to the class of large systems are being sought to design control systems that can guarantee more stability and better performance. Among several survey papers, reference was found to a thorough investigation on decentralized control methods. Especially helpful was the classification made of the different existing approaches to deal with large scale systems. A very similar classification is used, even though the papers surveyed are somehow different from the ones reviewed in other papers. Special attention is brought to the applicability of the existing methods to controlling large mechanical systems like large space structures. Some recent developments are added to this survey.
Large-scale instabilities of helical flows
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cameron, Alexandre; Alexakis, Alexandros; Brachet, Marc-Étienne
Large-scale hydrodynamic instabilities of periodic helical flows of a given wave number K are investigated using three-dimensional Floquet numerical computations. In the Floquet formalism the unstable field is expanded in modes of different spacial periodicity. This allows us (i) to clearly distinguish large from small scale instabilities and (ii) to study modes of wave number q of arbitrarily large-scale separation q ≪K . Different flows are examined including flows that exhibit small-scale turbulence. The growth rate σ of the most unstable mode is measured as a function of the scale separation q /K ≪1 and the Reynolds number Re. It is shown that the growth rate follows the scaling σ ∝q if an AKA effect [Frisch et al., Physica D: Nonlinear Phenomena 28, 382 (1987), 10.1016/0167-2789(87)90026-1] is present or a negative eddy viscosity scaling σ ∝q2 in its absence. This holds both for the Re≪1 regime where previously derived asymptotic results are verified but also for Re=O (1 ) that is beyond their range of validity. Furthermore, for values of Re above a critical value ReSc beyond which small-scale instabilities are present, the growth rate becomes independent of q and the energy of the perturbation at large scales decreases with scale separation. The nonlinear behavior of these large-scale instabilities is also examined in the nonlinear regime where the largest scales of the system are found to be the most dominant energetically. These results are interpreted by low-order models.
Large-scale dynamics of magnetic helicity
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Linkmann, Moritz; Dallas, Vassilios
In this paper we investigate the dynamics of magnetic helicity in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulent flows focusing at scales larger than the forcing scale. Our results show a nonlocal inverse cascade of magnetic helicity, which occurs directly from the forcing scale into the largest scales of the magnetic field. We also observe that no magnetic helicity and no energy is transferred to an intermediate range of scales sufficiently smaller than the container size and larger than the forcing scale. Thus, the statistical properties of this range of scales, which increases with scale separation, is shown to be described to a large extent by the zero flux solutions of the absolute statistical equilibrium theory exhibited by the truncated ideal MHD equations.
Large-scale regions of antimatter
Grobov, A. V. Rubin, S. G.
Amodified mechanism of the formation of large-scale antimatter regions is proposed. Antimatter appears owing to fluctuations of a complex scalar field that carries a baryon charge in the inflation era.
Large-scale galaxy distribution in the Las Campanas Redshift Survey
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Doroshkevich, A. G.; Tucker, D. L.; Fong, R.; Turchaninov, V.; Lin, H.
We make use of three-dimensional clustering analysis, inertia tensor methods, and the minimal spanning tree technique to estimate some physical and statistical characteristics of the large-scale galaxy distribution and, in particular, of the sample of overdense regions seen in the Las Campanas Redshift Survey (LCRS). Our investigation provides additional evidence for a network of structures found in our core sampling analysis of the LCRS: a system of rich sheet-like structures, which in turn surround large underdense regions criss-crossed by a variety of filamentary structures. We find that the overdense regions contain ~40-50 per cent of LCRS galaxies and have proper sizes similar to those of nearby superclusters. The formation of such structures can be roughly described as a non-linear compression of protowalls of typical cross-sectional size ~20-25h-1Mpc this scale is ~5 times the conventional value for the onset of non-linear clustering - to wit, r0, the autocorrelation length for galaxies. The comparison with available simulations and theoretical estimates shows that the formation of structure elements with parameters similar to those observed is presently possible only in low-density cosmological models, Ωmh~0.2-0.3, with a suitable large-scale bias between galaxies and dark matter.
Evaluating Large-Scale Interactive Radio Programmes
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Potter, Charles; Naidoo, Gordon
This article focuses on the challenges involved in conducting evaluations of interactive radio programmes in South Africa with large numbers of schools, teachers, and learners. It focuses on the role such large-scale evaluation has played during the South African radio learning programme's development stage, as well as during its subsequent…
Large-scale cortical networks and cognition.
Bressler, S L
The well-known parcellation of the mammalian cerebral cortex into a large number of functionally distinct cytoarchitectonic areas presents a problem for understanding the complex cortical integrative functions that underlie cognition. How do cortical areas having unique individual functional properties cooperate to accomplish these complex operations? Do neurons distributed throughout the cerebral cortex act together in large-scale functional assemblages? This review examines the substantial body of evidence supporting the view that complex integrative functions are carried out by large-scale networks of cortical areas. Pathway tracing studies in non-human primates have revealed widely distributed networks of interconnected cortical areas, providing an anatomical substrate for large-scale parallel processing of information in the cerebral cortex. Functional coactivation of multiple cortical areas has been demonstrated by neurophysiological studies in non-human primates and several different cognitive functions have been shown to depend on multiple distributed areas by human neuropsychological studies. Electrophysiological studies on interareal synchronization have provided evidence that active neurons in different cortical areas may become not only coactive, but also functionally interdependent. The computational advantages of synchronization between cortical areas in large-scale networks have been elucidated by studies using artificial neural network models. Recent observations of time-varying multi-areal cortical synchronization suggest that the functional topology of a large-scale cortical network is dynamically reorganized during visuomotor behavior.
Large-scale nanophotonic phased array.
Sun, Jie; Timurdogan, Erman; Yaacobi, Ami; Hosseini, Ehsan Shah; Watts, Michael R
Electromagnetic phased arrays at radio frequencies are well known and have enabled applications ranging from communications to radar, broadcasting and astronomy. The ability to generate arbitrary radiation patterns with large-scale phased arrays has long been pursued. Although it is extremely expensive and cumbersome to deploy large-scale radiofrequency phased arrays, optical phased arrays have a unique advantage in that the much shorter optical wavelength holds promise for large-scale integration. However, the short optical wavelength also imposes stringent requirements on fabrication. As a consequence, although optical phased arrays have been studied with various platforms and recently with chip-scale nanophotonics, all of the demonstrations so far are restricted to one-dimensional or small-scale two-dimensional arrays. Here we report the demonstration of a large-scale two-dimensional nanophotonic phased array (NPA), in which 64 × 64 (4,096) optical nanoantennas are densely integrated on a silicon chip within a footprint of 576 μm × 576 μm with all of the nanoantennas precisely balanced in power and aligned in phase to generate a designed, sophisticated radiation pattern in the far field. We also show that active phase tunability can be realized in the proposed NPA by demonstrating dynamic beam steering and shaping with an 8 × 8 array. This work demonstrates that a robust design, together with state-of-the-art complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology, allows large-scale NPAs to be implemented on compact and inexpensive nanophotonic chips. In turn, this enables arbitrary radiation pattern generation using NPAs and therefore extends the functionalities of phased arrays beyond conventional beam focusing and steering, opening up possibilities for large-scale deployment in applications such as communication, laser detection and ranging, three-dimensional holography and biomedical sciences, to name just a few.
Giant radio galaxies as effective probes of X-ray gas in large-scale structure
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Saripalli, Lakshmi; Subrahmanyan, Ravi; Malarecki, Jurek; Jones, Heath; Staveley-Smith, Lister
Giant radio galaxies are AGNs with relativistic jets that dynamically evolve into Mpc scale synchrotron lobes around the host elliptical. The thermal gas environment influences the jet advance and lobe formation. Since the host ellipticals are in filamentary low-density galaxy environments, the ambient gas for the Mpc-scale radio structures is likely the warm-hot X-ray gas inhabiting the intergalactic medium. We have, therefore, used large radio galaxies as probes of the distribution of hot and tenuous gas on mega-parsec scales in these relatively low density large-scale structures.For a sample of 19 giant radio galaxies we obtained radio continuum images of the synchrotron structures, and redshifts of a total of nearly 9000 galaxies in their vicinity. The 2-degree field redshift data traces the large-scale galaxy structure around the radio sources. The radio-optical data allows an estimation of the pressure, temperature and distribution of hot thermal gas associated with the large-scale structure in the vicinity of the radio AGN (Malarecki, Staveley-Smith, Saripalli, Subrahmanyan, Jones, Duffy, Rioja 2013, MNRAS 432, 200).Strong correspondence between radio galaxy lobes and galaxy distribution is observed. The data suggests that galaxies trace gas, and that radio jets and lobes of giant radio galaxies are sensitive tracers of gas on mega-parsec scales and may be used as effective probes of the difficult-to-detect IGM (Malarecki, Jones, Saripalli, Stavele-Smith, Subrahmanyan, 2015, MNRAS in press; arXiv150203954).
Gravitational instability of filamentary molecular clouds, including ambipolar diffusion
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hosseinirad, Mohammad; Naficy, Kazem; Abbassi, Shahram; Roshan, Mahmood
The gravitational instability of a filamentary molecular cloud in non-ideal magnetohydrodynamics is investigated. The filament is assumed to be in hydrostatic equilibrium. We add the effect of ambipolar diffusion to the filament which is threaded by an initial uniform axial magnetic field along its axis. We write down the fluid equations in cylindrical coordinates and perform linear perturbation analysis. We integrate the resultant differential equations and then derive the numerical dispersion relation. We find that a more efficient ambipolar diffusion leads to an enhancement of the growth of the most unstable mode, and to the increase of the fragmentation scale of the filament.
"Cosmological Parameters from Large Scale Structure"
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hamilton, A. J. S.
This grant has provided primary support for graduate student Mark Neyrinck, and some support for the PI and for colleague Nick Gnedin, who helped co-supervise Neyrinck. This award had two major goals. First, to continue to develop and apply methods for measuring galaxy power spectra on large, linear scales, with a view to constraining cosmological parameters. And second, to begin try to understand galaxy clustering at smaller. nonlinear scales well enough to constrain cosmology from those scales also. Under this grant, the PI and collaborators, notably Max Tegmark. continued to improve their technology for measuring power spectra from galaxy surveys at large, linear scales. and to apply the technology to surveys as the data become available. We believe that our methods are best in the world. These measurements become the foundation from which we and other groups measure cosmological parameters.
The large-scale distribution of galaxies
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Geller, Margaret J.
The spatial distribution of galaxies in the universe is characterized on the basis of the six completed strips of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics redshift-survey extension. The design of the survey is briefly reviewed, and the results are presented graphically. Vast low-density voids similar to the void in Bootes are found, almost completely surrounded by thin sheets of galaxies. Also discussed are the implications of the results for the survey sampling problem, the two-point correlation function of the galaxy distribution, the possibility of detecting large-scale coherent flows, theoretical models of large-scale structure, and the identification of groups and clusters of galaxies.
FilFinder: Filamentary structure in molecular clouds
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Koch, Eric W.; Rosolowsky, Erik W.
FilFinder extracts and analyzes filamentary structure in molecular clouds. In particular, it is capable of uniformly extracting structure over a large dynamical range in intensity. It returns the main filament properties: local amplitude and background, width, length, orientation and curvature. FilFinder offers additional tools to, for example, create a filament-only image based on the properties of the radial fits. The resulting mask and skeletons may be saved in FITS format, and property tables may be saved as a CSV, FITS or LaTeX table.
The Electrical Characteristics of a Filamentary Dielectric Barrier Discharge
Tay, W. H.; Yap, S. L.; Wong, C. S.
The electrical characteristics of a filamentary dielectric barrier discharge using parallel-plate electrodes geometry were statistically studied. The DBD's system was powered by a 50 Hz power supply and operated at atmospheric pressure. The influence of the air gap and position of dielectric on the discharge had been investigated. It was found that the air gap distance and position of dielectric had significant influence on the discharge current pulse. The results showed that discharge with large distance between the high voltage electrode and the dielectric would generate higher current pulses during the positive cycle. The discharge energy of single pulse was also determined.
Particle Acceleration at Filamentary Structures Downstream of Collisionless Shocks in the Heliosphere.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kucharek, H.; Pogorelov, N. V.; Gamayunov, K. V.
Collisionless shocks are an important feature in astrophysical, heliospheric and magnetospheric settings. At these structures plasma is heated, the properties of flows are changed, and particles are accelerated to high energies. Particles are accelerated throughout the heliosphere. There are no times or conditions where suprathermal ions forming tails are not present on the solar wind ion distribution, and given the low speeds of these particles they must be accelerated locally in the heliosphere. Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and co-rotating interaction regions (CIRs) accelerate particles up to 10s of MeV/nucleon. The termination shock of the solar and the heliosheath produce energetic particles including the Anomalous Cosmic Rays (ACRs), with energies in excess of 100 MeV. In the last few years' very interesting observations at low energies showing power laws that cannot be explained with commonly accepted acceleration mechanisms and thus increased the need for alternative acceleration processes. Fully consistent kinetic particle simulations such as hybrid simulations appear to be a powerful tool to investigated ion acceleration. Nowadays these simulations can be performed in 3D and relative large simulation domains covering up to hundreds of ion inertial length in size and thus representing the MHD scale. These 3D hybrid simulations show filamentary magnetic and density structures, which could be interpreted as small-scale flux ropes. The growth of these small-scale structures is also associated with ion acceleration. In this talk we will discuss properties of these filamentary structures, their spatial and temporal evolution and the particle dynamics during the acceleration process. The results of this study may be of particular importance for future high resolution magnetospheric and heliospheric mission such as THOR.
Large-scale neuromorphic computing systems
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Furber, Steve
Neuromorphic computing covers a diverse range of approaches to information processing all of which demonstrate some degree of neurobiological inspiration that differentiates them from mainstream conventional computing systems. The philosophy behind neuromorphic computing has its origins in the seminal work carried out by Carver Mead at Caltech in the late 1980s. This early work influenced others to carry developments forward, and advances in VLSI technology supported steady growth in the scale and capability of neuromorphic devices. Recently, a number of large-scale neuromorphic projects have emerged, taking the approach to unprecedented scales and capabilities. These large-scale projects are associated with major new funding initiatives for brain-related research, creating a sense that the time and circumstances are right for progress in our understanding of information processing in the brain. In this review we present a brief history of neuromorphic engineering then focus on some of the principal current large-scale projects, their main features, how their approaches are complementary and distinct, their advantages and drawbacks, and highlight the sorts of capabilities that each can deliver to neural modellers.
Management of large-scale technology
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Levine, A.
Two major themes are addressed in this assessment of the management of large-scale NASA programs: (1) how a high technology agency was a decade marked by a rapid expansion of funds and manpower in the first half and almost as rapid contraction in the second; and (2) how NASA combined central planning and control with decentralized project execution.
Large-scale Advanced Propfan (LAP) program
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sagerser, D. A.; Ludemann, S. G.
The propfan is an advanced propeller concept which maintains the high efficiencies traditionally associated with conventional propellers at the higher aircraft cruise speeds associated with jet transports. The large-scale advanced propfan (LAP) program extends the research done on 2 ft diameter propfan models to a 9 ft diameter article. The program includes design, fabrication, and testing of both an eight bladed, 9 ft diameter propfan, designated SR-7L, and a 2 ft diameter aeroelastically scaled model, SR-7A. The LAP program is complemented by the propfan test assessment (PTA) program, which takes the large-scale propfan and mates it with a gas generator and gearbox to form a propfan propulsion system and then flight tests this system on the wing of a Gulfstream 2 testbed aircraft.
Experimental Simulations of Large-Scale Collisions
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Housen, Kevin R.
This report summarizes research on the effects of target porosity on the mechanics of impact cratering. Impact experiments conducted on a centrifuge provide direct simulations of large-scale cratering on porous asteroids. The experiments show that large craters in porous materials form mostly by compaction, with essentially no deposition of material into the ejecta blanket that is a signature of cratering in less-porous materials. The ratio of ejecta mass to crater mass is shown to decrease with increasing crater size or target porosity. These results are consistent with the observation that large closely-packed craters on asteroid Mathilde appear to have formed without degradation to earlier craters.
Neutrino footprint in large scale structure
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Garay, Carlos Peña; Verde, Licia; Jimenez, Raul
Recent constrains on the sum of neutrino masses inferred by analyzing cosmological data, show that detecting a non-zero neutrino mass is within reach of forthcoming cosmological surveys. Such a measurement will imply a direct determination of the absolute neutrino mass scale. Physically, the measurement relies on constraining the shape of the matter power spectrum below the neutrino free streaming scale: massive neutrinos erase power at these scales. However, detection of a lack of small-scale power from cosmological data could also be due to a host of other effects. It is therefore of paramount importance to validate neutrinos as the source of power suppression at small scales. We show that, independent on hierarchy, neutrinos always show a footprint on large, linear scales; the exact location and properties are fully specified by the measured power suppression (an astrophysical measurement) and atmospheric neutrinos mass splitting (a neutrino oscillation experiment measurement). This feature cannot be easily mimicked by systematic uncertainties in the cosmological data analysis or modifications in the cosmological model. Therefore the measurement of such a feature, up to 1% relative change in the power spectrum for extreme differences in the mass eigenstates mass ratios, is a smoking gun for confirming the determination of the absolute neutrino mass scale from cosmological observations. It also demonstrates the synergy between astrophysics and particle physics experiments.
Scale up of large ALON windows
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Goldman, Lee M.; Balasubramanian, Sreeram; Kashalikar, Uday; Foti, Robyn; Sastri, Suri
Aluminum Oxynitride (ALON® Optical Ceramic) combines broadband transparency with excellent mechanical properties. ALON's cubic structure means that it is transparent in its polycrystalline form, allowing it to be manufactured by conventional powder processing techniques. Surmet has established a robust manufacturing process, beginning with synthesis of ALON® powder, continuing through forming/heat treatment of blanks, and ending with optical fabrication of ALON® windows. Surmet has made significant progress in our production capability in recent years. Additional scale up of Surmet's manufacturing capability, for larger sizes and higher quantities, is currently underway. ALON® transparent armor represents the state of the art in protection against armor piercing threats, offering a factor of two in weight and thickness savings over conventional glass laminates. Tiled and monolithic windows have been successfully produced and tested against a range of threats. Large ALON® window are also of interest to a range of visible to Mid-Wave Infra-Red (MWIR) sensor applications. These applications often have stressing imaging requirements which in turn require that these large windows have optical characteristics including excellent homogeneity of index of refraction and very low stress birefringence. Surmet is currently scaling up its production facility to be able to make and deliver ALON® monolithic windows as large as ~19x36-in. Additionally, Surmet has plans to scale up to windows ~3ftx3ft in size in the coming years. Recent results with scale up and characterization of the resulting blanks will be presented.
Large-Scale PV Integration Study
Lu, Shuai; Etingov, Pavel V.; Diao, Ruisheng; Ma, Jian; Samaan, Nader A.; Makarov, Yuri V.; Guo, Xinxin; Hafen, Ryan P.; Jin, Chunlian; Kirkham, Harold; Shlatz, Eugene; Frantzis, Lisa; McClive, Timothy; Karlson, Gregory; Acharya, Dhruv; Ellis, Abraham; Stein, Joshua; Hansen, Clifford; Chadliev, Vladimir; Smart, Michael; Salgo, Richard; Sorensen, Rahn; Allen, Barbara; Idelchik, Boris
This research effort evaluates the impact of large-scale photovoltaic (PV) and distributed generation (DG) output on NV Energy's electric grid system in southern Nevada. It analyzes the ability of NV Energy's generation to accommodate increasing amounts of utility-scale PV and DG, and the resulting cost of integrating variable renewable resources. The study was jointly funded by the United States Department of Energy and NV Energy, and conducted by a project team comprised of industry experts and research scientists from Navigant Consulting Inc., Sandia National Laboratories, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and NV Energy.
Condition Monitoring of Large-Scale Facilities
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hall, David L.
This document provides a summary of the research conducted for the NASA Ames Research Center under grant NAG2-1182 (Condition-Based Monitoring of Large-Scale Facilities). The information includes copies of view graphs presented at NASA Ames in the final Workshop (held during December of 1998), as well as a copy of a technical report provided to the COTR (Dr. Anne Patterson-Hine) subsequent to the workshop. The material describes the experimental design, collection of data, and analysis results associated with monitoring the health of large-scale facilities. In addition to this material, a copy of the Pennsylvania State University Applied Research Laboratory data fusion visual programming tool kit was also provided to NASA Ames researchers.
Large-Scale Aerosol Modeling and Analysis
aerosol species up to six days in advance anywhere on the globe. NAAPS and COAMPS are particularly useful for forecasts of dust storms in areas...impact cloud processes globally. With increasing dust storms due to climate change and land use changes in desert regions, the impact of the...bacteria in large-scale dust storms is expected to significantly impact warm ice cloud formation, human health, and ecosystems globally. In Niemi et al
Economically viable large-scale hydrogen liquefaction
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cardella, U.; Decker, L.; Klein, H.
The liquid hydrogen demand, particularly driven by clean energy applications, will rise in the near future. As industrial large scale liquefiers will play a major role within the hydrogen supply chain, production capacity will have to increase by a multiple of today's typical sizes. The main goal is to reduce the total cost of ownership for these plants by increasing energy efficiency with innovative and simple process designs, optimized in capital expenditure. New concepts must ensure a manageable plant complexity and flexible operability. In the phase of process development and selection, a dimensioning of key equipment for large scale liquefiers, such as turbines and compressors as well as heat exchangers, must be performed iteratively to ensure technological feasibility and maturity. Further critical aspects related to hydrogen liquefaction, e.g. fluid properties, ortho-para hydrogen conversion, and coldbox configuration, must be analysed in detail. This paper provides an overview on the approach, challenges and preliminary results in the development of efficient as well as economically viable concepts for large-scale hydrogen liquefaction.
Large-Scale Visual Data Analysis
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Johnson, Chris
Modern high performance computers have speeds measured in petaflops and handle data set sizes measured in terabytes and petabytes. Although these machines offer enormous potential for solving very large-scale realistic computational problems, their effectiveness will hinge upon the ability of human experts to interact with their simulation results and extract useful information. One of the greatest scientific challenges of the 21st century is to effectively understand and make use of the vast amount of information being produced. Visual data analysis will be among our most most important tools in helping to understand such large-scale information. Our research at the Scientific Computing and Imaging (SCI) Institute at the University of Utah has focused on innovative, scalable techniques for large-scale 3D visual data analysis. In this talk, I will present state- of-the-art visualization techniques, including scalable visualization algorithms and software, cluster-based visualization methods and innovate visualization techniques applied to problems in computational science, engineering, and medicine. I will conclude with an outline for a future high performance visualization research challenges and opportunities.
Filamentary probe on the COMPASS tokamak
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kovarik, K.; Duran, I.; Stockel, J.; Seidl, J.; Adamek, J.; Spolaore, M.; Vianello, N.; Hacek, P.; Hron, M.; Panek, R.
This paper describes a new filamentary probe recently introduced on the COMPASS tokamak. It allows the measurement of electrostatic and magnetic properties of the filaments and their changes in dependence on distance from the separatrix in the region between a divertor and midplane. The probe head is mounted on a manipulator moving the probe radially on a shot-to-shot basis. This configuration is suitable for the long term statistical measurement of the plasma filaments and the measurement of their evolution during their propagation from the separatrix to the wall. The basics of the filamentary probe construction, the evolution of the plasma parameters, and first conditional averages of the plasma filaments in the scrape-off layer of the COMPASS tokamak during the L-mode regime are presented.
Large scale preparation of pure phycobiliproteins.
Padgett, M P; Krogmann, D W
This paper describes simple procedures for the purification of large amounts of phycocyanin and allophycocyanin from the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa. A homogeneous natural bloom of this organism provided hundreds of kilograms of cells. Large samples of cells were broken by freezing and thawing. Repeated extraction of the broken cells with distilled water released phycocyanin first, then allophycocyanin, and provides supporting evidence for the current models of phycobilisome structure. The very low ionic strength of the aqueous extracts allowed allophycocyanin release in a particulate form so that this protein could be easily concentrated by centrifugation. Other proteins in the extract were enriched and concentrated by large scale membrane filtration. The biliproteins were purified to homogeneity by chromatography on DEAE cellulose. Purity was established by HPLC and by N-terminal amino acid sequence analysis. The proteins were examined for stability at various pHs and exposures to visible light.
Supporting large-scale computational science
Musick, R
A study has been carried out to determine the feasibility of using commercial database management systems (DBMSs) to support large-scale computational science. Conventional wisdom in the past has been that DBMSs are too slow for such data. Several events over the past few years have muddied the clarity of this mindset: 1. 2. 3. 4. Several commercial DBMS systems have demonstrated storage and ad-hoc quer access to Terabyte data sets. Several large-scale science teams, such as EOSDIS [NAS91], high energy physics [MM97] and human genome [Kin93] have adopted (or make frequent use of) commercial DBMS systems as the central part of their data management scheme. Several major DBMS vendors have introduced their first object-relational products (ORDBMSs), which have the potential to support large, array-oriented data. In some cases, performance is a moot issue. This is true in particular if the performance of legacy applications is not reduced while new, albeit slow, capabilities are added to the system. The basic assessment is still that DBMSs do not scale to large computational data. However, many of the reasons have changed, and there is an expiration date attached to that prognosis. This document expands on this conclusion, identifies the advantages and disadvantages of various commercial approaches, and describes the studies carried out in exploring this area. The document is meant to be brief, technical and informative, rather than a motivational pitch. The conclusions within are very likely to become outdated within the next 5-7 years, as market forces will have a significant impact on the state of the art in scientific data management over the next decade.
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ali, Aamir; Appel, John W.; Bennett, Charles L.; Boone, Fletcher; Brewer, Michael; Chan, Manwei; Chuss, David T.; Colazo, Felipe; Dahal, Sumit; Denis, Kevin; Dünner, Rolando; Eimer, Joseph; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fluxa, Pedro; Halpern, Mark; Hilton, Gene; Hinshaw, Gary F.; Hubmayr, Johannes; Iuliano, Jeffrey; Karakla, John; Marriage, Tobias; McMahon, Jeff; Miller, Nathan; Moseley, Samuel H.; Palma, Gonzalo; Parker, Lucas; Petroff, Matthew; Pradenas, Bastián; Rostem, Karwan; Sagliocca, Marco; Valle, Deniz; Watts, Duncan; Wollack, Edward; Xu, Zhilei; Zeng, Lingzhen
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveryor (CLASS) is a ground based telescope array designed to measure the large-angular scale polarization signal of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The large-angular scale CMB polarization measurement is essential for a precise determination of the optical depth to reionization (from the E-mode polarization) and a characterization of inflation from the predicted polarization pattern imprinted on the CMB by gravitational waves in the early universe (from the B-mode polarization). CLASS will characterize the primordial tensor-to-scalar ratio, r, to 0.01 (95% CL).CLASS is uniquely designed to be sensitive to the primordial B-mode signal across the entire range of angular scales where it could possibly dominate over the lensing signal that converts E-modes to B-modes while also making multi-frequency observations both high and low of the frequency where the CMB-to-foreground signal ratio is at its maximum. The design enables CLASS to make a definitive cosmic-variance-limited measurement of the optical depth to scattering from reionization.CLASS is an array of 4 telescopes operating at approximately 40, 90, 150, and 220 GHz. CLASS is located high in the Andes mountains in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. The location of the CLASS site at high altitude near the equator minimizes atmospheric emission while allowing for daily mapping of ~70% of the sky.A rapid front end Variable-delay Polarization Modulator (VPM) and low noise Transition Edge Sensor (TES) detectors allow for a high sensitivity and low systematic error mapping of the CMB polarization at large angular scales. The VPM, detectors and their coupling structures were all uniquely designed and built for CLASS.We present here an overview of the CLASS scientific strategy, instrument design, and current progress. Particular attention is given to the development and status of the Q-band receiver currently surveying the sky from the Atacama Desert and the development of
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS)
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Harrington, Kathleen; Marriange, Tobias; Aamir, Ali; Appel, John W.; Bennett, Charles L.; Boone, Fletcher; Brewer, Michael; Chan, Manwei; Chuss, David T.; Colazo, Felipe; Denis, Kevin; Moseley, Samuel H.; Rostem, Karwan; Wollack, Edward
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is a four telescope array designed to characterize relic primordial gravitational waves from in ation and the optical depth to reionization through a measurement of the polarized cosmic microwave background (CMB) on the largest angular scales. The frequencies of the four CLASS telescopes, one at 38 GHz, two at 93 GHz, and one dichroic system at 145/217 GHz, are chosen to avoid spectral regions of high atmospheric emission and span the minimum of the polarized Galactic foregrounds: synchrotron emission at lower frequencies and dust emission at higher frequencies. Low-noise transition edge sensor detectors and a rapid front-end polarization modulator provide a unique combination of high sensitivity, stability, and control of systematics. The CLASS site, at 5200 m in the Chilean Atacama desert, allows for daily mapping of up to 70% of the sky and enables the characterization of CMB polarization at the largest angular scales. Using this combination of a broad frequency range, large sky coverage, control over systematics, and high sensitivity, CLASS will observe the reionization and recombination peaks of the CMB E- and B-mode power spectra. CLASS will make a cosmic variance limited measurement of the optical depth to reionization and will measure or place upper limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r, down to a level of 0.01 (95% C.L.).
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Harrington, Kathleen; Marriage, Tobias; Ali, Aamir; Appel, John W.; Bennett, Charles L.; Boone, Fletcher; Brewer, Michael; Chan, Manwei; Chuss, David T.; Colazo, Felipe; Dahal, Sumit; Denis, Kevin; Dünner, Rolando; Eimer, Joseph; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Fluxa, Pedro; Halpern, Mark; Hilton, Gene; Hinshaw, Gary F.; Hubmayr, Johannes; Iuliano, Jeffrey; Karakla, John; McMahon, Jeff; Miller, Nathan T.; Moseley, Samuel H.; Palma, Gonzalo; Parker, Lucas; Petroff, Matthew; Pradenas, Bastián.; Rostem, Karwan; Sagliocca, Marco; Valle, Deniz; Watts, Duncan; Wollack, Edward; Xu, Zhilei; Zeng, Lingzhen
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is a four telescope array designed to characterize relic primordial gravitational waves from in ation and the optical depth to reionization through a measurement of the polarized cosmic microwave background (CMB) on the largest angular scales. The frequencies of the four CLASS telescopes, one at 38 GHz, two at 93 GHz, and one dichroic system at 145/217 GHz, are chosen to avoid spectral regions of high atmospheric emission and span the minimum of the polarized Galactic foregrounds: synchrotron emission at lower frequencies and dust emission at higher frequencies. Low-noise transition edge sensor detectors and a rapid front-end polarization modulator provide a unique combination of high sensitivity, stability, and control of systematics. The CLASS site, at 5200 m in the Chilean Atacama desert, allows for daily mapping of up to 70% of the sky and enables the characterization of CMB polarization at the largest angular scales. Using this combination of a broad frequency range, large sky coverage, control over systematics, and high sensitivity, CLASS will observe the reionization and recombination peaks of the CMB E- and B-mode power spectra. CLASS will make a cosmic variance limited measurement of the optical depth to reionization and will measure or place upper limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, r, down to a level of 0.01 (95% C.L.).
Large-scale quasi-geostrophic magnetohydrodynamics
Balk, Alexander M.
We consider the ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) of a shallow fluid layer on a rapidly rotating planet or star. The presence of a background toroidal magnetic field is assumed, and the 'shallow water' beta-plane approximation is used. We derive a single equation for the slow large length scale dynamics. The range of validity of this equation fits the MHD of the lighter fluid at the top of Earth's outer core. The form of this equation is similar to the quasi-geostrophic (Q-G) equation (for usual ocean or atmosphere), but the parameters are essentially different. Our equation also implies the inverse cascade; but contrary to the usual Q-G situation, the energy cascades to smaller length scales, while the enstrophy cascades to the larger scales. We find the Kolmogorov-type spectrum for the inverse cascade. The spectrum indicates the energy accumulation in larger scales. In addition to the energy and enstrophy, the obtained equation possesses an extra (adiabatic-type) invariant. Its presence implies energy accumulation in the 30° sector around zonal direction. With some special energy input, the extra invariant can lead to the accumulation of energy in zonal magnetic field; this happens if the input of the extra invariant is small, while the energy input is considerable.
Large-scale optimization of neuron arbors
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cherniak, Christopher; Changizi, Mark; Won Kang, Du
At the global as well as local scales, some of the geometry of types of neuron arbors-both dendrites and axons-appears to be self-organizing: Their morphogenesis behaves like flowing water, that is, fluid dynamically; waterflow in branching networks in turn acts like a tree composed of cords under tension, that is, vector mechanically. Branch diameters and angles and junction sites conform significantly to this model. The result is that such neuron tree samples globally minimize their total volume-rather than, for example, surface area or branch length. In addition, the arbors perform well at generating the cheapest topology interconnecting their terminals: their large-scale layouts are among the best of all such possible connecting patterns, approaching 5% of optimum. This model also applies comparably to arterial and river networks.
Voids in the Large-Scale Structure
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
El-Ad, Hagai; Piran, Tsvi
Voids are the most prominent feature of the large-scale structure of the universe. Still, their incorporation into quantitative analysis of it has been relatively recent, owing essentially to the lack of an objective tool to identify the voids and to quantify them. To overcome this, we present here the VOID FINDER algorithm, a novel tool for objectively quantifying voids in the galaxy distribution. The algorithm first classifies galaxies as either wall galaxies or field galaxies. Then, it identifies voids in the wall-galaxy distribution. Voids are defined as continuous volumes that do not contain any wall galaxies. The voids must be thicker than an adjustable limit, which is refined in successive iterations. In this way, we identify the same regions that would be recognized as voids by the eye. Small breaches in the walls are ignored, avoiding artificial connections between neighboring voids. We test the algorithm using Voronoi tesselations. By appropriate scaling of the parameters with the selection function, we apply it to two redshift surveys, the dense SSRS2 and the full-sky IRAS 1.2 Jy. Both surveys show similar properties: ~50% of the volume is filled by voids. The voids have a scale of at least 40 h-1 Mpc and an average -0.9 underdensity. Faint galaxies do not fill the voids, but they do populate them more than bright ones. These results suggest that both optically and IRAS-selected galaxies delineate the same large-scale structure. Comparison with the recovered mass distribution further suggests that the observed voids in the galaxy distribution correspond well to underdense regions in the mass distribution. This confirms the gravitational origin of the voids.
Neutrinos and large-scale structure
Eisenstein, Daniel J.
I review the use of cosmological large-scale structure to measure properties of neutrinos and other relic populations of light relativistic particles. With experiments to measure the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave anisotropies and the clustering of matter at low redshift, we now have securely measured a relativistic background with density appropriate to the cosmic neutrino background. Our limits on the mass of the neutrino continue to shrink. Experiments coming in the next decade will greatly improve the available precision on searches for the energy density of novel relativistic backgrounds and the mass of neutrinos.
Large-scale planar lightwave circuits
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bidnyk, Serge; Zhang, Hua; Pearson, Matt; Balakrishnan, Ashok
By leveraging advanced wafer processing and flip-chip bonding techniques, we have succeeded in hybrid integrating a myriad of active optical components, including photodetectors and laser diodes, with our planar lightwave circuit (PLC) platform. We have combined hybrid integration of active components with monolithic integration of other critical functions, such as diffraction gratings, on-chip mirrors, mode-converters, and thermo-optic elements. Further process development has led to the integration of polarization controlling functionality. Most recently, all these technological advancements have been combined to create large-scale planar lightwave circuits that comprise hundreds of optical elements integrated on chips less than a square inch in size.
Colloquium: Large scale simulations on GPU clusters
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bernaschi, Massimo; Bisson, Mauro; Fatica, Massimiliano
Graphics processing units (GPU) are currently used as a cost-effective platform for computer simulations and big-data processing. Large scale applications require that multiple GPUs work together but the efficiency obtained with cluster of GPUs is, at times, sub-optimal because the GPU features are not exploited at their best. We describe how it is possible to achieve an excellent efficiency for applications in statistical mechanics, particle dynamics and networks analysis by using suitable memory access patterns and mechanisms like CUDA streams, profiling tools, etc. Similar concepts and techniques may be applied also to other problems like the solution of Partial Differential Equations.
Large scale phononic metamaterials for seismic isolation
Aravantinos-Zafiris, N.; Sigalas, M. M.
In this work, we numerically examine structures that could be characterized as large scale phononic metamaterials. These novel structures could have band gaps in the frequency spectrum of seismic waves when their dimensions are chosen appropriately, thus raising the belief that they could be serious candidates for seismic isolation structures. Different and easy to fabricate structures were examined made from construction materials such as concrete and steel. The well-known finite difference time domain method is used in our calculations in order to calculate the band structures of the proposed metamaterials.
Large-scale Heterogeneous Network Data Analysis
Data for Multi-Player Influence Maximization on Social Networks." KDD 2012 (Demo). Po-Tzu Chang , Yen-Chieh Huang, Cheng-Lun Yang, Shou-De Lin, Pu...Jen Cheng. "Learning-Based Time-Sensitive Re-Ranking for Web Search." SIGIR 2012 (poster) Hung -Che Lai, Cheng-Te Li, Yi-Chen Lo, and Shou-De Lin...Exploiting and Evaluating MapReduce for Large-Scale Graph Mining." ASONAM 2012 (Full, 16% acceptance ratio). Hsun-Ping Hsieh , Cheng-Te Li, and Shou
Primer design for large scale sequencing.
Haas, S; Vingron, M; Poustka, A; Wiemann, S
We have developed PRIDE, a primer design program that automatically designs primers in single contigs or whole sequencing projects to extend the already known sequence and to double strand single-stranded regions. The program is fully integrated into the Staden package (GAP4) and accessible with a graphical user interface. PRIDE uses a fuzzy logic-based system to calculate primer qualities. The computational performance of PRIDE is enhanced by using suffix trees to store the huge amount of data being produced. A test set of 110 sequencing primers and 11 PCR primer pairs has been designed on genomic templates, cDNAs and sequences containing repetitive elements to analyze PRIDE's success rate. The high performance of PRIDE, combined with its minimal requirement of user interaction and its fast algorithm, make this program useful for the large scale design of primers, especially in large sequencing projects.
Large-Scale Organization of Glycosylation Networks
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kim, Pan-Jun; Lee, Dong-Yup; Jeong, Hawoong
Glycosylation is a highly complex process to produce a diverse repertoire of cellular glycans that are frequently attached to proteins and lipids. Glycans participate in fundamental biological processes including molecular trafficking and clearance, cell proliferation and apoptosis, developmental biology, immune response, and pathogenesis. N-linked glycans found on proteins are formed by sequential attachments of monosaccharides with the help of a relatively small number of enzymes. Many of these enzymes can accept multiple N-linked glycans as substrates, thus generating a large number of glycan intermediates and their intermingled pathways. Motivated by the quantitative methods developed in complex network research, we investigate the large-scale organization of such N-glycosylation pathways in a mammalian cell. The uncovered results give the experimentally-testable predictions for glycosylation process, and can be applied to the engineering of therapeutic glycoproteins.
Primer design for large scale sequencing.
Haas, S; Vingron, M; Poustka, A; Wiemann, S
We have developed PRIDE, a primer design program that automatically designs primers in single contigs or whole sequencing projects to extend the already known sequence and to double strand single-stranded regions. The program is fully integrated into the Staden package (GAP4) and accessible with a graphical user interface. PRIDE uses a fuzzy logic-based system to calculate primer qualities. The computational performance of PRIDE is enhanced by using suffix trees to store the huge amount of data being produced. A test set of 110 sequencing primers and 11 PCR primer pairs has been designed on genomic templates, cDNAs and sequences containing repetitive elements to analyze PRIDE's success rate. The high performance of PRIDE, combined with its minimal requirement of user interaction and its fast algorithm, make this program useful for the large scale design of primers, especially in large sequencing projects. PMID:9611248
Large scale study of tooth enamel
Bodart, F.; Deconninck, G.; Martin, M.Th.
Human tooth enamel contains traces of foreign elements. The presence of these elements is related to the history and the environment of the human body and can be considered as the signature of perturbations which occur during the growth of a tooth. A map of the distribution of these traces on a large scale sample of the population will constitute a reference for further investigations of environmental effects. One hundred eighty samples of teeth were first analysed using PIXE, backscattering and nuclear reaction techniques. The results were analysed using statistical methods. Correlations between O, F, Na, P, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb and Sr were observed and cluster analysis was in progress. The techniques described in the present work have been developed in order to establish a method for the exploration of very large samples of the Belgian population.
Large-scale Intelligent Transporation Systems simulation
Ewing, T.; Canfield, T.; Hannebutte, U.; Levine, D.; Tentner, A.
A prototype computer system has been developed which defines a high-level architecture for a large-scale, comprehensive, scalable simulation of an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) capable of running on massively parallel computers and distributed (networked) computer systems. The prototype includes the modelling of instrumented ``smart`` vehicles with in-vehicle navigation units capable of optimal route planning and Traffic Management Centers (TMC). The TMC has probe vehicle tracking capabilities (display position and attributes of instrumented vehicles), and can provide 2-way interaction with traffic to provide advisories and link times. Both the in-vehicle navigation module and the TMC feature detailed graphical user interfaces to support human-factors studies. The prototype has been developed on a distributed system of networked UNIX computers but is designed to run on ANL`s IBM SP-X parallel computer system for large scale problems. A novel feature of our design is that vehicles will be represented by autonomus computer processes, each with a behavior model which performs independent route selection and reacts to external traffic events much like real vehicles. With this approach, one will be able to take advantage of emerging massively parallel processor (MPP) systems.
Local gravity and large-scale structure
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Juszkiewicz, Roman; Vittorio, Nicola; Wyse, Rosemary F. G.
The magnitude and direction of the observed dipole anisotropy of the galaxy distribution can in principle constrain the amount of large-scale power present in the spectrum of primordial density fluctuations. This paper confronts the data, provided by a recent redshift survey of galaxies detected by the IRAS satellite, with the predictions of two cosmological models with very different levels of large-scale power: the biased Cold Dark Matter dominated model (CDM) and a baryon-dominated model (BDM) with isocurvature initial conditions. Model predictions are investigated for the Local Group peculiar velocity, v(R), induced by mass inhomogeneities distributed out to a given radius, R, for R less than about 10,000 km/s. Several convergence measures for v(R) are developed, which can become powerful cosmological tests when deep enough samples become available. For the present data sets, the CDM and BDM predictions are indistinguishable at the 2 sigma level and both are consistent with observations. A promising discriminant between cosmological models is the misalignment angle between v(R) and the apex of the dipole anisotropy of the microwave background.
Large-scale Globally Propagating Coronal Waves.
Warmuth, Alexander
Large-scale, globally propagating wave-like disturbances have been observed in the solar chromosphere and by inference in the corona since the 1960s. However, detailed analysis of these phenomena has only been conducted since the late 1990s. This was prompted by the availability of high-cadence coronal imaging data from numerous spaced-based instruments, which routinely show spectacular globally propagating bright fronts. Coronal waves, as these perturbations are usually referred to, have now been observed in a wide range of spectral channels, yielding a wealth of information. Many findings have supported the "classical" interpretation of the disturbances: fast-mode MHD waves or shocks that are propagating in the solar corona. However, observations that seemed inconsistent with this picture have stimulated the development of alternative models in which "pseudo waves" are generated by magnetic reconfiguration in the framework of an expanding coronal mass ejection. This has resulted in a vigorous debate on the physical nature of these disturbances. This review focuses on demonstrating how the numerous observational findings of the last one and a half decades can be used to constrain our models of large-scale coronal waves, and how a coherent physical understanding of these disturbances is finally emerging.
Territorial Polymers and Large Scale Genome Organization
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Grosberg, Alexander
Chromatin fiber in interphase nucleus represents effectively a very long polymer packed in a restricted volume. Although polymer models of chromatin organization were considered, most of them disregard the fact that DNA has to stay not too entangled in order to function properly. One polymer model with no entanglements is the melt of unknotted unconcatenated rings. Extensive simulations indicate that rings in the melt at large length (monomer numbers) N approach the compact state, with gyration radius scaling as N^1/3, suggesting every ring being compact and segregated from the surrounding rings. The segregation is consistent with the known phenomenon of chromosome territories. Surface exponent β (describing the number of contacts between neighboring rings scaling as N^β) appears only slightly below unity, β 0.95. This suggests that the loop factor (probability to meet for two monomers linear distance s apart) should decay as s^-γ, where γ= 2 - β is slightly above one. The later result is consistent with HiC data on real human interphase chromosomes, and does not contradict to the older FISH data. The dynamics of rings in the melt indicates that the motion of one ring remains subdiffusive on the time scale well above the stress relaxation time.
Introducing Large-Scale Innovation in Schools
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sotiriou, Sofoklis; Riviou, Katherina; Cherouvis, Stephanos; Chelioti, Eleni; Bogner, Franz X.
Education reform initiatives tend to promise higher effectiveness in classrooms especially when emphasis is given to e-learning and digital resources. Practical changes in classroom realities or school organization, however, are lacking. A major European initiative entitled Open Discovery Space (ODS) examined the challenge of modernizing school education via a large-scale implementation of an open-scale methodology in using technology-supported innovation. The present paper describes this innovation scheme which involved schools and teachers all over Europe, embedded technology-enhanced learning into wider school environments and provided training to teachers. Our implementation scheme consisted of three phases: (1) stimulating interest, (2) incorporating the innovation into school settings and (3) accelerating the implementation of the innovation. The scheme's impact was monitored for a school year using five indicators: leadership and vision building, ICT in the curriculum, development of ICT culture, professional development support, and school resources and infrastructure. Based on about 400 schools, our study produced four results: (1) The growth in digital maturity was substantial, even for previously high scoring schools. This was even more important for indicators such as vision and leadership" and "professional development." (2) The evolution of networking is presented graphically, showing the gradual growth of connections achieved. (3) These communities became core nodes, involving numerous teachers in sharing educational content and experiences: One out of three registered users (36 %) has shared his/her educational resources in at least one community. (4) Satisfaction scores ranged from 76 % (offer of useful support through teacher academies) to 87 % (good environment to exchange best practices). Initiatives such as ODS add substantial value to schools on a large scale.
Effect of magnetic field on the rotating filamentary molecular clouds
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Aghili, P.; Kokabi, K.
The Purpose of this work is to study the evolution of magnetized rotating filamentary molecular clouds. We consider cylindrical symmetric filamentary molecular clouds at an early stage of evolution. For the first time we consider the rotation of filamentary molecular in the presence of an axial and azimuthal magnetic field without any assumption of density and magnetic functions. We show that in addition to decreasing the radial collapse velocity, the rotational velocity is also affected by the magnetic field. The existence of rotation yields fragmentation of filaments. Moreover, we show that the magnetic field has a significant effect on the fragmentation of filamentary molecular clouds.
Improving Recent Large-Scale Pulsar Surveys
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cardoso, Rogerio Fernando; Ransom, S.
Pulsars are unique in that they act as celestial laboratories for precise tests of gravity and other extreme physics (Kramer 2004). There are approximately 2000 known pulsars today, which is less than ten percent of pulsars in the Milky Way according to theoretical models (Lorimer 2004). Out of these 2000 known pulsars, approximately ten percent are known millisecond pulsars, objects used for their period stability for detailed physics tests and searches for gravitational radiation (Lorimer 2008). As the field and instrumentation progress, pulsar astronomers attempt to overcome observational biases and detect new pulsars, consequently discovering new millisecond pulsars. We attempt to improve large scale pulsar surveys by examining three recent pulsar surveys. The first, the Green Bank Telescope 350MHz Drift Scan, a low frequency isotropic survey of the northern sky, has yielded a large number of candidates that were visually inspected and identified, resulting in over 34.000 thousands candidates viewed, dozens of detections of known pulsars, and the discovery of a new low-flux pulsar, PSRJ1911+22. The second, the PALFA survey, is a high frequency survey of the galactic plane with the Arecibo telescope. We created a processing pipeline for the PALFA survey at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville- VA, in addition to making needed modifications upon advice from the PALFA consortium. The third survey examined is a new GBT 820MHz survey devoted to find new millisecond pulsars by observing the target-rich environment of unidentified sources in the FERMI LAT catalogue. By approaching these three pulsar surveys at different stages, we seek to improve the success rates of large scale surveys, and hence the possibility for ground-breaking work in both basic physics and astrophysics.
Engineering management of large scale systems
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sanders, Serita; Gill, Tepper L.; Paul, Arthur S.
The organization of high technology and engineering problem solving, has given rise to an emerging concept. Reasoning principles for integrating traditional engineering problem solving with system theory, management sciences, behavioral decision theory, and planning and design approaches can be incorporated into a methodological approach to solving problems with a long range perspective. Long range planning has a great potential to improve productivity by using a systematic and organized approach. Thus, efficiency and cost effectiveness are the driving forces in promoting the organization of engineering problems. Aspects of systems engineering that provide an understanding of management of large scale systems are broadly covered here. Due to the focus and application of research, other significant factors (e.g., human behavior, decision making, etc.) are not emphasized but are considered.
Large-scale parametric survival analysis.
Mittal, Sushil; Madigan, David; Cheng, Jerry Q; Burd, Randall S
Survival analysis has been a topic of active statistical research in the past few decades with applications spread across several areas. Traditional applications usually consider data with only a small numbers of predictors with a few hundreds or thousands of observations. Recent advances in data acquisition techniques and computation power have led to considerable interest in analyzing very-high-dimensional data where the number of predictor variables and the number of observations range between 10(4) and 10(6). In this paper, we present a tool for performing large-scale regularized parametric survival analysis using a variant of the cyclic coordinate descent method. Through our experiments on two real data sets, we show that application of regularized models to high-dimensional data avoids overfitting and can provide improved predictive performance and calibration over corresponding low-dimensional models.
Efficient, large scale separation of coal macerals
Dyrkacz, G.R.; Bloomquist, C.A.A.
The authors believe that the separation of macerals by continuous flow centrifugation offers a simple technique for the large scale separation of macerals. With relatively little cost (/approximately/ $10K), it provides an opportunity for obtaining quite pure maceral fractions. Although they have not completely worked out all the nuances of this separation system, they believe that the problems they have indicated can be minimized to pose only minor inconvenience. It cannot be said that this system completely bypasses the disagreeable tedium or time involved in separating macerals, nor will it by itself overcome the mental inertia required to make maceral separation an accepted necessary fact in fundamental coal science. However, they find their particular brand of continuous flow centrifugation is considerably faster than sink/float separation, can provide a good quality product with even one separation cycle, and permits the handling of more material than a conventional sink/float centrifuge separation.
Large scale cryogenic fluid systems testing
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
NASA Lewis Research Center's Cryogenic Fluid Systems Branch (CFSB) within the Space Propulsion Technology Division (SPTD) has the ultimate goal of enabling the long term storage and in-space fueling/resupply operations for spacecraft and reusable vehicles in support of space exploration. Using analytical modeling, ground based testing, and on-orbit experimentation, the CFSB is studying three primary categories of fluid technology: storage, supply, and transfer. The CFSB is also investigating fluid handling, advanced instrumentation, and tank structures and materials. Ground based testing of large-scale systems is done using liquid hydrogen as a test fluid at the Cryogenic Propellant Tank Facility (K-site) at Lewis' Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio. A general overview of tests involving liquid transfer, thermal control, pressure control, and pressurization is given.
Grid sensitivity capability for large scale structures
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Nagendra, Gopal K.; Wallerstein, David V.
The considerations and the resultant approach used to implement design sensitivity capability for grids into a large scale, general purpose finite element system (MSC/NASTRAN) are presented. The design variables are grid perturbations with a rather general linking capability. Moreover, shape and sizing variables may be linked together. The design is general enough to facilitate geometric modeling techniques for generating design variable linking schemes in an easy and straightforward manner. Test cases have been run and validated by comparison with the overall finite difference method. The linking of a design sensitivity capability for shape variables in MSC/NASTRAN with an optimizer would give designers a powerful, automated tool to carry out practical optimization design of real life, complicated structures.
Large Scale Quantum Simulations of Nuclear Pasta
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fattoyev, Farrukh J.; Horowitz, Charles J.; Schuetrumpf, Bastian
Complex and exotic nuclear geometries collectively referred to as ``nuclear pasta'' are expected to naturally exist in the crust of neutron stars and in supernovae matter. Using a set of self-consistent microscopic nuclear energy density functionals we present the first results of large scale quantum simulations of pasta phases at baryon densities 0 . 03 < ρ < 0 . 10 fm-3, proton fractions 0 . 05
Modeling the Internet's large-scale topology
Yook, Soon-Hyung; Jeong, Hawoong; Barabási, Albert-László
Network generators that capture the Internet's large-scale topology are crucial for the development of efficient routing protocols and modeling Internet traffic. Our ability to design realistic generators is limited by the incomplete understanding of the fundamental driving forces that affect the Internet's evolution. By combining several independent databases capturing the time evolution, topology, and physical layout of the Internet, we identify the universal mechanisms that shape the Internet's router and autonomous system level topology. We find that the physical layout of nodes form a fractal set, determined by population density patterns around the globe. The placement of links is driven by competition between preferential attachment and linear distance dependence, a marked departure from the currently used exponential laws. The universal parameters that we extract significantly restrict the class of potentially correct Internet models and indicate that the networks created by all available topology generators are fundamentally different from the current Internet. PMID:12368484
Supporting large-scale computational science
Musick, R., LLNL
Business needs have driven the development of commercial database systems since their inception. As a result, there has been a strong focus on supporting many users, minimizing the potential corruption or loss of data, and maximizing performance metrics like transactions per second, or TPC-C and TPC-D results. It turns out that these optimizations have little to do with the needs of the scientific community, and in particular have little impact on improving the management and use of large-scale high-dimensional data. At the same time, there is an unanswered need in the scientific community for many of the benefits offered by a robust DBMS. For example, tying an ad-hoc query language such as SQL together with a visualization toolkit would be a powerful enhancement to current capabilities. Unfortunately, there has been little emphasis or discussion in the VLDB community on this mismatch over the last decade. The goal of the paper is to identify the specific issues that need to be resolved before large-scale scientific applications can make use of DBMS products. This topic is addressed in the context of an evaluation of commercial DBMS technology applied to the exploration of data generated by the Department of Energy`s Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI). The paper describes the data being generated for ASCI as well as current capabilities for interacting with and exploring this data. The attraction of applying standard DBMS technology to this domain is discussed, as well as the technical and business issues that currently make this an infeasible solution.
Large-scale sequential quadratic programming algorithms
Eldersveld, S.K.
The problem addressed is the general nonlinear programming problem: finding a local minimizer for a nonlinear function subject to a mixture of nonlinear equality and inequality constraints. The methods studied are in the class of sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithms, which have previously proved successful for problems of moderate size. Our goal is to devise an SQP algorithm that is applicable to large-scale optimization problems, using sparse data structures and storing less curvature information but maintaining the property of superlinear convergence. The main features are: 1. The use of a quasi-Newton approximation to the reduced Hessian of the Lagrangian function. Only an estimate of the reduced Hessian matrix is required by our algorithm. The impact of not having available the full Hessian approximation is studied and alternative estimates are constructed. 2. The use of a transformation matrix Q. This allows the QP gradient to be computed easily when only the reduced Hessian approximation is maintained. 3. The use of a reduced-gradient form of the basis for the null space of the working set. This choice of basis is more practical than an orthogonal null-space basis for large-scale problems. The continuity condition for this choice is proven. 4. The use of incomplete solutions of quadratic programming subproblems. Certain iterates generated by an active-set method for the QP subproblem are used in place of the QP minimizer to define the search direction for the nonlinear problem. An implementation of the new algorithm has been obtained by modifying the code MINOS. Results and comparisons with MINOS and NPSOL are given for the new algorithm on a set of 92 test problems.
Large scale mechanical metamaterials as seismic shields
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Miniaci, Marco; Krushynska, Anastasiia; Bosia, Federico; Pugno, Nicola M.
Earthquakes represent one of the most catastrophic natural events affecting mankind. At present, a universally accepted risk mitigation strategy for seismic events remains to be proposed. Most approaches are based on vibration isolation of structures rather than on the remote shielding of incoming waves. In this work, we propose a novel approach to the problem and discuss the feasibility of a passive isolation strategy for seismic waves based on large-scale mechanical metamaterials, including for the first time numerical analysis of both surface and guided waves, soil dissipation effects, and adopting a full 3D simulations. The study focuses on realistic structures that can be effective in frequency ranges of interest for seismic waves, and optimal design criteria are provided, exploring different metamaterial configurations, combining phononic crystals and locally resonant structures and different ranges of mechanical properties. Dispersion analysis and full-scale 3D transient wave transmission simulations are carried out on finite size systems to assess the seismic wave amplitude attenuation in realistic conditions. Results reveal that both surface and bulk seismic waves can be considerably attenuated, making this strategy viable for the protection of civil structures against seismic risk. The proposed remote shielding approach could open up new perspectives in the field of seismology and in related areas of low-frequency vibration damping or blast protection.
Large-scale wind turbine structures
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Spera, David A.
The purpose of this presentation is to show how structural technology was applied in the design of modern wind turbines, which were recently brought to an advanced stage of development as sources of renewable power. Wind turbine structures present many difficult problems because they are relatively slender and flexible; subject to vibration and aeroelastic instabilities; acted upon by loads which are often nondeterministic; operated continuously with little maintenance in all weather; and dominated by life-cycle cost considerations. Progress in horizontal-axis wind turbines (HAWT) development was paced by progress in the understanding of structural loads, modeling of structural dynamic response, and designing of innovative structural response. During the past 15 years a series of large HAWTs was developed. This has culminated in the recent completion of the world's largest operating wind turbine, the 3.2 MW Mod-5B power plane installed on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Some of the applications of structures technology to wind turbine will be illustrated by referring to the Mod-5B design. First, a video overview will be presented to provide familiarization with the Mod-5B project and the important components of the wind turbine system. Next, the structural requirements for large-scale wind turbines will be discussed, emphasizing the difficult fatigue-life requirements. Finally, the procedures used to design the structure will be presented, including the use of the fracture mechanics approach for determining allowable fatigue stresses.
CLASS: The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Ali, Aamir; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John W.; Araujo, Derek; Bennett, Charles L.; Boone, Fletcher; Chan, Manwei; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Chuss, David T.; Colazo, Felipe; Crowe, Erik; Denis, Kevin; Dunner, Rolando; Eimer, Joseph; Gothe, Dominik; Halpern, Mark; Kogut, Alan J.; Miller, Nathan; Moseley, Samuel; Rostem, Karwan; Stevenson, Thomas; Towner, Deborah; U-Yen, Kongpop; Wollack, Edward
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) is an experiment to measure the signature of a gravitational wave background from inflation in the polarization of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). CLASS is a multi-frequency array of four telescopes operating from a high-altitude site in the Atacama Desert in Chile. CLASS will survey 70% of the sky in four frequency bands centered at 38, 93, 148, and 217 GHz, which are chosen to straddle the Galactic-foreground minimum while avoiding strong atmospheric emission lines. This broad frequency coverage ensures that CLASS can distinguish Galactic emission from the CMB. The sky fraction of the CLASS survey will allow the full shape of the primordial B-mode power spectrum to be characterized, including the signal from reionization at low-length. Its unique combination of large sky coverage, control of systematic errors, and high sensitivity will allow CLASS to measure or place upper limits on the tensor-to-scalar ratio at a level of r = 0:01 and make a cosmic-variance-limited measurement of the optical depth to the surface of last scattering, tau. (c) (2014) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Large-Scale Spacecraft Fire Safety Tests
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Urban, David; Ruff, Gary A.; Ferkul, Paul V.; Olson, Sandra; Fernandez-Pello, A. Carlos; T'ien, James S.; Torero, Jose L.; Cowlard, Adam J.; Rouvreau, Sebastien; Minster, Olivier; Toth, Balazs; Legros, Guillaume; Eigenbrod, Christian; Smirnov, Nickolay; Fujita, Osamu; Jomaas, Grunde
An international collaborative program is underway to address open issues in spacecraft fire safety. Because of limited access to long-term low-gravity conditions and the small volume generally allotted for these experiments, there have been relatively few experiments that directly study spacecraft fire safety under low-gravity conditions. Furthermore, none of these experiments have studied sample sizes and environment conditions typical of those expected in a spacecraft fire. The major constraint has been the size of the sample, with prior experiments limited to samples of the order of 10 cm in length and width or smaller. This lack of experimental data forces spacecraft designers to base their designs and safety precautions on 1-g understanding of flame spread, fire detection, and suppression. However, low-gravity combustion research has demonstrated substantial differences in flame behavior in low-gravity. This, combined with the differences caused by the confined spacecraft environment, necessitates practical scale spacecraft fire safety research to mitigate risks for future space missions. To address this issue, a large-scale spacecraft fire experiment is under development by NASA and an international team of investigators. This poster presents the objectives, status, and concept of this collaborative international project (Saffire). The project plan is to conduct fire safety experiments on three sequential flights of an unmanned ISS re-supply spacecraft (the Orbital Cygnus vehicle) after they have completed their delivery of cargo to the ISS and have begun their return journeys to earth. On two flights (Saffire-1 and Saffire-3), the experiment will consist of a flame spread test involving a meter-scale sample ignited in the pressurized volume of the spacecraft and allowed to burn to completion while measurements are made. On one of the flights (Saffire-2), 9 smaller (5 x 30 cm) samples will be tested to evaluate NASAs material flammability screening tests
Radiative transfer in astronomical masers. III - Filamentary masers
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Elitzur, Moshe; Mckee, Christopher F.; Hollenbach, David J.
The complete solution of a filamentary maser is presented. An integral equation and an iterative procedure are developed to calculate and solve the contribution of rays emanating from the filament sidewall. The solution provides complete expressions for the distributions of intensity and flux across the source as functions of position and direction with regard to the axis. The results are used to find the number distribution of brightness temperature in a large sample of randomly oriented filaments with an arbitrary distribution of lengths. The effects of external radiation on the maser structure and intensity are studied. It is proposed that the two giant bursts of H2O maser emission observed in W49 and Orion resulted from the interaction or two interacting filaments and a foreground slab amplifying a background filament.
Population generation for large-scale simulation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hannon, Andrew C.; King, Gary; Morrison, Clayton; Galstyan, Aram; Cohen, Paul
Computer simulation is used to research phenomena ranging from the structure of the space-time continuum to population genetics and future combat.1-3 Multi-agent simulations in particular are now commonplace in many fields.4, 5 By modeling populations whose complex behavior emerges from individual interactions, these simulations help to answer questions about effects where closed form solutions are difficult to solve or impossible to derive.6 To be useful, simulations must accurately model the relevant aspects of the underlying domain. In multi-agent simulation, this means that the modeling must include both the agents and their relationships. Typically, each agent can be modeled as a set of attributes drawn from various distributions (e.g., height, morale, intelligence and so forth). Though these can interact - for example, agent height is related to agent weight - they are usually independent. Modeling relations between agents, on the other hand, adds a new layer of complexity, and tools from graph theory and social network analysis are finding increasing application.7, 8 Recognizing the role and proper use of these techniques, however, remains the subject of ongoing research. We recently encountered these complexities while building large scale social simulations.9-11 One of these, the Hats Simulator, is designed to be a lightweight proxy for intelligence analysis problems. Hats models a "society in a box" consisting of many simple agents, called hats. Hats gets its name from the classic spaghetti western, in which the heroes and villains are known by the color of the hats they wear. The Hats society also has its heroes and villains, but the challenge is to identify which color hat they should be wearing based on how they behave. There are three types of hats: benign hats, known terrorists, and covert terrorists. Covert terrorists look just like benign hats but act like terrorists. Population structure can make covert hat identification significantly more
Large-scale tides in general relativity
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ip, Hiu Yan; Schmidt, Fabian
Density perturbations in cosmology, i.e. spherically symmetric adiabatic perturbations of a Friedmann-Lemaȋtre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) spacetime, are locally exactly equivalent to a different FLRW solution, as long as their wavelength is much larger than the sound horizon of all fluid components. This fact is known as the "separate universe" paradigm. However, no such relation is known for anisotropic adiabatic perturbations, which correspond to an FLRW spacetime with large-scale tidal fields. Here, we provide a closed, fully relativistic set of evolutionary equations for the nonlinear evolution of such modes, based on the conformal Fermi (CFC) frame. We show explicitly that the tidal effects are encoded by the Weyl tensor, and are hence entirely different from an anisotropic Bianchi I spacetime, where the anisotropy is sourced by the Ricci tensor. In order to close the system, certain higher derivative terms have to be dropped. We show that this approximation is equivalent to the local tidal approximation of Hui and Bertschinger [1]. We also show that this very simple set of equations matches the exact evolution of the density field at second order, but fails at third and higher order. This provides a useful, easy-to-use framework for computing the fully relativistic growth of structure at second order.
Large-scale autostereoscopic outdoor display
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Reitterer, Jörg; Fidler, Franz; Saint Julien-Wallsee, Ferdinand; Schmid, Gerhard; Gartner, Wolfgang; Leeb, Walter; Schmid, Ulrich
State-of-the-art autostereoscopic displays are often limited in size, effective brightness, number of 3D viewing zones, and maximum 3D viewing distances, all of which are mandatory requirements for large-scale outdoor displays. Conventional autostereoscopic indoor concepts like lenticular lenses or parallax barriers cannot simply be adapted for these screens due to the inherent loss of effective resolution and brightness, which would reduce both image quality and sunlight readability. We have developed a modular autostereoscopic multi-view laser display concept with sunlight readable effective brightness, theoretically up to several thousand 3D viewing zones, and maximum 3D viewing distances of up to 60 meters. For proof-of-concept purposes a prototype display with two pixels was realized. Due to various manufacturing tolerances each individual pixel has slightly different optical properties, and hence the 3D image quality of the display has to be calculated stochastically. In this paper we present the corresponding stochastic model, we evaluate the simulation and measurement results of the prototype display, and we calculate the achievable autostereoscopic image quality to be expected for our concept.
Large scale digital atlases in neuroscience
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hawrylycz, M.; Feng, D.; Lau, C.; Kuan, C.; Miller, J.; Dang, C.; Ng, L.
Imaging in neuroscience has revolutionized our current understanding of brain structure, architecture and increasingly its function. Many characteristics of morphology, cell type, and neuronal circuitry have been elucidated through methods of neuroimaging. Combining this data in a meaningful, standardized, and accessible manner is the scope and goal of the digital brain atlas. Digital brain atlases are used today in neuroscience to characterize the spatial organization of neuronal structures, for planning and guidance during neurosurgery, and as a reference for interpreting other data modalities such as gene expression and connectivity data. The field of digital atlases is extensive and in addition to atlases of the human includes high quality brain atlases of the mouse, rat, rhesus macaque, and other model organisms. Using techniques based on histology, structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging as well as gene expression data, modern digital atlases use probabilistic and multimodal techniques, as well as sophisticated visualization software to form an integrated product. Toward this goal, brain atlases form a common coordinate framework for summarizing, accessing, and organizing this knowledge and will undoubtedly remain a key technology in neuroscience in the future. Since the development of its flagship project of a genome wide image-based atlas of the mouse brain, the Allen Institute for Brain Science has used imaging as a primary data modality for many of its large scale atlas projects. We present an overview of Allen Institute digital atlases in neuroscience, with a focus on the challenges and opportunities for image processing and computation.
Food appropriation through large scale land acquisitions
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rulli, Maria Cristina; D'Odorico, Paolo
The increasing demand for agricultural products and the uncertainty of international food markets has recently drawn the attention of governments and agribusiness firms toward investments in productive agricultural land, mostly in the developing world. The targeted countries are typically located in regions that have remained only marginally utilized because of lack of modern technology. It is expected that in the long run large scale land acquisitions (LSLAs) for commercial farming will bring the technology required to close the existing crops yield gaps. While the extent of the acquired land and the associated appropriation of freshwater resources have been investigated in detail, the amount of food this land can produce and the number of people it could feed still need to be quantified. Here we use a unique dataset of land deals to provide a global quantitative assessment of the rates of crop and food appropriation potentially associated with LSLAs. We show how up to 300-550 million people could be fed by crops grown in the acquired land, should these investments in agriculture improve crop production and close the yield gap. In contrast, about 190-370 million people could be supported by this land without closing of the yield gap. These numbers raise some concern because the food produced in the acquired land is typically exported to other regions, while the target countries exhibit high levels of malnourishment. Conversely, if used for domestic consumption, the crops harvested in the acquired land could ensure food security to the local populations.
Large-scale carbon fiber tests
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Pride, R. A.
A realistic release of carbon fibers was established by burning a minimum of 45 kg of carbon fiber composite aircraft structural components in each of five large scale, outdoor aviation jet fuel fire tests. This release was quantified by several independent assessments with various instruments developed specifically for these tests. The most likely values for the mass of single carbon fibers released ranged from 0.2 percent of the initial mass of carbon fiber for the source tests (zero wind velocity) to a maximum of 0.6 percent of the initial carbon fiber mass for dissemination tests (5 to 6 m/s wind velocity). Mean fiber lengths for fibers greater than 1 mm in length ranged from 2.5 to 3.5 mm. Mean diameters ranged from 3.6 to 5.3 micrometers which was indicative of significant oxidation. Footprints of downwind dissemination of the fire released fibers were measured to 19.1 km from the fire.
Large-scale assembly of colloidal particles
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yang, Hongta
This study reports a simple, roll-to-roll compatible coating technology for producing three-dimensional highly ordered colloidal crystal-polymer composites, colloidal crystals, and macroporous polymer membranes. A vertically beveled doctor blade is utilized to shear align silica microsphere-monomer suspensions to form large-area composites in a single step. The polymer matrix and the silica microspheres can be selectively removed to create colloidal crystals and self-standing macroporous polymer membranes. The thickness of the shear-aligned crystal is correlated with the viscosity of the colloidal suspension and the coating speed, and the correlations can be qualitatively explained by adapting the mechanisms developed for conventional doctor blade coating. Five important research topics related to the application of large-scale three-dimensional highly ordered macroporous films by doctor blade coating are covered in this study. The first topic describes the invention in large area and low cost color reflective displays. This invention is inspired by the heat pipe technology. The self-standing macroporous polymer films exhibit brilliant colors which originate from the Bragg diffractive of visible light form the three-dimensional highly ordered air cavities. The colors can be easily changed by tuning the size of the air cavities to cover the whole visible spectrum. When the air cavities are filled with a solvent which has the same refractive index as that of the polymer, the macroporous polymer films become completely transparent due to the index matching. When the solvent trapped in the cavities is evaporated by in-situ heating, the sample color changes back to brilliant color. This process is highly reversible and reproducible for thousands of cycles. The second topic reports the achievement of rapid and reversible vapor detection by using 3-D macroporous photonic crystals. Capillary condensation of a condensable vapor in the interconnected macropores leads to the
Sensitivity technologies for large scale simulation.
Collis, Samuel Scott; Bartlett, Roscoe Ainsworth; Smith, Thomas Michael; Heinkenschloss, Matthias; Wilcox, Lucas C.; Hill, Judith C.; Ghattas, Omar; Berggren, Martin Olof; Akcelik, Volkan; Ober, Curtis Curry; van Bloemen Waanders, Bart Gustaaf; Keiter, Eric Richard
Sensitivity analysis is critically important to numerous analysis algorithms, including large scale optimization, uncertainty quantification,reduced order modeling, and error estimation. Our research focused on developing tools, algorithms and standard interfaces to facilitate the implementation of sensitivity type analysis into existing code and equally important, the work was focused on ways to increase the visibility of sensitivity analysis. We attempt to accomplish the first objective through the development of hybrid automatic differentiation tools, standard linear algebra interfaces for numerical algorithms, time domain decomposition algorithms and two level Newton methods. We attempt to accomplish the second goal by presenting the results of several case studies in which direct sensitivities and adjoint methods have been effectively applied, in addition to an investigation of h-p adaptivity using adjoint based a posteriori error estimation. A mathematical overview is provided of direct sensitivities and adjoint methods for both steady state and transient simulations. Two case studies are presented to demonstrate the utility of these methods. A direct sensitivity method is implemented to solve a source inversion problem for steady state internal flows subject to convection diffusion. Real time performance is achieved using novel decomposition into offline and online calculations. Adjoint methods are used to reconstruct initial conditions of a contamination event in an external flow. We demonstrate an adjoint based transient solution. In addition, we investigated time domain decomposition algorithms in an attempt to improve the efficiency of transient simulations. Because derivative calculations are at the root of sensitivity calculations, we have developed hybrid automatic differentiation methods and implemented this approach for shape optimization for gas dynamics using the Euler equations. The hybrid automatic differentiation method was applied to a first
Large Scale, High Resolution, Mantle Dynamics Modeling
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Geenen, T.; Berg, A. V.; Spakman, W.
To model the geodynamic evolution of plate convergence, subduction and collision and to allow for a connection to various types of observational data, geophysical, geodetical and geological, we developed a 4D (space-time) numerical mantle convection code. The model is based on a spherical 3D Eulerian fem model, with quadratic elements, on top of which we constructed a 3D Lagrangian particle in cell(PIC) method. We use the PIC method to transport material properties and to incorporate a viscoelastic rheology. Since capturing small scale processes associated with localization phenomena require a high resolution, we spend a considerable effort on implementing solvers suitable to solve for models with over 100 million degrees of freedom. We implemented Additive Schwartz type ILU based methods in combination with a Krylov solver, GMRES. However we found that for problems with over 500 thousend degrees of freedom the convergence of the solver degraded severely. This observation is known from the literature [Saad, 2003] and results from the local character of the ILU preconditioner resulting in a poor approximation of the inverse of A for large A. The size of A for which ILU is no longer usable depends on the condition of A and on the amount of fill in allowed for the ILU preconditioner. We found that for our problems with over 5×105 degrees of freedom convergence became to slow to solve the system within an acceptable amount of walltime, one minute, even when allowing for considerable amount of fill in. We also implemented MUMPS and found good scaling results for problems up to 107 degrees of freedom for up to 32 CPU¡¯s. For problems with over 100 million degrees of freedom we implemented Algebraic Multigrid type methods (AMG) from the ML library [Sala, 2006]. Since multigrid methods are most effective for single parameter problems, we rebuild our model to use the SIMPLE method in the Stokes solver [Patankar, 1980]. We present scaling results from these solvers for 3D
A Catalog of Filamentary Structures in the Interstellar Medium
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jackson, T.; Werner, M. W.; Gautier, T. N.
Polarimetry of far infrared emission from the interstellar medium has found polarization exceeding 5% in many sources, approaching 10% in some cases. The polarization mechanism appears to be emission from elongated, magnetically-aligned, grains, and the high fractional polarization suggests efficient alignment. If filamentary structures in the interstellar medium trace the magnetic field, then polarimetry of the emission from such filaments could allow the grain alignment to be studied without complications due to varying field orientation along the line of sight. At high galactic latitudes where polarimetry of the cosmic microwave background will be carried out, observations of such filaments might provide useful local polarization standards and permit an assessment of the potential polarization of the galactic foreground. To meet these and similar needs, we have compiled a catalog of filamentary structures in the interstellar medium by developing a suitable pattern recognition algorithm and applying it to the 100um images from the IRAS Sky Survey Atlas. The catalog contains 83 filaments at high galactic latitude, 47 at low galactic latitude, and 10 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Length [typically 30 arcmin or greater], straightness, and brightness criteria are applied to make the low latitude objects suitable for study with a far infrared polarimeter on SOFIA, and to make these and the high latitude objects suitable for study with a balloon-borne radiometer operating in the sub-millimeter. The brightness is tabulated at 100um, based on the ISSA catalog, and at both 100um and 340GHz based on the Davis et al estimates of the absolute sky brightness. This work was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. T. Jackson held a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship at JPL/Caltech.
Large Scale Flame Spread Environmental Characterization Testing
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Clayman, Lauren K.; Olson, Sandra L.; Gokoghi, Suleyman A.; Brooker, John E.; Ferkul, Paul V.; Kacher, Henry F.
Under the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Spacecraft Fire Safety Demonstration Project (SFSDP), as a risk mitigation activity in support of the development of a large-scale fire demonstration experiment in microgravity, flame-spread tests were conducted in normal gravity on thin, cellulose-based fuels in a sealed chamber. The primary objective of the tests was to measure pressure rise in a chamber as sample material, burning direction (upward/downward), total heat release, heat release rate, and heat loss mechanisms were varied between tests. A Design of Experiments (DOE) method was imposed to produce an array of tests from a fixed set of constraints and a coupled response model was developed. Supplementary tests were run without experimental design to additionally vary select parameters such as initial chamber pressure. The starting chamber pressure for each test was set below atmospheric to prevent chamber overpressure. Bottom ignition, or upward propagating burns, produced rapid acceleratory turbulent flame spread. Pressure rise in the chamber increases as the amount of fuel burned increases mainly because of the larger amount of heat generation and, to a much smaller extent, due to the increase in gaseous number of moles. Top ignition, or downward propagating burns, produced a steady flame spread with a very small flat flame across the burning edge. Steady-state pressure is achieved during downward flame spread as the pressure rises and plateaus. This indicates that the heat generation by the flame matches the heat loss to surroundings during the longer, slower downward burns. One heat loss mechanism included mounting a heat exchanger directly above the burning sample in the path of the plume to act as a heat sink and more efficiently dissipate the heat due to the combustion event. This proved an effective means for chamber overpressure mitigation for those tests producing the most total heat release and thusly was determined to be a feasible mitigation
Synchronization of coupled large-scale Boolean networks
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Li, Fangfei
This paper investigates the complete synchronization and partial synchronization of two large-scale Boolean networks. First, the aggregation algorithm towards large-scale Boolean network is reviewed. Second, the aggregation algorithm is applied to study the complete synchronization and partial synchronization of large-scale Boolean networks. Finally, an illustrative example is presented to show the efficiency of the proposed results.
Synchronization of coupled large-scale Boolean networks
Li, Fangfei
This paper investigates the complete synchronization and partial synchronization of two large-scale Boolean networks. First, the aggregation algorithm towards large-scale Boolean network is reviewed. Second, the aggregation algorithm is applied to study the complete synchronization and partial synchronization of large-scale Boolean networks. Finally, an illustrative example is presented to show the efficiency of the proposed results.
Multitree Algorithms for Large-Scale Astrostatistics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
March, William B.; Ozakin, Arkadas; Lee, Dongryeol; Riegel, Ryan; Gray, Alexander G.
Common astrostatistical operations. A number of common "subroutines" occur over and over again in the statistical analysis of astronomical data. Some of the most powerful, and computationally expensive, of these additionally share the common trait that they involve distance comparisons between all pairs of data points—or in some cases, all triplets or worse. These include: * All Nearest Neighbors (AllNN): For each query point in a dataset, find the k-nearest neighbors among the points in another dataset—naively O(N2) to compute, for O(N) data points. * n-Point Correlation Functions: The main spatial statistic used for comparing two datasets in various ways—naively O(N2) for the 2-point correlation, O(N3) for the 3-point correlation, etc. * Euclidean Minimum Spanning Tree (EMST): The basis for "single-linkage hierarchical clustering,"the main procedure for generating a hierarchical grouping of the data points at all scales, aka "friends-of-friends"—naively O(N2). * Kernel Density Estimation (KDE): The main method for estimating the probability density function of the data, nonparametrically (i.e., with virtually no assumptions on the functional form of the pdf)—naively O(N2). * Kernel Regression: A powerful nonparametric method for regression, or predicting a continuous target value—naively O(N2). * Kernel Discriminant Analysis (KDA): A powerful nonparametric method for classification, or predicting a discrete class label—naively O(N2). (Note that the "two datasets" may in fact be the same dataset, as in two-point autocorrelations, or the so-called monochromatic AllNN problem, or the leave-one-out cross-validation needed in kernel estimation.) The need for fast algorithms for such analysis subroutines is particularly acute in the modern age of exploding dataset sizes in astronomy. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey yielded hundreds of millions of objects, and the next generation of instruments such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope will yield roughly
Validating Large Scale Networks Using Temporary Local Scale Networks
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
The USDA NRCS Soil Climate Analysis Network and NOAA Climate Reference Networks are nationwide meteorological and land surface data networks with soil moisture measurements in the top layers of soil. There is considerable interest in scaling these point measurements to larger scales for validating ...
Large-Scale Processing of Carbon Nanotubes
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Finn, John; Sridhar, K. R.; Meyyappan, M.; Arnold, James O. (Technical Monitor)
Scale-up difficulties and high energy costs are two of the more important factors that limit the availability of various types of nanotube carbon. While several approaches are known for producing nanotube carbon, the high-powered reactors typically produce nanotubes at rates measured in only grams per hour and operate at temperatures in excess of 1000 C. These scale-up and energy challenges must be overcome before nanotube carbon can become practical for high-consumption structural and mechanical applications. This presentation examines the issues associated with using various nanotube production methods at larger scales, and discusses research being performed at NASA Ames Research Center on carbon nanotube reactor technology.
Large scale structure from viscous dark matter
Blas, Diego; Floerchinger, Stefan; Garny, Mathias; Tetradis, Nikolaos; Wiedemann, Urs Achim E-mail: email@example.com E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Cosmological perturbations of sufficiently long wavelength admit a fluid dynamic description. We consider modes with wavevectors below a scale k{sub m} for which the dynamics is only mildly non-linear. The leading effect of modes above that scale can be accounted for by effective non-equilibrium viscosity and pressure terms. For mildly non-linear scales, these mainly arise from momentum transport within the ideal and cold but inhomogeneous fluid, while momentum transport due to more microscopic degrees of freedom is suppressed. As a consequence, concrete expressions with no free parameters, except the matching scale k{sub m}, can be derived from matching evolution equations to standard cosmological perturbation theory. Two-loop calculations of the matter power spectrum in the viscous theory lead to excellent agreement with N-body simulations up to scales k=0.2 h/Mpc. The convergence properties in the ultraviolet are better than for standard perturbation theory and the results are robust with respect to variations of the matching scale.
Large scale structure from viscous dark matter
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Blas, Diego; Floerchinger, Stefan; Garny, Mathias; Tetradis, Nikolaos; Wiedemann, Urs Achim
Cosmological perturbations of sufficiently long wavelength admit a fluid dynamic description. We consider modes with wavevectors below a scale km for which the dynamics is only mildly non-linear. The leading effect of modes above that scale can be accounted for by effective non-equilibrium viscosity and pressure terms. For mildly non-linear scales, these mainly arise from momentum transport within the ideal and cold but inhomogeneous fluid, while momentum transport due to more microscopic degrees of freedom is suppressed. As a consequence, concrete expressions with no free parameters, except the matching scale km, can be derived from matching evolution equations to standard cosmological perturbation theory. Two-loop calculations of the matter power spectrum in the viscous theory lead to excellent agreement with N-body simulations up to scales k=0.2 h/Mpc. The convergence properties in the ultraviolet are better than for standard perturbation theory and the results are robust with respect to variations of the matching scale.
Global Behavior in Large Scale Systems
Sinopoli, and J. Moura, " Distributed detection over time varying networks: Large deviations analysis," in Communication, Control , and Computing...and J. Moura, " Distributed detection via gaussian running consensus : Large deviations asymptotic analysis," Signal Processing, IEEE Transactions on... Distributed detection via Gaussian running consensus : large deviations asymptotic analysis," IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. 59, no. 9, pp
On the scaling of small-scale jet noise to large scale
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Soderman, Paul T.; Allen, Christopher S.
An examination was made of several published jet noise studies for the purpose of evaluating scale effects important to the simulation of jet aeroacoustics. Several studies confirmed that small conical jets, one as small as 59 mm diameter, could be used to correctly simulate the overall or PNL noise of large jets dominated by mixing noise. However, the detailed acoustic spectra of large jets are more difficult to simulate because of the lack of broad-band turbulence spectra in small jets. One study indicated that a jet Reynolds number of 5 x 10 exp 6 based on exhaust diameter enabled the generation of broad-band noise representative of large jet mixing noise. Jet suppressor aeroacoustics is even more difficult to simulate at small scale because of the small mixer nozzles with flows sensitive to Reynolds number. Likewise, one study showed incorrect ejector mixing and entrainment using small-scale, short ejector that led to poor acoustic scaling. Conversely, fairly good results were found with a longer ejector and, in a different study, with a 32-chute suppressor nozzle. Finally, it was found that small-scale aeroacoustic resonance produced by jets impacting ground boards does not reproduce at large scale.
On the scaling of small-scale jet noise to large scale
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Soderman, Paul T.; Allen, Christopher S.
An examination was made of several published jet noise studies for the purpose of evaluating scale effects important to the simulation of jet aeroacoustics. Several studies confirmed that small conical jets, one as small as 59 mm diameter, could be used to correctly simulate the overall or perceived noise level (PNL) noise of large jets dominated by mixing noise. However, the detailed acoustic spectra of large jets are more difficult to simulate because of the lack of broad-band turbulence spectra in small jets. One study indicated that a jet Reynolds number of 5 x 10(exp 6) based on exhaust diameter enabled the generation of broad-band noise representative of large jet mixing noise. Jet suppressor aeroacoustics is even more difficult to simulate at small scale because of the small mixer nozzles with flows sensitive to Reynolds number. Likewise, one study showed incorrect ejector mixing and entrainment using a small-scale, short ejector that led to poor acoustic scaling. Conversely, fairly good results were found with a longer ejector and, in a different study, with a 32-chute suppressor nozzle. Finally, it was found that small-scale aeroacoustic resonance produced by jets impacting ground boards does not reproduce at large scale.
On the scaling of small-scale jet noise to large scale
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Soderman, Paul T.; Allen, Christopher S.
An examination was made of several published jet noise studies for the purpose of evaluating scale effects important to the simulation of jet aeroacoustics. Several studies confirmed that small conical jets, one as small as 59 mm diameter, could be used to correctly simulate the overall or PNL noise of large jets dominated by mixing noise. However, the detailed acoustic spectra of large jets are more difficult to simulate because of the lack of broad-band turbulence spectra in small jets. One study indicated that a jet Reynolds number of 5 x 10 exp 6 based on exhaust diameter enabled the generation of broad-band noise representative of large jet mixing noise. Jet suppressor aeroacoustics is even more difficult to simulate at small scale because of the small mixer nozzles with flows sensitive to Reynolds number. Likewise, one study showed incorrect ejector mixing and entrainment using small-scale, short ejector that led to poor acoustic scaling. Conversely, fairly good results were found with a longer ejector and, in a different study, with a 32-chute suppressor nozzle. Finally, it was found that small-scale aeroacoustic resonance produced by jets impacting ground boards does not reproduce at large scale.
On the scaling of small-scale jet noise to large scale
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Soderman, Paul T.; Allen, Christopher S.
An examination was made of several published jet noise studies for the purpose of evaluating scale effects important to the simulation of jet aeroacoustics. Several studies confirmed that small conical jets, one as small as 59 mm diameter, could be used to correctly simulate the overall or perceived noise level (PNL) noise of large jets dominated by mixing noise. However, the detailed acoustic spectra of large jets are more difficult to simulate because of the lack of broad-band turbulence spectra in small jets. One study indicated that a jet Reynolds number of 5 x 10(exp 6) based on exhaust diameter enabled the generation of broad-band noise representative of large jet mixing noise. Jet suppressor aeroacoustics is even more difficult to simulate at small scale because of the small mixer nozzles with flows sensitive to Reynolds number. Likewise, one study showed incorrect ejector mixing and entrainment using a small-scale, short ejector that led to poor acoustic scaling. Conversely, fairly good results were found with a longer ejector and, in a different study, with a 32-chute suppressor nozzle. Finally, it was found that small-scale aeroacoustic resonance produced by jets impacting ground boards does not reproduce at large scale.
Real or virtual large-scale structure?
Evrard, August E.
Modeling the development of structure in the universe on galactic and larger scales is the challenge that drives the field of computational cosmology. Here, photorealism is used as a simple, yet expert, means of assessing the degree to which virtual worlds succeed in replicating our own. PMID:10200243
Algorithms for Large-Scale Astronomical Problems
release; distribution unlimited 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 14. ABSTRACT Modern astronomical datasets are getting larger and larger, which already include...of data, which raises the following question: How can we use modern computer science techniques to help astronomers better analyze large datasets? To...indexing and sorting further reduce the processing time of user queries. We processed large data using modern distributed computing frameworks
Herschel view of the large-scale structure in the Chamaeleon dark clouds
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Alves de Oliveira, C.; Schneider, N.; Merín, B.; Prusti, T.; Ribas, Á.; Cox, N. L. J.; Vavrek, R.; Könyves, V.; Arzoumanian, D.; Puga, E.; Pilbratt, G. L.; Kóspál, Á.; André, Ph.; Didelon, P.; Men'shchikov, A.; Royer, P.; Waelkens, C.; Bontemps, S.; Winston, E.; Spezzi, L.
Context. The Chamaeleon molecular cloud complex is one of the nearest star-forming sites and encompasses three molecular clouds (Cha I, II, and III) that have a different star-formation history, from quiescent (Cha III) to actively forming stars (Cha II), and one that reaches the end of star-formation (Cha I). Aims: We aim at characterising the large-scale structure of the three sub-regions of the Chamaeleon molecular cloud complex by analysing new far-infrared images taken with the Herschel Space Observatory. Methods: We derived column density and temperature maps using PACS and SPIRE observations from the Herschel Gould Belt Survey and applied several tools, such as filament tracing, power-spectra, Δ-variance, and probability distribution functions (PDFs) of the column density, to derive the physical properties. Results: The column density maps reveal a different morphological appearance for each of the three clouds, with a ridge-like structure for Cha I, a clump-dominated regime for Cha II, and an intricate filamentary network for Cha III. The filament width is measured to be about 0.12 ± 0.04 pc in the three clouds, and the filaments are found to be gravitationally unstable in Cha I and II, but mostly subcritical in Cha III. Faint filaments (striations) are prominent in Cha I and are mostly aligned with the large-scale magnetic field. The PDFs of all regions show a lognormal distribution at low column densities. For higher densities, the PDF of Cha I shows a turnover indicative of an extended higher density component and culminates in a power-law tail. Cha II shows a power-law tail with a slope characteristic of gravity. The PDF of Cha III can be best fit by a single lognormal. Conclusions: The turbulence properties of the three regions are found to be similar, pointing towards a scenario where the clouds are impacted by large-scale processes. The magnetic field might possibly play an important role for the star formation efficiency in the Chamaeleon clouds
Current Scientific Issues in Large Scale Atmospheric Dynamics
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Miller, T. L. (Compiler)
Topics in large scale atmospheric dynamics are discussed. Aspects of atmospheric blocking, the influence of transient baroclinic eddies on planetary-scale waves, cyclogenesis, the effects of orography on planetary scale flow, small scale frontal structure, and simulations of gravity waves in frontal zones are discussed.
The large-scale frozen-in anticyclone in the 2011 Arctic summer stratosphere
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Allen, Douglas R.; Douglass, Anne R.; Strahan, Susan E.
The 2011 Arctic stratospheric final warming was characterized by a large-scale frozen-in anticyclone (FrIAC) that rapidly displaced the winter polar vortex, establishing unusually strong polar easterlies. A comprehensive overview of the 2011 FrIAC is provided using meteorological analyses, Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) N2O observations, and N2O simulations from the Global Modeling Initiative (GMI) 3-D chemistry and transport model and the Van Leer Icosahedral Triangular Advection (VITA) 2-D (latitude × longitude) isentropic transport model. A vortex edge diagnostic is used to determine the FrIAC boundary, allowing quantification of several FrIAC properties. The 2011 FrIAC originated over North Africa in late March and traveled eastward and poleward over 2 weeks, forming a strong anticyclone that extended from ~580-2100 K potential temperature (~25-50 km). Low potential vorticity (PV) was transported to the pole with the FrIAC in early April; during May, most of the PV signature decayed due to diabatic processes. A small remnant negative PV anomaly persisted near the pole until mid-June. Tracer equivalent latitude was low initially and remained low throughout the summer. GMI, VITA, and MLS showed elevated N2O in the FrIAC, although the peak value was smaller in GMI due to a subtropical low bias. The high-resolution (~20 km) VITA filamentary structure quantitatively matched most of the features observed by MLS when smoothed to match the MLS resolution. The high-N2O anomaly persisted in the middle stratosphere over 4 months until late August, when it was destroyed by horizontal and vertical shearing, combined with photochemical processes.
Large-scale sparse singular value computations
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Berry, Michael W.
Four numerical methods for computing the singular value decomposition (SVD) of large sparse matrices on a multiprocessor architecture are presented. Lanczos and subspace iteration-based methods for determining several of the largest singular triplets (singular values and corresponding left and right-singular vectors) for sparse matrices arising from two practical applications: information retrieval and seismic reflection tomography are emphasized. The target architectures for implementations are the CRAY-2S/4-128 and Alliant FX/80. The sparse SVD problem is well motivated by recent information-retrieval techniques in which dominant singular values and their corresponding singular vectors of large sparse term-document matrices are desired, and by nonlinear inverse problems from seismic tomography applications which require approximate pseudo-inverses of large sparse Jacobian matrices.
Modified gravity and large scale flows, a review
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mould, Jeremy
Large scale flows have been a challenging feature of cosmography ever since galaxy scaling relations came on the scene 40 years ago. The next generation of surveys will offer a serious test of the standard cosmology.
Timing signatures of large scale solar eruptions
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Balasubramaniam, K. S.; Hock-Mysliwiec, Rachel; Henry, Timothy; Kirk, Michael S.
We examine the timing signatures of large solar eruptions resulting in flares, CMEs and Solar Energetic Particle events. We probe solar active regions from the chromosphere through the corona, using data from space and ground-based observations, including ISOON, SDO, GONG, and GOES. Our studies include a number of flares and CMEs of mostly the M- and X-strengths as categorized by GOES. We find that the chromospheric signatures of these large eruptions occur 5-30 minutes in advance of coronal high temperature signatures. These timing measurements are then used as inputs to models and reconstruct the eruptive nature of these systems, and explore their utility in forecasts.
Linking Large-Scale Reading Assessments: Comment
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hanushek, Eric A.
E. A. Hanushek points out in this commentary that applied researchers in education have only recently begun to appreciate the value of international assessments, even though there are now 50 years of experience with these. Until recently, these assessments have been stand-alone surveys that have not been linked, and analysis has largely focused on…
Large scale scientific computing - future directions
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Patterson, G. S.
Every new generation of scientific computers has opened up new areas of science for exploration through the use of more realistic numerical models or the ability to process ever larger amounts of data. Concomitantly, scientists, because of the success of past models and the wide range of physical phenomena left unexplored, have pressed computer designers to strive for the maximum performance that current technology will permit. This encompasses not only increased processor speed, but also substantial improvements in processor memory, I/O bandwidth, secondary storage and facilities to augment the scientist's ability both to program and to understand the results of a computation. Over the past decade, performance improvements for scientific calculations have come from algoeithm development and a major change in the underlying architecture of the hardware, not from significantly faster circuitry. It appears that this trend will continue for another decade. A future archetectural change for improved performance will most likely be multiple processors coupled together in some fashion. Because the demand for a significantly more powerful computer system comes from users with single large applications, it is essential that an application be efficiently partitionable over a set of processors; otherwise, a multiprocessor system will not be effective. This paper explores some of the constraints on multiple processor architecture posed by these large applications. In particular, the trade-offs between large numbers of slow processors and small numbers of fast processors is examined. Strategies for partitioning range from partitioning at the language statement level (in-the-small) and at the program module level (in-the-large). Some examples of partitioning in-the-large are given and a strategy for efficiently executing a partitioned program is explored.
Biological Decontamination Using Pulsed Filamentary Microplasma Jet
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pothiraja, Ramasamy; Lackmann, Jan-Wilm; Keil, Gernot; Bibinov, Nikita; Awakowicz, Peter
Microplasma jet for the generation of pulsed filamentary discharge at atmospheric pressure has been devised for biological decontamination as well as for modification of surface properties. Long plasma-filament is generated inside a quartz tube and characterized using optical emission spectroscopy, current voltage measurements, numerical simulations and microphotography. Efficiency of our plasma source for the decontamination on inner surface of the tube as well as on objects placed in proximity of plasma effluent is studied. Escherichia coli (Gram-negative bacteria) and spores of Bacillus atrophaeus (Gram-positive bacteria) are used for the decontamination studies. Decontamination of Bacillus atrophaeus endospores, which are layered on PET polymer material, and placed in the proximity of plasma effluent, shows the mean logarithmic bacterial reduction of 3.67 for the treatment time of 120 s. Inactivation of Escherichia coli coated on inner surface of the tube shows the mean logarithmic bacterial reduction of about 5 for the treatment time of 30 s. In addition to this, inhibition studies of bacteria coated on agar plate are also carried out. It shows plasma effluent generated in our plasma source is very effective for the inhibition of bacterial colonization.
Large-scale preparation of plasmid DNA.
Heilig, J S; Elbing, K L; Brent, R
Although the need for large quantities of plasmid DNA has diminished as techniques for manipulating small quantities of DNA have improved, occasionally large amounts of high-quality plasmid DNA are desired. This unit describes the preparation of milligram quantities of highly purified plasmid DNA. The first part of the unit describes three methods for preparing crude lysates enriched in plasmid DNA from bacterial cells grown in liquid culture: alkaline lysis, boiling, and Triton lysis. The second part describes four methods for purifying plasmid DNA in such lysates away from contaminating RNA and protein: CsCl/ethidium bromide density gradient centrifugation, polyethylene glycol (PEG) precipitation, anion-exchange chromatography, and size-exclusion chromatography.
Large-Scale Aerosol Modeling and Analysis
9 October and lasting until 1500 UTC, 11 October. (bottom) COAMPS forecast of visibility for the same period showing a dust storm with a similar...starting time and an ending time of 0900 UTC 12 October. (Walker et al., 2009.) 6 7 Figure 3. Comparison of COAMPS dust storm forecast...forecasts of dust storms in areas downwind of the large deserts of the world: Arabian Gulf, Sea of Japan, China Sea, Mediterranean Sea, and the Tropical
Large-Scale Aerosol Modeling and Analysis
advance anywhere on the globe. NAAPS and COAMPS are particularly useful for forecasts of dust storms in areas downwind of the large deserts of the world... dust source regions in NAAPS. The DSD has been crucial for high-resolution dust forecasting in SW Asia using COAMPS (Walker et al., 2009). Dust ...6 Figure 2. Four-panel product used to compare multiple model forecasts of visibility in SW Asia dust storms . On the web the product is
Large-Scale Aerosol Modeling and Analysis
to six days in advance anywhere on the globe. NAAPS and COAMPS are particularly useful for forecasts of dust storms in areas downwind of the large...in FY08. NAAPS forecasts of CONUS dust storms and long-range dust transport to CONUS were further evaluated in collaboration with CSU. These...visibility. The regional model ( COAMPS /Aerosol) became operational during OIF. The global model Navy Aerosol Analysis and Prediction System (NAAPS
Global scale deposition of radioactivity from a large scale exchange
Knox, J.B.
The global impact of radioactivity pertains to the continental scale and planetary scale deposition of the radioactivity in a delayed mode; it affects all peoples. Global deposition is distinct and separate from close-in fallout. Close-in fallout is delivered in a matter of a few days or less and is much studied in the literature of civilian defense. But much less studied is the matter of global deposition. The global deposition of radioactivity from the reference strategic exchange (5300 MT) leads to an estimated average whole body, total integrated dose of 20 rem for the latitudes of 30 to 50/sup 0/ in the Northern Hemisphere. Hotspots of deposited radioactivity can occur with doses of about 70 rem (winter) to 40 to 110 rem (summer) in regions like Europe, western Asia, western North Pacific, southeastern US, northeastern US, and Canada. The neighboring countries within a few hundred kilometers of areas under strategic nuclear attack can be impacted by the normal (termal close-in) fallout due to gravitational sedimentation with lethal radiation doses to unsheltered populations. In regard to the strategic scenario about 40% of the megatonage is assumed to be in a surface burst mode and the rest in the free air burst mode.
Toward Increasing Fairness in Score Scale Calibrations Employed in International Large-Scale Assessments
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Oliveri, Maria Elena; von Davier, Matthias
In this article, we investigate the creation of comparable score scales across countries in international assessments. We examine potential improvements to current score scale calibration procedures used in international large-scale assessments. Our approach seeks to improve fairness in scoring international large-scale assessments, which often…
Large-scale GW software development
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kim, Minjung; Mandal, Subhasish; Mikida, Eric; Jindal, Prateek; Bohm, Eric; Jain, Nikhil; Kale, Laxmikant; Martyna, Glenn; Ismail-Beigi, Sohrab
Electronic excitations are important in understanding and designing many functional materials. In terms of ab initio methods, the GW and Bethe-Saltpeter Equation (GW-BSE) beyond DFT methods have proved successful in describing excited states in many materials. However, the heavy computational loads and large memory requirements have hindered their routine applicability by the materials physics community. We summarize some of our collaborative efforts to develop a new software framework designed for GW calculations on massively parallel supercomputers. Our GW code is interfaced with the plane-wave pseudopotential ab initio molecular dynamics software ``OpenAtom'' which is based on the Charm++ parallel library. The computation of the electronic polarizability is one of the most expensive parts of any GW calculation. We describe our strategy that uses a real-space representation to avoid the large number of fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) common to most GW methods. We also describe an eigendecomposition of the plasmon modes from the resulting dielectric matrix that enhances efficiency. This work is supported by NSF through Grant ACI-1339804.
Goethite Bench-scale and Large-scale Preparation Tests
Josephson, Gary B.; Westsik, Joseph H.
The Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) is the keystone for cleanup of high-level radioactive waste from our nation's nuclear defense program. The WTP will process high-level waste from the Hanford tanks and produce immobilized high-level waste glass for disposal at a national repository, low activity waste (LAW) glass, and liquid effluent from the vitrification off-gas scrubbers. The liquid effluent will be stabilized into a secondary waste form (e.g. grout-like material) and disposed on the Hanford site in the Integrated Disposal Facility (IDF) along with the low-activity waste glass. The major long-term environmental impact at Hanford results from technetium that volatilizes from the WTP melters and finally resides in the secondary waste. Laboratory studies have indicated that pertechnetate ({sup 99}TcO{sub 4}{sup -}) can be reduced and captured into a solid solution of {alpha}-FeOOH, goethite (Um 2010). Goethite is a stable mineral and can significantly retard the release of technetium to the environment from the IDF. The laboratory studies were conducted using reaction times of many days, which is typical of environmental subsurface reactions that were the genesis of this new process. This study was the first step in considering adaptation of the slow laboratory steps to a larger-scale and faster process that could be conducted either within the WTP or within the effluent treatment facility (ETF). Two levels of scale-up tests were conducted (25x and 400x). The largest scale-up produced slurries of Fe-rich precipitates that contained rhenium as a nonradioactive surrogate for {sup 99}Tc. The slurries were used in melter tests at Vitreous State Laboratory (VSL) to determine whether captured rhenium was less volatile in the vitrification process than rhenium in an unmodified feed. A critical step in the technetium immobilization process is to chemically reduce Tc(VII) in the pertechnetate (TcO{sub 4}{sup -}) to Tc(Iv)by reaction with the ferrous
Large Scale Experiments on Spacecraft Fire Safety
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Urban, David; Ruff, Gary A.; Minster, Olivier; Fernandez-Pello, A. Carlos; Tien, James S.; Torero, Jose L.; Legros, Guillaume; Eigenbrod, Christian; Smirnov, Nickolay; Fujita, Osamu; Cowlard, Adam J.; Rouvreau, Sebastien; Toth, Balazs; Jomaas, Grunde
Full scale fire testing complemented by computer modelling has provided significant knowhow about the risk, prevention and suppression of fire in terrestrial systems (cars, ships, planes, buildings, mines, and tunnels). In comparison, no such testing has been carried out for manned spacecraft due to the complexity, cost and risk associated with operating a long duration fire safety experiment of a relevant size in microgravity. Therefore, there is currently a gap in knowledge of fire behaviour in spacecraft. The entire body of low-gravity fire research has either been conducted in short duration ground-based microgravity facilities or has been limited to very small fuel samples. Still, the work conducted to date has shown that fire behaviour in low-gravity is very different from that in normal gravity, with differences observed for flammability limits, ignition delay, flame spread behaviour, flame colour and flame structure. As a result, the prediction of the behaviour of fires in reduced gravity is at present not validated. To address this gap in knowledge, a collaborative international project, Spacecraft Fire Safety, has been established with its cornerstone being the development of an experiment (Fire Safety 1) to be conducted on an ISS resupply vehicle, such as the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) or Orbital Cygnus after it leaves the ISS and before it enters the atmosphere. A computer modelling effort will complement the experimental effort. Although the experiment will need to meet rigorous safety requirements to ensure the carrier vehicle does not sustain damage, the absence of a crew removes the need for strict containment of combustion products. This will facilitate the possibility of examining fire behaviour on a scale that is relevant to spacecraft fire safety and will provide unique data for fire model validation. This unprecedented opportunity will expand the understanding of the fundamentals of fire behaviour in spacecraft. The experiment is being
Large Scale Experiments on Spacecraft Fire Safety
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Urban, David L.; Ruff, Gary A.; Minster, Olivier; Toth, Balazs; Fernandez-Pello, A. Carlos; T'ien, James S.; Torero, Jose L.; Cowlard, Adam J.; Legros, Guillaume; Eigenbrod, Christian; Smirnov, Nickolay; Fujita, Osamu; Rouvreau, Sebastien; Jomaas, Grunde
Full scale fire testing complemented by computer modelling has provided significant know how about the risk, prevention and suppression of fire in terrestrial systems (cars, ships, planes, buildings, mines, and tunnels). In comparison, no such testing has been carried out for manned spacecraft due to the complexity, cost and risk associated with operating a long duration fire safety experiment of a relevant size in microgravity. Therefore, there is currently a gap in knowledge of fire behaviour in spacecraft. The entire body of low-gravity fire research has either been conducted in short duration ground-based microgravity facilities or has been limited to very small fuel samples. Still, the work conducted to date has shown that fire behaviour in low-gravity is very different from that in normal-gravity, with differences observed for flammability limits, ignition delay, flame spread behaviour, flame colour and flame structure. As a result, the prediction of the behaviour of fires in reduced gravity is at present not validated. To address this gap in knowledge, a collaborative international project, Spacecraft Fire Safety, has been established with its cornerstone being the development of an experiment (Fire Safety 1) to be conducted on an ISS resupply vehicle, such as the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) or Orbital Cygnus after it leaves the ISS and before it enters the atmosphere. A computer modelling effort will complement the experimental effort. Although the experiment will need to meet rigorous safety requirements to ensure the carrier vehicle does not sustain damage, the absence of a crew removes the need for strict containment of combustion products. This will facilitate the possibility of examining fire behaviour on a scale that is relevant to spacecraft fire safety and will provide unique data for fire model validation. This unprecedented opportunity will expand the understanding of the fundamentals of fire behaviour in spacecraft. The experiment is being
Large Scale CW ECRH Systems: Some considerations
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Erckmann, V.; Kasparek, W.; Plaum, B.; Lechte, C.; Petelin, M. I.; Braune, H.; Gantenbein, G.; Laqua, H. P.; Lubiako, L.; Marushchenko, N. B.; Michel, G.; Turkin, Y.; Weissgerber, M.
Electron Cyclotron Resonance Heating (ECRH) is a key component in the heating arsenal for the next step fusion devices like W7-X and ITER. These devices are equipped with superconducting coils and are designed to operate steady state. ECRH must thus operate in CW-mode with a large flexibility to comply with various physics demands such as plasma start-up, heating and current drive, as well as configurationand MHD - control. The request for many different sophisticated applications results in a growing complexity, which is in conflict with the request for high availability, reliability, and maintainability. `Advanced' ECRH-systems must, therefore, comply with both the complex physics demands and operational robustness and reliability. The W7-X ECRH system is the first CW- facility of an ITER relevant size and is used as a test bed for advanced components. Proposals for future developments are presented together with improvements of gyrotrons, transmission components and launchers.
Python for large-scale electrophysiology.
Spacek, Martin; Blanche, Tim; Swindale, Nicholas
Electrophysiology is increasingly moving towards highly parallel recording techniques which generate large data sets. We record extracellularly in vivo in cat and rat visual cortex with 54-channel silicon polytrodes, under time-locked visual stimulation, from localized neuronal populations within a cortical column. To help deal with the complexity of generating and analysing these data, we used the Python programming language to develop three software projects: one for temporally precise visual stimulus generation ("dimstim"); one for electrophysiological waveform visualization and spike sorting ("spyke"); and one for spike train and stimulus analysis ("neuropy"). All three are open source and available for download (http://swindale.ecc.ubc.ca/code). The requirements and solutions for these projects differed greatly, yet we found Python to be well suited for all three. Here we present our software as a showcase of the extensive capabilities of Python in neuroscience.
Large-Scale Pattern Discovery in Music
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bertin-Mahieux, Thierry
This work focuses on extracting patterns in musical data from very large collections. The problem is split in two parts. First, we build such a large collection, the Million Song Dataset, to provide researchers access to commercial-size datasets. Second, we use this collection to study cover song recognition which involves finding harmonic patterns from audio features. Regarding the Million Song Dataset, we detail how we built the original collection from an online API, and how we encouraged other organizations to participate in the project. The result is the largest research dataset with heterogeneous sources of data available to music technology researchers. We demonstrate some of its potential and discuss the impact it already has on the field. On cover song recognition, we must revisit the existing literature since there are no publicly available results on a dataset of more than a few thousand entries. We present two solutions to tackle the problem, one using a hashing method, and one using a higher-level feature computed from the chromagram (dubbed the 2DFTM). We further investigate the 2DFTM since it has potential to be a relevant representation for any task involving audio harmonic content. Finally, we discuss the future of the dataset and the hope of seeing more work making use of the different sources of data that are linked in the Million Song Dataset. Regarding cover songs, we explain how this might be a first step towards defining a harmonic manifold of music, a space where harmonic similarities between songs would be more apparent.
Large-Scale Structures of Planetary Systems
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Murray-Clay, Ruth; Rogers, Leslie A.
A class of solar system analogs has yet to be identified among the large crop of planetary systems now observed. However, since most observed worlds are more easily detectable than direct analogs of the Sun's planets, the frequency of systems with structures similar to our own remains unknown. Identifying the range of possible planetary system architectures is complicated by the large number of physical processes that affect the formation and dynamical evolution of planets. I will present two ways of organizing planetary system structures. First, I will suggest that relatively few physical parameters are likely to differentiate the qualitative architectures of different systems. Solid mass in a protoplanetary disk is perhaps the most obvious possible controlling parameter, and I will give predictions for correlations between planetary system properties that we would expect to be present if this is the case. In particular, I will suggest that the solar system's structure is representative of low-metallicity systems that nevertheless host giant planets. Second, the disk structures produced as young stars are fed by their host clouds may play a crucial role. Using the observed distribution of RV giant planets as a function of stellar mass, I will demonstrate that invoking ice lines to determine where gas giants can form requires fine tuning. I will suggest that instead, disk structures built during early accretion have lasting impacts on giant planet distributions, and disk clean-up differentially affects the orbital distributions of giant and lower-mass planets. These two organizational hypotheses have different implications for the solar system's context, and I will suggest observational tests that may allow them to be validated or falsified.
Information Tailoring Enhancements for Large-Scale Social Data
Intelligent Automation Incorporated Information Tailoring Enhancements for Large-Scale...Automation Incorporated Progress Report No. 3 Information Tailoring Enhancements for Large-Scale Social Data Submitted in accordance with...also gathers information about entities from all news articles and displays it on over one million entity pages [5][6], and the information is made
Large-scale societal changes and intentionality - an uneasy marriage.
Bodor, Péter; Fokas, Nikos
Our commentary focuses on juxtaposing the proposed science of intentional change with facts and concepts pertaining to the level of large populations or changes on a worldwide scale. Although we find a unified evolutionary theory promising, we think that long-term and large-scale, scientifically guided - that is, intentional - social change is not only impossible, but also undesirable.
Large scale static and dynamic friction experiments
Bakhtar, K.; Barton, N.
A series of nineteen shear tests were performed on fractures 1 m/sup 2/ in area, generated in blocks of sandstone, granite, tuff, hydrostone and concrete. The tests were conducted under quasi-static and dynamic loading conditions. A vertical stress assisted fracturing technique was developed to create the fractures through the large test blocks. Prior to testing, the fractured surface of each block was characterized using the Barton JRC-JCS concept. the results of characterization were used to generate the peak strength envelope for each fractured surface. Attempts were made to model the stress path based on the classical transformation equations which assumes a theoretical plane, elastic isotropic properties, and therefore no slip. However, this approach gave rise to a stress path passing above the strength envelope which is clearly unacceptable. The results of the experimental investigations indicated that actual stress path is affected by the dilatancy due to fracture roughness, as well as by the side friction imposed by the boundary conditions. By introducing the corrections due to the dilation and boundary conditions into the stress transformation equation, the fully corrected stress paths for predicting the strength of fractured blocks were obtained.
Superconducting materials for large scale applications
Scanlan, Ronald M.; Malozemoff, Alexis P.; Larbalestier, David C.
Significant improvements in the properties ofsuperconducting materials have occurred recently. These improvements arebeing incorporated into the latest generation of wires, cables, and tapesthat are being used in a broad range of prototype devices. These devicesinclude new, high field accelerator and NMR magnets, magnets for fusionpower experiments, motors, generators, and power transmission lines.These prototype magnets are joining a wide array of existing applicationsthat utilize the unique capabilities of superconducting magnets:accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider, fusion experiments suchas ITER, 930 MHz NMR, and 4 Tesla MRI. In addition, promising newmaterials such as MgB2 have been discovered and are being studied inorder to assess their potential for new applications. In this paper, wewill review the key developments that are leading to these newapplications for superconducting materials. In some cases, the key factoris improved understanding or development of materials with significantlyimproved properties. An example of the former is the development of Nb3Snfor use in high field magnets for accelerators. In other cases, thedevelopment is being driven by the application. The aggressive effort todevelop HTS tapes is being driven primarily by the need for materialsthat can operate at temperatures of 50 K and higher. The implications ofthese two drivers for further developments will be discussed. Finally, wewill discuss the areas where further improvements are needed in order fornew applications to be realized.
Nonlinear large-scale optimization with WORHP
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nikolayzik, Tim; Büskens, Christof; Gerdts, Matthias
Nonlinear optimization has grown to a key technology in many areas of aerospace industry, e.g. satellite control, shape-optimization, aerodynamamics, trajectory planning, reentry prob-lems, interplanetary flights. One of the most extensive areas is the optimization of trajectories for aerospace applications. These problems typically are discretized optimal control problems, which leads to large sparse nonlinear optimization problems. In the end all these different problems from different areas can be described in the general formulation as a nonlinear opti-mization problem. WORHP is designed to solve nonlinear optimization problems with more then one million variables and one million constraints. WORHP uses a lot of different advanced techniques, e.g. reverse communication, to organize the optimization process as efficient and controllable by the user as possible. The solver has nine different interfaces, e.g. to MAT-LAB/SIMULINK and AMPL. Tests of WORHP had shown that WORHP is a very robust and promising solver. Several examples from space applications will be presented.
A Large Scale Virtual Gas Sensor Array
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ziyatdinov, Andrey; Fernández-Diaz, Eduard; Chaudry, A.; Marco, Santiago; Persaud, Krishna; Perera, Alexandre
This paper depicts a virtual sensor array that allows the user to generate gas sensor synthetic data while controlling a wide variety of the characteristics of the sensor array response: arbitrary number of sensors, support for multi-component gas mixtures and full control of the noise in the system such as sensor drift or sensor aging. The artificial sensor array response is inspired on the response of 17 polymeric sensors for three analytes during 7 month. The main trends in the synthetic gas sensor array, such as sensitivity, diversity, drift and sensor noise, are user controlled. Sensor sensitivity is modeled by an optionally linear or nonlinear method (spline based). The toolbox on data generation is implemented in open source R language for statistical computing and can be freely accessed as an educational resource or benchmarking reference. The software package permits the design of scenarios with a very large number of sensors (over 10000 sensels), which are employed in the test and benchmarking of neuromorphic models in the Bio-ICT European project NEUROCHEM.
Large-scale structural monitoring systems
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Solomon, Ian; Cunnane, James; Stevenson, Paul
Extensive structural health instrumentation systems have been installed on three long-span cable-supported bridges in Hong Kong. The quantities measured include environment and applied loads (such as wind, temperature, seismic and traffic loads) and the bridge response to these loadings (accelerations, displacements, and strains). Measurements from over 1000 individual sensors are transmitted to central computing facilities via local data acquisition stations and a fault- tolerant fiber-optic network, and are acquired and processed continuously. The data from the systems is used to provide information on structural load and response characteristics, comparison with design, optimization of inspection, and assurance of continued bridge health. Automated data processing and analysis provides information on important structural and operational parameters. Abnormal events are noted and logged automatically. Information of interest is automatically archived for post-processing. Novel aspects of the instrumentation system include a fluid-based high-accuracy long-span Level Sensing System to measure bridge deck profile and tower settlement. This paper provides an outline of the design and implementation of the instrumentation system. A description of the design and implementation of the data acquisition and processing procedures is also given. Examples of the use of similar systems in monitoring other large structures are discussed.
Large-Scale Magnetic Connectivity in CMEs
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhang, Yuzong; Wang, Jingxiu; Attrill, Gemma; Harra, Louise K.
Five flare/CME events were selected in this study. One is on May 12, 1997, for which there is only two active regions on the visible solar disc, and the magnetic configuration is rather simple. For other cases, many active regions were visible. They are the flare/CME events that occurred on Bastille Day of 2000, Oct. 28, 2003, Nov. 7, 2004 and Jan. 20, 2005. By tracing the spread of EUV dimming, which was obtained by SOHO/EIT 195 Å fixed-difference images, we studied the CME initiation and development on the solar disc. At the same time we reconstructed the 3D magnetic structure of coronal magnetic fields, extrapolated from the observed photospheric magnetograms by SOHO/MDI. In scrutinizing the EUV brightening and dimming propagation from CME initiation sites to large areas with different magnetic connectivities, we determine the overall coupling and interacting of multiple flux systems in the CME processes. Several typical patterns of magnetic connectivity are described and discussed in the view of CME initiation mechanism or mechanisms.
Impact Cratering Physics al Large Planetary Scales
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ahrens, Thomas J.
Present understanding of the physics controlling formation of ˜10^3 km diameter, multi-ringed impact structures on planets were derived from the ideas of Scripps oceanographer, W. Van Dorn, University of London's, W, Murray, and, Caltech's, D. O'Keefe who modeled the vertical oscillations (gravity and elasticity restoring forces) of shock-induced melt and damaged rock within the transient crater immediately after the downward propagating hemispheric shock has processed rock (both lining, and substantially below, the transient cavity crater). The resulting very large surface wave displacements produce the characteristic concentric, multi-ringed basins, as stored energy is radiated away and also dissipated upon inducing further cracking. Initial calculational description, of the above oscillation scenario, has focused upon on properly predicting the resulting density of cracks, and, their orientations. A new numerical version of the Ashby--Sammis crack damage model is coupled to an existing shock hydrodynamics code to predict impact induced damage distributions in a series of 15--70 cm rock targets from high speed impact experiments for a range of impactor type and velocity. These are compared to results of crack damage distributions induced in crustal rocks with small arms impactors and mapped ultrasonically in recent Caltech experiments (Ai and Ahrens, 2006).
Magnetosheath Filamentary Structures Formed by Ion Acceleration at the Quasi-Parallel Bow Shock
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Omidi, N.; Sibeck, D.; Gutynska, O.; Trattner, K. J.
Results from 2.5-D electromagnetic hybrid simulations show the formation of field-aligned, filamentary plasma structures in the magnetosheath. They begin at the quasi-parallel bow shock and extend far into the magnetosheath. These structures exhibit anticorrelated, spatial oscillations in plasma density and ion temperature. Closer to the bow shock, magnetic field variations associated with density and temperature oscillations may also be present. Magnetosheath filamentary structures (MFS) form primarily in the quasi-parallel sheath; however, they may extend to the quasi-perpendicular magnetosheath. They occur over a wide range of solar wind Alfvénic Mach numbers and interplanetary magnetic field directions. At lower Mach numbers with lower levels of magnetosheath turbulence, MFS remain highly coherent over large distances. At higher Mach numbers, magnetosheath turbulence decreases the level of coherence. Magnetosheath filamentary structures result from localized ion acceleration at the quasi-parallel bow shock and the injection of energetic ions into the magnetosheath. The localized nature of ion acceleration is tied to the generation of fast magnetosonic waves at and upstream of the quasi-parallel shock. The increased pressure in flux tubes containing the shock accelerated ions results in the depletion of the thermal plasma in these flux tubes and the enhancement of density in flux tubes void of energetic ions. This results in the observed anticorrelation between ion temperature and plasma density.
Magnetosheath filamentary structures formed by ion acceleration at the quasi-parallel bow shock
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Omidi, N.; Sibeck, D.; Gutynska, O.; Trattner, K. J.
Results from 2.5-D electromagnetic hybrid simulations show the formation of field-aligned, filamentary plasma structures in the magnetosheath. They begin at the quasi-parallel bow shock and extend far into the magnetosheath. These structures exhibit anticorrelated, spatial oscillations in plasma density and ion temperature. Closer to the bow shock, magnetic field variations associated with density and temperature oscillations may also be present. Magnetosheath filamentary structures (MFS) form primarily in the quasi-parallel sheath; however, they may extend to the quasi-perpendicular magnetosheath. They occur over a wide range of solar wind Alfvénic Mach numbers and interplanetary magnetic field directions. At lower Mach numbers with lower levels of magnetosheath turbulence, MFS remain highly coherent over large distances. At higher Mach numbers, magnetosheath turbulence decreases the level of coherence. Magnetosheath filamentary structures result from localized ion acceleration at the quasi-parallel bow shock and the injection of energetic ions into the magnetosheath. The localized nature of ion acceleration is tied to the generation of fast magnetosonic waves at and upstream of the quasi-parallel shock. The increased pressure in flux tubes containing the shock accelerated ions results in the depletion of the thermal plasma in these flux tubes and the enhancement of density in flux tubes void of energetic ions. This results in the observed anticorrelation between ion temperature and plasma density.
Large Scale Interconnections Using Dynamic Gratings
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pauliat, Gilles; Roosen, Gerald
Optics is attractive for interconnects because the possibility of crossing without any interaction multiple light beams. A crossbar network can be achieved using holographic elements which permit to connect independently all inputs and all outputs. The incorporation of dynamic holographic materials is enticing as this will render the interconnection changeable. However, it is necessary to find first a passive method permitting to achieve beam deflection and secondly a photosensitive material of high optical quality requiring low power levels to optically induce the refractive index changes. We first describe an optical method allowing to produce very large deflections of light beams thus enabling to randomly address any spot on a plane. Such a technique appears applicable to both interconnections of VLSI chips and random access of optical memories. Our scheme for realizing dynamic optical interconnects is based on Bragg diffraction of the beam to steer by a dynamic phase grating which spacing and orientation are changeable in real time. This is achieved in a passive way by acting on the optical frequency of the control beams used to record the dynamic grating. Deflection angles of 15° have been experimentally demonstrated for a 27 nm shift in the control wavelength. For a larger wavelength scanning (50 nm), 28° deflections are anticipated while maintaining the Bragg condition satisfied. We then discuss some issues related to photosensitive materials able to dynamically record the optically induced refractive index change. The specific example of Bi12 Si 020 or Bi12 Ge 020 photorefractive crystals is presented. Indeed these materials are very attractive as they require low driving energy and exhibit a memory effect. This latter property permits to achieve numerous iterations between computing cells before reconfiguration of the interconnect network.
Large Scale Turbulent Structures in Supersonic Jets
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Rao, Ram Mohan; Lundgren, Thomas S.
Jet noise is a major concern in the design of commercial aircraft. Studies by various researchers suggest that aerodynamic noise is a major contributor to jet noise. Some of these studies indicate that most of the aerodynamic jet noise due to turbulent mixing occurs when there is a rapid variation in turbulent structure, i.e. rapidly growing or decaying vortices. The objective of this research was to simulate a compressible round jet to study the non-linear evolution of vortices and the resulting acoustic radiations. In particular, to understand the effect of turbulence structure on the noise. An ideal technique to study this problem is Direct Numerical Simulations(DNS), because it provides precise control on the initial and boundary conditions that lead to the turbulent structures studied. It also provides complete 3-dimensional time dependent data. Since the dynamics of a temporally evolving jet are not greatly different from those, of a spatially evolving jet, a temporal jet problem was solved, using periodicity ill the direction of the jet axis. This enables the application of Fourier spectral methods in the streamwise direction. Physically this means that turbulent structures in the jet are repeated in successive downstream cells instead of being gradually modified downstream into a jet plume. The DNS jet simulation helps us understand the various turbulent scales and mechanisms of turbulence generation in the evolution of a compressible round jet. These accurate flow solutions will be used in future research to estimate near-field acoustic radiation by computing the total outward flux across a surface and determine how it is related to the evolution of the turbulent solutions. Furthermore, these simulations allow us to investigate the sensitivity of acoustic radiations to inlet/boundary conditions, with possible application to active noise suppression. In addition, the data generated can be used to compute various turbulence quantities such as mean velocities
Large Scale Turbulent Structures in Supersonic Jets
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Rao, Ram Mohan; Lundgren, Thomas S.
Jet noise is a major concern in the design of commercial aircraft. Studies by various researchers suggest that aerodynamic noise is a major contributor to jet noise. Some of these studies indicate that most of the aerodynamic jet noise due to turbulent mixing occurs when there is a rapid variation in turbulent structure, i.e. rapidly growing or decaying vortices. The objective of this research was to simulate a compressible round jet to study the non-linear evolution of vortices and the resulting acoustic radiations. In particular, to understand the effect of turbulence structure on the noise. An ideal technique to study this problem is Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS), because it provides precise control on the initial and boundary conditions that lead to the turbulent structures studied. It also provides complete 3-dimensional time dependent data. Since the dynamics of a temporally evolving jet are not greatly different from those of a spatially evolving jet, a temporal jet problem was solved, using periodicity in the direction of the jet axis. This enables the application of Fourier spectral methods in the streamwise direction. Physically this means that turbulent structures in the jet are repeated in successive downstream cells instead of being gradually modified downstream into a jet plume. The DNS jet simulation helps us understand the various turbulent scales and mechanisms of turbulence generation in the evolution of a compressible round jet. These accurate flow solutions will be used in future research to estimate near-field acoustic radiation by computing the total outward flux across a surface and determine how it is related to the evolution of the turbulent solutions. Furthermore, these simulations allow us to investigate the sensitivity of acoustic radiations to inlet/boundary conditions, with possible appli(,a- tion to active noise suppression. In addition, the data generated can be used to compute, various turbulence quantities such as mean
LYα FOREST TOMOGRAPHY FROM BACKGROUND GALAXIES: THE FIRST MEGAPARSEC-RESOLUTION LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURE MAP AT z > 2
Lee, Khee-Gan; Hennawi, Joseph F.; Eilers, Anna-Christina; Stark, Casey; White, Martin; Prochaska, J. Xavier; Schlegel, David J.; Arinyo-i-Prats, Andreu; Suzuki, Nao; Croft, Rupert A. C.; Caputi, Karina I.; Cassata, Paolo; Ilbert, Olivier; Le Brun, Vincent; Le Fèvre, Olivier; Garilli, Bianca; Koekemoer, Anton M.; Maccagni, Dario; Nugent, Peter; and others
We present the first observations of foreground Lyα forest absorption from high-redshift galaxies, targeting 24 star-forming galaxies (SFGs) with z ∼ 2.3-2.8 within a 5' × 14' region of the COSMOS field. The transverse sightline separation is ∼2 h {sup –1} Mpc comoving, allowing us to create a tomographic reconstruction of the three-dimensional (3D) Lyα forest absorption field over the redshift range 2.20 ≤ z ≤ 2.45. The resulting map covers 6 h {sup –1} Mpc × 14 h {sup –1} Mpc in the transverse plane and 230 h {sup –1} Mpc along the line of sight with a spatial resolution of ≈3.5 h {sup –1} Mpc, and is the first high-fidelity map of a large-scale structure on ∼Mpc scales at z > 2. Our map reveals significant structures with ≳ 10 h {sup –1} Mpc extent, including several spanning the entire transverse breadth, providing qualitative evidence for the filamentary structures predicted to exist in the high-redshift cosmic web. Simulated reconstructions with the same sightline sampling, spectral resolution, and signal-to-noise ratio recover the salient structures present in the underlying 3D absorption fields. Using data from other surveys, we identified 18 galaxies with known redshifts coeval with our map volume, enabling a direct comparison with our tomographic map. This shows that galaxies preferentially occupy high-density regions, in qualitative agreement with the same comparison applied to simulations. Our results establish the feasibility of the CLAMATO survey, which aims to obtain Lyα forest spectra for ∼1000 SFGs over ∼1 deg{sup 2} of the COSMOS field, in order to map out the intergalactic medium large-scale structure at (z) ∼ 2.3 over a large volume (100 h {sup –1} Mpc){sup 3}.
Distribution probability of large-scale landslides in central Nepal
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Timilsina, Manita; Bhandary, Netra P.; Dahal, Ranjan Kumar; Yatabe, Ryuichi
Large-scale landslides in the Himalaya are defined as huge, deep-seated landslide masses that occurred in the geological past. They are widely distributed in the Nepal Himalaya. The steep topography and high local relief provide high potential for such failures, whereas the dynamic geology and adverse climatic conditions play a key role in the occurrence and reactivation of such landslides. The major geoscientific problems related with such large-scale landslides are 1) difficulties in their identification and delineation, 2) sources of small-scale failures, and 3) reactivation. Only a few scientific publications have been published concerning large-scale landslides in Nepal. In this context, the identification and quantification of large-scale landslides and their potential distribution are crucial. Therefore, this study explores the distribution of large-scale landslides in the Lesser Himalaya. It provides simple guidelines to identify large-scale landslides based on their typical characteristics and using a 3D schematic diagram. Based on the spatial distribution of landslides, geomorphological/geological parameters and logistic regression, an equation of large-scale landslide distribution is also derived. The equation is validated by applying it to another area. For the new area, the area under the receiver operating curve of the landslide distribution probability in the new area is 0.699, and a distribution probability value could explain > 65% of existing landslides. Therefore, the regression equation can be applied to areas of the Lesser Himalaya of central Nepal with similar geological and geomorphological conditions.
A study of MLFMA for large-scale scattering problems
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hastriter, Michael Larkin
This research is centered in computational electromagnetics with a focus on solving large-scale problems accurately in a timely fashion using first principle physics. Error control of the translation operator in 3-D is shown. A parallel implementation of the multilevel fast multipole algorithm (MLFMA) was studied as far as parallel efficiency and scaling. The large-scale scattering program (LSSP), based on the ScaleME library, was used to solve ultra-large-scale problems including a 200lambda sphere with 20 million unknowns. As these large-scale problems were solved, techniques were developed to accurately estimate the memory requirements. Careful memory management is needed in order to solve these massive problems. The study of MLFMA in large-scale problems revealed significant errors that stemmed from inconsistencies in constants used by different parts of the algorithm. These were fixed to produce the most accurate data possible for large-scale surface scattering problems. Data was calculated on a missile-like target using both high frequency methods and MLFMA. This data was compared and analyzed to determine possible strategies to increase data acquisition speed and accuracy through multiple computation method hybridization.
A bibliographical surveys of large-scale systems
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Corliss, W. R.
A limited, partly annotated bibliography was prepared on the subject of large-scale system control. Approximately 400 references are divided into thirteen application areas, such as large societal systems and large communication systems. A first-author index is provided.
Large-scale velocity structures in turbulent thermal convection.
Qiu, X L; Tong, P
A systematic study of large-scale velocity structures in turbulent thermal convection is carried out in three different aspect-ratio cells filled with water. Laser Doppler velocimetry is used to measure the velocity profiles and statistics over varying Rayleigh numbers Ra and at various spatial positions across the whole convection cell. Large velocity fluctuations are found both in the central region and near the cell boundary. Despite the large velocity fluctuations, the flow field still maintains a large-scale quasi-two-dimensional structure, which rotates in a coherent manner. This coherent single-roll structure scales with Ra and can be divided into three regions in the rotation plane: (1) a thin viscous boundary layer, (2) a fully mixed central core region with a constant mean velocity gradient, and (3) an intermediate plume-dominated buffer region. The experiment reveals a unique driving mechanism for the large-scale coherent rotation in turbulent convection.
Needs, opportunities, and options for large scale systems research
Thompson, G.L.
The Office of Energy Research was recently asked to perform a study of Large Scale Systems in order to facilitate the development of a true large systems theory. It was decided to ask experts in the fields of electrical engineering, chemical engineering and manufacturing/operations research for their ideas concerning large scale systems research. The author was asked to distribute a questionnaire among these experts to find out their opinions concerning recent accomplishments and future research directions in large scale systems research. He was also requested to convene a conference which included three experts in each area as panel members to discuss the general area of large scale systems research. The conference was held on March 26--27, 1984 in Pittsburgh with nine panel members, and 15 other attendees. The present report is a summary of the ideas presented and the recommendations proposed by the attendees.
NGC 1275, High Velocity Filamentary System
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Caulet, Adeline
The extensive filamentary system surrounding NGC 1275 is known to exhibit two velocity components, one at 5200 km/s which is the same as the velocity of NGC 1275 itself, and one at 8300 km/s. The low velocity (LV) system has been studied extensively with a view to elucidating the nature of a putative cooling flow of intracluster (A426) gas into NGC1275. A plausible hypothesis based on optical and radio data describes the high velocity (HV) system as a late-type galaxy caught in the gravitational potential well of NGC 1275 and falling into it with a velocity of about 3000 km/s. In this picture the HV filaments are composed of giant HII regions which have been imaged in H-alpha and observed spectroscopically in other optical lines. Our lack of certainty about the morphology of the HV system, the dynamical relationship between the HV and LV systems, and the optical spectral characteristics of the HV filaments coupled with the fact that spiral galaxies are rare in the inner regions of A426 make this hypothesis tentative. Yet it is important to understand the nature of the HV system in order to properly interpret observations of the LV system in terms of a cooling flow. We propose to obtain vacuum ultraviolet spectra with the IUE of several emission regions of the HV system. The objectives are: a) to use any observed vacuum ultraviolet emission lines together with existing optical emission line data to infer the physical processes by which the emission lines are produced, b) to use any vacuum ultraviolet emission line data to help determine abundances, particularly that of carbon, with a view to finding evidence bearing on the origin of the HV system, and c) and to search for an ultraviolet continuum characteristic of an OB stellar population. The proposed work is part of a larger effort to obtain groundbased Fabry-Perot imagery and sounding rocket vacuum ultraviolet imagery of the HV and LV systems.
Moeckel, Nickolas; Burkert, Andreas E-mail: email@example.com
The classical picture of a star-forming filament is a near-equilibrium structure with its collapse dependent on its gravitational criticality. Recent observations have complicated this picture, revealing filaments to be a mess of apparently interacting subfilaments with transsonic internal velocity dispersions and mildly supersonic intra-subfilament dispersions. How structures like this form is unresolved. Here, we study the velocity structure of filamentary regions in a simulation of a turbulent molecular cloud. We present two main findings. First, the observed complex velocity features in filaments arise naturally in self-gravitating hydrodynamic simulations of turbulent clouds without the need for magnetic or other effects. Second, a region that is filamentary only in projection and is in fact made of spatially distinct features can display these same velocity characteristics. The fact that these disjoint structures can masquerade as coherent filaments in both projection and velocity diagnostics highlights the need to continue developing sophisticated filamentary analysis techniques for star formation observations.
Nonlinear Generation of shear flows and large scale magnetic fields by small scale
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Aburjania, G.
EGU2009-233 Nonlinear Generation of shear flows and large scale magnetic fields by small scale turbulence in the ionosphere by G. Aburjania Contact: George Aburjania, firstname.lastname@example.com,email@example.com
Large scale purification of RNA nanoparticles by preparative ultracentrifugation.
Jasinski, Daniel L; Schwartz, Chad T; Haque, Farzin; Guo, Peixuan
Purification of large quantities of supramolecular RNA complexes is of paramount importance due to the large quantities of RNA needed and the purity requirements for in vitro and in vivo assays. Purification is generally carried out by liquid chromatography (HPLC), polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), or agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE). Here, we describe an efficient method for the large-scale purification of RNA prepared by in vitro transcription using T7 RNA polymerase by cesium chloride (CsCl) equilibrium density gradient ultracentrifugation and the large-scale purification of RNA nanoparticles by sucrose gradient rate-zonal ultracentrifugation or cushioned sucrose gradient rate-zonal ultracentrifugation.
Learning networks for sustainable, large-scale improvement.
McCannon, C Joseph; Perla, Rocco J
Large-scale improvement efforts known as improvement networks offer structured opportunities for exchange of information and insights into the adaptation of clinical protocols to a variety of settings.
A unified large/small-scale dynamo in helical turbulence
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bhat, Pallavi; Subramanian, Kandaswamy; Brandenburg, Axel
We use high resolution direct numerical simulations (DNS) to show that helical turbulence can generate significant large-scale fields even in the presence of strong small-scale dynamo action. During the kinematic stage, the unified large/small-scale dynamo grows fields with a shape-invariant eigenfunction, with most power peaked at small scales or large k, as in Subramanian & Brandenburg. Nevertheless, the large-scale field can be clearly detected as an excess power at small k in the negatively polarized component of the energy spectrum for a forcing with positively polarized waves. Its strength overline{B}, relative to the total rms field Brms, decreases with increasing magnetic Reynolds number, ReM. However, as the Lorentz force becomes important, the field generated by the unified dynamo orders itself by saturating on successively larger scales. The magnetic integral scale for the positively polarized waves, characterizing the small-scale field, increases significantly from the kinematic stage to saturation. This implies that the small-scale field becomes as coherent as possible for a given forcing scale, which averts the ReM-dependent quenching of overline{B}/B_rms. These results are obtained for 10243 DNS with magnetic Prandtl numbers of PrM = 0.1 and 10. For PrM = 0.1, overline{B}/B_rms grows from about 0.04 to about 0.4 at saturation, aided in the final stages by helicity dissipation. For PrM = 10, overline{B}/B_rms grows from much less than 0.01 to values of the order the 0.2. Our results confirm that there is a unified large/small-scale dynamo in helical turbulence.
Bayesian hierarchical model for large-scale covariance matrix estimation.
Zhu, Dongxiao; Hero, Alfred O
Many bioinformatics problems implicitly depend on estimating large-scale covariance matrix. The traditional approaches tend to give rise to high variance and low accuracy due to "overfitting." We cast the large-scale covariance matrix estimation problem into the Bayesian hierarchical model framework, and introduce dependency between covariance parameters. We demonstrate the advantages of our approaches over the traditional approaches using simulations and OMICS data analysis.
Turbulent amplification of large-scale magnetic fields
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Montgomery, D.; Chen, H.
Previously-introduced methods for analytically estimating the effects of small-scale turbulent fluctuations on large-scale dynamics are extended to fully three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamics. The problem becomes algebraically tractable in the presence of sufficiently large spectral gaps. The calculation generalizes 'alpha dynamo' calculations, except that the velocity fluctuations and magnetic fluctuations are treated on an independent and equal footing. Earlier expressions for the 'alpha coefficients' of turbulent magnetic field amplification are recovered as a special case.
A Cloud Computing Platform for Large-Scale Forensic Computing
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Roussev, Vassil; Wang, Liqiang; Richard, Golden; Marziale, Lodovico
The timely processing of massive digital forensic collections demands the use of large-scale distributed computing resources and the flexibility to customize the processing performed on the collections. This paper describes MPI MapReduce (MMR), an open implementation of the MapReduce processing model that outperforms traditional forensic computing techniques. MMR provides linear scaling for CPU-intensive processing and super-linear scaling for indexing-related workloads.
Large-scale microwave anisotropy from gravitating seeds
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Veeraraghavan, Shoba; Stebbins, Albert
Topological defects could have seeded primordial inhomogeneities in cosmological matter. We examine the horizon-scale matter and geometry perturbations generated by such seeds in an expanding homogeneous and isotropic universe. Evolving particle horizons generally lead to perturbations around motionless seeds, even when there are compensating initial underdensities in the matter. We describe the pattern of the resulting large angular scale microwave anisotropy.
Efficient On-Demand Operations in Large-Scale Infrastructures
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Ko, Steven Y.
In large-scale distributed infrastructures such as clouds, Grids, peer-to-peer systems, and wide-area testbeds, users and administrators typically desire to perform "on-demand operations" that deal with the most up-to-date state of the infrastructure. However, the scale and dynamism present in the operating environment make it challenging to…
Recursive architecture for large-scale adaptive system
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hanahara, Kazuyuki; Sugiyama, Yoshihiko
'Large scale' is one of major trends in the research and development of recent engineering, especially in the field of aerospace structural system. This term expresses the large scale of an artifact in general, however, it also implies the large number of the components which make up the artifact in usual. Considering a large scale system which is especially used in remote space or deep-sea, such a system should be adaptive as well as robust by itself, because its control as well as maintenance by human operators are not easy due to the remoteness. An approach to realizing this large scale, adaptive and robust system is to build the system as an assemblage of components which are respectively adaptive by themselves. In this case, the robustness of the system can be achieved by using a large number of such components and suitable adaptation as well as maintenance strategies. Such a system gathers many research's interest and their studies such as decentralized motion control, configurating algorithm and characteristics of structural elements are reported. In this article, a recursive architecture concept is developed and discussed towards the realization of large scale system which consists of a number of uniform adaptive components. We propose an adaptation strategy based on the architecture and its implementation by means of hierarchically connected processing units. The robustness and the restoration from degeneration of the processing unit are also discussed. Two- and three-dimensional adaptive truss structures are conceptually designed based on the recursive architecture.
Large-Scale Hybrid Motor Testing. Chapter 10
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Story, George
Hybrid rocket motors can be successfully demonstrated at a small scale virtually anywhere. There have been many suitcase sized portable test stands assembled for demonstration of hybrids. They show the safety of hybrid rockets to the audiences. These small show motors and small laboratory scale motors can give comparative burn rate data for development of different fuel/oxidizer combinations, however questions that are always asked when hybrids are mentioned for large scale applications are - how do they scale and has it been shown in a large motor? To answer those questions, large scale motor testing is required to verify the hybrid motor at its true size. The necessity to conduct large-scale hybrid rocket motor tests to validate the burn rate from the small motors to application size has been documented in several place^'^^.^. Comparison of small scale hybrid data to that of larger scale data indicates that the fuel burn rate goes down with increasing port size, even with the same oxidizer flux. This trend holds for conventional hybrid motors with forward oxidizer injection and HTPB based fuels. While the reason this is occurring would make a great paper or study or thesis, it is not thoroughly understood at this time. Potential causes include the fact that since hybrid combustion is boundary layer driven, the larger port sizes reduce the interaction (radiation, mixing and heat transfer) from the core region of the port. This chapter focuses on some of the large, prototype sized testing of hybrid motors. The largest motors tested have been AMROC s 250K-lbf thrust motor at Edwards Air Force Base and the Hybrid Propulsion Demonstration Program s 250K-lbf thrust motor at Stennis Space Center. Numerous smaller tests were performed to support the burn rate, stability and scaling concepts that went into the development of those large motors.
Magnetic Helicity and Large Scale Magnetic Fields: A Primer
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Blackman, Eric G.
Magnetic fields of laboratory, planetary, stellar, and galactic plasmas commonly exhibit significant order on large temporal or spatial scales compared to the otherwise random motions within the hosting system. Such ordered fields can be measured in the case of planets, stars, and galaxies, or inferred indirectly by the action of their dynamical influence, such as jets. Whether large scale fields are amplified in situ or a remnant from previous stages of an object's history is often debated for objects without a definitive magnetic activity cycle. Magnetic helicity, a measure of twist and linkage of magnetic field lines, is a unifying tool for understanding large scale field evolution for both mechanisms of origin. Its importance stems from its two basic properties: (1) magnetic helicity is typically better conserved than magnetic energy; and (2) the magnetic energy associated with a fixed amount of magnetic helicity is minimized when the system relaxes this helical structure to the largest scale available. Here I discuss how magnetic helicity has come to help us understand the saturation of and sustenance of large scale dynamos, the need for either local or global helicity fluxes to avoid dynamo quenching, and the associated observational consequences. I also discuss how magnetic helicity acts as a hindrance to turbulent diffusion of large scale fields, and thus a helper for fossil remnant large scale field origin models in some contexts. I briefly discuss the connection between large scale fields and accretion disk theory as well. The goal here is to provide a conceptual primer to help the reader efficiently penetrate the literature.
Generation of large-scale magnetic fields by small-scale dynamo in shear flows
Squire, J.; Bhattacharjee, A.
We propose a new mechanism for a turbulent mean-field dynamo in which the magnetic fluctuations resulting from a small-scale dynamo drive the generation of large-scale magnetic fields. This is in stark contrast to the common idea that small-scale magnetic fields should be harmful to large-scale dynamo action. These dynamos occur in the presence of a large-scale velocity shear and do not require net helicity, resulting from off-diagonal components of the turbulent resistivity tensor as the magnetic analogue of the "shear-current" effect. Furthermore, given the inevitable existence of nonhelical small-scale magnetic fields in turbulent plasmas, as well as the generic naturemore » of velocity shear, the suggested mechanism may help explain the generation of large-scale magnetic fields across a wide range of astrophysical objects.« less
Generation of large-scale magnetic fields by small-scale dynamo in shear flows
Squire, J.; Bhattacharjee, A.
We propose a new mechanism for a turbulent mean-field dynamo in which the magnetic fluctuations resulting from a small-scale dynamo drive the generation of large-scale magnetic fields. This is in stark contrast to the common idea that small-scale magnetic fields should be harmful to large-scale dynamo action. These dynamos occur in the presence of a large-scale velocity shear and do not require net helicity, resulting from off-diagonal components of the turbulent resistivity tensor as the magnetic analogue of the "shear-current" effect. Furthermore, given the inevitable existence of nonhelical small-scale magnetic fields in turbulent plasmas, as well as the generic nature of velocity shear, the suggested mechanism may help explain the generation of large-scale magnetic fields across a wide range of astrophysical objects.
Clearing and Labeling Techniques for Large-Scale Biological Tissues
Seo, Jinyoung; Choe, Minjin; Kim, Sung-Yon
Clearing and labeling techniques for large-scale biological tissues enable simultaneous extraction of molecular and structural information with minimal disassembly of the sample, facilitating the integration of molecular, cellular and systems biology across different scales. Recent years have witnessed an explosive increase in the number of such methods and their applications, reflecting heightened interest in organ-wide clearing and labeling across many fields of biology and medicine. In this review, we provide an overview and comparison of existing clearing and labeling techniques and discuss challenges and opportunities in the investigations of large-scale biological systems. PMID:27239813
Lessons from Large-Scale Renewable Energy Integration Studies: Preprint
Bird, L.; Milligan, M.
In general, large-scale integration studies in Europe and the United States find that high penetrations of renewable generation are technically feasible with operational changes and increased access to transmission. This paper describes other key findings such as the need for fast markets, large balancing areas, system flexibility, and the use of advanced forecasting.
Large Scale Survey Data in Career Development Research
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Diemer, Matthew A.
Large scale survey datasets have been underutilized but offer numerous advantages for career development scholars, as they contain numerous career development constructs with large and diverse samples that are followed longitudinally. Constructs such as work salience, vocational expectations, educational expectations, work satisfaction, and…
A relativistic signature in large-scale structure
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Bartolo, Nicola; Bertacca, Daniele; Bruni, Marco; Koyama, Kazuya; Maartens, Roy; Matarrese, Sabino; Sasaki, Misao; Verde, Licia; Wands, David
In General Relativity, the constraint equation relating metric and density perturbations is inherently nonlinear, leading to an effective non-Gaussianity in the dark matter density field on large scales-even if the primordial metric perturbation is Gaussian. Intrinsic non-Gaussianity in the large-scale dark matter overdensity in GR is real and physical. However, the variance smoothed on a local physical scale is not correlated with the large-scale curvature perturbation, so that there is no relativistic signature in the galaxy bias when using the simplest model of bias. It is an open question whether the observable mass proxies such as luminosity or weak lensing correspond directly to the physical mass in the simple halo bias model. If not, there may be observables that encode this relativistic signature.
Large-Scale Graph Processing Analysis using Supercomputer Cluster
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vildario, Alfrido; Fitriyani; Nugraha Nurkahfi, Galih
Graph implementation is widely use in various sector such as automotive, traffic, image processing and many more. They produce graph in large-scale dimension, cause the processing need long computational time and high specification resources. This research addressed the analysis of implementation large-scale graph using supercomputer cluster. We impelemented graph processing by using Breadth-First Search (BFS) algorithm with single destination shortest path problem. Parallel BFS implementation with Message Passing Interface (MPI) used supercomputer cluster at High Performance Computing Laboratory Computational Science Telkom University and Stanford Large Network Dataset Collection. The result showed that the implementation give the speed up averages more than 30 times and eficiency almost 90%.
Moon-based Earth Observation for Large Scale Geoscience Phenomena
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Guo, Huadong; Liu, Guang; Ding, Yixing
The capability of Earth observation for large-global-scale natural phenomena needs to be improved and new observing platform are expected. We have studied the concept of Moon as an Earth observation in these years. Comparing with manmade satellite platform, Moon-based Earth observation can obtain multi-spherical, full-band, active and passive information,which is of following advantages: large observation range, variable view angle, long-term continuous observation, extra-long life cycle, with the characteristics of longevity ,consistency, integrity, stability and uniqueness. Moon-based Earth observation is suitable for monitoring the large scale geoscience phenomena including large scale atmosphere change, large scale ocean change,large scale land surface dynamic change,solid earth dynamic change,etc. For the purpose of establishing a Moon-based Earth observation platform, we already have a plan to study the five aspects as follows: mechanism and models of moon-based observing earth sciences macroscopic phenomena; sensors' parameters optimization and methods of moon-based Earth observation; site selection and environment of moon-based Earth observation; Moon-based Earth observation platform; and Moon-based Earth observation fundamental scientific framework.
Prototype Vector Machine for Large Scale Semi-Supervised Learning
Zhang, Kai; Kwok, James T.; Parvin, Bahram
Practicaldataminingrarelyfalls exactlyinto the supervisedlearning scenario. Rather, the growing amount of unlabeled data poses a big challenge to large-scale semi-supervised learning (SSL). We note that the computationalintensivenessofgraph-based SSLarises largely from the manifold or graph regularization, which in turn lead to large models that are dificult to handle. To alleviate this, we proposed the prototype vector machine (PVM), a highlyscalable,graph-based algorithm for large-scale SSL. Our key innovation is the use of"prototypes vectors" for effcient approximation on both the graph-based regularizer and model representation. The choice of prototypes are grounded upon two important criteria: they not only perform effective low-rank approximation of the kernel matrix, but also span a model suffering the minimum information loss compared with the complete model. We demonstrate encouraging performance and appealing scaling properties of the PVM on a number of machine learning benchmark data sets.
Acoustic Studies of the Large Scale Ocean Circulation
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Menemenlis, Dimitris
Detailed knowledge of ocean circulation and its transport properties is prerequisite to an understanding of the earth's climate and of important biological and chemical cycles. Results from two recent experiments, THETIS-2 in the Western Mediterranean and ATOC in the North Pacific, illustrate the use of ocean acoustic tomography for studies of the large scale circulation. The attraction of acoustic tomography is its ability to sample and average the large-scale oceanic thermal structure, synoptically, along several sections, and at regular intervals. In both studies, the acoustic data are compared to, and then combined with, general circulation models, meteorological analyses, satellite altimetry, and direct measurements from ships. Both studies provide complete regional descriptions of the time-evolving, three-dimensional, large scale circulation, albeit with large uncertainties. The studies raise serious issues about existing ocean observing capability and provide guidelines for future efforts.
Toward Improved Support for Loosely Coupled Large Scale Simulation Workflows
Boehm, Swen; Elwasif, Wael R; Naughton, III, Thomas J; Vallee, Geoffroy R
High-performance computing (HPC) workloads are increasingly leveraging loosely coupled large scale simula- tions. Unfortunately, most large-scale HPC platforms, including Cray/ALPS environments, are designed for the execution of long-running jobs based on coarse-grained launch capabilities (e.g., one MPI rank per core on all allocated compute nodes). This assumption limits capability-class workload campaigns that require large numbers of discrete or loosely coupled simulations, and where time-to-solution is an untenable pacing issue. This paper describes the challenges related to the support of fine-grained launch capabilities that are necessary for the execution of loosely coupled large scale simulations on Cray/ALPS platforms. More precisely, we present the details of an enhanced runtime system to support this use case, and report on initial results from early testing on systems at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Bisous model-Detecting filamentary patterns in point processes
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tempel, E.; Stoica, R. S.; Kipper, R.; Saar, E.
The cosmic web is a highly complex geometrical pattern, with galaxy clusters at the intersection of filaments and filaments at the intersection of walls. Identifying and describing the filamentary network is not a trivial task due to the overwhelming complexity of the structure, its connectivity and the intrinsic hierarchical nature. To detect and quantify galactic filaments we use the Bisous model, which is a marked point process built to model multi-dimensional patterns. The Bisous filament finder works directly with the galaxy distribution data and the model intrinsically takes into account the connectivity of the filamentary network. The Bisous model generates the visit map (the probability to find a filament at a given point) together with the filament orientation field. Using these two fields, we can extract filament spines from the data. Together with this paper we publish the computer code for the Bisous model that is made available in GitHub. The Bisous filament finder has been successfully used in several cosmological applications and further development of the model will allow to detect the filamentary network also in photometric redshift surveys, using the full redshift posterior. We also want to encourage the astro-statistical community to use the model and to connect it with all other existing methods for filamentary pattern detection and characterisation.
A model of plasma heating by large-scale flow
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pongkitiwanichakul, P.; Cattaneo, F.; Boldyrev, S.; Mason, J.; Perez, J. C.
In this work, we study the process of energy dissipation triggered by a slow large-scale motion of a magnetized conducting fluid. Our consideration is motivated by the problem of heating the solar corona, which is believed to be governed by fast reconnection events set off by the slow motion of magnetic field lines anchored in the photospheric plasma. To elucidate the physics governing the disruption of the imposed laminar motion and the energy transfer to small scales, we propose a simplified model where the large-scale motion of magnetic field lines is prescribed not at the footpoints but rather imposed volumetrically. As a result, the problem can be treated numerically with an efficient, highly accurate spectral method, allowing us to use a resolution and statistical ensemble exceeding those of the previous work. We find that, even though the large-scale deformations are slow, they eventually lead to reconnection events that drive a turbulent state at smaller scales. The small-scale turbulence displays many of the universal features of field-guided magnetohydrodynamic turbulence like a well-developed inertial range spectrum. Based on these observations, we construct a phenomenological model that gives the scalings of the amplitude of the fluctuations and the energy-dissipation rate as functions of the input parameters. We find good agreement between the numerical results and the predictions of the model.
Large-scale silicon optical switches for optical interconnection
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Qiao, Lei; Tang, Weijie; Chu, Tao
Large-scale optical switches are greatly demanded in building optical interconnections in data centers and high performance computers (HPCs). Silicon optical switches have advantages of being compact and CMOS process compatible, which can be easily monolithically integrated. However, there are difficulties to construct large ports silicon optical switches. One of them is the non-uniformity of the switch units in large scale silicon optical switches, which arises from the fabrication error and causes confusion in finding the unit optimum operation points. In this paper, we proposed a method to detect the optimum operating point in large scale switch with limited build-in power monitors. We also propose methods for improving the unbalanced crosstalk of cross/bar states in silicon electro-optical MZI switches and insertion losses. Our recent progress in large scale silicon optical switches, including 64 × 64 thermal-optical and 32 × 32 electro-optical switches will be introduced. To the best our knowledge, both of them are the largest scale silicon optical switches in their sections, respectively. The switches were fabricated on 340-nm SOI substrates with CMOS 180- nm processes. The crosstalk of the 32 × 32 electro-optic switch was -19.2dB to -25.1 dB, while the value of the 64 × 64 thermal-optic switch was -30 dB to -48.3 dB.
Bruni, Marco; Hidalgo, Juan Carlos; Wands, David
We show how the nonlinearity of general relativity generates a characteristic nonGaussian signal in cosmological large-scale structure that we calculate at all perturbative orders in a large-scale limit. Newtonian gravity and general relativity provide complementary theoretical frameworks for modeling large-scale structure in ΛCDM cosmology; a relativistic approach is essential to determine initial conditions, which can then be used in Newtonian simulations studying the nonlinear evolution of the matter density. Most inflationary models in the very early universe predict an almost Gaussian distribution for the primordial metric perturbation, ζ. However, we argue that it is the Ricci curvature of comoving-orthogonal spatial hypersurfaces, R, that drives structure formation at large scales. We show how the nonlinear relation between the spatial curvature, R, and the metric perturbation, ζ, translates into a specific nonGaussian contribution to the initial comoving matter density that we calculate for the simple case of an initially Gaussian ζ. Our analysis shows the nonlinear signature of Einstein's gravity in large-scale structure.
The Phoenix series large scale LNG pool fire experiments.
Simpson, Richard B.; Jensen, Richard Pearson; Demosthenous, Byron; Luketa, Anay Josephine; Ricks, Allen Joseph; Hightower, Marion Michael; Blanchat, Thomas K.; Helmick, Paul H.; Tieszen, Sheldon Robert; Deola, Regina Anne; Mercier, Jeffrey Alan; Suo-Anttila, Jill Marie; Miller, Timothy J.
The increasing demand for natural gas could increase the number and frequency of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanker deliveries to ports across the United States. Because of the increasing number of shipments and the number of possible new facilities, concerns about the potential safety of the public and property from an accidental, and even more importantly intentional spills, have increased. While improvements have been made over the past decade in assessing hazards from LNG spills, the existing experimental data is much smaller in size and scale than many postulated large accidental and intentional spills. Since the physics and hazards from a fire change with fire size, there are concerns about the adequacy of current hazard prediction techniques for large LNG spills and fires. To address these concerns, Congress funded the Department of Energy (DOE) in 2008 to conduct a series of laboratory and large-scale LNG pool fire experiments at Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This report presents the test data and results of both sets of fire experiments. A series of five reduced-scale (gas burner) tests (yielding 27 sets of data) were conducted in 2007 and 2008 at Sandia's Thermal Test Complex (TTC) to assess flame height to fire diameter ratios as a function of nondimensional heat release rates for extrapolation to large-scale LNG fires. The large-scale LNG pool fire experiments were conducted in a 120 m diameter pond specially designed and constructed in Sandia's Area III large-scale test complex. Two fire tests of LNG spills of 21 and 81 m in diameter were conducted in 2009 to improve the understanding of flame height, smoke production, and burn rate and therefore the physics and hazards of large LNG spills and fires.
Measurement of the effects of large scale anisotropy on the small scales of turbulence
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wijesinghe, Susantha W. A.
This thesis reports measurements of anisotropy in a laboratory turbulent flow generated by two oscillating grids. It has recently been identified that SO(3) decomposition of Eulerian structure functions provides a powerful tool for analyzing anisotropy in turbulence. From 3D particle tracks obtained with stereoscpic high speed video, we measure the longitudinal Eulerian structure functions for which SO(3) decomposition becomes a spherical harmonic decomposition. This method allows us to measure the anisotropy in different sectors, specified by j and m of the spherical harmonics Yjm (theta, φ). In order to acquire huge data sets required for the full 3D measurement of anisotropy as a function of scale, we have upgraded the optical tracking system to four high speed cameras with a new real-time image compression system. We achieved compression ratios of 154--614 depending on the number of particles appearing in an image. Anisotropy measurements are performed at three different detection volumes in the tank for two grid frequencies where Reynolds numbers vary from Relambda = 132 to Relambda = 277. Increasing j sectors show faster decay of anisotropy as scale decreases, consistent with the idea that the small scales should become isotropic at very high Reynolds number. Measured anisotropic scaling exponents are also consistent with previous studies performed with numerical simulations and hot wire anemometry. By conditioning the different j sectors on the instantaneous large scale velocity, we are able to quantify the dependence of the anisotropy on the state of the large scales. The isotropic sector shows a strong dependence on the state of the large scales. For the isotropic sector, this strong dependence is the same at all length scales showing that the small scales do not become independent of the large scales and confirms previous work by Blum et al. However, for a given state of the large scales, the anisotropic sector diminishes toward smaller length scales
Modulation analysis of large-scale discrete vortices.
Cisneros, Luis A; Minzoni, Antonmaria A; Panayotaros, Panayotis; Smyth, Noel F
The behavior of large-scale vortices governed by the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation is studied. Using a discrete version of modulation theory, it is shown how vortices are trapped and stabilized by the self-consistent Peierls-Nabarro potential that they generate in the lattice. Large-scale circular and polygonal vortices are studied away from the anticontinuum limit, which is the limit considered in previous studies. In addition numerical studies are performed on large-scale, straight structures, and it is found that they are stabilized by a nonconstant mean level produced by standing waves generated at the ends of the structure. Finally, numerical evidence is produced for long-lived, localized, quasiperiodic structures.
Large-scale simulations of complex physical systems
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Belić, A.
Scientific computing has become a tool as vital as experimentation and theory for dealing with scientific challenges of the twenty-first century. Large scale simulations and modelling serve as heuristic tools in a broad problem-solving process. High-performance computing facilities make possible the first step in this process - a view of new and previously inaccessible domains in science and the building up of intuition regarding the new phenomenology. The final goal of this process is to translate this newly found intuition into better algorithms and new analytical results. In this presentation we give an outline of the research themes pursued at the Scientific Computing Laboratory of the Institute of Physics in Belgrade regarding large-scale simulations of complex classical and quantum physical systems, and present recent results obtained in the large-scale simulations of granular materials and path integrals.
PKI security in large-scale healthcare networks.
Mantas, Georgios; Lymberopoulos, Dimitrios; Komninos, Nikos
During the past few years a lot of PKI (Public Key Infrastructures) infrastructures have been proposed for healthcare networks in order to ensure secure communication services and exchange of data among healthcare professionals. However, there is a plethora of challenges in these healthcare PKI infrastructures. Especially, there are a lot of challenges for PKI infrastructures deployed over large-scale healthcare networks. In this paper, we propose a PKI infrastructure to ensure security in a large-scale Internet-based healthcare network connecting a wide spectrum of healthcare units geographically distributed within a wide region. Furthermore, the proposed PKI infrastructure facilitates the trust issues that arise in a large-scale healthcare network including multi-domain PKI infrastructures.
Space transportation booster engine thrust chamber technology, large scale injector
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Schneider, J. A.
The objective of the Large Scale Injector (LSI) program was to deliver a 21 inch diameter, 600,000 lbf thrust class injector to NASA/MSFC for hot fire testing. The hot fire test program would demonstrate the feasibility and integrity of the full scale injector, including combustion stability, chamber wall compatibility (thermal management), and injector performance. The 21 inch diameter injector was delivered in September of 1991.
Scalable WIM: effective exploration in large-scale astrophysical environments.
Li, Yinggang; Fu, Chi-Wing; Hanson, Andrew J
Navigating through large-scale virtual environments such as simulations of the astrophysical Universe is difficult. The huge spatial range of astronomical models and the dominance of empty space make it hard for users to travel across cosmological scales effectively, and the problem of wayfinding further impedes the user's ability to acquire reliable spatial knowledge of astronomical contexts. We introduce a new technique called the scalable world-in-miniature (WIM) map as a unifying interface to facilitate travel and wayfinding in a virtual environment spanning gigantic spatial scales: Power-law spatial scaling enables rapid and accurate transitions among widely separated regions; logarithmically mapped miniature spaces offer a global overview mode when the full context is too large; 3D landmarks represented in the WIM are enhanced by scale, positional, and directional cues to augment spatial context awareness; a series of navigation models are incorporated into the scalable WIM to improve the performance of travel tasks posed by the unique characteristics of virtual cosmic exploration. The scalable WIM user interface supports an improved physical navigation experience and assists pragmatic cognitive understanding of a visualization context that incorporates the features of large-scale astronomy.
The Evolution of Baryons in Cosmic Large Scale Structure
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Snedden, Ali; Arielle Phillips, Lara; Mathews, Grant James; Coughlin, Jared; Suh, In-Saeng; Bhattacharya, Aparna
The environments of galaxies play a critical role in their formation and evolution. We study these environments using cosmological simulations with star formation and supernova feedback included. From these simulations, we parse the large scale structure into clusters, filaments and voids using a segmentation algorithm adapted from medical imaging. We trace the star formation history, gas phase and metal evolution of the baryons in the intergalactic medium as function of structure. We find that our algorithm reproduces the baryon fraction in the intracluster medium and that the majority of star formation occurs in cold, dense filaments. We present the consequences this large scale environment has for galactic halos and galaxy evolution.
[Issues of large scale tissue culture of medicinal plant].
Lv, Dong-Mei; Yuan, Yuan; Zhan, Zhi-Lai
In order to increase the yield and quality of the medicinal plant and enhance the competitive power of industry of medicinal plant in our country, this paper analyzed the status, problem and countermeasure of the tissue culture of medicinal plant on large scale. Although the biotechnology is one of the most efficient and promising means in production of medicinal plant, it still has problems such as stability of the material, safety of the transgenic medicinal plant and optimization of cultured condition. Establishing perfect evaluation system according to the characteristic of the medicinal plant is the key measures to assure the sustainable development of the tissue culture of medicinal plant on large scale.
Corridors Increase Plant Species Richness at Large Scales
Damschen, Ellen I.; Haddad, Nick M.; Orrock,John L.; Tewksbury, Joshua J.; Levey, Douglas J.
Habitat fragmentation is one of the largest threats to biodiversity. Landscape corridors, which are hypothesized to reduce the negative consequences of fragmentation, have become common features of ecological management plans worldwide. Despite their popularity, there is little evidence documenting the effectiveness of corridors in preserving biodiversity at large scales. Using a large-scale replicated experiment, we showed that habitat patches connected by corridors retain more native plant species than do isolated patches, that this difference increases over time, and that corridors do not promote invasion by exotic species. Our results support the use of corridors in biodiversity conservation.
Large-scale structure from wiggly cosmic strings
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Vachaspati, Tanmay; Vilenkin, Alexander
Recent simulations of the evolution of cosmic strings indicate the presence of small-scale structure on the strings. It is shown that wakes produced by such 'wiggly' cosmic strings can result in the efficient formation of large-scale structure and large streaming velocities in the universe without significantly affecting the microwave-background isotropy. It is also argued that the motion of strings will lead to the generation of a primordial magnetic field. The most promising version of this scenario appears to be the one in which the universe is dominated by light neutrinos.
Resonant plankton patchiness induced by large-scale turbulent flow
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
McKiver, William J.; Neufeld, Zoltán
Here we study how large-scale variability of oceanic plankton is affected by mesoscale turbulence in a spatially heterogeneous environment. We consider a phytoplankton-zooplankton (PZ) ecosystem model, with different types of zooplankton grazing functions, coupled to a turbulent flow described by the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, representing large-scale horizontal transport in the ocean. We characterize the system using a dimensionless parameter, γ=TB/TF, which is the ratio of the ecosystem biological time scale TB and the flow time scale TF. Through numerical simulations, we examine how the PZ system depends on the time-scale ratio γ and find that the variance of both species changes significantly, with maximum phytoplankton variability at intermediate mixing rates. Through an analysis of the linearized population dynamics, we find an analytical solution based on the forced harmonic oscillator, which explains the behavior of the ecosystem, where there is resonance between the advection and the ecosystem predator-prey dynamics when the forcing time scales match the ecosystem time scales. We also examine the dependence of the power spectra on γ and find that the resonance behavior leads to different spectral slopes for phytoplankton and zooplankton, in agreement with observations.
Resonant plankton patchiness induced by large-scale turbulent flow.
McKiver, William J; Neufeld, Zoltán
Here we study how large-scale variability of oceanic plankton is affected by mesoscale turbulence in a spatially heterogeneous environment. We consider a phytoplankton-zooplankton (PZ) ecosystem model, with different types of zooplankton grazing functions, coupled to a turbulent flow described by the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, representing large-scale horizontal transport in the ocean. We characterize the system using a dimensionless parameter, γ=T(B)/T(F), which is the ratio of the ecosystem biological time scale T(B) and the flow time scale T(F). Through numerical simulations, we examine how the PZ system depends on the time-scale ratio γ and find that the variance of both species changes significantly, with maximum phytoplankton variability at intermediate mixing rates. Through an analysis of the linearized population dynamics, we find an analytical solution based on the forced harmonic oscillator, which explains the behavior of the ecosystem, where there is resonance between the advection and the ecosystem predator-prey dynamics when the forcing time scales match the ecosystem time scales. We also examine the dependence of the power spectra on γ and find that the resonance behavior leads to different spectral slopes for phytoplankton and zooplankton, in agreement with observations.
Large-scale anisotropy in stably stratified rotating flows
Marino, R.; Mininni, P. D.; Rosenberg, D. L.; Pouquet, A.
We present results from direct numerical simulations of the Boussinesq equations in the presence of rotation and/or stratification, both in the vertical direction. The runs are forced isotropically and randomly at small scales and have spatial resolutions of up to $1024^3$ grid points and Reynolds numbers of $\\approx 1000$. We first show that solutions with negative energy flux and inverse cascades develop in rotating turbulence, whether or not stratification is present. However, the purely stratified case is characterized instead by an early-time, highly anisotropic transfer to large scales with almost zero net isotropic energy flux. This is consistent with previous studies that observed the development of vertically sheared horizontal winds, although only at substantially later times. However, and unlike previous works, when sufficient scale separation is allowed between the forcing scale and the domain size, the total energy displays a perpendicular (horizontal) spectrum with power law behavior compatible with $\\sim k_\\perp^{-5/3}$, including in the absence of rotation. In this latter purely stratified case, such a spectrum is the result of a direct cascade of the energy contained in the large-scale horizontal wind, as is evidenced by a strong positive flux of energy in the parallel direction at all scales including the largest resolved scales.
Large-scale anisotropy in stably stratified rotating flows
Marino, R.; Mininni, P. D.; Rosenberg, D. L.; ...
We present results from direct numerical simulations of the Boussinesq equations in the presence of rotation and/or stratification, both in the vertical direction. The runs are forced isotropically and randomly at small scales and have spatial resolutions of up tomore » $1024^3$ grid points and Reynolds numbers of $$\\approx 1000$$. We first show that solutions with negative energy flux and inverse cascades develop in rotating turbulence, whether or not stratification is present. However, the purely stratified case is characterized instead by an early-time, highly anisotropic transfer to large scales with almost zero net isotropic energy flux. This is consistent with previous studies that observed the development of vertically sheared horizontal winds, although only at substantially later times. However, and unlike previous works, when sufficient scale separation is allowed between the forcing scale and the domain size, the total energy displays a perpendicular (horizontal) spectrum with power law behavior compatible with $$\\sim k_\\perp^{-5/3}$$, including in the absence of rotation. In this latter purely stratified case, such a spectrum is the result of a direct cascade of the energy contained in the large-scale horizontal wind, as is evidenced by a strong positive flux of energy in the parallel direction at all scales including the largest resolved scales.« less
New probes of Cosmic Microwave Background large-scale anomalies
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Aiola, Simone
Fifty years of Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data played a crucial role in constraining the parameters of the LambdaCDM model, where Dark Energy, Dark Matter, and Inflation are the three most important pillars not yet understood. Inflation prescribes an isotropic universe on large scales, and it generates spatially-correlated density fluctuations over the whole Hubble volume. CMB temperature fluctuations on scales bigger than a degree in the sky, affected by modes on super-horizon scale at the time of recombination, are a clean snapshot of the universe after inflation. In addition, the accelerated expansion of the universe, driven by Dark Energy, leaves a hardly detectable imprint in the large-scale temperature sky at late times. Such fundamental predictions have been tested with current CMB data and found to be in tension with what we expect from our simple LambdaCDM model. Is this tension just a random fluke or a fundamental issue with the present model? In this thesis, we present a new framework to probe the lack of large-scale correlations in the temperature sky using CMB polarization data. Our analysis shows that if a suppression in the CMB polarization correlations is detected, it will provide compelling evidence for new physics on super-horizon scale. To further analyze the statistical properties of the CMB temperature sky, we constrain the degree of statistical anisotropy of the CMB in the context of the observed large-scale dipole power asymmetry. We find evidence for a scale-dependent dipolar modulation at 2.5sigma. To isolate late-time signals from the primordial ones, we test the anomalously high Integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect signal generated by superstructures in the universe. We find that the detected signal is in tension with the expectations from LambdaCDM at the 2.5sigma level, which is somewhat smaller than what has been previously argued. To conclude, we describe the current status of CMB observations on small scales, highlighting the
Local and Regional Impacts of Large Scale Wind Energy Deployment
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Michalakes, J.; Hammond, S.; Lundquist, J. K.; Moriarty, P.; Robinson, M.
The U.S. is currently on a path to produce 20% of its electricity from wind energy by 2030, almost a 10-fold increase over present levels of electricity generated from wind. Such high-penetration wind energy deployment will entail extracting elevated energy levels from the planetary boundary layer and preliminary studies indicate that this will have significant but uncertain impacts on the local and regional environment. State and federal regulators have raised serious concerns regarding potential agricultural impacts from large farms deployed throughout the Midwest where agriculture is the basis of the local economy. The effects of large wind farms have been proposed to be both beneficial (drying crops to reduce occurrences of fungal diseases, avoiding late spring freezes, enhancing pollen viability, reducing dew duration) and detrimental (accelerating moisture loss during drought) with no conclusive investigations thus far. As both wind and solar technologies are deployed at scales required to replace conventional technologies, there must be reasonable certainty that the potential environmental impacts at the micro, macro, regional and global scale do not exceed those anticipated from carbon emissions. Largely because of computational limits, the role of large wind farms in affecting regional-scale weather patterns has only been investigated in coarse simulations and modeling tools do not yet exist which are capable of assessing the downwind affects of large wind farms may have on microclimatology. In this presentation, we will outline the vision for and discuss technical and scientific challenges in developing a multi-model high-performance simulation capability covering the range of mesoscale to sub-millimeter scales appropriate for assessing local, regional, and ultimately global environmental impacts and quantifying uncertainties of large scale wind energy deployment scenarios. Such a system will allow continuous downscaling of atmospheric processes on wind
Large-scale smart passive system for civil engineering applications
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jung, Hyung-Jo; Jang, Dong-Doo; Lee, Heon-Jae; Cho, Sang-Won
The smart passive system consisting of a magnetorheological (MR) damper and an electromagnetic induction (EMI) part has been recently proposed. An EMI part can generate the input current for an MR damper from vibration of a structure according to Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction. The control performance of the smart passive system has been demonstrated mainly by numerical simulations. It was verified from the numerical results that the system could be effective to reduce the structural responses in the cases of civil engineering structures such as buildings and bridges. On the other hand, the experimental validation of the system is not sufficiently conducted yet. In this paper, the feasibility of the smart passive system to real-scale structures is investigated. To do this, the large-scale smart passive system is designed, manufactured, and tested. The system consists of the large-capacity MR damper, which has a maximum force level of approximately +/-10,000N, a maximum stroke level of +/-35mm and the maximum current level of 3 A, and the large-scale EMI part, which is designed to generate sufficient induced current for the damper. The applicability of the smart passive system to large real-scale structures is examined through a series of shaking table tests. The magnitudes of the induced current of the EMI part with various sinusoidal excitation inputs are measured. According to the test results, the large-scale EMI part shows the possibility that it could generate the sufficient current or power for changing the damping characteristics of the large-capacity MR damper.
Homogenization of Large-Scale Movement Models in Ecology
Garlick, M.J.; Powell, J.A.; Hooten, M.B.; McFarlane, L.R.
A difficulty in using diffusion models to predict large scale animal population dispersal is that individuals move differently based on local information (as opposed to gradients) in differing habitat types. This can be accommodated by using ecological diffusion. However, real environments are often spatially complex, limiting application of a direct approach. Homogenization for partial differential equations has long been applied to Fickian diffusion (in which average individual movement is organized along gradients of habitat and population density). We derive a homogenization procedure for ecological diffusion and apply it to a simple model for chronic wasting disease in mule deer. Homogenization allows us to determine the impact of small scale (10-100 m) habitat variability on large scale (10-100 km) movement. The procedure generates asymptotic equations for solutions on the large scale with parameters defined by small-scale variation. The simplicity of this homogenization procedure is striking when compared to the multi-dimensional homogenization procedure for Fickian diffusion,and the method will be equally straightforward for more complex models. ?? 2010 Society for Mathematical Biology.
The effective field theory of cosmological large scale structures
Carrasco, John Joseph M.; Hertzberg, Mark P.; Senatore, Leonardo
Large scale structure surveys will likely become the next leading cosmological probe. In our universe, matter perturbations are large on short distances and small at long scales, i.e. strongly coupled in the UV and weakly coupled in the IR. To make precise analytical predictions on large scales, we develop an effective field theory formulated in terms of an IR effective fluid characterized by several parameters, such as speed of sound and viscosity. These parameters, determined by the UV physics described by the Boltzmann equation, are measured from N-body simulations. We find that the speed of sound of the effective fluid is c2s ≈ 10–6c2 and that the viscosity contributions are of the same order. The fluid describes all the relevant physics at long scales k and permits a manifestly convergent perturbative expansion in the size of the matter perturbations δ(k) for all the observables. As an example, we calculate the correction to the power spectrum at order δ(k)4. As a result, the predictions of the effective field theory are found to be in much better agreement with observation than standard cosmological perturbation theory, already reaching percent precision at this order up to a relatively short scale k ≃ 0.24h Mpc–1.
Large eddy simulation of the atmosphere on various scales.
Cullen, M J P; Brown, A R
Numerical simulations of the atmosphere are routinely carried out on various scales for purposes ranging from weather forecasts for local areas a few hours ahead to forecasts of climate change over periods of hundreds of years. Almost without exception, these forecasts are made with space/time-averaged versions of the governing Navier-Stokes equations and laws of thermodynamics, together with additional terms representing internal and boundary forcing. The calculations are a form of large eddy modelling, because the subgrid-scale processes have to be modelled. In the global atmospheric models used for long-term predictions, the primary method is implicit large eddy modelling, using discretization to perform the averaging, supplemented by specialized subgrid models, where there is organized small-scale activity, such as in the lower boundary layer and near active convection. Smaller scale models used for local or short-range forecasts can use a much smaller averaging scale. This allows some of the specialized subgrid models to be dropped in favour of direct simulations. In research mode, the same models can be run as a conventional large eddy simulation only a few orders of magnitude away from a direct simulation. These simulations can then be used in the development of the subgrid models for coarser resolution models.
Energy transfers in large-scale and small-scale dynamos
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Samtaney, Ravi; Kumar, Rohit; Verma, Mahendra
We present the energy transfers, mainly energy fluxes and shell-to-shell energy transfers in small-scale dynamo (SSD) and large-scale dynamo (LSD) using numerical simulations of MHD turbulence for Pm = 20 (SSD) and for Pm = 0.2 on 10243 grid. For SSD, we demonstrate that the magnetic energy growth is caused by nonlocal energy transfers from the large-scale or forcing-scale velocity field to small-scale magnetic field. The peak of these energy transfers move towards lower wavenumbers as dynamo evolves, which is the reason for the growth of the magnetic fields at the large scales. The energy transfers U2U (velocity to velocity) and B2B (magnetic to magnetic) are forward and local. For LSD, we show that the magnetic energy growth takes place via energy transfers from large-scale velocity field to large-scale magnetic field. We observe forward U2U and B2B energy flux, similar to SSD.
A Census of Large-scale (≥10 PC), Velocity-coherent, Dense Filaments in the Northern Galactic Plane: Automated Identification Using Minimum Spanning Tree
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Wang, Ke; Testi, Leonardo; Burkert, Andreas; Walmsley, C. Malcolm; Beuther, Henrik; Henning, Thomas
Large-scale gaseous filaments with lengths up to the order of 100 pc are on the upper end of the filamentary hierarchy of the Galactic interstellar medium (ISM). Their association with respect to the Galactic structure and their role in Galactic star formation are of great interest from both an observational and theoretical point of view. Previous "by-eye" searches, combined together, have started to uncover the Galactic distribution of large filaments, yet inherent bias and small sample size limit conclusive statistical results from being drawn. Here, we present (1) a new, automated method for identifying large-scale velocity-coherent dense filaments, and (2) the first statistics and the Galactic distribution of these filaments. We use a customized minimum spanning tree algorithm to identify filaments by connecting voxels in the position-position-velocity space, using the Bolocam Galactic Plane Survey spectroscopic catalog. In the range of 7\\buildrel{\\circ}\\over{.} 5≤slant l≤slant 194^\\circ , we have identified 54 large-scale filaments and derived mass (˜ {10}3{--}{10}5 {M}⊙ ), length (10-276 pc), linear mass density (54-8625 {M}⊙ pc-1), aspect ratio, linearity, velocity gradient, temperature, fragmentation, Galactic location, and orientation angle. The filaments concentrate along major spiral arms. They are widely distributed across the Galactic disk, with 50% located within ±20 pc from the Galactic mid-plane and 27% run in the center of spiral arms. An order of 1% of the molecular ISM is confined in large filaments. Massive star formation is more favorable in large filaments compared to elsewhere. This is the first comprehensive catalog of large filaments that can be useful for a quantitative comparison with spiral structures and numerical simulations.
Large-scale search for dark-matter axions
Kinion, D; van Bibber, K
We review the status of two ongoing large-scale searches for axions which may constitute the dark matter of our Milky Way halo. The experiments are based on the microwave cavity technique proposed by Sikivie, and marks a ''second-generation'' to the original experiments performed by the Rochester-Brookhaven-Fermilab collaboration, and the University of Florida group.
Measurement, Sampling, and Equating Errors in Large-Scale Assessments
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Wu, Margaret
In large-scale assessments, such as state-wide testing programs, national sample-based assessments, and international comparative studies, there are many steps involved in the measurement and reporting of student achievement. There are always sources of inaccuracies in each of the steps. It is of interest to identify the source and magnitude of…
Resilience of Florida Keys coral communities following large scale disturbances
The decline of coral reefs in the Caribbean over the last 40 years has been attributed to multiple chronic stressors and episodic large-scale disturbances. This study assessed the resilience of coral communities in two different regions of the Florida Keys reef system between 199...
Large-Scale Machine Learning for Classification and Search
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Liu, Wei
With the rapid development of the Internet, nowadays tremendous amounts of data including images and videos, up to millions or billions, can be collected for training machine learning models. Inspired by this trend, this thesis is dedicated to developing large-scale machine learning techniques for the purpose of making classification and nearest…
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) Telescope Architecture
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Chuss, David T.; Ali, Aamir; Amiri, Mandana; Appel, John W.; Araujo, Derek; Bennett, Charles L.; Boone, Fletcher; Chan, Manwei; Cho, Hsiao-Mei; Colazo, Felipe; Crowe, Erik; Denis, Kevin L.; Dunner, Rolando; Eimer, Joseph; Essinger-Hileman, Thomas; Gothe, Dominik; Halpern, Mark; Harrington, Kathleen; Hilton, Gene; Hinshaw, Gary F.; Huang, Caroline; Irwin, Kent; Jones, Glenn; Karakla, John; Kogut, Alan J.; Larson, David; Limon, Michele; Lowry, Lindsay; Marriage, Tobias; Mehrle, Nicholas; Stevenson, Thomas; Miller, Nathan J.; Moseley, Samuel H.; U-Yen, Kongpop; Wollack, Edward
We describe the instrument architecture of the Johns Hopkins University-led CLASS instrument, a groundbased cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarimeter that will measure the large-scale polarization of the CMB in several frequency bands to search for evidence of inflation.
Assuring Quality in Large-Scale Online Course Development
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Parscal, Tina; Riemer, Deborah
Student demand for online education requires colleges and universities to rapidly expand the number of courses and programs offered online while maintaining high quality. This paper outlines two universities respective processes to assure quality in large-scale online programs that integrate instructional design, eBook custom publishing, Quality…
Sparse approximation through boosting for learning large scale kernel machines.
Sun, Ping; Yao, Xin
Recently, sparse approximation has become a preferred method for learning large scale kernel machines. This technique attempts to represent the solution with only a subset of original data points also known as basis vectors, which are usually chosen one by one with a forward selection procedure based on some selection criteria. The computational complexity of several resultant algorithms scales as O(NM(2)) in time and O(NM) in memory, where N is the number of training points and M is the number of basis vectors as well as the steps of forward selection. For some large scale data sets, to obtain a better solution, we are sometimes required to include more basis vectors, which means that M is not trivial in this situation. However, the limited computational resource (e.g., memory) prevents us from including too many vectors. To handle this dilemma, we propose to add an ensemble of basis vectors instead of only one at each forward step. The proposed method, closely related to gradient boosting, could decrease the required number M of forward steps significantly and thus a large fraction of computational cost is saved. Numerical experiments on three large scale regression tasks and a classification problem demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Large-Scale Assessments and Educational Policies in Italy
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Damiani, Valeria
Despite Italy's extensive participation in most large-scale assessments, their actual influence on Italian educational policies is less easy to identify. The present contribution aims at highlighting and explaining reasons for the weak and often inconsistent relationship between international surveys and policy-making processes in Italy.…
Improving the Utility of Large-Scale Assessments in Canada
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Rogers, W. Todd
Principals and teachers do not use large-scale assessment results because the lack of distinct and reliable subtests prevents identifying strengths and weaknesses of students and instruction, the results arrive too late to be used, and principals and teachers need assistance to use the results to improve instruction so as to improve student…
Large-Scale Innovation and Change in UK Higher Education
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Brown, Stephen
This paper reflects on challenges universities face as they respond to change. It reviews current theories and models of change management, discusses why universities are particularly difficult environments in which to achieve large scale, lasting change and reports on a recent attempt by the UK JISC to enable a range of UK universities to employ…
Mixing Metaphors: Building Infrastructure for Large Scale School Turnaround
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Peurach, Donald J.; Neumerski, Christine M.
The purpose of this analysis is to increase understanding of the possibilities and challenges of building educational infrastructure--the basic, foundational structures, systems, and resources--to support large-scale school turnaround. Building educational infrastructure often exceeds the capacity of schools, districts, and state education…
Large-Scale Environmental Influences on Aquatic Animal Health
In the latter portion of the 20th century, North America experienced numerous large-scale mortality events affecting a broad diversity of aquatic animals. Short-term forensic investigations of these events have sometimes characterized a causative agent or condition, but have rare...
Probabilistic Cuing in Large-Scale Environmental Search
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Smith, Alastair D.; Hood, Bruce M.; Gilchrist, Iain D.
Finding an object in our environment is an important human ability that also represents a critical component of human foraging behavior. One type of information that aids efficient large-scale search is the likelihood of the object being in one location over another. In this study we investigated the conditions under which individuals respond to…
Newton Methods for Large Scale Problems in Machine Learning
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Hansen, Samantha Leigh
The focus of this thesis is on practical ways of designing optimization algorithms for minimizing large-scale nonlinear functions with applications in machine learning. Chapter 1 introduces the overarching ideas in the thesis. Chapters 2 and 3 are geared towards supervised machine learning applications that involve minimizing a sum of loss…
Large-Scale Physical Separation of Depleted Uranium from Soil
ER D C/ EL T R -1 2 - 2 5 Army Range Technology Program Large-Scale Physical Separation of Depleted Uranium from Soil E nv ir on m en ta l...Separation ................................................................................................................ 2 Project Background...5 2 Materials and Methods
Computational Complexity, Efficiency and Accountability in Large Scale Teleprocessing Systems.
COMPLEXITY, EFFICIENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN LARGE SCALE TELEPROCESSING SYSTEMS DAAG29-78-C-0036 STANFORD UNIVERSITY JOHN T. GILL MARTIN E. BELLMAN...solve but easy to check. Ve have also suggested howy sucb random tapes can be simulated by determin- istically generating "pseudorandom" numbers by a
The large scale microwave background anisotropy in decaying particle cosmology
Panek, M.
We investigate the large-scale anisotropy of the microwave background radiation in cosmological models with decaying particles. The observed value of the quadrupole moment combined with other constraints gives an upper limit on the redshift of the decay z/sub d/ < 3-5. 12 refs., 2 figs.
The potential effects of air pollution on human health have received much attention in recent years. In the U.S. and other countries, there are extensive large-scale monitoring networks designed to collect data to inform the public of exposure risks to air pollution. A major crit...
The Large-Scale Structure of Scientific Method
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Kosso, Peter
The standard textbook description of the nature of science describes the proposal, testing, and acceptance of a theoretical idea almost entirely in isolation from other theories. The resulting model of science is a kind of piecemeal empiricism that misses the important network structure of scientific knowledge. Only the large-scale description of…
Ecosystem resilience despite large-scale altered hydro climatic conditions
Technology Transfer Automated Retrieval System (TEKTRAN)
Climate change is predicted to increase both drought frequency and duration, and when coupled with substantial warming, will establish a new hydroclimatological paradigm for many regions. Large-scale, warm droughts have recently impacted North America, Africa, Europe, Amazonia, and Australia result...
US National Large-scale City Orthoimage Standard Initiative
Zhou, G.; Song, C.; Benjamin, S.; Schickler, W.
The early procedures and algorithms for National digital orthophoto generation in National Digital Orthophoto Program (NDOP) were based on earlier USGS mapping operations, such as field control, aerotriangulation (derived in the early 1920's), the quarter-quadrangle-centered (3.75 minutes of longitude and latitude in geographic extent), 1:40,000 aerial photographs, and 2.5 D digital elevation models. However, large-scale city orthophotos using early procedures have disclosed many shortcomings, e.g., ghost image, occlusion, shadow. Thus, to provide the technical base (algorithms, procedure) and experience needed for city large-scale digital orthophoto creation is essential for the near future national large-scale digital orthophoto deployment and the revision of the Standards for National Large-scale City Digital Orthophoto in National Digital Orthophoto Program (NDOP). This paper will report our initial research results as follows: (1) High-precision 3D city DSM generation through LIDAR data processing, (2) Spatial objects/features extraction through surface material information and high-accuracy 3D DSM data, (3) 3D city model development, (4) Algorithm development for generation of DTM-based orthophoto, and DBM-based orthophoto, (5) True orthophoto generation by merging DBM-based orthophoto and DTM-based orthophoto, and (6) Automatic mosaic by optimizing and combining imagery from many perspectives.
Developing and Understanding Methods for Large-Scale Nonlinear Optimization
algorithms for large-scale uncon- strained and constrained optimization problems, including limited-memory methods for problems with -2- many thousands...34Published in peer-reviewed journals" E. Eskow, B. Bader, R. Byrd, S. Crivelli, T. Head-Gordon, V. Lamberti and R. Schnabel, "An optimization approach to the
International Large-Scale Assessments: What Uses, What Consequences?
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Johansson, Stefan
Background: International large-scale assessments (ILSAs) are a much-debated phenomenon in education. Increasingly, their outcomes attract considerable media attention and influence educational policies in many jurisdictions worldwide. The relevance, uses and consequences of these assessments are often the focus of research scrutiny. Whilst some…
Extracting Useful Semantic Information from Large Scale Corpora of Text
ERIC Educational Resources Information Center
Mendoza, Ray Padilla, Jr.
Extracting and representing semantic information from large scale corpora is at the crux of computer-assisted knowledge generation. Semantic information depends on collocation extraction methods, mathematical models used to represent distributional information, and weighting functions which transform the space. This dissertation provides a…
Large scale structure of the sun's radio corona
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Kundu, M. R.
Results of studies of large scale structures of the corona at long radio wavelengths are presented, using data obtained with the multifrequency radioheliograph of the Clark Lake Radio Observatory. It is shown that features corresponding to coronal streamers and coronal holes are readily apparent in the Clark Lake maps.
Large-scale screening by the automated Wassermann reaction
Wagstaff, W.; Firth, R.; Booth, J. R.; Bowley, C. C.
In view of the drawbacks in the use of the Kahn test for large-scale screening of blood donors, mainly those of human error through work overload and fatiguability, an attempt was made to adapt an existing automated complement-fixation technique for this purpose. This paper reports the successful results of that adaptation. PMID:5776559
Ecohydrological modeling for large-scale environmental impact assessment.
Woznicki, Sean A; Nejadhashemi, A Pouyan; Abouali, Mohammad; Herman, Matthew R; Esfahanian, Elaheh; Hamaamin, Yaseen A; Zhang, Zhen
Ecohydrological models are frequently used to assess the biological integrity of unsampled streams. These models vary in complexity and scale, and their utility depends on their final application. Tradeoffs are usually made in model scale, where large-scale models are useful for determining broad impacts of human activities on biological conditions, and regional-scale (e.g. watershed or ecoregion) models provide stakeholders greater detail at the individual stream reach level. Given these tradeoffs, the objective of this study was to develop large-scale stream health models with reach level accuracy similar to regional-scale models thereby allowing for impacts assessments and improved decision-making capabilities. To accomplish this, four measures of biological integrity (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera taxa (EPT), Family Index of Biotic Integrity (FIBI), Hilsenhoff Biotic Index (HBI), and fish Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI)) were modeled based on four thermal classes (cold, cold-transitional, cool, and warm) of streams that broadly dictate the distribution of aquatic biota in Michigan. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to simulate streamflow and water quality in seven watersheds and the Hydrologic Index Tool was used to calculate 171 ecologically relevant flow regime variables. Unique variables were selected for each thermal class using a Bayesian variable selection method. The variables were then used in development of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS) models of EPT, FIBI, HBI, and IBI. ANFIS model accuracy improved when accounting for stream thermal class rather than developing a global model.
Honeycomb: Visual Analysis of Large Scale Social Networks
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
van Ham, Frank; Schulz, Hans-Jörg; Dimicco, Joan M.
The rise in the use of social network sites allows us to collect large amounts of user reported data on social structures and analysis of this data could provide useful insights for many of the social sciences. This analysis is typically the domain of Social Network Analysis, and visualization of these structures often proves invaluable in understanding them. However, currently available visual analysis tools are not very well suited to handle the massive scale of this network data, and often resolve to displaying small ego networks or heavily abstracted networks. In this paper, we present Honeycomb, a visualization tool that is able to deal with much larger scale data (with millions of connections), which we illustrate by using a large scale corporate social networking site as an example. Additionally, we introduce a new probability based network metric to guide users to potentially interesting or anomalous patterns and discuss lessons learned during design and implementation.
Performance Health Monitoring of Large-Scale Systems
Rajamony, Ram
This report details the progress made on the ASCR funded project Performance Health Monitoring for Large Scale Systems. A large-scale application may not achieve its full performance potential due to degraded performance of even a single subsystem. Detecting performance faults, isolating them, and taking remedial action is critical for the scale of systems on the horizon. PHM aims to develop techniques and tools that can be used to identify and mitigate such performance problems. We accomplish this through two main aspects. The PHM framework encompasses diagnostics, system monitoring, fault isolation, and performance evaluation capabilities that indicates when a performance fault has been detected, either due to an anomaly present in the system itself or due to contention for shared resources between concurrently executing jobs. Software components called the PHM Control system then build upon the capabilities provided by the PHM framework to mitigate degradation caused by performance problems.
Long gradient mode and large-scale structure observables
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Allahyari, Alireza; Firouzjaee, Javad T.
We extend the study of long-mode perturbations to other large-scale observables such as cosmic rulers, galaxy-number counts, and halo bias. The long mode is a pure gradient mode that is still outside an observer's horizon. We insist that gradient-mode effects on observables vanish. It is also crucial that the expressions for observables are relativistic. This allows us to show that the effects of a gradient mode on the large-scale observables vanish identically in a relativistic framework. To study the potential modulation effect of the gradient mode on halo bias, we derive a consistency condition to the first order in gradient expansion. We find that the matter variance at a fixed physical scale is not modulated by the long gradient mode perturbations when the consistency condition holds. This shows that the contribution of long gradient modes to bias vanishes in this framework.
Large-scale structure in f(T) gravity
Li Baojiu; Sotiriou, Thomas P.; Barrow, John D.
In this work we study the cosmology of the general f(T) gravity theory. We express the modified Einstein equations using covariant quantities, and derive the gauge-invariant perturbation equations in covariant form. We consider a specific choice of f(T), designed to explain the observed late-time accelerating cosmic expansion without including an exotic dark energy component. Our numerical solution shows that the extra degree of freedom of such f(T) gravity models generally decays as one goes to smaller scales, and consequently its effects on scales such as galaxies and galaxies clusters are small. But on large scales, this degree of freedom can produce large deviations from the standard {Lambda}CDM scenario, leading to severe constraints on the f(T) gravity models as an explanation to the cosmic acceleration.
Simionescu, A.; Werner, N.; Urban, O.; Allen, S. W.; Fabian, A. C.; Sanders, J. S.; Mantz, A.; Nulsen, P. E. J.; Takei, Y.
By combining large-scale mosaics of ROSAT PSPC, XMM-Newton, and Suzaku X-ray observations, we present evidence for large-scale motions in the intracluster medium of the nearby, X-ray bright Perseus Cluster. These motions are suggested by several alternating and interleaved X-ray bright, low-temperature, low-entropy arcs located along the east-west axis, at radii ranging from {approx}10 kpc to over a Mpc. Thermodynamic features qualitatively similar to these have previously been observed in the centers of cool-core clusters, and were successfully modeled as a consequence of the gas sloshing/swirling motions induced by minor mergers. Our observations indicate that such sloshing/swirling can extend out to larger radii than previously thought, on scales approaching the virial radius.
Large-scale data mining pilot project in human genome
Musick, R.; Fidelis, R.; Slezak, T.
This whitepaper briefly describes a new, aggressive effort in large- scale data Livermore National Labs. The implications of `large- scale` will be clarified Section. In the short term, this effort will focus on several @ssion-critical questions of Genome project. We will adapt current data mining techniques to the Genome domain, to quantify the accuracy of inference results, and lay the groundwork for a more extensive effort in large-scale data mining. A major aspect of the approach is that we will be fully-staffed data warehousing effort in the human Genome area. The long term goal is strong applications- oriented research program in large-@e data mining. The tools, skill set gained will be directly applicable to a wide spectrum of tasks involving a for large spatial and multidimensional data. This includes applications in ensuring non-proliferation, stockpile stewardship, enabling Global Ecology (Materials Database Industrial Ecology), advancing the Biosciences (Human Genome Project), and supporting data for others (Battlefield Management, Health Care).
Large Scale Deformation of the Western US Cordillera
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bennett, Richard A.
Destructive earthquakes occur throughout the western US Cordillera (WUSC), not just within the San Andreas fault zone. But because we do not understand the present-day large-scale deformations of the crust throughout the WUSC, our ability to assess the potential for seismic hazards in this region remains severely limited. To address this problem, we are using a large collection of Global Positioning System (GPS) networks which spans the WUSC to precisely quantify present-day large-scale crustal deformations in a single uniform reference frame. Our work can roughly be divided into an analysis of the GPS observations to infer the deformation field across and within the entire plate boundary zone and an investigation of the implications of this deformation field regarding plate boundary dynamics.
Large scale anisotropic bias from primordial non-Gaussianity
Baghram, Shant; Firouzjahi, Hassan; Namjoo, Mohammad Hossein E-mail: email@example.com
In this work we study the large scale structure bias in models of anisotropic inflation. We use the Peak Background Splitting method in Excursion Set Theory to find the scale-dependent bias. We show that the amplitude of the bias is modified by a direction-dependent factor. In the specific anisotropic inflation model which we study, the scale-dependent bias vanishes at leading order when the long wavelength mode in squeezed limit is aligned with the anisotropic direction in the sky. We also extend the scale-dependent bias formulation to the general situations with primordial anisotropy. We find some selection rules indicating that some specific parts of a generic anisotropic bispectrum is picked up by the bias parameter. We argue that the anisotropic bias is mainly sourced by the angle between the anisotropic direction and the long wavelength mode in the squeezed limit.
Variability in large-scale wind power generation: Variability in large-scale wind power generation
Kiviluoma, Juha; Holttinen, Hannele; Weir, David; Scharff, Richard; Söder, Lennart; Menemenlis, Nickie; Cutululis, Nicolaos A.; Danti Lopez, Irene; Lannoye, Eamonn; Estanqueiro, Ana; Gomez-Lazaro, Emilio; Bai, Jianhua; Wan, Yih-Huei; Milligan, Michael
The paper demonstrates the characteristics of wind power variability and net load variability in multiple power systems based on real data from multiple years. Demonstrated characteristics include probability distribution for different ramp durations, seasonal and diurnal variability and low net load events. The comparison shows regions with low variability (Sweden, Spain and Germany), medium variability (Portugal, Ireland, Finland and Denmark) and regions with higher variability (Quebec, Bonneville Power Administration and Electric Reliability Council of Texas in North America; Gansu, Jilin and Liaoning in China; and Norway and offshore wind power in Denmark). For regions with low variability, the maximum 1 h wind ramps are below 10% of nominal capacity, and for regions with high variability, they may be close to 30%. Wind power variability is mainly explained by the extent of geographical spread, but also higher capacity factor causes higher variability. It was also shown how wind power ramps are autocorrelated and dependent on the operating output level. When wind power was concentrated in smaller area, there were outliers with high changes in wind output, which were not present in large areas with well-dispersed wind power.
Time-dependent response of filamentary composite spherical pressure vessels
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Dozier, J. D.
A filamentary composite spherical pressure vessel is modeled as a pseudoisotropic (or transversely isotropic) composite shell, with the effects of the liner and fill tubes omitted. Equations of elasticity, macromechanical and micromechanical formulations, and laminate properties are derived for the application of an internally pressured spherical composite vessel. Viscoelastic properties for the composite matrix are used to characterize time-dependent behavior. Using the maximum strain theory of failure, burst pressure and critical strain equations are formulated, solved in the Laplace domain with an associated elastic solution, and inverted back into the time domain using the method of collocation. Viscoelastic properties of HBFR-55 resin are experimentally determined and a Kevlar/HBFR-55 system is evaluated with a FORTRAN program. The computed reduction in burst pressure with respect to time indicates that the analysis employed may be used to predict the time-dependent response of a filamentary composite spherical pressure vessel.
Electrical model of dielectric barrier discharge homogenous and filamentary modes
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
López-Fernandez, J. A.; Peña-Eguiluz, R.; López-Callejas, R.; Mercado-Cabrera, A.; Valencia-Alvarado, R.; Muñoz-Castro, A.; Rodríguez-Méndez, B. G.
This work proposes an electrical model that combines homogeneous and filamentary modes of an atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge cell. A voltage controlled electric current source has been utilized to implement the power law equation that represents the homogeneous discharge mode, which starts when the gas breakdown voltage is reached. The filamentary mode implies the emergence of electric current conducting channels (microdischarges), to add this phenomenon an RC circuit commutated by an ideal switch has been proposed. The switch activation occurs at a higher voltage level than the gas breakdown voltage because it is necessary to impose a huge electric field that contributes to the appearance of streamers. The model allows the estimation of several electric parameters inside the reactor that cannot be measured. Also, it is possible to appreciate the modes of the DBD depending on the applied voltage magnitude. Finally, it has been recognized a good agreement between simulation outcomes and experimental results.
Impact of Large-scale Geological Architectures On Recharge
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Troldborg, L.; Refsgaard, J. C.; Engesgaard, P.; Jensen, K. H.
Geological and hydrogeological data constitutes the basis for assessment of ground- water flow pattern and recharge zones. The accessibility and applicability of hard ge- ological data is often a major obstacle in deriving plausible conceptual models. Nev- ertheless focus is often on parameter uncertainty caused by the effect of geological heterogeneity due to lack of hard geological data, thus neglecting the possibility of alternative conceptualizations of the large-scale geological architecture. For a catchment in the eastern part of Denmark we have constructed different geologi- cal models based on different conceptualization of the major geological trends and fa- cies architecture. The geological models are equally plausible in a conceptually sense and they are all calibrated to well head and river flow measurements. Comparison of differences in recharge zones and subsequently well protection zones emphasize the importance of assessing large-scale geological architecture in hydrological modeling on regional scale in a non-deterministic way. Geostatistical modeling carried out in a transitional probability framework shows the possibility of assessing multiple re- alizations of large-scale geological architecture from a combination of soft and hard geological information.
Channel capacity of next generation large scale MIMO systems
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Alshammari, A.; Albdran, S.; Matin, M.
Information rate that can be transferred over a given bandwidth is limited by the information theory. Capacity depends on many factors such as the signal to noise ratio (SNR), channel state information (CSI) and the spatial correlation in the propagation environment. It is very important to increase spectral efficiency in order to meet the growing demand for wireless services. Thus, Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology has been developed and applied in most of the wireless standards and it has been very successful in increasing capacity and reliability. As the demand is still increasing, attention now is shifting towards large scale multiple input multiple output (MIMO) which has a potential of bringing orders of magnitude of improvement in spectral and energy efficiency. It has been shown that users channels decorrelate after increasing the number of antennas. As a result, inter-user interference can be avoided since energy can be focused on precise directions. This paper investigates the limits of channel capacity for large scale MIMO. We study the relation between spectral efficiency and the number of antenna N. We use time division duplex (TDD) system in order to obtain CSI using training sequence in the uplink. The same CSI is used for the downlink because the channel is reciprocal. Spectral efficiency is measured for channel model that account for small scale fading while ignoring the effect of large scale fading. It is shown the spectral efficiency can be improved significantly when compared to single antenna systems in ideal circumstances.
Geospatial Optimization of Siting Large-Scale Solar Projects
Macknick, J.; Quinby, T.; Caulfield, E.; Gerritsen, M.; Diffendorfer, J.; Haines, S.
Recent policy and economic conditions have encouraged a renewed interest in developing large-scale solar projects in the U.S. Southwest. However, siting large-scale solar projects is complex. In addition to the quality of the solar resource, solar developers must take into consideration many environmental, social, and economic factors when evaluating a potential site. This report describes a proof-of-concept, Web-based Geographical Information Systems (GIS) tool that evaluates multiple user-defined criteria in an optimization algorithm to inform discussions and decisions regarding the locations of utility-scale solar projects. Existing siting recommendations for large-scale solar projects from governmental and non-governmental organizations are not consistent with each other, are often not transparent in methods, and do not take into consideration the differing priorities of stakeholders. The siting assistance GIS tool we have developed improves upon the existing siting guidelines by being user-driven, transparent, interactive, capable of incorporating multiple criteria, and flexible. This work provides the foundation for a dynamic siting assistance tool that can greatly facilitate siting decisions among multiple stakeholders.
Large-Scale Weather Disturbances in Mars' Southern Extratropics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Hollingsworth, Jeffery L.; Kahre, Melinda A.
Between late autumn and early spring, Mars' middle and high latitudes within its atmosphere support strong mean thermal gradients between the tropics and poles. Observations from both the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) indicate that this strong baroclinicity supports intense, large-scale eastward traveling weather systems (i.e., transient synoptic-period waves). These extratropical weather disturbances are key components of the global circulation. Such wave-like disturbances act as agents in the transport of heat and momentum, and generalized scalar/tracer quantities (e.g., atmospheric dust, water-vapor and ice clouds). The character of large-scale, traveling extratropical synoptic-period disturbances in Mars' southern hemisphere during late winter through early spring is investigated using a moderately high-resolution Mars global climate model (Mars GCM). This Mars GCM imposes interactively lifted and radiatively active dust based on a threshold value of the surface stress. The model exhibits a reasonable "dust cycle" (i.e., globally averaged, a dustier atmosphere during southern spring and summer occurs). Compared to their northern-hemisphere counterparts, southern synoptic-period weather disturbances and accompanying frontal waves have smaller meridional and zonal scales, and are far less intense. Influences of the zonally asymmetric (i.e., east-west varying) topography on southern large-scale weather are examined. Simulations that adapt Mars' full topography compared to simulations that utilize synthetic topographies emulating key large-scale features of the southern middle latitudes indicate that Mars' transient barotropic/baroclinic eddies are highly influenced by the great impact basins of this hemisphere (e.g., Argyre and Hellas). The occurrence of a southern storm zone in late winter and early spring appears to be anchored to the western hemisphere via orographic influences from the Tharsis highlands, and the Argyre
Solving large scale structure in ten easy steps with COLA
Tassev, Svetlin; Zaldarriaga, Matias; Eisenstein, Daniel J. E-mail: email@example.com
We present the COmoving Lagrangian Acceleration (COLA) method: an N-body method for solving for Large Scale Structure (LSS) in a frame that is comoving with observers following trajectories calculated in Lagrangian Perturbation Theory (LPT). Unlike standard N-body methods, the COLA method can straightforwardly trade accuracy at small-scales in order to gain computational speed without sacrificing accuracy at large scales. This is especially useful for cheaply generating large ensembles of accurate mock halo catalogs required to study galaxy clustering and weak lensing, as those catalogs are essential for performing detailed error analysis for ongoing and future surveys of LSS. As an illustration, we ran a COLA-based N-body code on a box of size 100 Mpc/h with particles of mass ≈ 5 × 10{sup 9}M{sub s}un/h. Running the code with only 10 timesteps was sufficient to obtain an accurate description of halo statistics down to halo masses of at least 10{sup 11}M{sub s}un/h. This is only at a modest speed penalty when compared to mocks obtained with LPT. A standard detailed N-body run is orders of magnitude slower than our COLA-based code. The speed-up we obtain with COLA is due to the fact that we calculate the large-scale dynamics exactly using LPT, while letting the N-body code solve for the small scales, without requiring it to capture exactly the internal dynamics of halos. Achieving a similar level of accuracy in halo statistics without the COLA method requires at least 3 times more timesteps than when COLA is employed.
Solving large scale structure in ten easy steps with COLA
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tassev, Svetlin; Zaldarriaga, Matias; Eisenstein, Daniel J.
We present the COmoving Lagrangian Acceleration (COLA) method: an N-body method for solving for Large Scale Structure (LSS) in a frame that is comoving with observers following trajectories calculated in Lagrangian Perturbation Theory (LPT). Unlike standard N-body methods, the COLA method can straightforwardly trade accuracy at small-scales in order to gain computational speed without sacrificing accuracy at large scales. This is especially useful for cheaply generating large ensembles of accurate mock halo catalogs required to study galaxy clustering and weak lensing, as those catalogs are essential for performing detailed error analysis for ongoing and future surveys of LSS. As an illustration, we ran a COLA-based N-body code on a box of size 100 Mpc/h with particles of mass ≈ 5 × 109Msolar/h. Running the code with only 10 timesteps was sufficient to obtain an accurate description of halo statistics down to halo masses of at least 1011Msolar/h. This is only at a modest speed penalty when compared to mocks obtained with LPT. A standard detailed N-body run is orders of magnitude slower than our COLA-based code. The speed-up we obtain with COLA is due to the fact that we calculate the large-scale dynamics exactly using LPT, while letting the N-body code solve for the small scales, without requiring it to capture exactly the internal dynamics of halos. Achieving a similar level of accuracy in halo statistics without the COLA method requires at least 3 times more timesteps than when COLA is employed.
Large-scale circulation associated with moisture intrusions into the Arctic during winter
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Woods, Cian; Caballero, Rodrigo; Svensson, Gunilla
Observations during recent decades show that there is a greater near surface warming occurring in the Arctic, particularly during winter, than at lower latitudes. Understanding the mechanisms controlling surface temperature in the Arctic is therefore an important priority in climate research. The surface energy budget is a key proximate control on Arctic surface temperature. During winter, insolation is low or absent and the atmospheric boundary layer is typically very stable, limiting turbulent hear exchange, so that the surface energy budget is almost entirely governed by longwave radiation. The net surface longwave radiation (NetLW) at this time has a strikingly bimodal distribution: conditions oscillate between a 'radiatively clear' state with rapid surface heat loss and a "moist cloudy" state with NetLW ˜ 0 W m-2. Each state can persist for days or weeks at a time but transitions between them happen in a matter of hours. This distribution of NetLW has important implications for the Arctic climate, as even a small shift in the frequency of occupancy of each state would be enough to significantly affect the overall surface energy budget and thus winter sea ice thickness. The clear and cloudy states typically occur during periods of relatively high and low surface pressure respectively, suggesting a link with synoptic-scale dynamics. This suggestion is consistent with previous studies indicating that the formation of low-level and mid-level clouds over the Arctic Ocean is typically associated with cyclonic activity and passing frontal systems . More recent work has shown that intense filamentary moisture intrusion events are a common feature in the Arctic and can induce large episodic increases of longwave radiation into the surface. The poleward transport of water vapor across 70N during boreal winter is examined in the ERA-Interim reanalysis product and 16 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) models, focusing on intense moisture
Intensive agriculture erodes β-diversity at large scales.
Karp, Daniel S; Rominger, Andrew J; Zook, Jim; Ranganathan, Jai; Ehrlich, Paul R; Daily, Gretchen C
Biodiversity is declining from unprecedented land conversions that replace diverse, low-intensity agriculture with vast expanses under homogeneous, intensive production. Despite documented losses of species richness, consequences for β-diversity, changes in community composition between sites, are largely unknown, especially in the tropics. Using a 10-year data set on Costa Rican birds, we find that low-intensity agriculture sustained β-diversity across large scales on a par with forest. In high-intensity agriculture, low local (α) diversity inflated β-diversity as a statistical artefact. Therefore, at small spatial scales, intensive agriculture appeared to retain β-diversity. Unlike in forest or low-intensity systems, however, high-intensity agriculture also homogenised vegetation structure over large distances, thereby decoupling the fundamental ecological pattern of bird communities changing with geographical distance. This ~40% decline in species turnover indicates a significant decline in β-diversity at large spatial scales. These findings point the way towards multi-functional agricultural systems that maintain agricultural productivity while simultaneously conserving biodiversity.
Alteration of Large-Scale Chromatin Structure by Estrogen Receptor
Nye, Anne C.; Rajendran, Ramji R.; Stenoien, David L.; Mancini, Michael A.; Katzenellenbogen, Benita S.; Belmont, Andrew S.
The estrogen receptor (ER), a member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily important in human physiology and disease, recruits coactivators which modify local chromatin structure. Here we describe effects of ER on large-scale chromatin structure as visualized in live cells. We targeted ER to gene-amplified chromosome arms containing large numbers of lac operator sites either directly, through a lac repressor-ER fusion protein (lac rep-ER), or indirectly, by fusing lac repressor with the ER interaction domain of the coactivator steroid receptor coactivator 1. Significant decondensation of large-scale chromatin structure, comparable to that produced by the ∼150-fold-stronger viral protein 16 (VP16) transcriptional activator, was produced by ER in the absence of estradiol using both approaches. Addition of estradiol induced a partial reversal of this unfolding by green fluorescent protein-lac rep-ER but not by wild-type ER recruited by a lac repressor-SRC570-780 fusion protein. The chromatin decondensation activity did not require transcriptional activation by ER nor did it require ligand-induced coactivator interactions, and unfolding did not correlate with histone hyperacetylation. Ligand-induced coactivator interactions with helix 12 of ER were necessary for the partial refolding of chromatin in response to estradiol using the lac rep-ER tethering system. This work demonstrates that when tethered or recruited to DNA, ER possesses a novel large-scale chromatin unfolding activity. PMID:11971975
Assessing salivary cortisol in large-scale, epidemiological research.
Adam, Emma K; Kumari, Meena
Salivary cortisol measures are increasingly being incorporated into large-scale, population-based, or epidemiological research, in which participants are selected to be representative of particular communities or populations of interest, and sample sizes are in the order of hundreds to tens of thousands of participants. These approaches to studying salivary cortisol provide important advantages but pose a set of challenges. The representative nature of sampling, and large samples sizes associated with population-based research offer high generalizability and power, and the ability to examine cortisol functioning in relation to: (a) a wide range of social environments; (b) a diverse array individuals and groups; and (c) a broad set of pre-disease and disease outcomes. The greater importance of high response rates (to maintain generalizability) and higher costs associated with this type of large-scale research, however, requires special adaptations of existing ambulatory cortisol protocols. These include: using the most efficient sample collection protocol possible that still adequately address the specific cortisol-related questions at hand, and ensuring the highest possible response and compliance rates among those individuals invited to participate. Examples of choices made, response rates obtained, and examples of results obtained from existing epidemiological cortisol studies are offered, as are suggestions for the modeling and interpretation of salivary cortisol data obtained in large-scale epidemiological research.
Large-scale biodiversity patterns in freshwater phytoplankton.
Stomp, Maayke; Huisman, Jef; Mittelbach, Gary G; Litchman, Elena; Klausmeier, Christopher A
Our planet shows striking gradients in the species richness of plants and animals, from high biodiversity in the tropics to low biodiversity in polar and high-mountain regions. Recently, similar patterns have been described for some groups of microorganisms, but the large-scale biogeographical distribution of freshwater phytoplankton diversity is still largely unknown. We examined the species diversity of freshwater phytoplankton sampled from 540 lakes and reservoirs distributed across the continental United States and found strong latitudinal, longitudinal, and altitudinal gradients in phytoplankton biodiversity, demonstrating that microorganisms can show substantial geographic variation in biodiversity. Detailed analysis using structural equation models indicated that these large-scale biodiversity gradients in freshwater phytoplankton diversity were mainly driven by local environmental factors, although there were residual direct effects of latitude, longitude, and altitude as well. Specifically, we found that phytoplankton species richness was an increasing saturating function of lake chlorophyll a concentration, increased with lake surface area and possibly increased with water temperature, resembling effects of productivity, habitat area, and temperature on diversity patterns commonly observed for macroorganisms. In turn, these local environmental factors varied along latitudinal, longitudinal, and altitudinal gradients. These results imply that changes in land use or climate that affect these local environmental factors are likely to have major impacts on large-scale biodiversity patterns of freshwater phytoplankton.
Filamentary pattern in the cosmic web: galaxy filaments as pearl necklaces
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tempel, Elmo; Bussov, Maarja
Galaxies form chains (filaments) that connect groups and clusters of galaxies. The filamentary network includes nearly half of the galaxies and is visually the most striking feature in cosmological maps. We study the distribution of galaxies along such a filamentary network, trying to find specific patterns. Our galaxy filaments are defined using the Bisous process. We use the two-point correlation function and the Rayleigh $Z$-squared statistic to study how the galaxies are distributed along the filaments. We show that galaxies and galaxy groups are not uniformly distributed along filaments, but tend to form a regular pattern. The characteristic length of the pattern is 7~$h-1$Mpc. A slightly smaller characteristic length 4~$h-1$Mpc can also be found, using the $Z$-squared statistic. One can say that galaxy filaments are like pearl necklaces, where the pearls are galaxy groups distributed more or less regularly along the filaments. We propose that this well defined characteristic scale could be used as a cosmological test.
Clusters as cornerstones of large-scale structure.
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gottlöber, S.; Retzlaff, J.; Turchaninov, V.
Galaxy clusters are one of the best tracers of large-scale structure in the Universe on scales well above 100 Mpc. The authors investigate here the clustering properties of a redshift sample of Abell/ACO clusters and compare the observational sample with mock samples constructed from N-body simulations on the basis of four different cosmological models. The authors discuss the power spectrum, the Minkowski functionals and the void statistics of these samples and conclude, that the SCDM and TCDM models are ruled out whereas the ACDM and BSI models are in agreement with the observational data.
Large-Scale Patterns of Filament Channels and Filaments
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mackay, Duncan
In this review the properties and large-scale patterns of filament channels and filaments will be considered. Initially, the global formation locations of filament channels and filaments are discussed, along with their hemispheric pattern. Next, observations of the formation of filament channels and filaments are described where two opposing views are considered. Finally, the wide range of models that have been constructed to consider the formation of filament channels and filaments over long time-scales are described, along with the origin of the hemispheric pattern of filaments.
Large-Scale Optimization for Bayesian Inference in Complex Systems
Willcox, Karen; Marzouk, Youssef
The SAGUARO (Scalable Algorithms for Groundwater Uncertainty Analysis and Robust Optimization) Project focused on the development of scalable numerical algorithms for large-scale Bayesian inversion in complex systems that capitalize on advances in large-scale simulation-based optimization and inversion methods. The project was a collaborative effort among MIT, the University of Texas at Austin, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Sandia National Laboratories. The research was directed in three complementary areas: efficient approximations of the Hessian operator, reductions in complexity of forward simulations via stochastic spectral approximations and model reduction, and employing large-scale optimization concepts to accelerate sampling. The MIT--Sandia component of the SAGUARO Project addressed the intractability of conventional sampling methods for large-scale statistical inverse problems by devising reduced-order models that are faithful to the full-order model over a wide range of parameter values; sampling then employs the reduced model rather than the full model, resulting in very large computational savings. Results indicate little effect on the computed posterior distribution. On the other hand, in the Texas--Georgia Tech component of the project, we retain the full-order model, but exploit inverse problem structure (adjoint-based gradients and partial Hessian information of the parameter-to-observation map) to implicitly extract lower dimensional information on the posterior distribution; this greatly speeds up sampling methods, so that fewer sampling points are needed. We can think of these two approaches as ``reduce then sample'' and ``sample then reduce.'' In fact, these two approaches are complementary, and can be used in conjunction with each other. Moreover, they both exploit deterministic inverse problem structure, in the form of adjoint-based gradient and Hessian information of the underlying parameter-to-observation map, to achieve their
Large- to small-scale dynamo in domains of large aspect ratio: kinematic regime
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Shumaylova, Valeria; Teed, Robert J.; Proctor, Michael R. E.
The Sun's magnetic field exhibits coherence in space and time on much larger scales than the turbulent convection that ultimately powers the dynamo. In this work, we look for numerical evidence of a large-scale magnetic field as the magnetic Reynolds number, Rm, is increased. The investigation is based on the simulations of the induction equation in elongated periodic boxes. The imposed flows considered are the standard ABC flow (named after Arnold, Beltrami & Childress) with wavenumber ku = 1 (small-scale) and a modulated ABC flow with wavenumbers ku = m, 1, 1 ± m, where m is the wavenumber corresponding to the long-wavelength perturbation on the scale of the box. The critical magnetic Reynolds number R_m^{crit} decreases as the permitted scale separation in the system increases, such that R_m^{crit} ∝ [L_x/L_z]^{-1/2}. The results show that the α-effect derived from the mean-field theory ansatz is valid for a small range of Rm after which small scale dynamo instability occurs and the mean-field approximation is no longer valid. The transition from large- to small-scale dynamo is smooth and takes place in two stages: a fast transition into a predominantly small-scale magnetic energy state and a slower transition into even smaller scales. In the range of Rm considered, the most energetic Fourier component corresponding to the structure in the long x-direction has twice the length-scale of the forcing scale. The long-wavelength perturbation imposed on the ABC flow in the modulated case is not preserved in the eigenmodes of the magnetic field.
Modelling large-scale halo bias using the bispectrum
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pollack, Jennifer E.; Smith, Robert E.; Porciani, Cristiano
We study the relation between the density distribution of tracers for large-scale structure and the underlying matter distribution - commonly termed bias - in the Λ cold dark matter framework. In particular, we examine the validity of the local model of biasing at quadratic order in the matter density. This model is characterized by parameters b1 and b2. Using an ensemble of N-body simulations, we apply several statistical methods to estimate the parameters. We measure halo and matter fluctuations smoothed on various scales. We find that, whilst the fits are reasonably good, the parameters vary with smoothing scale. We argue that, for real-space measurements, owing to the mixing of wavemodes, no smoothing scale can be found for which the parameters are independent of smoothing. However, this is not the case in Fourier space. We measure halo and halo-mass power spectra and from these construct estimates of the effective large-scale bias as a guide for b1. We measure the configuration dependence of the halo bispectra Bhhh and reduced bispectra Qhhh for very large-scale k-space triangles. From these data, we constrain b1 and b2, taking into account the full bispectrum covariance matrix. Using the lowest order perturbation theory, we find that for Bhhh the best-fitting parameters are in reasonable agreement with one another as the triangle scale is varied, although the fits become poor as smaller scales are included. The same is true for Qhhh. The best-fitting values were found to depend on the discreteness correction. This led us to consider halo-mass cross-bispectra. The results from these statistics supported our earlier findings. We then developed a test to explore whether the inconsistency in the recovered bias parameters could be attributed to missing higher order corrections in the models. We prove that low-order expansions are not sufficiently accurate to model the data, even on scales k1˜ 0.04 h Mpc-1. If robust inferences concerning bias are to be drawn
Spontaneous thermal waves and exponential spectra associated with a filamentary pressure structure in a magnetized plasma
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pace, David Carl
An experimental study of plasma turbulence and transport is performed in the fundamental geometry of a narrow pressure filament in a magnetized plasma. An electron beam is used to heat a cold background plasma in a linear device, the Large Plasma Device (LAPD-U) [W. Gekelman et al. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 62, 2875 (1991)] operated by the Basic Plasma Science Facility at the University of California, Los Angeles. This results in the generation of a filamentary structure 1000 cm in length and 1 cm in diameter) exhibiting a controllable radial temperature gradient embedded in a large plasma. The filament serves as a resonance cavity for a thermal (diffusive) wave manifested by large amplitude, coherent oscillations in electron temperature. Properties of this wave are used to determine the electron collision time of the plasma and suggest that a diagnostic method for studying plasma transport can be designed in a similar manner. For short times and low heating powers the filament conducts away thermal energy through particle collisions, consistent with classical theory. Experiments performed with longer heating times or greater injected power feature a transition from the classical transport regime to a regime of enhanced transport levels. During the anomalous transport regime, fluctuations exhibit an exponential power spectrum for frequencies below the ion cyclotron frequency. The exponential feature has been traced to the presence of solitary pulses having a Lorentzian temporal signature. These pulses arise from nonlinear interactions of drift-Alfven waves driven by the pressure gradients. The temporal width of the pulses is measured to be a fraction of a period of the drift-Alfven waves. A second experiment involves a macroscopic (3.5 cm gradient length) limiter-edge geometry in which a density gradient is established by inserting a metallic plate at the edge of the nominal plasma column of the LAPD-U. In both experiments the width of the pulses is narrowly distributed
Large scale rigidity-based flexibility analysis of biomolecules
Streinu, Ileana
KINematics And RIgidity (KINARI) is an on-going project for in silico flexibility analysis of proteins. The new version of the software, Kinari-2, extends the functionality of our free web server KinariWeb, incorporates advanced web technologies, emphasizes the reproducibility of its experiments, and makes substantially improved tools available to the user. It is designed specifically for large scale experiments, in particular, for (a) very large molecules, including bioassemblies with high degree of symmetry such as viruses and crystals, (b) large collections of related biomolecules, such as those obtained through simulated dilutions, mutations, or conformational changes from various types of dynamics simulations, and (c) is intended to work as seemlessly as possible on the large, idiosyncratic, publicly available repository of biomolecules, the Protein Data Bank. We describe the system design, along with the main data processing, computational, mathematical, and validation challenges underlying this phase of the KINARI project. PMID:26958583
Scale-Similar Models for Large-Eddy Simulations
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Sarghini, F.
Scale-similar models employ multiple filtering operations to identify the smallest resolved scales, which have been shown to be the most active in the interaction with the unresolved subgrid scales. They do not assume that the principal axes of the strain-rate tensor are aligned with those of the subgrid-scale stress (SGS) tensor, and allow the explicit calculation of the SGS energy. They can provide backscatter in a numerically stable and physically realistic manner, and predict SGS stresses in regions that are well correlated with the locations where large Reynolds stress occurs. In this paper, eddy viscosity and mixed models, which include an eddy-viscosity part as well as a scale-similar contribution, are applied to the simulation of two flows, a high Reynolds number plane channel flow, and a three-dimensional, nonequilibrium flow. The results show that simulations without models or with the Smagorinsky model are unable to predict nonequilibrium effects. Dynamic models provide an improvement of the results: the adjustment of the coefficient results in more accurate prediction of the perturbation from equilibrium. The Lagrangian-ensemble approach [Meneveau et al., J. Fluid Mech. 319, 353 (1996)] is found to be very beneficial. Models that included a scale-similar term and a dissipative one, as well as the Lagrangian ensemble averaging, gave results in the best agreement with the direct simulation and experimental data.
Resolving the paradox of oceanic large-scale balance and small-scale mixing.
Marino, R; Pouquet, A; Rosenberg, D
A puzzle of oceanic dynamics is the contrast between the observed geostrophic balance, involving gravity, pressure gradient, and Coriolis forces, and the necessary turbulent transport: in the former case, energy flows to large scales, leading to spectral condensation, whereas in the latter, it is transferred to small scales, where dissipation prevails. The known bidirectional constant-flux energy cascade maintaining both geostrophic balance and mixing tends towards flux equilibration as turbulence strengthens, contradicting models and recent observations which find a dominant large-scale flux. Analyzing a large ensemble of high-resolution direct numerical simulations of the Boussinesq equations in the presence of rotation and no salinity, we show that the ratio of the dual energy flux to large and to small scales agrees with observations, and we predict that it scales with the inverse of the Froude and Rossby numbers when stratification is (realistically) stronger than rotation. Furthermore, we show that the kinetic and potential energies separately undergo a bidirectional transfer to larger and smaller scales. Altogether, this allows for small-scale mixing which drives the global oceanic circulation and will thus potentially lead to more accurate modeling of climate dynamics.
Large-scale genotoxicity assessments in the marine environment.
Hose, J E
There are a number of techniques for detecting genotoxicity in the marine environment, and many are applicable to large-scale field assessments. Certain tests can be used to evaluate responses in target organisms in situ while others utilize surrogate organisms exposed to field samples in short-term laboratory bioassays. Genotoxicity endpoints appear distinct from traditional toxicity endpoints, but some have chemical or ecotoxicologic correlates. One versatile end point, the frequency of anaphase aberrations, has been used in several large marine assessments to evaluate genotoxicity in the New York Bight, in sediment from San Francisco Bay, and following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. PMID:7713029
Large Scale Composite Manufacturing for Heavy Lift Launch Vehicles
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Stavana, Jacob; Cohen, Leslie J.; Houseal, Keth; Pelham, Larry; Lort, Richard; Zimmerman, Thomas; Sutter, James; Western, Mike; Harper, Robert; Stuart, Michael
Risk reduction for the large scale composite manufacturing is an important goal to produce light weight components for heavy lift launch vehicles. NASA and an industry team successfully employed a building block approach using low-cost Automated Tape Layup (ATL) of autoclave and Out-of-Autoclave (OoA) prepregs. Several large, curved sandwich panels were fabricated at HITCO Carbon Composites. The aluminum honeycomb core sandwich panels are segments of a 1/16th arc from a 10 meter cylindrical barrel. Lessons learned highlight the manufacturing challenges required to produce light weight composite structures such as fairings for heavy lift launch vehicles.
Large-scale genotoxicity assessments in the marine environment
Hose, J.E.
There are a number of techniques for detecting genotoxicity in the marine environment, and many are applicable to large-scale field assessments. Certain tests can be used to evaluate responses in target organisms in situ while others utilize surrogate organisms exposed to field samples in short-term laboratory bioassays. Genotoxicity endpoints appear distinct from traditional toxicity endpoints, but some have chemical or ecotoxicologic correlates. One versatile end point, the frequency of anaphase aberrations, has been used in several large marine assessments to evaluate genotoxicity in the New York Bight, in sediment from San Francisco Bay, and following the Exxon Valdez oil spill. 31 refs., 2 tabs.
Frequency domain multiplexing for large-scale bolometer arrays
Spieler, Helmuth
The development of planar fabrication techniques for superconducting transition-edge sensors has brought large-scale arrays of 1000 pixels or more to the realm of practicality. This raises the problem of reading out a large number of sensors with a tractable number of connections. A possible solution is frequency-domain multiplexing. I summarize basic principles, present various circuit topologies, and discuss design trade-offs, noise performance, cross-talk and dynamic range. The design of a practical device and its readout system is described with a discussion of fabrication issues, practical limits and future prospects.
Decentrally stabilizable linear and bilinear large-scale systems
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Siljak, D. D.; Vukcevic, M. B.
Two classes of large-scale systems are identified, which can always be stabilized by decentralized feedback control. For the class of systems composed of interconnected linear subsystems, we can choose local controllers for the subsystems to achieve stability of the overall system. The same linear feedback scheme can be used to stabilize a class of linear systems with bilinear interconnections. In this case, however, the scheme is used to establish a finite region of stability for the overall system. The stabilization algorithm is applied to the design of a control system for the Large-Space Telescope.
Anisotropy and nonuniversality in scaling laws of the large-scale energy spectrum in rotating turbulence.
Sen, Amrik; Mininni, Pablo D; Rosenberg, Duane; Pouquet, Annick
Rapidly rotating turbulent flow is characterized by the emergence of columnar structures that are representative of quasi-two-dimensional behavior of the flow. It is known that when energy is injected into the fluid at an intermediate scale Lf, it cascades towards smaller as well as larger scales. In this paper we analyze the flow in the inverse cascade range at a small but fixed Rossby number, Rof≈0.05. Several numerical simulations with helical and nonhelical forcing functions are considered in periodic boxes with unit aspect ratio. In order to resolve the inverse cascade range with reasonably large Reynolds number, the analysis is based on large eddy simulations which include the effect of helicity on eddy viscosity and eddy noise. Thus, we model the small scales and resolve explicitly the large scales. We show that the large-scale energy spectrum has at least two solutions: one that is consistent with Kolmogorov-Kraichnan-Batchelor-Leith phenomenology for the inverse cascade of energy in two-dimensional (2D) turbulence with a ∼k⊥-5/3 scaling, and the other that corresponds to a steeper ∼k⊥-3 spectrum in which the three-dimensional (3D) modes release a substantial fraction of their energy per unit time to the 2D modes. The spectrum that emerges depends on the anisotropy of the forcing function, the former solution prevailing for forcings in which more energy is injected into the 2D modes while the latter prevails for isotropic forcing. In the case of anisotropic forcing, whence the energy goes from the 2D to the 3D modes at low wave numbers, large-scale shear is created, resulting in a time scale τsh, associated with shear, thereby producing a ∼k-1 spectrum for the total energy with the horizontal energy of the 2D modes still following a ∼k⊥-5/3 scaling.
A first large-scale flood inundation forecasting model
Schumann, Guy J-P; Neal, Jeffrey C.; Voisin, Nathalie; Andreadis, Konstantinos M.; Pappenberger, Florian; Phanthuwongpakdee, Kay; Hall, Amanda C.; Bates, Paul D.
At present continental to global scale flood forecasting focusses on predicting at a point discharge, with little attention to the detail and accuracy of local scale inundation predictions. Yet, inundation is actually the variable of interest and all flood impacts are inherently local in nature. This paper proposes a first large scale flood inundation ensemble forecasting model that uses best available data and modeling approaches in data scarce areas and at continental scales. The model was built for the Lower Zambezi River in southeast Africa to demonstrate current flood inundation forecasting capabilities in large data-scarce regions. The inundation model domain has a surface area of approximately 170k km2. ECMWF meteorological data were used to force the VIC (Variable Infiltration Capacity) macro-scale hydrological model which simulated and routed daily flows to the input boundary locations of the 2-D hydrodynamic model. Efficient hydrodynamic modeling over large areas still requires model grid resolutions that are typically larger than the width of many river channels that play a key a role in flood wave propagation. We therefore employed a novel sub-grid channel scheme to describe the river network in detail whilst at the same time representing the floodplain at an appropriate and efficient scale. The modeling system was first calibrated using water levels on the main channel from the ICESat (Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite) laser altimeter and then applied to predict the February 2007 Mozambique floods. Model evaluation showed that simulated flood edge cells were within a distance of about 1 km (one model resolution) compared to an observed flood edge of the event. Our study highlights that physically plausible parameter values and satisfactory performance can be achieved at spatial scales ranging from tens to several hundreds of thousands of km2 and at model grid resolutions up to several km2. However, initial model test runs in forecast mode
The Large Scale Synthesis of Aligned Plate Nanostructures
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhou, Yang; Nash, Philip; Liu, Tian; Zhao, Naiqin; Zhu, Shengli
We propose a novel technique for the large-scale synthesis of aligned-plate nanostructures that are self-assembled and self-supporting. The synthesis technique involves developing nanoscale two-phase microstructures through discontinuous precipitation followed by selective etching to remove one of the phases. The method may be applied to any alloy system in which the discontinuous precipitation transformation goes to completion. The resulting structure may have many applications in catalysis, filtering and thermal management depending on the phase selection and added functionality through chemical reaction with the retained phase. The synthesis technique is demonstrated using the discontinuous precipitation of a γ‧ phase, (Ni, Co)3Al, followed by selective dissolution of the γ matrix phase. The production of the nanostructure requires heat treatments on the order of minutes and can be performed on a large scale making this synthesis technique of great economic potential.
Large-scale quantum networks based on graphs
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Epping, Michael; Kampermann, Hermann; Bruß, Dagmar
Society relies and depends increasingly on information exchange and communication. In the quantum world, security and privacy is a built-in feature for information processing. The essential ingredient for exploiting these quantum advantages is the resource of entanglement, which can be shared between two or more parties. The distribution of entanglement over large distances constitutes a key challenge for current research and development. Due to losses of the transmitted quantum particles, which typically scale exponentially with the distance, intermediate quantum repeater stations are needed. Here we show how to generalise the quantum repeater concept to the multipartite case, by describing large-scale quantum networks, i.e. network nodes and their long-distance links, consistently in the language of graphs and graph states. This unifying approach comprises both the distribution of multipartite entanglement across the network, and the protection against errors via encoding. The correspondence to graph states also provides a tool for optimising the architecture of quantum networks.
Large-scale linear nonparallel support vector machine solver.
Tian, Yingjie; Ping, Yuan
Twin support vector machines (TWSVMs), as the representative nonparallel hyperplane classifiers, have shown the effectiveness over standard SVMs from some aspects. However, they still have some serious defects restricting their further study and real applications: (1) They have to compute and store the inverse matrices before training, it is intractable for many applications where data appear with a huge number of instances as well as features; (2) TWSVMs lost the sparseness by using a quadratic loss function making the proximal hyperplane close enough to the class itself. This paper proposes a Sparse Linear Nonparallel Support Vector Machine, termed as L1-NPSVM, to deal with large-scale data based on an efficient solver-dual coordinate descent (DCD) method. Both theoretical analysis and experiments indicate that our method is not only suitable for large scale problems, but also performs as good as TWSVMs and SVMs.
Electron drift in a large scale solid xenon
Yoo, J.; Jaskierny, W. F.
A study of charge drift in a large scale optically transparent solid xenon is reported. A pulsed high power xenon light source is used to liberate electrons from a photocathode. The drift speeds of the electrons are measured using a 8.7 cm long electrode in both the liquid and solid phase of xenon. In the liquid phase (163 K), the drift speed is 0.193 ± 0.003 cm/μs while the drift speed in the solid phase (157 K) is 0.397 ± 0.006 cm/μs at 900 V/cm over 8.0 cm of uniform electric fields. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that a factor two faster electron drift speed in solid phase xenon compared to that in liquid in a large scale solid xenon.
Instrumentation Development for Large Scale Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator Characterization
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Swanson, Gregory T.; Cassell, Alan M.
Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) technology is currently being considered for multiple atmospheric entry applications as the limitations of traditional entry vehicles have been reached. The Inflatable Re-entry Vehicle Experiment (IRVE) has successfully demonstrated this technology as a viable candidate with a 3.0 m diameter vehicle sub-orbital flight. To further this technology, large scale HIADs (6.0 8.5 m) must be developed and tested. To characterize the performance of large scale HIAD technology new instrumentation concepts must be developed to accommodate the flexible nature inflatable aeroshell. Many of the concepts that are under consideration for the HIAD FY12 subsonic wind tunnel test series are discussed below.
The workshop on iterative methods for large scale nonlinear problems
Walker, H.F.; Pernice, M.
The aim of the workshop was to bring together researchers working on large scale applications with numerical specialists of various kinds. Applications that were addressed included reactive flows (combustion and other chemically reacting flows, tokamak modeling), porous media flows, cardiac modeling, chemical vapor deposition, image restoration, macromolecular modeling, and population dynamics. Numerical areas included Newton iterative (truncated Newton) methods, Krylov subspace methods, domain decomposition and other preconditioning methods, large scale optimization and optimal control, and parallel implementations and software. This report offers a brief summary of workshop activities and information about the participants. Interested readers are encouraged to look into an online proceedings available at http://www.usi.utah.edu/logan.proceedings. In this, the material offered here is augmented with hypertext abstracts that include links to locations such as speakers` home pages, PostScript copies of talks and papers, cross-references to related talks, and other information about topics addresses at the workshop.
Nusser, Adi; Branchini, Enzo; Davis, Marc E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Using redshifts as a proxy for galaxy distances, estimates of the two-dimensional (2D) transverse peculiar velocities of distant galaxies could be obtained from future measurements of proper motions. We provide the mathematical framework for analyzing 2D transverse motions and show that they offer several advantages over traditional probes of large-scale motions. They are completely independent of any intrinsic relations between galaxy properties; hence, they are essentially free of selection biases. They are free from homogeneous and inhomogeneous Malmquist biases that typically plague distance indicator catalogs. They provide additional information to traditional probes that yield line-of-sight peculiar velocities only. Further, because of their 2D nature, fundamental questions regarding vorticity of large-scale flows can be addressed. Gaia, for example, is expected to provide proper motions of at least bright galaxies with high central surface brightness, making proper motions a likely contender for traditional probes based on current and future distance indicator measurements.
The Large Scale Synthesis of Aligned Plate Nanostructures
Zhou, Yang; Nash, Philip; Liu, Tian; Zhao, Naiqin; Zhu, Shengli
We propose a novel technique for the large-scale synthesis of aligned-plate nanostructures that are self-assembled and self-supporting. The synthesis technique involves developing nanoscale two-phase microstructures through discontinuous precipitation followed by selective etching to remove one of the phases. The method may be applied to any alloy system in which the discontinuous precipitation transformation goes to completion. The resulting structure may have many applications in catalysis, filtering and thermal management depending on the phase selection and added functionality through chemical reaction with the retained phase. The synthesis technique is demonstrated using the discontinuous precipitation of a γ′ phase, (Ni, Co)3Al, followed by selective dissolution of the γ matrix phase. The production of the nanostructure requires heat treatments on the order of minutes and can be performed on a large scale making this synthesis technique of great economic potential. PMID:27439672
Lagrangian space consistency relation for large scale structure
Horn, Bart; Hui, Lam; Xiao, Xiao E-mail: email@example.com
Consistency relations, which relate the squeezed limit of an (N+1)-point correlation function to an N-point function, are non-perturbative symmetry statements that hold even if the associated high momentum modes are deep in the nonlinear regime and astrophysically complex. Recently, Kehagias and Riotto and Peloso and Pietroni discovered a consistency relation applicable to large scale structure. We show that this can be recast into a simple physical statement in Lagrangian space: that the squeezed correlation function (suitably normalized) vanishes. This holds regardless of whether the correlation observables are at the same time or not, and regardless of whether multiple-streaming is present. The simplicity of this statement suggests that an analytic understanding of large scale structure in the nonlinear regime may be particularly promising in Lagrangian space.
Unstable `black branes' from scaled membranes at large D
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Dandekar, Yogesh; Mazumdar, Subhajit; Minwalla, Shiraz; Saha, Arunabha
It has recently been demonstrated that the dynamics of black holes at large D can be recast as a set of non gravitational membrane equations. These membrane equations admit a simple static solution with shape S D- p-2× R p,1. In this note we study the equations for small fluctuations about this solution in a limit in which amplitude and length scale of the fluctuations are simultaneously scaled to zero as D is taken to infinity. We demonstrate that the resultant nonlinear equations, which capture the Gregory-Laflamme instability and its end point, exactly agree with the effective dynamical `black brane' equations of Emparan Suzuki and Tanabe. Our results thus identify the `black brane' equations as a special limit of the membrane equations and so unify these approaches to large D black hole dynamics.
In the fast lane: large-scale bacterial genome engineering.
Fehér, Tamás; Burland, Valerie; Pósfai, György
The last few years have witnessed rapid progress in bacterial genome engineering. The long-established, standard ways of DNA synthesis, modification, transfer into living cells, and incorporation into genomes have given way to more effective, large-scale, robust genome modification protocols. Expansion of these engineering capabilities is due to several factors. Key advances include: (i) progress in oligonucleotide synthesis and in vitro and in vivo assembly methods, (ii) optimization of recombineering techniques, (iii) introduction of parallel, large-scale, combinatorial, and automated genome modification procedures, and (iv) rapid identification of the modifications by barcode-based analysis and sequencing. Combination of the brute force of these techniques with sophisticated bioinformatic design and modeling opens up new avenues for the analysis of gene functions and cellular network interactions, but also in engineering more effective producer strains. This review presents a summary of recent technological advances in bacterial genome engineering.
Electron drift in a large scale solid xenon
Yoo, J.; Jaskierny, W. F.
A study of charge drift in a large scale optically transparent solid xenon is reported. A pulsed high power xenon light source is used to liberate electrons from a photocathode. The drift speeds of the electrons are measured using a 8.7 cm long electrode in both the liquid and solid phase of xenon. In the liquid phase (163 K), the drift speed is 0.193 ± 0.003 cm/μs while the drift speed in the solid phase (157 K) is 0.397 ± 0.006 cm/μs at 900 V/cm over 8.0 cm of uniform electric fields. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that a factor twomore » faster electron drift speed in solid phase xenon compared to that in liquid in a large scale solid xenon.« less
Applications of large-scale density functional theory in biology
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cole, Daniel J.; Hine, Nicholas D. M.
Density functional theory (DFT) has become a routine tool for the computation of electronic structure in the physics, materials and chemistry fields. Yet the application of traditional DFT to problems in the biological sciences is hindered, to a large extent, by the unfavourable scaling of the computational effort with system size. Here, we review some of the major software and functionality advances that enable insightful electronic structure calculations to be performed on systems comprising many thousands of atoms. We describe some of the early applications of large-scale DFT to the computation of the electronic properties and structure of biomolecules, as well as to paradigmatic problems in enzymology, metalloproteins, photosynthesis and computer-aided drug design. With this review, we hope to demonstrate that first principles modelling of biological structure-function relationships are approaching a reality.
The CLASSgal code for relativistic cosmological large scale structure
Dio, Enea Di; Montanari, Francesco; Durrer, Ruth; Lesgourgues, Julien E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
We present accurate and efficient computations of large scale structure observables, obtained with a modified version of the CLASS code which is made publicly available. This code includes all relativistic corrections and computes both the power spectrum C{sub ℓ}(z{sub 1},z{sub 2}) and the corresponding correlation function ξ(θ,z{sub 1},z{sub 2}) of the matter density and the galaxy number fluctuations in linear perturbation theory. For Gaussian initial perturbations, these quantities contain the full information encoded in the large scale matter distribution at the level of linear perturbation theory. We illustrate the usefulness of our code for cosmological parameter estimation through a few simple examples.
Stability of large scale chromomagnetic fields in the early universe
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Elmfors, Per; Persson, David
It is well known that Yang-Mills theory in vacuum has a perturbative instability to spontaneously form a large scale magnetic field (the Savvidy mechanism) and that a constant field is unstable so that a possible ground state has to be inhomogenous over the non-perturbative scale Λ (the Copenhagen vacuum). We argue that this spontaneous instability does not occur at high temperature when the induced field strength gB~Λ2 is much weaker than the magnetic mass squared (g2T)2. At high temperature, oscillations of gauge fields acquire a thermal mass M~gT and we show that this mass stabilizes a magnetic field which is constant over length scales shorter than the magnetic screening length (g2T)-1. We therefore conclude that there is no indication for any spontaneous generation of weak non-abelian magnetic fields in the early universe.
Tools for Large-Scale Mobile Malware Analysis
Bierma, Michael
Analyzing mobile applications for malicious behavior is an important area of re- search, and is made di cult, in part, by the increasingly large number of appli- cations available for the major operating systems. There are currently over 1.2 million apps available in both the Google Play and Apple App stores (the respec- tive o cial marketplaces for the Android and iOS operating systems)[1, 2]. Our research provides two large-scale analysis tools to aid in the detection and analysis of mobile malware. The rst tool we present, Andlantis, is a scalable dynamic analysis system capa- ble of processing over 3000 Android applications per hour. Traditionally, Android dynamic analysis techniques have been relatively limited in scale due to the compu- tational resources required to emulate the full Android system to achieve accurate execution. Andlantis is the most scalable Android dynamic analysis framework to date, and is able to collect valuable forensic data, which helps reverse-engineers and malware researchers identify and understand anomalous application behavior. We discuss the results of running 1261 malware samples through the system, and provide examples of malware analysis performed with the resulting data. While techniques exist to perform static analysis on a large number of appli- cations, large-scale analysis of iOS applications has been relatively small scale due to the closed nature of the iOS ecosystem, and the di culty of acquiring appli- cations for analysis. The second tool we present, iClone, addresses the challenges associated with iOS research in order to detect application clones within a dataset of over 20,000 iOS applications.
Electrochemical cells for medium- and large-scale energy storage
Wang, Wei; Wei, Xiaoliang; Choi, Daiwon; Lu, Xiaochuan; Yang, G.; Sun, C.
This is one of the chapters in the book titled "Advances in batteries for large- and medium-scale energy storage: Applications in power systems and electric vehicles" that will be published by the Woodhead Publishing Limited. The chapter discusses the basic electrochemical fundamentals of electrochemical energy storage devices with a focus on the rechargeable batteries. Several practical secondary battery systems are also discussed as examples
Health-Terrain: Visualizing Large Scale Health Data
Award Number: W81XWH-13-1-0020 TITLE: Health-Terrain: Visualizing Large Scale Health Data PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Ph.D. Fang, Shiaofen...ADDRESS. 1. REPORT DATE April 2015 2. REPORT TYPE Annual 3. DATES COVERED 7 MAR 2014 – 6 MAR 2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Health-Terrain: Visualizing ...1) creating a concept space data model, which represents a schema tailored to support diverse visualizations and provides a uniform ontology that
A Holistic Management Architecture for Large-Scale Adaptive Networks
MANAGEMENT ARCHITECTURE FOR LARGE-SCALE ADAPTIVE NETWORKS by Michael R. Clement September 2007 Thesis Advisor: Alex Bordetsky Second Reader...TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT from the NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL September 2007 Author: Michael R. Clement Approved by: Dr. Alex ...achieve in life is by His will. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. To my parents, my family, and Caitlin: For supporting me, listening to me when I got
Large-scale detection of recombination in nucleotide sequences
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chan, Cheong Xin; Beiko, Robert G.; Ragan, Mark A.
Genetic recombination following a genetic transfer event can produce heterogeneous phylogenetic histories within sets of genes that share a common ancestral origin. Delineating recombination events will enhance our understanding in genome evolution. However, the task of detecting recombination is not trivial due to effect of more-recent evolutionary changes that can obscure such event from detection. In this paper, we demonstrate the use of a two-phase strategy for detecting recombination events on a large-scale dataset.
Multimodel Design of Large Scale Systems with Multiple Decision Makers.
virtue. 5- , Lead me from darkneu to light. - Lead me from death to eternal Life. ( Vedic Payer) p. I, MULTIMODEL DESIGN OF LARGE SCALE SYSTEMS WITH...guidance during the course of *: this research . He would also like to thank Professors W. R. Perkins, P. V. Kokotovic, T. Basar, and T. N. Trick for...thesis concludes with Chapter 7 where we summarize the results obtained, outline the main contributions, and indicate directions for future research . 7- I
Relic vector field and CMB large scale anomalies
Chen, Xingang; Wang, Yi E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
We study the most general effects of relic vector fields on the inflationary background and density perturbations. Such effects are observable if the number of inflationary e-folds is close to the minimum requirement to solve the horizon problem. We show that this can potentially explain two CMB large scale anomalies: the quadrupole-octopole alignment and the quadrupole power suppression. We discuss its effect on the parity anomaly. We also provide analytical template for more detailed data comparison.
The large-scale anisotropy with the PAMELA calorimeter
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Karelin, A.; Adriani, O.; Barbarino, G.; Bazilevskaya, G.; Bellotti, R.; Boezio, M.; Bogomolov, E.; Bongi, M.; Bonvicini, V.; Bottai, S.; Bruno, A.; Cafagna, F.; Campana, D.; Carbone, R.; Carlson, P.; Casolino, M.; Castellini, G.; De Donato, C.; De Santis, C.; De Simone, N.; Di Felice, V.; Formato, V.; Galper, A.; Koldashov, S.; Koldobskiy, S.; Krut'kov, S.; Kvashnin, A.; Leonov, A.; Malakhov, V.; Marcelli, L.; Martucci, M.; Mayorov, A.; Menn, W.; Mergé, M.; Mikhailov, V.; Mocchiutti, E.; Monaco, A.; Mori, N.; Munini, R.; Osteria, G.; Palma, F.; Panico, B.; Papini, P.; Pearce, M.; Picozza, P.; Ricci, M.; Ricciarini, S.; Sarkar, R.; Simon, M.; Scotti, V.; Sparvoli, R.; Spillantini, P.; Stozhkov, Y.; Vacchi, A.; Vannuccini, E.; Vasilyev, G.; Voronov, S.; Yurkin, Y.; Zampa, G.; Zampa, N.
The large-scale anisotropy (or the so-called star-diurnal wave) has been studied using the calorimeter of the space-born experiment PAMELA. The cosmic ray anisotropy has been obtained for the Southern and Northern hemispheres simultaneously in the equatorial coordinate system for the time period 2006-2014. The dipole amplitude and phase have been measured for energies 1-20 TeV n-1.
Large Scale Density Estimation of Blue and Fin Whales (LSD)
interactions with human activity requires knowledge of how many animals are present in an area during a specific time period. Many marine mammal species...assumptions about animal distribution around the sensors, or both. The goal of this research is to develop and implement a new method for...estimating blue and fin whale density that is effective over large spatial scales and is designed to cope with spatial variation in animal density utilizing
Supporting large scale applications on networks of workstations
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Cooper, Robert; Birman, Kenneth P.
Distributed applications on networks of workstations are an increasingly common way to satisfy computing needs. However, existing mechanisms for distributed programming exhibit poor performance and reliability as application size increases. Extension of the ISIS distributed programming system to support large scale distributed applications by providing hierarchical process groups is discussed. Incorporation of hierarchy in the program structure and exploitation of this to limit the communication and storage required in any one component of the distributed system is examined.
Improving Design Efficiency for Large-Scale Heterogeneous Circuits
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gregerson, Anthony
Despite increases in logic density, many Big Data applications must still be partitioned across multiple computing devices in order to meet their strict performance requirements. Among the most demanding of these applications is high-energy physics (HEP), which uses complex computing systems consisting of thousands of FPGAs and ASICs to process the sensor data created by experiments at particles accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Designing such computing systems is challenging due to the scale of the systems, the exceptionally high-throughput and low-latency performance constraints that necessitate application-specific hardware implementations, the requirement that algorithms are efficiently partitioned across many devices, and the possible need to update the implemented algorithms during the lifetime of the system. In this work, we describe our research to develop flexible architectures for implementing such large-scale circuits on FPGAs. In particular, this work is motivated by (but not limited in scope to) high-energy physics algorithms for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the LHC. To make efficient use of logic resources in multi-FPGA systems, we introduce Multi-Personality Partitioning, a novel form of the graph partitioning problem, and present partitioning algorithms that can significantly improve resource utilization on heterogeneous devices while also reducing inter-chip connections. To reduce the high communication costs of Big Data applications, we also introduce Information-Aware Partitioning, a partitioning method that analyzes the data content of application-specific circuits, characterizes their entropy, and selects circuit partitions that enable efficient compression of data between chips. We employ our information-aware partitioning method to improve the performance of the hardware validation platform for evaluating new algorithms for the CMS experiment. Together, these research efforts help to improve the efficiency
Information Tailoring Enhancements for Large Scale Social Data
Social Data Progress Report No. 2 Reporting Period: December 16, 2015 – March 15, 2016 Contract No. N00014-15-P-5138 Sponsored by ONR...Intelligent Automation Incorporated Progress Report No. 2 Information Tailoring Enhancements for Large-Scale Social Data Submitted in accordance with...robustness. We imporoved the (i) messaging architecture, (ii) data redundancy, and (iii) service availability of Scraawl computational framework
Host Immunity via Mutable Virtualized Large-Scale Network Containers
system for host immunity that combines virtualization , emulation, and mutable network configurations. This system is deployed on a single host, and...entire !Pv4 address space within 5 Host Immunity via Mutable Virtualized Large-Scale Network Containers 45 minutes from a single machine. Second, when...URL, and we call it URL marker. A URL marker records the information about its parent web page's URL and the user ID who collects the URL. Thus, when
Concurrent Programming Using Actors: Exploiting Large-Scale Parallelism,
ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS 10. PROGRAM ELEMENT. PROJECT. TASK* Artificial Inteligence Laboratory AREA Is WORK UNIT NUMBERS 545 Technology Square...D-R162 422 CONCURRENT PROGRMMIZNG USING f"OS XL?ITP TEH l' LARGE-SCALE PARALLELISH(U) NASI AC E Al CAMBRIDGE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE L. G AGHA ET AL...RESOLUTION TEST CHART N~ATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDA.RDS - -96 A -E. __ _ __ __' .,*- - -- •. - MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ARTIFICIAL
An economy of scale system's mensuration of large spacecraft
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Deryder, L. J.
The systems technology and cost particulars of using multipurpose platforms versus several sizes of bus type free flyer spacecraft to accomplish the same space experiment missions. Computer models of these spacecraft bus designs were created to obtain data relative to size, weight, power, performance, and cost. To answer the question of whether or not large scale does produce economy, the dominant cost factors were determined and the programmatic effect on individual experiment costs were evaluated.
Developing and Understanding Methods for Large Scale Nonlinear Optimization
development of new algorithms for large-scale uncon- strained and constrained optimization problems, including limited-memory methods for problems with...analysis of tensor and SQP methods for singular con- strained optimization", to appear in SIAM Journal on Optimization. Published in peer-reviewed...Mathematica, Vol III, Journal der Deutschen Mathematiker-Vereinigung, 1998. S. Crivelli, B. Bader, R. Byrd, E. Eskow, V. Lamberti , R.Schnabel and T
Onishchenko, O. G.; Horton, W.; Scullion, E.; Fedun, V.
The new type of large-scale vortex structures of dispersionless Alfvén waves in collisionless plasma is investigated. It is shown that Alfvén waves can propagate in the form of Alfvén vortices of finite characteristic radius and characterised by magnetic flux ropes carrying orbital angular momentum. The structure of the toroidal and radial velocity, fluid and magnetic field vorticity, the longitudinal electric current in the plane orthogonal to the external magnetic field are discussed.
Analysis plan for 1985 large-scale tests. Technical report
McMullan, F.W.
The purpose of this effort is to assist DNA in planning for large-scale (upwards of 5000 tons) detonations of conventional explosives in the 1985 and beyond time frame. Primary research objectives were to investigate potential means to increase blast duration and peak pressures. This report identifies and analyzes several candidate explosives. It examines several charge designs and identifies advantages and disadvantages of each. Other factors including terrain and multiburst techniques are addressed as are test site considerations.
Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) Focal Plane Development
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Chuss, D. T.; Ali, A.; Amiri, M.; Appel, J.; Bennett, C. L.; Colazo, F.; Denis, K. L.; Dunner, R.; Essinger-Hileman, T.; Eimer, J.; Fluxa, P.; Gothe, D.; Halpern, M.; Harrington, K.; Hilton, G.; Hinshaw, G.; Hubmayr, J.; Iuliano, J.; Marriage, T. A.; Miller, N.; Moseley, S. H.; Mumby, G.; Petroff, M.; Reintsema, C.; Rostem, K.; U-yen, K.; Watts, D.; Wagner, E.; Wollack, E. J.; Xu, Z.; Zeng, L.
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) will measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background to search for and characterize the polarized signature of inflation. CLASS will operate from the Atacama Desert and observe approx.70% of the sky. A variable-delay polarization modulator provides modulation of the polarization at approx.10Hz to suppress the 1/f noise of the atmosphere and enable the measurement of the large angular scale polarization modes. The measurement of the inflationary signal across angular scales that spans both the recombination and reionization features allows a test of the predicted shape of the polarized angular power spectra in addition to a measurement of the energy scale of inflation. CLASS is an array of telescopes covering frequencies of 38, 93, 148, and 217 GHz. These frequencies straddle the foreground minimum and thus allow the extraction of foregrounds from the primordial signal. Each focal plane contains feedhorn-coupled transition-edge sensors that simultaneously detect two orthogonal linear polarizations. The use of single-crystal silicon as the dielectric for the on-chip transmission lines enables both high efficiency and uniformity in fabrication. Integrated band definition has been implemented that both controls the bandpass of the single-mode transmission on the chip and prevents stray light from coupling to the detectors.
High Speed Networking and Large-scale Simulation in Geodynamics
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Kuang, Weijia; Gary, Patrick; Seablom, Michael; Truszkowski, Walt; Odubiyi, Jide; Jiang, Weiyuan; Liu, Dong
Large-scale numerical simulation has been one of the most important approaches for understanding global geodynamical processes. In this approach, peta-scale floating point operations (pflops) are often required to carry out a single physically-meaningful numerical experiment. For example, to model convective flow in the Earth's core and generation of the geomagnetic field (geodynamo), simulation for one magnetic free-decay time (approximately 15000 years) with a modest resolution of 150 in three spatial dimensions would require approximately 0.2 pflops. If such a numerical model is used to predict geomagnetic secular variation over decades and longer, with e.g. an ensemble Kalman filter assimilation approach, approximately 30 (and perhaps more) independent simulations of similar scales would be needed for one data assimilation analysis. Obviously, such a simulation would require an enormous computing resource that exceeds the capacity of a single facility currently available at our disposal. One solution is to utilize a very fast network (e.g. 10Gb optical networks) and available middleware (e.g. Globus Toolkit) to allocate available but often heterogeneous resources for such large-scale computing efforts. At NASA GSFC, we are experimenting with such an approach by networking several clusters for geomagnetic data assimilation research. We shall present our initial testing results in the meeting.
Domain nesting for multi-scale large eddy simulation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fuka, Vladimir; Xie, Zheng-Tong
The need to simulate city scale areas (O(10 km)) with high resolution within street canyons in certain areas of interests necessitates different grid resolutions in different part of the simulated area. General purpose computational fluid dynamics codes typically employ unstructured refined grids while mesoscale meteorological models more often employ nesting of computational domains. ELMM is a large eddy simulation model for the atmospheric boundary layer. It employs orthogonal uniform grids and for this reason domain nesting was chosen as the approach for simulations in multiple scales. Domains are implemented as sets of MPI processes which communicate with each other as in a normal non-nested run, but also with processes from another (outer/inner) domain. It should stressed that the duration of solution of time-steps in the outer and in the inner domain must be synchronized, so that the processes do not have to wait for the completion of their boundary conditions. This can achieved by assigning an appropriate number of CPUs to each domain, and to gain high efficiency. When nesting is applied for large eddy simulation, the inner domain receives inflow boundary conditions which lack turbulent motions not represented by the outer grid. ELMM remedies this by optional adding of turbulent fluctuations to the inflow using the efficient method of Xie and Castro (2008). The spatial scale of these fluctuations is in the subgrid-scale of the outer grid and their intensity will be estimated from the subgrid turbulent kinetic energy in the outer grid.
Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) Focal Plane Development
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chuss, D. T.; Ali, A.; Amiri, M.; Appel, J.; Bennett, C. L.; Colazo, F.; Denis, K. L.; Dünner, R.; Essinger-Hileman, T.; Eimer, J.; Fluxa, P.; Gothe, D.; Halpern, M.; Harrington, K.; Hilton, G.; Hinshaw, G.; Hubmayr, J.; Iuliano, J.; Marriage, T. A.; Miller, N.; Moseley, S. H.; Mumby, G.; Petroff, M.; Reintsema, C.; Rostem, K.; U-Yen, K.; Watts, D.; Wagner, E.; Wollack, E. J.; Xu, Z.; Zeng, L.
The Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) will measure the polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background to search for and characterize the polarized signature of inflation. CLASS will operate from the Atacama Desert and observe ˜ 70 % of the sky. A variable-delay polarization modulator provides modulation of the polarization at ˜ 10 Hz to suppress the 1/ f noise of the atmosphere and enable the measurement of the large angular scale polarization modes. The measurement of the inflationary signal across angular scales that spans both the recombination and reionization features allows a test of the predicted shape of the polarized angular power spectra in addition to a measurement of the energy scale of inflation. CLASS is an array of telescopes covering frequencies of 38, 93, 148, and 217 GHz. These frequencies straddle the foreground minimum and thus allow the extraction of foregrounds from the primordial signal. Each focal plane contains feedhorn-coupled transition-edge sensors that simultaneously detect two orthogonal linear polarizations. The use of single-crystal silicon as the dielectric for the on-chip transmission lines enables both high efficiency and uniformity in fabrication. Integrated band definition has been implemented that both controls the bandpass of the single-mode transmission on the chip and prevents stray light from coupling to the detectors.
Equivalent common path method in large-scale laser comparator
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
He, Mingzhao; Li, Jianshuang; Miao, Dongjing
Large-scale laser comparator is main standard device that providing accurate, reliable and traceable measurements for high precision large-scale line and 3D measurement instruments. It mainly composed of guide rail, motion control system, environmental parameters monitoring system and displacement measurement system. In the laser comparator, the main error sources are temperature distribution, straightness of guide rail and pitch and yaw of measuring carriage. To minimize the measurement uncertainty, an equivalent common optical path scheme is proposed and implemented. Three laser interferometers are adjusted to parallel with the guide rail. The displacement in an arbitrary virtual optical path is calculated using three displacements without the knowledge of carriage orientations at start and end positions. The orientation of air floating carriage is calculated with displacements of three optical path and position of three retroreflectors which are precisely measured by Laser Tracker. A 4th laser interferometer is used in the virtual optical path as reference to verify this compensation method. This paper analyzes the effect of rail straightness on the displacement measurement. The proposed method, through experimental verification, can improve the measurement uncertainty of large-scale laser comparator.
Dispersal Mutualism Incorporated into Large-Scale, Infrequent Disturbances
Parker, V. Thomas
Because of their influence on succession and other community interactions, large-scale, infrequent natural disturbances also should play a major role in mutualistic interactions. Using field data and experiments, I test whether mutualisms have been incorporated into large-scale wildfire by whether the outcomes of a mutualism depend on disturbance. In this study a seed dispersal mutualism is shown to depend on infrequent, large-scale disturbances. A dominant shrubland plant (Arctostaphylos species) produces seeds that make up a persistent soil seed bank and requires fire to germinate. In post-fire stands, I show that seedlings emerging from rodent caches dominate sites experiencing higher fire intensity. Field experiments show that rodents (Perimyscus californicus, P. boylii) do cache Arctostaphylos fruit and bury most seed caches to a sufficient depth to survive a killing heat pulse that a fire might drive into the soil. While the rodent dispersal and caching behavior itself has not changed compared to other habitats, the environmental transformation caused by wildfire converts the caching burial of seed from a dispersal process to a plant fire adaptive trait, and provides the context for stimulating subsequent life history evolution in the plant host. PMID:26151560
Power suppression at large scales in string inflation
Cicoli, Michele; Downes, Sean; Dutta, Bhaskar E-mail: email@example.com
We study a possible origin of the anomalous suppression of the power spectrum at large angular scales in the cosmic microwave background within the framework of explicit string inflationary models where inflation is driven by a closed string modulus parameterizing the size of the extra dimensions. In this class of models the apparent power loss at large scales is caused by the background dynamics which involves a sharp transition from a fast-roll power law phase to a period of Starobinsky-like slow-roll inflation. An interesting feature of this class of string inflationary models is that the number of e-foldings of inflation is inversely proportional to the string coupling to a positive power. Therefore once the string coupling is tuned to small values in order to trust string perturbation theory, enough e-foldings of inflation are automatically obtained without the need of extra tuning. Moreover, in the less tuned cases the sharp transition responsible for the power loss takes place just before the last 50-60 e-foldings of inflation. We illustrate these general claims in the case of Fibre Inflation where we study the strength of this transition in terms of the attractor dynamics, finding that it induces a pivot from a blue to a redshifted power spectrum which can explain the apparent large scale power loss. We compute the effects of this pivot for example cases and demonstrate how magnitude and duration of this effect depend on model parameters.
An Emerging Infectious Disease Triggering Large-Scale Hyperpredation
Moleón, Marcos; Almaraz, Pablo; Sánchez-Zapata, José A.
Hyperpredation refers to an enhanced predation pressure on a secondary prey due to either an increase in the abundance of a predator population or a sudden drop in the abundance of the main prey. This scarcely documented mechanism has been previously studied in scenarios in which the introduction of a feral prey caused overexploitation of native prey. Here we provide evidence of a previously unreported link between Emergent Infectious Diseases (EIDs) and hyperpredation on a predator-prey community. We show how a viral outbreak caused the population collapse of a host prey at a large spatial scale, which subsequently promoted higher-than-normal predation intensity on a second prey from shared predators. Thus, the disease left a population dynamic fingerprint both in the primary host prey, through direct mortality from the disease, and indirectly in the secondary prey, through hyperpredation. This resulted in synchronized prey population dynamics at a large spatio-temporal scale. We therefore provide evidence for a novel mechanism by which EIDs can disrupt a predator-prey interaction from the individual behavior to the population dynamics. This mechanism can pose a further threat to biodiversity through the human-aided disruption of ecological interactions at large spatial and temporal scales. PMID:18523587
Line segment extraction for large scale unorganized point clouds
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lin, Yangbin; Wang, Cheng; Cheng, Jun; Chen, Bili; Jia, Fukai; Chen, Zhonggui; Li, Jonathan
Line segment detection in images is already a well-investigated topic, although it has received considerably less attention in 3D point clouds. Benefiting from current LiDAR devices, large-scale point clouds are becoming increasingly common. Most human-made objects have flat surfaces. Line segments that occur where pairs of planes intersect give important information regarding the geometric content of point clouds, which is especially useful for automatic building reconstruction and segmentation. This paper proposes a novel method that is capable of accurately extracting plane intersection line segments from large-scale raw scan points. The 3D line-support region, namely, a point set near a straight linear structure, is extracted simultaneously. The 3D line-support region is fitted by our Line-Segment-Half-Planes (LSHP) structure, which provides a geometric constraint for a line segment, making the line segment more reliable and accurate. We demonstrate our method on the point clouds of large-scale, complex, real-world scenes acquired by LiDAR devices. We also demonstrate the application of 3D line-support regions and their LSHP structures on urban scene abstraction.
Reliability assessment for components of large scale photovoltaic systems
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ahadi, Amir; Ghadimi, Noradin; Mirabbasi, Davar
Photovoltaic (PV) systems have significantly shifted from independent power generation systems to a large-scale grid-connected generation systems in recent years. The power output of PV systems is affected by the reliability of various components in the system. This study proposes an analytical approach to evaluate the reliability of large-scale, grid-connected PV systems. The fault tree method with an exponential probability distribution function is used to analyze the components of large-scale PV systems. The system is considered in the various sequential and parallel fault combinations in order to find all realistic ways in which the top or undesired events can occur. Additionally, it can identify areas that the planned maintenance should focus on. By monitoring the critical components of a PV system, it is possible not only to improve the reliability of the system, but also to optimize the maintenance costs. The latter is achieved by informing the operators about the system component's status. This approach can be used to ensure secure operation of the system by its flexibility in monitoring system applications. The implementation demonstrates that the proposed method is effective and efficient and can conveniently incorporate more system maintenance plans and diagnostic strategies.
Learning Short Binary Codes for Large-scale Image Retrieval.
Liu, Li; Yu, Mengyang; Shao, Ling
Large-scale visual information retrieval has become an active research area in this big data era. Recently, hashing/binary coding algorithms prove to be effective for scalable retrieval applications. Most existing hashing methods require relatively long binary codes (i.e., over hundreds of bits, sometimes even thousands of bits) to achieve reasonable retrieval accuracies. However, for some realistic and unique applications, such as on wearable or mobile devices, only short binary codes can be used for efficient image retrieval due to the limitation of computational resources or bandwidth on these devices. In this paper, we propose a novel unsupervised hashing approach called min-cost ranking (MCR) specifically for learning powerful short binary codes (i.e., usually the code length shorter than 100 b) for scalable image retrieval tasks. By exploring the discriminative ability of each dimension of data, MCR can generate one bit binary code for each dimension and simultaneously rank the discriminative separability of each bit according to the proposed cost function. Only top-ranked bits with minimum cost-values are then selected and grouped together to compose the final salient binary codes. Extensive experimental results on large-scale retrieval demonstrate that MCR can achieve comparative performance as the state-of-the-art hashing algorithms but with significantly shorter codes, leading to much faster large-scale retrieval.
Large-scale quantization from local correlations in space plasmas
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Livadiotis, George; McComas, David J.
This study examines the large-scale quantization that can characterize the phase space of certain physical systems. Plasmas are such systems where large-scale quantization, ħ*, is caused by Debye shielding that structures correlations between particles. The value of ħ* is constant—some 12 orders of magnitude larger than the Planck constant—across a wide range of space plasmas, from the solar wind in the inner heliosphere to the distant plasma in the inner heliosheath and the local interstellar medium. This paper develops the foundation and advances the understanding of the concept of plasma quantization; in particular, we (i) show the analogy of plasma to Planck quantization, (ii) show the key points of plasma quantization, (iii) construct some basic quantum mechanical concepts for the large-scale plasma quantization, (iv) investigate the correlation between plasma parameters that implies plasma quantization, when it is approximated by a relation between the magnetosonic energy and the plasma frequency, (v) analyze typical space plasmas throughout the heliosphere and show the constancy of plasma quantization over many orders of magnitude in plasma parameters, (vi) analyze Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) solar wind measurements to develop another measurement of the value of ħ*, and (vii) apply plasma quantization to derive unknown plasma parameters when some key observable is missing.
Large-scale columnar vortices in rotating turbulence
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yokoyama, Naoto; Takaoka, Masanori
In the rotating turbulence, flow structures are affected by the angular velocity of the system's rotation. When the angular velocity is small, three-dimensional statistically-isotropic flow, which has the Kolmogorov spectrum all over the inertial subrange, is formed. When the angular velocity increases, the flow becomes two-dimensional anisotropic, and the energy spectrum has a power law k-2 in the small wavenumbers in addition to the Kolmogorov spectrum in the large wavenumbers. When the angular velocity decreases, the flow returns to the isotropic one. It is numerically found that the transition between the isotropic and anisotropic flows is hysteretic; the critical angular velocity at which the flow transitions from the anisotropic one to the isotropic one, and that of the reverse transition are different. It is also observed that the large-scale columnar structures in the anisotropic flow depends on the external force which maintains a statistically-steady state. In some cases, small-scale anticyclonic structures are aligned in a columnar structure apart from the cyclonic Taylor column. The formation mechanism of the large-scale columnar structures will be discussed. This work was partially supported by JSPS KAKENHI.
Large scale CMB anomalies from thawing cosmic strings
Ringeval, Christophe; Yamauchi, Daisuke; Yokoyama, Jun'ichi; Bouchet, François R. E-mail: email@example.com E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Cosmic strings formed during inflation are expected to be either diluted over super-Hubble distances, i.e., invisible today, or to have crossed our past light cone very recently. We discuss the latter situation in which a few strings imprint their signature in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) Anisotropies after recombination. Being almost frozen in the Hubble flow, these strings are quasi static and evade almost all of the previously derived constraints on their tension while being able to source large scale anisotropies in the CMB sky. Using a local variance estimator on thousand of numerically simulated Nambu-Goto all sky maps, we compute the expected signal and show that it can mimic a dipole modulation at large angular scales while being negligible at small angles. Interestingly, such a scenario generically produces one cold spot from the thawing of a cosmic string loop. Mixed with anisotropies of inflationary origin, we find that a few strings of tension GU = O(1) × 10{sup −6} match the amplitude of the dipole modulation reported in the Planck satellite measurements and could be at the origin of other large scale anomalies.
Origin of the large scale structures of the universe
Oaknin, David H.
We revise the statistical properties of the primordial cosmological density anisotropies that, at the time of matter-radiation equality, seeded the gravitational development of large scale structures in the otherwise homogeneous and isotropic Friedmann-Robertson-Walker flat universe. Our analysis shows that random fluctuations of the density field at the same instant of equality and with comoving wavelength shorter than the causal horizon at that time can naturally account, when globally constrained to conserve the total mass (energy) of the system, for the observed scale invariance of the anisotropies over cosmologically large comoving volumes. Statistical systems with similar features are generically known as glasslike or latticelike. Obviously, these conclusions conflict with the widely accepted understanding of the primordial structures reported in the literature, which requires an epoch of inflationary cosmology to precede the standard expansion of the universe. The origin of the conflict must be found in the widespread, but unjustified, claim that scale invariant mass (energy) anisotropies at the instant of equality over comoving volumes of cosmological size, larger than the causal horizon at the time, must be generated by fluctuations in the density field with comparably large comoving wavelength.
Large-scale investigation of genomic markers for severe periodontitis.
Suzuki, Asami; Ji, Guijin; Numabe, Yukihiro; Ishii, Keisuke; Muramatsu, Masaaki; Kamoi, Kyuichi
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the genomic markers for periodontitis, using large-scale single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) association studies comparing healthy volunteers and patients with periodontitis. Genomic DNA was obtained from 19 healthy volunteers and 22 patients with severe periodontitis, all of whom were Japanese. The subjects were genotyped at 637 SNPs in 244 genes on a large scale, using the TaqMan polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system. Statistically significant differences in allele and genotype frequencies were analyzed with Fisher's exact test. We found statistically significant differences (P < 0.01) between the healthy volunteers and patients with severe periodontitis in the following genes; gonadotropin-releasing hormone 1 (GNRH1), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase regulatory 1 (PIK3R1), dipeptidylpeptidase 4 (DPP4), fibrinogen-like 2 (FGL2), and calcitonin receptor (CALCR). These results suggest that SNPs in the GNRH1, PIK3R1, DPP4, FGL2, and CALCR genes are genomic markers for severe periodontitis. Our findings indicate the necessity of analyzing SNPs in genes on a large scale (i.e., genome-wide approach), to identify genomic markers for periodontitis.
Large-scale flow generation by inhomogeneous helicity.
Yokoi, N; Brandenburg, A
The effect of kinetic helicity (velocity-vorticity correlation) on turbulent momentum transport is investigated. The turbulent kinetic helicity (pseudoscalar) enters the Reynolds stress (mirror-symmetric tensor) expression in the form of a helicity gradient as the coupling coefficient for the mean vorticity and/or the angular velocity (axial vector), which suggests the possibility of mean-flow generation in the presence of inhomogeneous helicity. This inhomogeneous helicity effect, which was previously confirmed at the level of a turbulence- or closure-model simulation, is examined with the aid of direct numerical simulations of rotating turbulence with nonuniform helicity sustained by an external forcing. The numerical simulations show that the spatial distribution of the Reynolds stress is in agreement with the helicity-related term coupled with the angular velocity, and that a large-scale flow is generated in the direction of angular velocity. Such a large-scale flow is not induced in the case of homogeneous turbulent helicity. This result confirms the validity of the inhomogeneous helicity effect in large-scale flow generation and suggests that a vortex dynamo is possible even in incompressible turbulence where there is no baroclinicity effect.
Large-scale flow experiments for managing river systems
Konrad, Christopher P.; Olden, Julian D.; Lytle, David A.; Melis, Theodore S.; Schmidt, John C.; Bray, Erin N.; Freeman, Mary C.; Gido, Keith B.; Hemphill, Nina P.; Kennard, Mark J.; McMullen, Laura E.; Mims, Meryl C.; Pyron, Mark; Robinson, Christopher T.; Williams, John G.
Experimental manipulations of streamflow have been used globally in recent decades to mitigate the impacts of dam operations on river systems. Rivers are challenging subjects for experimentation, because they are open systems that cannot be isolated from their social context. We identify principles to address the challenges of conducting effective large-scale flow experiments. Flow experiments have both scientific and social value when they help to resolve specific questions about the ecological action of flow with a clear nexus to water policies and decisions. Water managers must integrate new information into operating policies for large-scale experiments to be effective. Modeling and monitoring can be integrated with experiments to analyze long-term ecological responses. Experimental design should include spatially extensive observations and well-defined, repeated treatments. Large-scale flow manipulations are only a part of dam operations that affect river systems. Scientists can ensure that experimental manipulations continue to be a valuable approach for the scientifically based management of river systems.
Large scale stochastic spatio-temporal modelling with PCRaster
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Karssenberg, Derek; Drost, Niels; Schmitz, Oliver; de Jong, Kor; Bierkens, Marc F. P.
software from the eScience Technology Platform (eSTeP), developed at the Netherlands eScience Center. This will allow us to scale up to hundreds of machines, with thousands of compute cores. A key requirement is not to change the user experience of the software. PCRaster operations and the use of the Python framework classes should work in a similar manner on machines ranging from a laptop to a supercomputer. This enables a seamless transfer of models from small machines, where model development is done, to large machines used for large-scale model runs. Domain specialists from a large range of disciplines, including hydrology, ecology, sedimentology, and land use change studies, currently use the PCRaster Python software within research projects. Applications include global scale hydrological modelling and error propagation in large-scale land use change models. The software runs on MS Windows, Linux operating systems, and OS X.
Shocks, Superbubbles, and Filaments: Investigations into Large Scale Gas Motions in Giant Molecular Clouds
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Pon, Andrew Richard
-tohigh rotational transitions of CO (e.g., J= 8 → 7), should be dominated by shocked gas emission and should trace the turbulent energy being dissipated in molecular clouds. Orion-Eridanus superbubble. The nearby Orion star forming region has created a large bubble of hot plasma in the local interstellar medium referred to as the Orion-Eridanus superbubble. This bubble is unusual in that it is highly elongated, is believed to be oriented roughly parallel to the galactic plane, and contains bright filamentary features on the Eridanus side. I fit models for a wind driven bubble in an exponential atmosphere to the Orion-Eridanus superbubble and show that the elongation of the bubble cannot be explained by such a model in which the scale height of the galactic disk is the typical value of 150 pc. Either a much smaller scale height must be adopted or some additional physics must be added to the model. I also show that the Eridanus filaments cannot be equilibrium objects ionized by the Orion star forming region.
A new large-scale manufacturing platform for complex biopharmaceuticals.
Vogel, Jens H; Nguyen, Huong; Giovannini, Roberto; Ignowski, Jolene; Garger, Steve; Salgotra, Anil; Tom, Jennifer
Complex biopharmaceuticals, such as recombinant blood coagulation factors, are addressing critical medical needs and represent a growing multibillion-dollar market. For commercial manufacturing of such, sometimes inherently unstable, molecules it is important to minimize product residence time in non-ideal milieu in order to obtain acceptable yields and consistently high product quality. Continuous perfusion cell culture allows minimization of residence time in the bioreactor, but also brings unique challenges in product recovery, which requires innovative solutions. In order to maximize yield, process efficiency, facility and equipment utilization, we have developed, scaled-up and successfully implemented a new integrated manufacturing platform in commercial scale. This platform consists of a (semi-)continuous cell separation process based on a disposable flow path and integrated with the upstream perfusion operation, followed by membrane chromatography on large-scale adsorber capsules in rapid cycling mode. Implementation of the platform at commercial scale for a new product candidate led to a yield improvement of 40% compared to the conventional process technology, while product quality has been shown to be more consistently high. Over 1,000,000 L of cell culture harvest have been processed with 100% success rate to date, demonstrating the robustness of the new platform process in GMP manufacturing. While membrane chromatography is well established for polishing in flow-through mode, this is its first commercial-scale application for bind/elute chromatography in the biopharmaceutical industry and demonstrates its potential in particular for manufacturing of potent, low-dose biopharmaceuticals.
Robust large-scale parallel nonlinear solvers for simulations.
Bader, Brett William; Pawlowski, Roger Patrick; Kolda, Tamara Gibson
This report documents research to develop robust and efficient solution techniques for solving large-scale systems of nonlinear equations. The most widely used method for solving systems of nonlinear equations is Newton's method. While much research has been devoted to augmenting Newton-based solvers (usually with globalization techniques), little has been devoted to exploring the application of different models. Our research has been directed at evaluating techniques using different models than Newton's method: a lower order model, Broyden's method, and a higher order model, the tensor method. We have developed large-scale versions of each of these models and have demonstrated their use in important applications at Sandia. Broyden's method replaces the Jacobian with an approximation, allowing codes that cannot evaluate a Jacobian or have an inaccurate Jacobian to converge to a solution. Limited-memory methods, which have been successful in optimization, allow us to extend this approach to large-scale problems. We compare the robustness and efficiency of Newton's method, modified Newton's method, Jacobian-free Newton-Krylov method, and our limited-memory Broyden method. Comparisons are carried out for large-scale applications of fluid flow simulations and electronic circuit simulations. Results show that, in cases where the Jacobian was inaccurate or could not be computed, Broyden's method converged in some cases where Newton's method failed to converge. We identify conditions where Broyden's method can be more efficient than Newton's method. We also present modifications to a large-scale tensor method, originally proposed by Bouaricha, for greater efficiency, better robustness, and wider applicability. Tensor methods are an alternative to Newton-based methods and are based on computing a step based on a local quadratic model rather than a linear model. The advantage of Bouaricha's method is that it can use any existing linear solver, which makes it simple to write
Foundational perspectives on causality in large-scale brain networks.
Mannino, Michael; Bressler, Steven L
A profusion of recent work in cognitive neuroscience has been concerned with the endeavor to uncover causal influences in large-scale brain networks. However, despite the fact that many papers give a nod to the important theoretical challenges posed by the concept of causality, this explosion of research has generally not been accompanied by a rigorous conceptual analysis of the nature of causality in the brain. This review provides both a descriptive and prescriptive account of the nature of causality as found within and between large-scale brain networks. In short, it seeks to clarify the concept of causality in large-scale brain networks both philosophically and scientifically. This is accomplished by briefly reviewing the rich philosophical history of work on causality, especially focusing on contributions by David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Bertrand Russell, and Christopher Hitchcock. We go on to discuss the impact that various interpretations of modern physics have had on our understanding of causality. Throughout all this, a central focus is the distinction between theories of deterministic causality (DC), whereby causes uniquely determine their effects, and probabilistic causality (PC), whereby causes change the probability of occurrence of their effects. We argue that, given the topological complexity of its large-scale connectivity, the brain should be considered as a complex system and its causal influences treated as probabilistic in nature. We conclude that PC is well suited for explaining causality in the brain for three reasons: (1) brain causality is often mutual; (2) connectional convergence dictates that only rarely is the activity of one neuronal population uniquely determined by another one; and (3) the causal influences exerted between neuronal populations may not have observable effects. A number of different techniques are currently available to characterize causal influence in the brain. Typically, these techniques quantify the statistical
Foundational perspectives on causality in large-scale brain networks
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Mannino, Michael; Bressler, Steven L.
A profusion of recent work in cognitive neuroscience has been concerned with the endeavor to uncover causal influences in large-scale brain networks. However, despite the fact that many papers give a nod to the important theoretical challenges posed by the concept of causality, this explosion of research has generally not been accompanied by a rigorous conceptual analysis of the nature of causality in the brain. This review provides both a descriptive and prescriptive account of the nature of causality as found within and between large-scale brain networks. In short, it seeks to clarify the concept of causality in large-scale brain networks both philosophically and scientifically. This is accomplished by briefly reviewing the rich philosophical history of work on causality, especially focusing on contributions by David Hume, Immanuel Kant, Bertrand Russell, and Christopher Hitchcock. We go on to discuss the impact that various interpretations of modern physics have had on our understanding of causality. Throughout all this, a central focus is the distinction between theories of deterministic causality (DC), whereby causes uniquely determine their effects, and probabilistic causality (PC), whereby causes change the probability of occurrence of their effects. We argue that, given the topological complexity of its large-scale connectivity, the brain should be considered as a complex system and its causal influences treated as probabilistic in nature. We conclude that PC is well suited for explaining causality in the brain for three reasons: (1) brain causality is often mutual; (2) connectional convergence dictates that only rarely is the activity of one neuronal population uniquely determined by another one; and (3) the causal influences exerted between neuronal populations may not have observable effects. A number of different techniques are currently available to characterize causal influence in the brain. Typically, these techniques quantify the statistical
The Impact of Large Scale Environments on Cluster Entropy Profiles
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Trierweiler, Isabella; Su, Yuanyuan
We perform a systematic analysis of 21 clusters imaged by the Suzaku satellite to determine the relation between the richness of cluster environments and entropy at large radii. Entropy profiles for clusters are expected to follow a power-law, but Suzaku observations show that the entropy profiles of many clusters are significantly flattened beyond 0.3 Rvir. While the entropy at the outskirts of clusters is thought to be highly dependent on the large scale cluster environment, the exact nature of the environment/entropy relation is unclear. Using the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and 6dF Galaxy Survey, we study the 20 Mpc large scale environment for all clusters in our sample. We find no strong relation between the entropy deviations at the virial radius and the total luminosity of the cluster surroundings, indicating that accretion and mergers have a more complex and indirect influence on the properties of the gas at large radii. We see a possible anti-correlation between virial temperature and richness of the cluster environment and find that density excess appears to play a larger role in the entropy flattening than temperature, suggesting that clumps of gas can lower entropy.
Nuclear-pumped lasers for large-scale applications
Anderson, R.E.; Leonard, E.M.; Shea, R.E.; Berggren, R.R.
Efficient initiation of large-volume chemical lasers may be achieved by neutron induced reactions which produce charged particles in the final state. When a burst mode nuclear reactor is used as the neutron source, both a sufficiently intense neutron flux and a sufficient short initiation pulse may be possible. Proof-of-principle experiments are planned to demonstrate lasing in a direct nuclear-pumped large-volume system: to study the effects of various neutron absorbing materials on laser performance; to study the effects of long initiation pulse lengths; to determine the performance of large-scale optics and the beam quality that may bo obtained; and to assess the performance of alternative designs of burst systems that increase the neutron output and burst repetition rate. 21 refs., 7 figs., 5 tabs.
Self-* and Adaptive Mechanisms for Large Scale Distributed Systems
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Fragopoulou, P.; Mastroianni, C.; Montero, R.; Andrjezak, A.; Kondo, D.
Large-scale distributed computing systems and infrastructure, such as Grids, P2P systems and desktop Grid platforms, are decentralized, pervasive, and composed of a large number of autonomous entities. The complexity of these systems is such that human administration is nearly impossible and centralized or hierarchical control is highly inefficient. These systems need to run on highly dynamic environments, where content, network topologies and workloads are continuously changing. Moreover, they are characterized by the high degree of volatility of their components and the need to provide efficient service management and to handle efficiently large amounts of data. This paper describes some of the areas for which adaptation emerges as a key feature, namely, the management of computational Grids, the self-management of desktop Grid platforms and the monitoring and healing of complex applications. It also elaborates on the use of bio-inspired algorithms to achieve self-management. Related future trends and challenges are described.
Turbulence and entrainment length scales in large wind farms.
Andersen, Søren J; Sørensen, Jens N; Mikkelsen, Robert F
A number of large wind farms are modelled using large eddy simulations to elucidate the entrainment process. A reference simulation without turbines and three farm simulations with different degrees of imposed atmospheric turbulence are presented. The entrainment process is assessed using proper orthogonal decomposition, which is employed to detect the largest and most energetic coherent turbulent structures. The dominant length scales responsible for the entrainment process are shown to grow further into the wind farm, but to be limited in extent by the streamwise turbine spacing, which could be taken into account when developing farm layouts. The self-organized motion or large coherent structures also yield high correlations between the power productions of consecutive turbines, which can be exploited through dynamic farm control.This article is part of the themed issue 'Wind energy in complex terrains'.
75 FR 51843 - In the Matter of Certain Large Scale Integrated Circuit Semiconductor Chips and Products...
Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
... Matter of Certain Large Scale Integrated Circuit Semiconductor Chips and Products Containing the Same... certain large scale integrated circuit semiconductor chips and products containing same by reason...
Hamid Sarv
Technical and economical feasibility of large-scale CO{sub 2} transportation and ocean sequestration at depths of 3000 meters or grater was investigated. Two options were examined for transporting and disposing the captured CO{sub 2}. In one case, CO{sub 2} was pumped from a land-based collection center through long pipelines laid on the ocean floor. Another case considered oceanic tanker transport of liquid carbon dioxide to an offshore floating structure for vertical injection to the ocean floor. In the latter case, a novel concept based on subsurface towing of a 3000-meter pipe, and attaching it to the offshore structure was considered. Budgetary cost estimates indicate that for distances greater than 400 km, tanker transportation and offshore injection through a 3000-meter vertical pipe provides the best method for delivering liquid CO{sub 2} to deep ocean floor depressions. For shorter distances, CO{sub 2} delivery by parallel-laid, subsea pipelines is more cost-effective. Estimated costs for 500-km transport and storage at a depth of 3000 meters by subsea pipelines and tankers were 1.5 and 1.4 dollars per ton of stored CO{sub 2}, respectively. At these prices, economics of ocean disposal are highly favorable. Future work should focus on addressing technical issues that are critical to the deployment of a large-scale CO{sub 2} transportation and disposal system. Pipe corrosion, structural design of the transport pipe, and dispersion characteristics of sinking CO{sub 2} effluent plumes have been identified as areas that require further attention. Our planned activities in the next Phase include laboratory-scale corrosion testing, structural analysis of the pipeline, analytical and experimental simulations of CO{sub 2} discharge and dispersion, and the conceptual economic and engineering evaluation of large-scale implementation.
Large and small color differences: predicting them from hue scaling
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Chan, Hoover; Abramov, Israel; Gordon, James
Color appearance can be specified by a procedure of direct hue scaling. In this procedure, subjects look at a stimulus and then simply state the proportions of their sensations using the four unique hue names red, yellow, green, and blue; to completeness, they also state the apparent saturation. Observers can scale stimuli quickly and reliably, and this is true even if they are relatively inexperienced. Thus stimuli can be rescaled whenever viewing conditions change such that a new specification of appearance is required. The scaled sensory values elicited by a set of stimuli are used to derive the locations of the stimuli on a color diagram that is based on appearance and which we term a Uniform Appearance Diagram (UAD). The orthogonal axes of these space are red-green and yellow-blue; the location of a stimulus specifies its hue and its distance from the origin specifies its apparent saturation. We have investigated the uniformity of this space by using a subject's UAD, for a particular set of viewing conditions, to predict both small and large color differences under comparable viewing conditions. For small-scale differences we compared wavelength discrimination functions derived from UADs with those obtained by direct adjustment of a bipartite field. For large-scale differences, subjects rated the degree of similarity of pairs of different wavelengths; these ratings were compared with the distances separating the same pairs of wavelengths on a UAD. In both cases, the agreements were very good, implying that UAD's are metrically uniform. Thus, UADs could be used to adjust the hues in a pseudo-color display so that all transitions would be equally perceptible or would differ by specified amounts.
Large- and Small-Scale Ring Current Electrodynamic Coupling
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Khazanov, G. V.
In this talk we will address the two primary issues of ring current (RC) electrodynamic coupling: 1. RC self-consistent magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling that includes calculation of the magnetospheric electric field (large scale electrodynamic coupling); and 2. RC self-consistent coupling with electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves (small scale electrodynamic coupling). Our study will be based on two RC models that we have recently developed in our group. The first model by Khazanov et al. [2002] couples the system of two kinetic equations: one equation which describes the RC ion dynamics and another equation which describes the energy density evolution of EMIC waves. The second model by Khazanov et al. [2003] deals with large scale electrodynamic coupling processes and provides a self-consistent simulation of RC ions and the magnetospheric electric field. There is presently no model that addresses both of these issues simultaneously in a self-consistent calculation. However, the need exists for such a model, because these two processes directly influence each other, with the mesoscale coupling changing the drift paths of the thermal and energetic particle populations in the inner magnetosphere, thereby changing the wave interactions, and the microscale coupling altering the pitch angle distributions and ionospheric conductivities (through increased precipitation), thus changing the field-aligned currents and electric potential structure. The initial thrust of the work will be the development of a combined kinetic model of micro- and meso-scale RC electrodynamic coupling processes and to examine their interactions with each other on a global scale.
Small-Scale Variability of Large Cloud Drops
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Marshak, Alexander; Knyazikhin, Y.; Wiscombe, Warren
Cloud droplet size distribution is one of the most fundamental subjects in cloud physics. Understanding of spatial distribution and small-scale fluctuations of cloud droplets is essential for both cloud physics and atmospheric radiation. For cloud physics, it relates to the coalescence growth of raindrops while for radiation, it has a strong impact on a cloud's radiative properties. Most of the existing cloud radiation and precipitation formation models assume that the mean number of drops with a given radius varies proportionally to volume. The analysis of microphysical data on liquid water drop sizes shows that, for sufficiently small volumes, the number is proportional to the drop size dependent power of the volume. For abundant small drops present, the exponent is 1 as assumed in the conventional approach. However, for rarer large drops, the exponents fall below unity. At small scales, therefore, the mean number of large drops decreases with volume at a slower rate than the conventional approach assumes, suggesting more large drops at these scales than conventional models account for; their impact is consequently underestimated. Size dependent models of spatial distribution of cloud drops that simulate the observed power laws show strong drop clustering, the more so the larger the drops. The degree of clustering is determined by the observed exponents. The strong clustering of large drops arises naturally from the observed power-law statistics. Current theories of photon-cloud interaction and warm rain formation will need radical revision in order to produce these statistics; their underlying equations are unable to yield the observed power law.
Filamentary star formation in NGC 1275
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Canning, R. E. A.; Ryon, J. E.; Gallagher, J. S.; Kotulla, R.; O'Connell, R. W.; Fabian, A. C.; Johnstone, R. M.; Conselice, C. J.; Hicks, A.; Rosario, D.; Wyse, R. F. G.
We examine the star formation in the outer halo of NGC 1275, the central galaxy in the Perseus cluster (Abell 426), using far-ultraviolet and optical images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope. We have identified a population of very young, compact star clusters with typical ages of a few Myr. The star clusters are organized on multiple kiloparsec scales. Many of these star clusters are associated with `streaks' of young stars, the combination of which has a cometary appearance. We perform photometry on the star clusters and diffuse stellar streaks, and fit their spectral energy distributions to obtain ages and masses. These young stellar populations appear to be normal in terms of their masses, luminosities and cluster formation efficiency; <10 per cent of the young stellar mass is located in star clusters. Our data suggest star formation is associated with the evolution of some of the giant gas filaments in NGC 1275 that become gravitationally unstable on reaching and possibly stalling in the outer galaxy. The stellar streaks then could represent stars moving on ballistic orbits in the potential well of the galaxy cluster. We propose a model where star-forming filaments, switched on ˜50 Myr ago and are currently feeding the growth of the NGC 1275 stellar halo at a rate of ≈-2 to 3 M⊙ yr-1. This type of process may also build stellar haloes and form isolated star clusters in the outskirts of youthful galaxies.
UAV Data Processing for Large Scale Topographical Mapping
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tampubolon, W.; Reinhardt, W.
Large scale topographical mapping in the third world countries is really a prominent challenge in geospatial industries nowadays. On one side the demand is significantly increasing while on the other hand it is constrained by limited budgets available for mapping projects. Since the advent of Act Nr.4/yr.2011 about Geospatial Information in Indonesia, large scale topographical mapping has been on high priority for supporting the nationwide development e.g. detail spatial planning. Usually large scale topographical mapping relies on conventional aerial survey campaigns in order to provide high resolution 3D geospatial data sources. Widely growing on a leisure hobby, aero models in form of the so-called Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) bring up alternative semi photogrammetric aerial data acquisition possibilities suitable for relatively small Area of Interest (AOI) i.e. <5,000 hectares. For detail spatial planning purposes in Indonesia this area size can be used as a mapping unit since it usually concentrates on the basis of sub district area (kecamatan) level. In this paper different camera and processing software systems will be further analyzed for identifying the best optimum UAV data acquisition campaign components in combination with the data processing scheme. The selected AOI is covering the cultural heritage of Borobudur Temple as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. A detailed accuracy assessment will be concentrated within the object feature of the temple at the first place. Feature compilation involving planimetric objects (2D) and digital terrain models (3D) will be integrated in order to provide Digital Elevation Models (DEM) as the main interest of the topographic mapping activity. By doing this research, incorporating the optimum amount of GCPs in the UAV photo data processing will increase the accuracy along with its high resolution in 5 cm Ground Sampling Distance (GSD). Finally this result will be used as the benchmark for alternative geospatial
Very large-scale motions in a turbulent pipe flow
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lee, Jae Hwa; Jang, Seong Jae; Sung, Hyung Jin
Direct numerical simulation of a turbulent pipe flow with ReD=35000 was performed to investigate the spatially coherent structures associated with very large-scale motions. The corresponding friction Reynolds number, based on pipe radius R, is R+=934, and the computational domain length is 30 R. The computed mean flow statistics agree well with previous DNS data at ReD=44000 and 24000. Inspection of the instantaneous fields and two-point correlation of the streamwise velocity fluctuations showed that the very long meandering motions exceeding 25R exist in logarithmic and wake regions, and the streamwise length scale is almost linearly increased up to y/R ~0.3, while the structures in the turbulent boundary layer only reach up to the edge of the log-layer. Time-resolved instantaneous fields revealed that the hairpin packet-like structures grow with continuous stretching along the streamwise direction and create the very large-scale structures with meandering in the spanwise direction, consistent with the previous conceptual model of Kim & Adrian (1999). This work was supported by the Creative Research Initiatives of NRF/MEST of Korea (No. 2011-0000423).
Large-scale Direct Targeting for Drug Repositioning and Discovery
Zheng, Chunli; Guo, Zihu; Huang, Chao; Wu, Ziyin; Li, Yan; Chen, Xuetong; Fu, Yingxue; Ru, Jinlong; Ali Shar, Piar; Wang, Yuan; Wang, Yonghua
A system-level identification of drug-target direct interactions is vital to drug repositioning and discovery. However, the biological means on a large scale remains challenging and expensive even nowadays. The available computational models mainly focus on predicting indirect interactions or direct interactions on a small scale. To address these problems, in this work, a novel algorithm termed weighted ensemble similarity (WES) has been developed to identify drug direct targets based on a large-scale of 98,327 drug-target relationships. WES includes: (1) identifying the key ligand structural features that are highly-related to the pharmacological properties in a framework of ensemble; (2) determining a drug's affiliation of a target by evaluation of the overall similarity (ensemble) rather than a single ligand judgment; and (3) integrating the standardized ensemble similarities (Z score) by Bayesian network and multi-variate kernel approach to make predictions. All these lead WES to predict drug direct targets with external and experimental test accuracies of 70% and 71%, respectively. This shows that the WES method provides a potential in silico model for drug repositioning and discovery. PMID:26155766
Systematic renormalization of the effective theory of Large Scale Structure
Abolhasani, Ali Akbar; Mirbabayi, Mehrdad; Pajer, Enrico
A perturbative description of Large Scale Structure is a cornerstone of our understanding of the observed distribution of matter in the universe. Renormalization is an essential and defining step to make this description physical and predictive. Here we introduce a systematic renormalization procedure, which neatly associates counterterms to the UV-sensitive diagrams order by order, as it is commonly done in quantum field theory. As a concrete example, we renormalize the one-loop power spectrum and bispectrum of both density and velocity. In addition, we present a series of results that are valid to all orders in perturbation theory. First, we show that while systematic renormalization requires temporally non-local counterterms, in practice one can use an equivalent basis made of local operators. We give an explicit prescription to generate all counterterms allowed by the symmetries. Second, we present a formal proof of the well-known general argument that the contribution of short distance perturbations to large scale density contrast δ and momentum density π(k) scale as k{sup 2} and k, respectively. Third, we demonstrate that the common practice of introducing counterterms only in the Euler equation when one is interested in correlators of δ is indeed valid to all orders.
A study of synthetic large scales in turbulent boundary layers
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Duvvuri, Subrahmanyam; Luhar, Mitul; Barnard, Casey; Sheplak, Mark; McKeon, Beverley
Synthetic spanwise-constant spatio-temporal disturbances are excited in a turbulent boundary layer through a spatially impulsive patch of dynamic wall-roughness. The downstream flow response is studied through hot wire anemometry, pressure measurements at the wall and direct measurements of wall-shear-stress made using a novel micro-machined capacitive floating element sensor. These measurements are phase-locked to the input perturbation to recover the synthetic large-scale motion and characterize its structure and wall signature. The phase relationship between the synthetic large scale and small scale activity provides further insights into the apparent amplitude modulation effect between them, and the dynamics of wall-bounded turbulent flows in general. Results from these experiments will be discussed in the context of the critical-layer behavior revealed by the resolvent analysis of McKeon & Sharma (J Fluid Mech, 2010), and compared with similar earlier work by Jacobi & McKeon (J Fluid Mech, 2011). Model predictions are shown to be in broad agreement with experiments. The support of AFOSR grant #FA 9550-12-1-0469, Resnick Institute Graduate Research Fellowship (S.D.) and Sandia Graduate Fellowship (C.B.) are gratefully acknowledged.
How large is large enough for insects? Forest fragmentation effects at three spatial scales
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ribas, C. R.; Sobrinho, T. G.; Schoereder, J. H.; Sperber, C. F.; Lopes-Andrade, C.; Soares, S. M.
Several mechanisms may lead to species loss in fragmented habitats, such as edge and shape effects, loss of habitat and heterogeneity. Ants and crickets were sampled in 18 forest remnants in south-eastern Brazil, to test whether a group of small remnants maintains the same insect species richness as similar sized large remnants, at three spatial scales. We tested hypotheses about alpha and gamma diversity to explain the results. Groups of remnants conserve as many species of ants as a single one. Crickets, however, showed a scale-dependent pattern: at small scales there was no significant or important difference between groups of remnants and a single one, while at the larger scale the group of remnants maintained more species. Alpha diversity (local species richness) was similar in a group of remnants and in a single one, at the three spatial scales, both for ants and crickets. Gamma diversity, however, varied both with taxa (ants and crickets) and spatial scale, which may be linked to insect mobility, remnant isolation, and habitat heterogeneity. Biological characteristics of the organisms involved have to be considered when studying fragmentation effects, as well as spatial scale at which it operates. Mobility of the organisms influences fragmentation effects, and consequently conservation strategies.
Towards large scale production and separation of carbon nanotubes
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Alvarez, Noe T.
Since their discovery, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have boosted the research and applications of nanotechnology; however, many applications of CNTs are inaccessible because they depend upon large-scale CNT production and separations. Type, chirality and diameter control of CNTs determine many of their physical properties, and such control is still not accesible. This thesis studies the fundamentals for scalable selective reactions of HiPCo CNTs as well as the early phase of routes to an inexpensive approach for large-scale CNT production. In the growth part, this thesis covers a complete wet-chemistry process of catalyst and catalyst support deposition for growth of vertically aligned (VA) CNTs. A wet-chemistry preparation process has significant importance for CNT synthesis through chemical vapor deposition (CVD). CVD is by far, the most suitable and inexpensive process for large-scale CNT production when compared to other common processes such as laser ablation and arc discharge. However, its potential has been limited by low-yielding and difficult preparation processes of catalyst and its support, therefore its competitiveness has been reduced. The wet-chemistry process takes advantage of current nanoparticle technology to deposit the catalyst and the catalyst support as a thin film of nanoparticles, making the protocol simple compared to electron beam evaporation and sputtering processes. In the CNT selective reactions part, this thesis studies UV irradiation of individually dispersed HiPCo CNTs that generates auto-selective reactions in the liquid phase with good control over their diameter and chirality. This technique is ideal for large-scale and continuous-process of separations of CNTs by diameter and type. Additionally, an innovative simple catalyst deposition through abrasion is demonstrated. Simple friction between the catalyst and the substrates deposit a high enough density of metal catalyst particles for successful CNT growth. This simple approach has
Multi-filamentary REBCO tapes fabricated by scratching a buffer layer along the tape longitudinal direction
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kurihara, Chihaya; Fujita, Shinji; Nakamura, Naonori; Igarashi, Mitsunori; Iijima, Yasuhiro; Higashikawa, Kohei; Uetsuhara, Dai; Kiss, Takanobu; Iwakuma, Masataka
A method for making multi-filamentary REBCO tapes by only scratching buffer layer was developed for coil application which requires accurate magnetic fields. By continuous Ic measurement, we found that our new multi-filamentary tape could provide almost equal Ic compared to conventional tapes. Then, using EBSD and RTR-SHPM methods, a divided structure of REBCO layer was surely confirmed. AC loss was also decreased. Furthermore, the result of delamination test of our new multi-filamentary tape showed enough mechanical property. As a result, we have succeeded in developing 100 m class multi-filamentary tape for superconducting coil.
Large-scale quantum photonic circuits in silicon
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Harris, Nicholas C.; Bunandar, Darius; Pant, Mihir; Steinbrecher, Greg R.; Mower, Jacob; Prabhu, Mihika; Baehr-Jones, Tom; Hochberg, Michael; Englund, Dirk
Quantum information science offers inherently more powerful methods for communication, computation, and precision measurement that take advantage of quantum superposition and entanglement. In recent years, theoretical and experimental advances in quantum computing and simulation with photons have spurred great interest in developing large photonic entangled states that challenge today's classical computers. As experiments have increased in complexity, there has been an increasing need to transition bulk optics experiments to integrated photonics platforms to control more spatial modes with higher fidelity and phase stability. The silicon-on-insulator (SOI) nanophotonics platform offers new possibilities for quantum optics, including the integration of bright, nonclassical light sources, based on the large third-order nonlinearity (χ(3)) of silicon, alongside quantum state manipulation circuits with thousands of optical elements, all on a single phase-stable chip. How large do these photonic systems need to be? Recent theoretical work on Boson Sampling suggests that even the problem of sampling from e30 identical photons, having passed through an interferometer of hundreds of modes, becomes challenging for classical computers. While experiments of this size are still challenging, the SOI platform has the required component density to enable low-loss and programmable interferometers for manipulating hundreds of spatial modes. Here, we discuss the SOI nanophotonics platform for quantum photonic circuits with hundreds-to-thousands of optical elements and the associated challenges. We compare SOI to competing technologies in terms of requirements for quantum optical systems. We review recent results on large-scale quantum state evolution circuits and strategies for realizing high-fidelity heralded gates with imperfect, practical systems. Next, we review recent results on silicon photonics-based photon-pair sources and device architectures, and we discuss a path towards
Maestro: An Orchestration Framework for Large-Scale WSN Simulations
Riliskis, Laurynas; Osipov, Evgeny
Contemporary wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have evolved into large and complex systems and are one of the main technologies used in cyber-physical systems and the Internet of Things. Extensive research on WSNs has led to the development of diverse solutions at all levels of software architecture, including protocol stacks for communications. This multitude of solutions is due to the limited computational power and restrictions on energy consumption that must be accounted for when designing typical WSN systems. It is therefore challenging to develop, test and validate even small WSN applications, and this process can easily consume significant resources. Simulations are inexpensive tools for testing, verifying and generally experimenting with new technologies in a repeatable fashion. Consequently, as the size of the systems to be tested increases, so does the need for large-scale simulations. This article describes a tool called Maestro for the automation of large-scale simulation and investigates the feasibility of using cloud computing facilities for such task. Using tools that are built into Maestro, we demonstrate a feasible approach for benchmarking cloud infrastructure in order to identify cloud Virtual Machine (VM)instances that provide an optimal balance of performance and cost for a given simulation. PMID:24647123
Knocking down highly-ordered large-scale nanowire arrays.
Pevzner, Alexander; Engel, Yoni; Elnathan, Roey; Ducobni, Tamir; Ben-Ishai, Moshit; Reddy, Koteeswara; Shpaisman, Nava; Tsukernik, Alexander; Oksman, Mark; Patolsky, Fernando
The large-scale assembly of nanowire elements with controlled and uniform orientation and density at spatially well-defined locations on solid substrates presents one of the most significant challenges facing their integration in real-world electronic applications. Here, we present the universal "knocking-down" approach, based on the controlled in-place planarization of nanowire elements, for the formation of large-scale ordered nanowire arrays. The controlled planarization of the nanowires is achieved by the use of an appropriate elastomer-covered rigid-roller device. After being knocked down, each nanowire in the array can be easily addressed electrically, by a simple single photolithographic step, to yield a large number of nanoelectrical devices with an unprecedented high-fidelity rate. The approach allows controlling, in only two simple steps, all possible array parameters, that is, nanowire dimensions, chemical composition, orientation, and density. The resulting knocked-down arrays can be further used for the creation of massive nanoelectronic-device arrays. More than million devices were already fabricated with yields over 98% on substrate areas of up, but not limited to, to 10 cm(2).
Maestro: an orchestration framework for large-scale WSN simulations.
Riliskis, Laurynas; Osipov, Evgeny
Contemporary wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have evolved into large and complex systems and are one of the main technologies used in cyber-physical systems and the Internet of Things. Extensive research on WSNs has led to the development of diverse solutions at all levels of software architecture, including protocol stacks for communications. This multitude of solutions is due to the limited computational power and restrictions on energy consumption that must be accounted for when designing typical WSN systems. It is therefore challenging to develop, test and validate even small WSN applications, and this process can easily consume significant resources. Simulations are inexpensive tools for testing, verifying and generally experimenting with new technologies in a repeatable fashion. Consequently, as the size of the systems to be tested increases, so does the need for large-scale simulations. This article describes a tool called Maestro for the automation of large-scale simulation and investigates the feasibility of using cloud computing facilities for such task. Using tools that are built into Maestro, we demonstrate a feasible approach for benchmarking cloud infrastructure in order to identify cloud Virtual Machine (VM)instances that provide an optimal balance of performance and cost for a given simulation.
Detecting differential protein expression in large-scale population proteomics
Ryu, Soyoung; Qian, Weijun; Camp, David G.; Smith, Richard D.; Tompkins, Ronald G.; Davis, Ronald W.; Xiao, Wenzhong
Mass spectrometry-based high-throughput quantitative proteomics shows great potential in clinical biomarker studies, identifying and quantifying thousands of proteins in biological samples. However, methods are needed to appropriately handle issues/challenges unique to mass spectrometry data in order to detect as many biomarker proteins as possible. One issue is that different mass spectrometry experiments generate quite different total numbers of quantified peptides, which can result in more missing peptide abundances in an experiment with a smaller total number of quantified peptides. Another issue is that the quantification of peptides is sometimes absent, especially for less abundant peptides and such missing values contain the information about the peptide abundance. Here, we propose a Significance Analysis for Large-scale Proteomics Studies (SALPS) that handles missing peptide intensity values caused by the two mechanisms mentioned above. Our model has a robust performance in both simulated data and proteomics data from a large clinical study. Because varying patients' sample qualities and deviating instrument performances are not avoidable for clinical studies performed over the course of several years, we believe that our approach will be useful to analyze large-scale clinical proteomics data.
Large-scale Biomedical Image Analysis in Grid Environments
Kumar, Vijay S.; Rutt, Benjamin; Kurc, Tahsin; Catalyurek, Umit; Pan, Tony; Saltz, Joel; Chow, Sunny; Lamont, Stephan; Martone, Maryann
Digital microscopy scanners are capable of capturing multi-Gigapixel images from single slides, thus producing images of sizes up to several tens of Gigabytes each, and a research study may have hundreds of slides from a specimen. The sheer size of the images and the complexity of image processing operations create roadblocks to effective integration of large-scale imaging data in research. This paper presents the application of a component-based Grid middleware system for processing extremely large images obtained from digital microscopy devices. We have developed parallel, out-of-core techniques for different classes of data processing operations commonly employed on images from confocal microscopy scanners. These techniques are combined into data pre-processing and analysis pipelines using the component-based middleware system. The experimental results show that 1) our implementation achieves good performance and can handle very large (terabyte-scale) datasets on high-performance Grid nodes, consisting of computation and/or storage clusters, and 2) it can take advantage of multiple Grid nodes connected over high-bandwidth wide-area networks by combining task- and data-parallelism. PMID:18348945
Very-large-scale coherent motions in open channel flows
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zhong, Qiang; Hussain, Fazle; Li, Dan-Xun
Very-large-scale coherent structures (VLSSs) - whose characteristic length is of the order of 10 h (h is the water depth) - are found to exist in the log and outer layers near the bed of open channel flows. For decades researchers have speculated that large coherent structures may exist in open channel flows. However, conclusive evidence is still lacking. The present study employed pre-multiplied velocity power spectral and co-spectral analyses of time-resolved PIV data obtained in open channel flows. In all cases, two modes - large-scale structures (of the order of h) and VLSSs - dominate the log and outer layers of the turbulent boundary layer. More than half of TKE and 40% of the Reynolds shear stress in the log and outer layers are contributed by VLSSs. The strength difference of VLSSs between open and closed channel flows leads to pronounced redistribution of TKE near the free surface of open channel flows, which is a unique phenomenon that sets the open channel flows apart from other wall-bounded turbulent flows. Funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No.2015M580105), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.51127006).
Large Scale Deformation Monitoring and Atmospheric Removal in Mexico City
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
McCardle, Adrian; McCardel, Jim; Ramos, Fernanda Ledo G.
Large scale, accurate measurement of non-linear ground movement is required for monitoring applications pertaining to groundwater extraction, oil and gas production, and carbon capture and storage. Mexico City experiences severe subsidence as high as 35 centimeters per year due to continued exploitation of groundwater. Such extreme ground deformation has caused damage to infrastructure and many areas of the city are now subjected to periodic flooding. Furthermore, subsidence rates change seasonally creating a non-linear deformation signature manifesting over an area larger than 30 x 30 kilometers. The geographical location and climate of Mexico City, coupled with aforementioned subsidence characteristics create unique challenges for repeat-pass InSAR processing: Firstly, Mexico City is a tropical highland and experiences an oceanic climate that leads to significant temporal de-correlation. Secondly, the large magnitude subsidence leads to phase aliasing over coherent targets, particularly for interferograms with large temporal separation. Lastly, the expansive deformation is spatially correlated on scales similar to the long-range atmosphere, complicating the separation of the two signals. This paper discusses the results from the application of traditional DInSAR techniques combined with Multi-temporal InSAR Network Analysis processing algorithms to accurately identify and measure displacement, specifically in light of the challenges peculiar to Mexico City. Multi-temporal InSAR Network Analysis techniques are used to identify non-linear displacement and remove atmospheric noise from 38 ENVISAT images that were acquired over Mexico City from 2002 to 2007.
A visual backchannel for large-scale events.
Dörk, Marian; Gruen, Daniel; Williamson, Carey; Carpendale, Sheelagh
We introduce the concept of a Visual Backchannel as a novel way of following and exploring online conversations about large-scale events. Microblogging communities, such as Twitter, are increasingly used as digital backchannels for timely exchange of brief comments and impressions during political speeches, sport competitions, natural disasters, and other large events. Currently, shared updates are typically displayed in the form of a simple list, making it difficult to get an overview of the fast-paced discussions as it happens in the moment and how it evolves over time. In contrast, our Visual Backchannel design provides an evolving, interactive, and multi-faceted visual overview of large-scale ongoing conversations on Twitter. To visualize a continuously updating information stream, we include visual saliency for what is happening now and what has just happened, set in the context of the evolving conversation. As part of a fully web-based coordinated-view system we introduce Topic Streams, a temporally adjustable stacked graph visualizing topics over time, a People Spiral representing participants and their activity, and an Image Cloud encoding the popularity of event photos by size. Together with a post listing, these mutually linked views support cross-filtering along topics, participants, and time ranges. We discuss our design considerations, in particular with respect to evolving visualizations of dynamically changing data. Initial feedback indicates significant interest and suggests several unanticipated uses.
Large angular scale CMB anisotropy from an excited initial mode
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Sojasi, A.; Mohsenzadeh, M.; Yusofi, E.
According to inflationary cosmology, the CMB anisotropy gives an opportunity to test predictions of new physics hypotheses. The initial state of quantum fluctuations is one of the important options at high energy scale, as it can affect observables such as the CMB power spectrum. In this study a quasi-de Sitter inflationary background with approximate de Sitter mode function built over the Bunch-Davies mode is applied to investigate the scale-dependency of the CMB anisotropy. The recent Planck constraint on spectral index motivated us to examine the effect of a new excited mode function (instead of pure de Sitter mode) on the CMB anisotropy at large angular scales. In so doing, it is found that the angular scale-invariance in the CMB temperature fluctuations is broken and in the limit ℓ < 200 a tiny deviation appears. Also, it is shown that the power spectrum of CMB anisotropy is dependent on a free parameter with mass dimension H << M * < M p and on the slow-roll parameter ɛ. Supported by the Islamic Azad University, Rasht Branch, Rasht, Iran
Termination shock response to large-scale solar wind fluctuations
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Steinolfson, R. S.
The analysis of data recorded by the Voyager 2 spacecraft indicates the presence of large-scale fluctuations in the solar wind ram pressure on the time scale of tens of days. The amplitude of the fluctuations is highly variable but often lies within a factor of 5 to 10 change from an average or mean value of the ram pressure. Since the spacecraft has presumably not encountered the termination shock yet, these fluctuations should eventually interact with the shock and thereby play a role in determining the shock location. Numerical solutions of the time-dependent gasdynamic equations are used to simulate the response of the termination shock to fluctuations in the solar wind ram pressure comparable to those observed. The primary result of this study is that the maximum shock excursion due to the fluctuations is of the order of 1 AU, which is much smaller than that predicted by other studies. Additional simulations show that the limited movement is due to the fact that the time scale for the termination shock response is substantially larger than the time scale of the fluctuations. It is also shown that the heliopause acts as a barrier for the fluctuations and confines them to the heliosphere.
Termination shock response to large-scale solar wind fluctuations
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Steinolfson, R. S.
The analysis of data recorded by the Voyager 2 spacecraft indicates the presence of large-scale fluctuations in the solar wind ram pressure on the time scale of tens of days. The amplitude of the fluctuations is highly variable but often lies within a factor of 5 to 10 change from an average or mean value of the ram pressure. Since the spacecraft has presumably not encountered the termination shock yet, these fluctuations should eventually interact with the shock and thereby play a role in determining the shock location. Numerical solutions of the time-dependent gas dynamic equations are used to simulate the response of the termination shock to fluctuations in the solar wind ram pressure comparable to those observed. The primary result of this study is that the maximum shock excursion due to the fluctuations is of the order of 1 AU, which is much smaller than that predicted by other studies. Additional simulations show that the limited movement is due to the fact that the time scale for the termination shock response is substantially larger than the time scale of the fluctuations. It is also shown that the heliopause acts as a barrier for the fluctuations and confines them to the heliosphere.
Large-scale diffusion of entangled polymers along nanochannels
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Saalwachter, Kay; Lange, Frank; Steinhart, Martin; Judeinstein, Patrick
Confinement-induced changes in polymer mobility are still under active discussion. For weakly interacting poly(butadiene) chains in 100 μm long, 20 and 60 nm wide channels in anodic Al2O3, we here report on the study of the large-scale pore-averaged self diffusion on a μm scale by 1H pulsed-gradient NMR. We find weak indications of an acceleration due to surface-induced disentanglement. Unlike previous reports on polymer diffusion into particle nanocomposites of similar confinement scale, or start-up diffusivities out of even thinner films, we find an MW and temperature independent reduction of diffusivity that is solely determined by the confinement size. We rationalize this trend by a simple volume-average model, which suggests a 20-fold surface-enhanced monomeric friction on the scale of the packing length, which can be compared to a factor of 300 that our model predicts for comparable thin-film data of poly(styrene) on silica.
Punishment sustains large-scale cooperation in prestate warfare.
Mathew, Sarah; Boyd, Robert
Understanding cooperation and punishment in small-scale societies is crucial for explaining the origins of human cooperation. We studied warfare among the Turkana, a politically uncentralized, egalitarian, nomadic pastoral society in East Africa. Based on a representative sample of 88 recent raids, we show that the Turkana sustain costly cooperation in combat at a remarkably large scale, at least in part, through punishment of free-riders. Raiding parties comprised several hundred warriors and participants are not kin or day-to-day interactants. Warriors incur substantial risk of death and produce collective benefits. Cowardice and desertions occur, and are punished by community-imposed sanctions, including collective corporal punishment and fines. Furthermore, Turkana norms governing warfare benefit the ethnolinguistic group, a population of a half-million people, at the expense of smaller social groupings. These results challenge current views that punishment is unimportant in small-scale societies and that human cooperation evolved in small groups of kin and familiar individuals. Instead, these results suggest that cooperation at the larger scale of ethnolinguistic units enforced by third-party sanctions could have a deep evolutionary history in the human species.
Atypical Behavior Identification in Large Scale Network Traffic
Best, Daniel M.; Hafen, Ryan P.; Olsen, Bryan K.; Pike, William A.
Cyber analysts are faced with the daunting challenge of identifying exploits and threats within potentially billions of daily records of network traffic. Enterprise-wide cyber traffic involves hundreds of millions of distinct IP addresses and results in data sets ranging from terabytes to petabytes of raw data. Creating behavioral models and identifying trends based on those models requires data intensive architectures and techniques that can scale as data volume increases. Analysts need scalable visualization methods that foster interactive exploration of data and enable identification of behavioral anomalies. Developers must carefully consider application design, storage, processing, and display to provide usability and interactivity with large-scale data. We present an application that highlights atypical behavior in enterprise network flow records. This is accomplished by utilizing data intensive architectures to store the data, aggregation techniques to optimize data access, statistical techniques to characterize behavior, and a visual analytic environment to render the behavioral trends, highlight atypical activity, and allow for exploration.
Towards large-scale, human-based, mesoscopic neurotechnologies.
Chang, Edward F
Direct human brain recordings have transformed the scope of neuroscience in the past decade. Progress has relied upon currently available neurophysiological approaches in the context of patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures for medical treatment. While this setting has provided precious opportunities for scientific research, it also has presented significant constraints on the development of new neurotechnologies. A major challenge now is how to achieve high-resolution spatiotemporal neural recordings at a large scale. By narrowing the gap between current approaches, new directions tailored to the mesoscopic (intermediate) scale of resolution may overcome the barriers towards safe and reliable human-based neurotechnology development, with major implications for advancing both basic research and clinical translation.
Large-scale treeline changes recorded in Siberia
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Esper, Jan; Schweingruber, Fritz H.
Analysis of a multi-species network of western Siberian ecotone sites revealed pulses of tree invasion into genuine treeless tundra environments in the 1940s and 1950s and after the early 1970s. In addition, increases in radial stem growth synchronous to the late 20th century treeline change are observed. Both treeline changes and growth increases correspond with decadal-scale periods of temperature that are warmer than in any other period since observations started, suggesting - even if indirect - the sensitivity of large-scale treeline changes to this climatic forcing. The mid 20th century recruitment period reported here for the western Siberian network is compared with local findings from Europe and North America suggesting a circumpolar trend perhaps related to climate warming patterns. For western Siberia, the presence of relict stumps, nevertheless, indicates that this present colonization is reoccupying sites that had tree cover earlier in the last millennium.
Large Scale Electronic Structure Calculations using Quantum Chemistry Methods
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Scuseria, Gustavo E.
This talk will address our recent efforts in developing fast, linear scaling electronic structure methods for large scale applications. Of special importance is our fast multipole method( M. C. Strain, G. E. Scuseria, and M. J. Frisch, Science 271), 51 (1996). (FMM) for achieving linear scaling for the quantum Coulomb problem (GvFMM), the traditional bottleneck in quantum chemistry calculations based on Gaussian orbitals. Fast quadratures(R. E. Stratmann, G. E. Scuseria, and M. J. Frisch, Chem. Phys. Lett. 257), 213 (1996). combined with methods that avoid the Hamiltonian diagonalization( J. M. Millam and G. E. Scuseria, J. Chem. Phys. 106), 5569 (1997) have resulted in density functional theory (DFT) programs that can be applied to systems containing many hundreds of atoms and ---depending on computational resources or level of theory-- to many thousands of atoms.( A. D. Daniels, J. M. Millam and G. E. Scuseria, J. Chem. Phys. 107), 425 (1997). Three solutions for the diagonalization bottleneck will be analyzed and compared: a conjugate gradient density matrix search (CGDMS), a Hamiltonian polynomial expansion of the density matrix, and a pseudo-diagonalization method. Besides DFT, our near-field exchange method( J. C. Burant, G. E. Scuseria, and M. J. Frisch, J. Chem. Phys. 105), 8969 (1996). for linear scaling Hartree-Fock calculations will be discussed. Based on these improved capabilities, we have also developed programs to obtain vibrational frequencies (via analytic energy second derivatives) and excitation energies (through time-dependent DFT) of large molecules like porphyn or C_70. Our GvFMM has been extended to periodic systems( K. N. Kudin and G. E. Scuseria, Chem. Phys. Lett., in press.) and progress towards a Gaussian-based DFT and HF program for polymers and solids will be reported. Last, we will discuss our progress on a Laplace-transformed \\cal O(N^2) second-order pertubation theory (MP2) method.
Remote visualization and scale analysis of large turbulence datatsets
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Livescu, D.; Pulido, J.; Burns, R.; Canada, C.; Ahrens, J.; Hamann, B.
Accurate simulations of turbulent flows require solving all the dynamically relevant scales of motions. This technique, called Direct Numerical Simulation, has been successfully applied to a variety of simple flows; however, the large-scale flows encountered in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics (GFD) would require meshes outside the range of the most powerful supercomputers for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the current generation of petascale computers has enabled unprecedented simulations of many types of turbulent flows which focus on various GFD aspects, from the idealized configurations extensively studied in the past to more complex flows closer to the practical applications. The pace at which such simulations are performed only continues to increase; however, the simulations themselves are restricted to a small number of groups with access to large computational platforms. Yet the petabytes of turbulence data offer almost limitless information on many different aspects of the flow, from the hierarchy of turbulence moments, spectra and correlations, to structure-functions, geometrical properties, etc. The ability to share such datasets with other groups can significantly reduce the time to analyze the data, help the creative process and increase the pace of discovery. Using the largest DOE supercomputing platforms, we have performed some of the biggest turbulence simulations to date, in various configurations, addressing specific aspects of turbulence production and mixing mechanisms. Until recently, the visualization and analysis of such datasets was restricted by access to large supercomputers. The public Johns Hopkins Turbulence database simplifies the access to multi-Terabyte turbulence datasets and facilitates turbulence analysis through the use of commodity hardware. First, one of our datasets, which is part of the database, will be described and then a framework that adds high-speed visualization and wavelet support for multi-resolution analysis of
High Fidelity Simulations of Large-Scale Wireless Networks
Onunkwo, Uzoma; Benz, Zachary
The worldwide proliferation of wireless connected devices continues to accelerate. There are 10s of billions of wireless links across the planet with an additional explosion of new wireless usage anticipated as the Internet of Things develops. Wireless technologies do not only provide convenience for mobile applications, but are also extremely cost-effective to deploy. Thus, this trend towards wireless connectivity will only continue and Sandia must develop the necessary simulation technology to proactively analyze the associated emerging vulnerabilities. Wireless networks are marked by mobility and proximity-based connectivity. The de facto standard for exploratory studies of wireless networks is discrete event simulations (DES). However, the simulation of large-scale wireless networks is extremely difficult due to prohibitively large turnaround time. A path forward is to expedite simulations with parallel discrete event simulation (PDES) techniques. The mobility and distance-based connectivity associated with wireless simulations, however, typically doom PDES and fail to scale (e.g., OPNET and ns-3 simulators). We propose a PDES-based tool aimed at reducing the communication overhead between processors. The proposed solution will use light-weight processes to dynamically distribute computation workload while mitigating communication overhead associated with synchronizations. This work is vital to the analytics and validation capabilities of simulation and emulation at Sandia. We have years of experience in Sandia's simulation and emulation projects (e.g., MINIMEGA and FIREWHEEL). Sandia's current highly-regarded capabilities in large-scale emulations have focused on wired networks, where two assumptions prevent scalable wireless studies: (a) the connections between objects are mostly static and (b) the nodes have fixed locations.
Infectious diseases in large-scale cat hoarding investigations.
Polak, K C; Levy, J K; Crawford, P C; Leutenegger, C M; Moriello, K A
Animal hoarders accumulate animals in over-crowded conditions without adequate nutrition, sanitation, and veterinary care. As a result, animals rescued from hoarding frequently have a variety of medical conditions including respiratory infections, gastrointestinal disease, parasitism, malnutrition, and other evidence of neglect. The purpose of this study was to characterize the infectious diseases carried by clinically affected cats and to determine the prevalence of retroviral infections among cats in large-scale cat hoarding investigations. Records were reviewed retrospectively from four large-scale seizures of cats from failed sanctuaries from November 2009 through March 2012. The number of cats seized in each case ranged from 387 to 697. Cats were screened for feline leukemia virus (FeLV) and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) in all four cases and for dermatophytosis in one case. A subset of cats exhibiting signs of upper respiratory disease or diarrhea had been tested for infections by PCR and fecal flotation for treatment planning. Mycoplasma felis (78%), calicivirus (78%), and Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (55%) were the most common respiratory infections. Feline enteric coronavirus (88%), Giardia (56%), Clostridium perfringens (49%), and Tritrichomonas foetus (39%) were most common in cats with diarrhea. The seroprevalence of FeLV and FIV were 8% and 8%, respectively. In the one case in which cats with lesions suspicious for dermatophytosis were cultured for Microsporum canis, 69/76 lesional cats were culture-positive; of these, half were believed to be truly infected and half were believed to be fomite carriers. Cats from large-scale hoarding cases had high risk for enteric and respiratory infections, retroviruses, and dermatophytosis. Case responders should be prepared for mass treatment of infectious diseases and should implement protocols to prevent transmission of feline or zoonotic infections during the emergency response and when
Statistical analysis of large-scale neuronal recording data
Reed, Jamie L.; Kaas, Jon H.
Relating stimulus properties to the response properties of individual neurons and neuronal networks is a major goal of sensory research. Many investigators implant electrode arrays in multiple brain areas and record from chronically implanted electrodes over time to answer a variety of questions. Technical challenges related to analyzing large-scale neuronal recording data are not trivial. Several analysis methods traditionally used by neurophysiologists do not account for dependencies in the data that are inherent in multi-electrode recordings. In addition, when neurophysiological data are not best modeled by the normal distribution and when the variables of interest may not be linearly related, extensions of the linear modeling techniques are recommended. A variety of methods exist to analyze correlated data, even when data are not normally distributed and the relationships are nonlinear. Here we review expansions of the Generalized Linear Model designed to address these data properties. Such methods are used in other research fields, and the application to large-scale neuronal recording data will enable investigators to determine the variable properties that convincingly contribute to the variances in the observed neuronal measures. Standard measures of neuron properties such as response magnitudes can be analyzed using these methods, and measures of neuronal network activity such as spike timing correlations can be analyzed as well. We have done just that in recordings from 100-electrode arrays implanted in the primary somatosensory cortex of owl monkeys. Here we illustrate how one example method, Generalized Estimating Equations analysis, is a useful method to apply to large-scale neuronal recordings. PMID:20472395
The Large-Scale Current System During Auroral Substorms
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gjerloev, Jesper
The substorm process has been discussed for more than four decades and new empirical large-scale models continue to be published. The continued activity implies both the importance and the complexity of the problem. We recently published a new model of the large-scale substorm current system (Gjerloev and Hoffman, JGR, 2014). Based on data from >100 ground magnetometers (obtained from SuperMAG), 116 isolated substorms, global auroral images (obtained by the Polar VIS Earth Camera) and a careful normalization technique we derived an empirical model of the ionospheric equivalent current system. Our model yield some unexpected features that appear inconsistent with the classical single current wedge current system. One of these features is a distinct latitudinal shift of the westward electrojet (WEJ) current between the pre- and post-midnight region and we find evidence that these two WEJ regions are quasi disconnected. This, and other observational facts, led us to propose a modified 3D current system configuration that consists of 2 wedge type systems: a current wedge in the pre-midnight region (bulge current wedge), and another current wedge system in the post-midnight region (oval current wedge). The two wedge systems are shifted in latitude but overlap in local time in the midnight region. Our model is at considerable variance with previous global models and conceptual schematics of the large-scale substorm current system. We speculate that the data coverage, the methodologies and the techniques used in these previous global studies are the cause of the differences in solutions. In this presentation we present our model, compare with other published models and discuss possible causes for the differences.
Large-Scale periodic solar velocities: An observational study
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Dittmer, P. H.
Observations of large-scale solar velocities were made using the mean field telescope and Babcock magnetograph of the Stanford Solar Observatory. Observations were made in the magnetically insensitive ion line at 5124 A, with light from the center (limb) of the disk right (left) circularly polarized, so that the magnetograph measures the difference in wavelength between center and limb. Computer calculations are made of the wavelength difference produced by global pulsations for spherical harmonics up to second order and of the signal produced by displacing the solar image relative to polarizing optics or diffraction grating.
Large-scale sodium spray fire code validation (SOFICOV) test
Jeppson, D.W.; Muhlestein, L.D.
A large-scale, sodium, spray fire code validation test was performed in the HEDL 850-m/sup 3/ Containment System Test Facility (CSTF) as part of the Sodium Spray Fire Code Validation (SOFICOV) program. Six hundred fifty eight kilograms of sodium spray was sprayed in an air atmosphere for a period of 2400 s. The sodium spray droplet sizes and spray pattern distribution were estimated. The containment atmosphere temperature and pressure response, containment wall temperature response and sodium reaction rate with oxygen were measured. These results are compared to post-test predictions using SPRAY and NACOM computer codes.
Large scale obscuration and related climate effects open literature bibliography
Russell, N.A.; Geitgey, J.; Behl, Y.K.; Zak, B.D.
Large scale obscuration and related climate effects of nuclear detonations first became a matter of concern in connection with the so-called ``Nuclear Winter Controversy`` in the early 1980`s. Since then, the world has changed. Nevertheless, concern remains about the atmospheric effects of nuclear detonations, but the source of concern has shifted. Now it focuses less on global, and more on regional effects and their resulting impacts on the performance of electro-optical and other defense-related systems. This bibliography reflects the modified interest.
Water-based scintillators for large-scale liquid calorimetry
Winn, D.R.; Raftery, D.
We have investigated primary and secondary solvent intermediates in search of a recipe to create a bulk liquid scintillator with water as the bulk solvent and common fluors as the solutes. As we are not concerned with energy resolution below 1 MeV in large-scale experiments, light-output at the 10% level of high-quality organic solvent based scintillators is acceptable. We have found encouraging performance from industrial surfactants as primary solvents for PPO and POPOP. This technique may allow economical and environmentally safe bulk scintillator for kiloton-sized high energy calorimetry.
Enabling Large-Scale Biomedical Analysis in the Cloud
Lin, Ying-Chih; Yu, Chin-Sheng; Lin, Yen-Jen
Recent progress in high-throughput instrumentations has led to an astonishing growth in both volume and complexity of biomedical data collected from various sources. The planet-size data brings serious challenges to the storage and computing technologies. Cloud computing is an alternative to crack the nut because it gives concurrent consideration to enable storage and high-performance computing on large-scale data. This work briefly introduces the data intensive computing system and summarizes existing cloud-based resources in bioinformatics. These developments and applications would facilitate biomedical research to make the vast amount of diversification data meaningful and usable. PMID:24288665
Large-Scale Measurement of Absolute Protein Glycosylation Stoichiometry.
Sun, Shisheng; Zhang, Hui
Protein glycosylation is one of the most important protein modifications. Glycosylation site occupancy alteration has been implicated in human diseases and cancers. However, current glycoproteomic methods focus on the identification and quantification of glycosylated peptides and glycosylation sites but not glycosylation occupancy or glycoform stoichiometry. Here we describe a method for large-scale determination of the absolute glycosylation stoichiometry using three independent relative ratios. Using this method, we determined 117 absolute N-glycosylation occupancies in OVCAR-3 cells. Finally, we investigated the possible functions and the determinants for partial glycosylation.
Standardization of Map Symbology for Large Scale Maps.
transporting water. This may be a river, canal , aqueduct, ditch , flume, etc. (27) FENCE - draws the symbol for either a barbed wire fence or other post...Carl Hammarstrom, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. City of Hayward Engineering Division, Haywood, Cali- fornia, U.S.A. Colorado Highway Department, Denver ...i.e., railroads, roads, canals , etc. A third type of feature may be too large to appear as a separate feature on the 1:240 scale map, and be drawn to
Large scale mortality of nestling ardeids caused by nematode infection.
Wiese, J H; Davidson, W R; Nettles, V F
During the summer of 1976, an epornitic of verminous peritonitis caused by Eustrongylides ignotus resulted in large scale mortality of young herons and egrets on Pea Patch Island, Delaware. Mortality was highest (84%) in snowy egret nestlings ( Egretta thula ) and less severe in great egrets ( Casmerodius albus ), Louisiana herons ( Hydranassa tricolor ), little blue herons ( Florida caerulea ), and black crowned night herons ( Nycticorax nycticorax ). Most deaths occured within the first 4 weeks after hatching. Migration of E. ignotus resulted in multiple perforations of the visceral organs, escape of intestinal contents into the body cavity and subsequent bacterial peritonitis. Killifish ( Fundulus heteroclitus ) served as the source of infective larvae.
Integrated High Accuracy Portable Metrology for Large Scale Structural Testing
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Klaas, Andrej; Richardson, Paul; Burguete, Richard; Harris, Linden
As the performance and accuracy of analysis tools increases bespoke solutions are more regularly being requested to perform high-accuracy measurement on structural tests to validate these methods. These can include optical methods and full-field techniques in place of the more traditional point measurements. As each test is unique it presents its own individual challenges.In this paper two recent, large scale tests performed by Airbus, will be presented and the metrology solutions that were identified for them will be discussed.
Large-scale normal fluid circulation in helium superflows
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Galantucci, Luca; Sciacca, Michele; Barenghi, Carlo F.
We perform fully coupled numerical simulations of helium II pure superflows in a channel, with vortex-line density typical of experiments. Peculiar to our model is the computation of the back-reaction of the superfluid vortex motion on the normal fluid and the presence of solid boundaries. We recover the uniform vortex-line density experimentally measured employing second sound resonators and we show that pure superflow in helium II is associated with a large-scale circulation of the normal fluid which can be detected using existing particle-tracking visualization techniques.
Quantum computation for large-scale image classification
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Ruan, Yue; Chen, Hanwu; Tan, Jianing; Li, Xi
Due to the lack of an effective quantum feature extraction method, there is currently no effective way to perform quantum image classification or recognition. In this paper, for the first time, a global quantum feature extraction method based on Schmidt decomposition is proposed. A revised quantum learning algorithm is also proposed that will classify images by computing the Hamming distance of these features. From the experimental results derived from the benchmark database Caltech 101, and an analysis of the algorithm, an effective approach to large-scale image classification is derived and proposed against the background of big data.
Solving Large-scale Eigenvalue Problems in SciDACApplications
Yang, Chao
Large-scale eigenvalue problems arise in a number of DOE applications. This paper provides an overview of the recent development of eigenvalue computation in the context of two SciDAC applications. We emphasize the importance of Krylov subspace methods, and point out its limitations. We discuss the value of alternative approaches that are more amenable to the use of preconditioners, and report the progression using the multi-level algebraic sub-structuring techniques to speed up eigenvalue calculation. In addition to methods for linear eigenvalue problems, we also examine new approaches to solving two types of non-linear eigenvalue problems arising from SciDAC applications.
Analysis Plan for 1985 Large-Scale Tests.
KEY WORDS (Continue on reverse side it necessary mnd Identify by block number) Large-Scale Blasting Agents Multiburst ANFO S:,ock Waves 20. ABSTRACT...CONSIDERATIONS 6 1.5 MULTIBURST TECHNIQUES 6 1.6 TEST SITE CONSIDERATIONS 6 2 CANDIDATE EXPLOSIVES 8 2.1 INTRODUCTION 82.2 ANFO 8 2.2.1 Bulk (Loose) ANFO 11...2.2.2 Bagged ANFO 13 2.3 APEX 1360 15 2.4 NITRIC ACID AND NITROPROPANE 17 2.5 NITROPROPANENITRATE (NPN) 19 2.6 DBA - 22M 21 2.7 HARDENING EMULSION 22 2.8
A Modular Ring Architecture for Large Scale Neural Network Implementations
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jump, Lance B.; Ligomenides, Panos A.
Constructing fully parallel, large scale, neural networks is complicated by the problems of providing for massive interconnectivity and of overcoming fan in/out limitations in area-efficient VLSI/WSI realizations. A modular, bus switched, neural ring architecture employing primitive ring (pRing) processors is proposed, which solves the fan in/out and connectivity problems by a dynamically reconfigurable communication ring that synchronously serves identical, radially connected, processing elements. It also allows cost versus performance trade-offs by the assignment of variable numbers of logical neurons to each physical processing element.
Design of a large-scale CFB boiler
Darling, S.; Li, S.
Many CFB boilers sized 100--150 MWe are in operation, and several others sized 150--250 MWe are in operation or under construction. The next step for CFB technology is the 300--400 MWe size range. This paper will describe Foster Wheeler`s large-scale CFB boiler experience and the design for a 300 MWe CFB boiler. The authors will show how the design incorporates Foster Wheeler`s unique combination of extensive utility experience and CFB boiler experience. All the benefits of CFB technology which include low emissions, fuel flexibility, low maintenance and competitive cost are now available in the 300--400 MWe size range.
Simplified DGS procedure for large-scale genome structural study.
Jung, Yong-Chul; Xu, Jia; Chen, Jun; Kim, Yeong; Winchester, David; Wang, San Ming
Ditag genome scanning (DGS) uses next-generation DNA sequencing to sequence the ends of ditag fragments produced by restriction enzymes. These sequences are compared to known genome sequences to determine their structure. In order to use DGS for large-scale genome structural studies, we have substantially revised the original protocol by replacing the in vivo genomic DNA cloning with in vitro adaptor ligation, eliminating the ditag concatemerization steps, and replacing the 454 sequencer with Solexa or SOLiD sequencers for ditag sequence collection. This revised protocol further increases genome coverage and resolution and allows DGS to be used to analyze multiple genomes simultaneously.
Large-Scale Compton Imaging for Wide-Area Surveillance
Lange, D J; Manini, H A; Wright, D M
We study the performance of a large-scale Compton imaging detector placed in a low-flying aircraft, used to search wide areas for rad/nuc threat sources. In this paper we investigate the performance potential of equipping aerial platforms with gamma-ray detectors that have photon sensitivity up to a few MeV. We simulate the detector performance, and present receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves for a benchmark scenario using a {sup 137}Cs source. The analysis uses a realistic environmental background energy spectrum and includes air attenuation.
Structure and function of large-scale brain systems.
Koziol, Leonard F; Barker, Lauren A; Joyce, Arthur W; Hrin, Skip
This article introduces the functional neuroanatomy of large-scale brain systems. Both the structure and functions of these brain networks are presented. All human behavior is the result of interactions within and between these brain systems. This system of brain function completely changes our understanding of how cognition and behavior are organized within the brain, replacing the traditional lesion model. Understanding behavior within the context of brain network interactions has profound implications for modifying abstract constructs such as attention, learning, and memory. These constructs also must be understood within the framework of a paradigm shift, which emphasizes ongoing interactions within a dynamically changing environment.
Large-Scale Spray Releases: Additional Aerosol Test Results
Daniel, Richard C.; Gauglitz, Phillip A.; Burns, Carolyn A.; Fountain, Matthew S.; Shimskey, Rick W.; Billing, Justin M.; Bontha, Jagannadha R.; Kurath, Dean E.; Jenks, Jeromy WJ; MacFarlan, Paul J.; Mahoney, Lenna A.
One of the events postulated in the hazard analysis for the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) and other U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear facilities is a breach in process piping that produces aerosols with droplet sizes in the respirable range. The current approach for predicting the size and concentration of aerosols produced in a spray leak event involves extrapolating from correlations reported in the literature. These correlations are based on results obtained from small engineered spray nozzles using pure liquids that behave as a Newtonian fluid. The narrow ranges of physical properties on which the correlations are based do not cover the wide range of slurries and viscous materials that will be processed in the WTP and in processing facilities across the DOE complex. To expand the data set upon which the WTP accident and safety analyses were based, an aerosol spray leak testing program was conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL's test program addressed two key technical areas to improve the WTP methodology (Larson and Allen 2010). The first technical area was to quantify the role of slurry particles in small breaches where slurry particles may plug the hole and prevent high-pressure sprays. The results from an effort to address this first technical area can be found in Mahoney et al. (2012a). The second technical area was to determine aerosol droplet size distribution and total droplet volume from prototypic breaches and fluids, including sprays from larger breaches and sprays of slurries for which literature data are mostly absent. To address the second technical area, the testing program collected aerosol generation data at two scales, commonly referred to as small-scale and large-scale testing. The small-scale testing and resultant data are described in Mahoney et al. (2012b), and the large-scale testing and resultant data are presented in Schonewill et al. (2012). In tests at both scales, simulants were used
Solving large scale traveling salesman problems by chaotic neurodynamics.
Hasegawa, Mikio; Ikeguch, Tohru; Aihara, Kazuyuki
We propose a novel approach for solving large scale traveling salesman problems (TSPs) by chaotic dynamics. First, we realize the tabu search on a neural network, by utilizing the refractory effects as the tabu effects. Then, we extend it to a chaotic neural network version. We propose two types of chaotic searching methods, which are based on two different tabu searches. While the first one requires neurons of the order of n2 for an n-city TSP, the second one requires only n neurons. Moreover, an automatic parameter tuning method of our chaotic neural network is presented for easy application to various problems. Last, we show that our method with n neurons is applicable to large TSPs such as an 85,900-city problem and exhibits better performance than the conventional stochastic searches and the tabu searches.
Investigation of flow fields within large scale hypersonic inlet models
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Gnos, A. V.; Watson, E. C.; Seebaugh, W. R.; Sanator, R. J.; Decarlo, J. P.
Analytical and experimental investigations were conducted to determine the internal flow characteristics in model passages representative of hypersonic inlets for use at Mach numbers to about 12. The passages were large enough to permit measurements to be made in both the core flow and boundary layers. The analytical techniques for designing the internal contours and predicting the internal flow-field development accounted for coupling between the boundary layers and inviscid flow fields by means of a displacement-thickness correction. Three large-scale inlet models, each having a different internal compression ratio, were designed to provide high internal performance with an approximately uniform static-pressure distribution at the throat station. The models were tested in the Ames 3.5-Foot Hypersonic Wind Tunnel at a nominal free-stream Mach number of 7.4 and a unit free-stream Reynolds number of 8.86 X one million per meter.
Engineering large-scale agent-based systems with consensus
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bokma, A.; Slade, A.; Kerridge, S.; Johnson, K.
The paper presents the consensus method for the development of large-scale agent-based systems. Systems can be developed as networks of knowledge based agents (KBA) which engage in a collaborative problem solving effort. The method provides a comprehensive and integrated approach to the development of this type of system. This includes a systematic analysis of user requirements as well as a structured approach to generating a system design which exhibits the desired functionality. There is a direct correspondence between system requirements and design components. The benefits of this approach are that requirements are traceable into design components and code thus facilitating verification. The use of the consensus method with two major test applications showed it to be successful and also provided valuable insight into problems typically associated with the development of large systems.
Large-scale structure non-Gaussianities with modal methods
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Schmittfull, Marcel
Relying on a separable modal expansion of the bispectrum, the implementation of a fast estimator for the full bispectrum of a 3d particle distribution is presented. The computational cost of accurate bispectrum estimation is negligible relative to simulation evolution, so the bispectrum can be used as a standard diagnostic whenever the power spectrum is evaluated. As an application, the time evolution of gravitational and primordial dark matter bispectra was measured in a large suite of N-body simulations. The bispectrum shape changes characteristically when the cosmic web becomes dominated by filaments and halos, therefore providing a quantitative probe of 3d structure formation. Our measured bispectra are determined by ~ 50 coefficients, which can be used as fitting formulae in the nonlinear regime and for non-Gaussian initial conditions. We also compare the measured bispectra with predictions from the Effective Field Theory of Large Scale Structures (EFTofLSS).
Large-scale characterization of the murine cardiac proteome.
Cosme, Jake; Emili, Andrew; Gramolini, Anthony O
Cardiomyopathies are diseases of the heart that result in impaired cardiac muscle function. This dysfunction can progress to an inability to supply blood to the body. Cardiovascular diseases play a large role in overall global morbidity. Investigating the protein changes in the heart during disease can uncover pathophysiological mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets. Establishing a global protein expression "footprint" can facilitate more targeted studies of diseases of the heart.In the technical review presented here, we present methods to elucidate the heart's proteome through subfractionation of the cellular compartments to reduce sample complexity and improve detection of lower abundant proteins during multidimensional protein identification technology analysis. Analysis of the cytosolic, microsomal, and mitochondrial subproteomes separately in order to characterize the murine cardiac proteome is advantageous by simplifying complex cardiac protein mixtures. In combination with bioinformatic analysis and genome correlation, large-scale protein changes can be identified at the cellular compartment level in this animal model.
Large Scale Deformation of the Western U.S. Cordillera
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bennett, Richard A.
Over the past couple of years, with support from NASA, we used a large collection of data from GPS, VLBI, SLR, and DORIS networks which span the Western U.S. Cordillera (WUSC) to precisely quantify present-day large-scale crustal deformations in a single uniform reference frame. Our work was roughly divided into an analysis of these space geodetic observations to infer the deformation field across and within the entire plate boundary zone, and an investigation of the implications of this deformation field regarding plate boundary dynamics. Following the determination of the first generation WUSC velocity solution, we placed high priority on the dissemination of the velocity estimates. With in-kind support from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, we constructed a web-site which allows anyone to access the data, and to determine their own velocity reference frame.
Large Scale Deformation of the Western U.S. Cordillera
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bennett, Richard A.
Over the past couple of years, with support from NASA, we used a large collection of data from GPS, VLBI, SLR, and DORIS networks which span the Westem U.S. Cordillera (WUSC) to precisely quantify present-day large-scale crustal deformations in a single uniform reference frame. Our work was roughly divided into an analysis of these space geodetic observations to infer the deformation field across and within the entire plate boundary zone, and an investigation of the implications of this deformation field regarding plate boundary dynamics. Following the determination of the first generation WUSC velocity solution, we placed high priority on the dissemination of the velocity estimates. With in-kind support from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, we constructed a web-site which allows anyone to access the data, and to determine their own velocity reference frame.
Galaxy clustering and the origin of large-scale flows
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Juszkiewicz, R.; Yahil, A.
Peebles's 'cosmic virial theorem' is extended from its original range of validity at small separations, where hydrostatic equilibrium holds, to large separations, in which linear gravitational stability theory applies. The rms pairwise velocity difference at separation r is shown to depend on the spatial galaxy correlation function xi(x) only for x less than r. Gravitational instability theory can therefore be tested by comparing the two up to the maximum separation for which both can reliably be determined, and there is no dependence on the poorly known large-scale density and velocity fields. With the expected improvement in the data over the next few years, however, this method should yield a reliable determination of omega.
Large-Scale All-Dielectric Metamaterial Perfect Reflectors
Moitra, Parikshit; Slovick, Brian A.; li, Wei; Kravchencko, Ivan I.; Briggs, Dayrl P.; Krishnamurthy, S.; Valentine, Jason
All-dielectric metamaterials offer a potential low-loss alternative to plasmonic metamaterials at optical frequencies. In this paper, we take advantage of the low absorption loss as well as the simple unit cell geometry to demonstrate large-scale (centimeter-sized) all-dielectric metamaterial perfect reflectors made from silicon cylinder resonators. These perfect reflectors, operating in the telecommunications band, were fabricated using self-assembly based nanosphere lithography. In spite of the disorder originating from the self-assembly process, the average reflectance of the metamaterial perfect reflectors is 99.7% at 1530 nm, surpassing the reflectance of metallic mirrors. Moreover, the spectral separation of the electric and magnetic resonances can be chosen to achieve the required reflection bandwidth while maintaining a high tolerance to disorder. Finally, the scalability of this design could lead to new avenues of manipulating light for low-loss and large-area photonic applications.
Scaling differences between large interplate and intraplate earthquakes
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Scholz, C. H.; Aviles, C. A.; Wesnousky, S. G.
A study of large intraplate earthquakes with well determined source parameters shows that these earthquakes obey a scaling law similar to large interplate earthquakes, in which M sub o varies as L sup 2 or u = alpha L where L is rupture length and u is slip. In contrast to interplate earthquakes, for which alpha approximately equals 1 x .00001, for the intraplate events alpha approximately equals 6 x .0001, which implies that these earthquakes have stress-drops about 6 times higher than interplate events. This result is independent of focal mechanism type. This implies that intraplate faults have a higher frictional strength than plate boundaries, and hence, that faults are velocity or slip weakening in their behavior. This factor may be important in producing the concentrated deformation that creates and maintains plate boundaries.
The dynamics of large-scale arrays of coupled resonators
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Borra, Chaitanya; Pyles, Conor S.; Wetherton, Blake A.; Quinn, D. Dane; Rhoads, Jeffrey F.
This work describes an analytical framework suitable for the analysis of large-scale arrays of coupled resonators, including those which feature amplitude and phase dynamics, inherent element-level parameter variation, nonlinearity, and/or noise. In particular, this analysis allows for the consideration of coupled systems in which the number of individual resonators is large, extending as far as the continuum limit corresponding to an infinite number of resonators. Moreover, this framework permits analytical predictions for the amplitude and phase dynamics of such systems. The utility of this analytical methodology is explored through the analysis of a system of N non-identical resonators with global coupling, including both reactive and dissipative components, physically motivated by an electromagnetically-transduced microresonator array. In addition to the amplitude and phase dynamics, the behavior of the system as the number of resonators varies is investigated and the convergence of the discrete system to the infinite-N limit is characterized.
Large scale simulations of the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Nilsson, S.; Petersson, A.; Rodgers, A.; Sjogreen, B.; McCandless, K.
As part of a multi-institutional simulation effort, we present large scale computations of the ground motion during the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake using a new finite difference code called WPP. The material data base for northern California provided by USGS together with the rupture model by Song et al. is demonstrated to lead to a reasonable match with historical data. In our simulations, the computational domain covered 550 km by 250 km of northern California down to 40 km depth, so a 125 m grid size corresponds to about 2.2 Billion grid points. To accommodate these large grids, the simulations were run on 512-1024 processors on one of the supercomputers at Lawrence Livermore National Lab. A wavelet compression algorithm enabled storage of time-dependent volumetric data. Nevertheless, the first 45 seconds of the earthquake still generated 1.2 TByte of disk space and the 3-D post processing was done in parallel.
Towards large-scale plasma-assisted synthesis of nanowires
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cvelbar, U.
Large quantities of nanomaterials, e.g. nanowires (NWs), are needed to overcome the high market price of nanomaterials and make nanotechnology widely available for general public use and applications to numerous devices. Therefore, there is an enormous need for new methods or routes for synthesis of those nanostructures. Here plasma technologies for synthesis of NWs, nanotubes, nanoparticles or other nanostructures might play a key role in the near future. This paper presents a three-dimensional problem of large-scale synthesis connected with the time, quantity and quality of nanostructures. Herein, four different plasma methods for NW synthesis are presented in contrast to other methods, e.g. thermal processes, chemical vapour deposition or wet chemical processes. The pros and cons are discussed in detail for the case of two metal oxides: iron oxide and zinc oxide NWs, which are important for many applications.
Large-Scale All-Dielectric Metamaterial Perfect Reflectors
Moitra, Parikshit; Slovick, Brian A.; li, Wei; ...
All-dielectric metamaterials offer a potential low-loss alternative to plasmonic metamaterials at optical frequencies. In this paper, we take advantage of the low absorption loss as well as the simple unit cell geometry to demonstrate large-scale (centimeter-sized) all-dielectric metamaterial perfect reflectors made from silicon cylinder resonators. These perfect reflectors, operating in the telecommunications band, were fabricated using self-assembly based nanosphere lithography. In spite of the disorder originating from the self-assembly process, the average reflectance of the metamaterial perfect reflectors is 99.7% at 1530 nm, surpassing the reflectance of metallic mirrors. Moreover, the spectral separation of the electric and magnetic resonances canmore » be chosen to achieve the required reflection bandwidth while maintaining a high tolerance to disorder. Finally, the scalability of this design could lead to new avenues of manipulating light for low-loss and large-area photonic applications.« less
A large-scale evaluation of computational protein function prediction.
Radivojac, Predrag; Clark, Wyatt T; Oron, Tal Ronnen; Schnoes, Alexandra M; Wittkop, Tobias; Sokolov, Artem; Graim, Kiley; Funk, Christopher; Verspoor, Karin; Ben-Hur, Asa; Pandey, Gaurav; Yunes, Jeffrey M; Talwalkar, Ameet S; Repo, Susanna; Souza, Michael L; Piovesan, Damiano; Casadio, Rita; Wang, Zheng; Cheng, Jianlin; Fang, Hai; Gough, Julian; Koskinen, Patrik; Törönen, Petri; Nokso-Koivisto, Jussi; Holm, Liisa; Cozzetto, Domenico; Buchan, Daniel W A; Bryson, Kevin; Jones, David T; Limaye, Bhakti; Inamdar, Harshal; Datta, Avik; Manjari, Sunitha K; Joshi, Rajendra; Chitale, Meghana; Kihara, Daisuke; Lisewski, Andreas M; Erdin, Serkan; Venner, Eric; Lichtarge, Olivier; Rentzsch, Robert; Yang, Haixuan; Romero, Alfonso E; Bhat, Prajwal; Paccanaro, Alberto; Hamp, Tobias; Kaßner, Rebecca; Seemayer, Stefan; Vicedo, Esmeralda; Schaefer, Christian; Achten, Dominik; Auer, Florian; Boehm, Ariane; Braun, Tatjana; Hecht, Maximilian; Heron, Mark; Hönigschmid, Peter; Hopf, Thomas A; Kaufmann, Stefanie; Kiening, Michael; Krompass, Denis; Landerer, Cedric; Mahlich, Yannick; Roos, Manfred; Björne, Jari; Salakoski, Tapio; Wong, Andrew; Shatkay, Hagit; Gatzmann, Fanny; Sommer, Ingolf; Wass, Mark N; Sternberg, Michael J E; Škunca, Nives; Supek, Fran; Bošnjak, Matko; Panov, Panče; Džeroski, Sašo; Šmuc, Tomislav; Kourmpetis, Yiannis A I; van Dijk, Aalt D J; ter Braak, Cajo J F; Zhou, Yuanpeng; Gong, Qingtian; Dong, Xinran; Tian, Weidong; Falda, Marco; Fontana, Paolo; Lavezzo, Enrico; Di Camillo, Barbara; Toppo, Stefano; Lan, Liang; Djuric, Nemanja; Guo, Yuhong; Vucetic, Slobodan; Bairoch, Amos; Linial, Michal; Babbitt, Patricia C; Brenner, Steven E; Orengo, Christine; Rost, Burkhard; Mooney, Sean D; Friedberg, Iddo
Automated annotation of protein function is challenging. As the number of sequenced genomes rapidly grows, the overwhelming majority of protein products can only be annotated computationally. If computational predictions are to be relied upon, it is crucial that the accuracy of these methods be high. Here we report the results from the first large-scale community-based critical assessment of protein function annotation (CAFA) experiment. Fifty-four methods representing the state of the art for protein function prediction were evaluated on a target set of 866 proteins from 11 organisms. Two findings stand out: (i) today's best protein function prediction algorithms substantially outperform widely used first-generation methods, with large gains on all types of targets; and (ii) although the top methods perform well enough to guide experiments, there is considerable need for improvement of currently available tools.
A large-scale evaluation of computational protein function prediction
Radivojac, Predrag; Clark, Wyatt T; Ronnen Oron, Tal; Schnoes, Alexandra M; Wittkop, Tobias; Sokolov, Artem; Graim, Kiley; Funk, Christopher; Verspoor, Karin; Ben-Hur, Asa; Pandey, Gaurav; Yunes, Jeffrey M; Talwalkar, Ameet S; Repo, Susanna; Souza, Michael L; Piovesan, Damiano; Casadio, Rita; Wang, Zheng; Cheng, Jianlin; Fang, Hai; Gough, Julian; Koskinen, Patrik; Törönen, Petri; Nokso-Koivisto, Jussi; Holm, Liisa; Cozzetto, Domenico; Buchan, Daniel W A; Bryson, Kevin; Jones, David T; Limaye, Bhakti; Inamdar, Harshal; Datta, Avik; Manjari, Sunitha K; Joshi, Rajendra; Chitale, Meghana; Kihara, Daisuke; Lisewski, Andreas M; Erdin, Serkan; Venner, Eric; Lichtarge, Olivier; Rentzsch, Robert; Yang, Haixuan; Romero, Alfonso E; Bhat, Prajwal; Paccanaro, Alberto; Hamp, Tobias; Kassner, Rebecca; Seemayer, Stefan; Vicedo, Esmeralda; Schaefer, Christian; Achten, Dominik; Auer, Florian; Böhm, Ariane; Braun, Tatjana; Hecht, Maximilian; Heron, Mark; Hönigschmid, Peter; Hopf, Thomas; Kaufmann, Stefanie; Kiening, Michael; Krompass, Denis; Landerer, Cedric; Mahlich, Yannick; Roos, Manfred; Björne, Jari; Salakoski, Tapio; Wong, Andrew; Shatkay, Hagit; Gatzmann, Fanny; Sommer, Ingolf; Wass, Mark N; Sternberg, Michael J E; Škunca, Nives; Supek, Fran; Bošnjak, Matko; Panov, Panče; Džeroski, Sašo; Šmuc, Tomislav; Kourmpetis, Yiannis A I; van Dijk, Aalt D J; ter Braak, Cajo J F; Zhou, Yuanpeng; Gong, Qingtian; Dong, Xinran; Tian, Weidong; Falda, Marco; Fontana, Paolo; Lavezzo, Enrico; Di Camillo, Barbara; Toppo, Stefano; Lan, Liang; Djuric, Nemanja; Guo, Yuhong; Vucetic, Slobodan; Bairoch, Amos; Linial, Michal; Babbitt, Patricia C; Brenner, Steven E; Orengo, Christine; Rost, Burkhard; Mooney, Sean D; Friedberg, Iddo
Automated annotation of protein function is challenging. As the number of sequenced genomes rapidly grows, the overwhelming majority of protein products can only be annotated computationally. If computational predictions are to be relied upon, it is crucial that the accuracy of these methods be high. Here we report the results from the first large-scale community-based Critical Assessment of protein Function Annotation (CAFA) experiment. Fifty-four methods representing the state-of-the-art for protein function prediction were evaluated on a target set of 866 proteins from eleven organisms. Two findings stand out: (i) today's best protein function prediction algorithms significantly outperformed widely-used first-generation methods, with large gains on all types of targets; and (ii) although the top methods perform well enough to guide experiments, there is significant need for improvement of currently available tools. PMID:23353650
Lyα Forest Tomography from Background Galaxies: The First Megaparsec-resolution Large-scale Structure Map at z > 2
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lee, Khee-Gan; Hennawi, Joseph F.; Stark, Casey; Prochaska, J. Xavier; White, Martin; Schlegel, David J.; Eilers, Anna-Christina; Arinyo-i-Prats, Andreu; Suzuki, Nao; Croft, Rupert A. C.; Caputi, Karina I.; Cassata, Paolo; Ilbert, Olivier; Garilli, Bianca; Koekemoer, Anton M.; Le Brun, Vincent; Le Fèvre, Olivier; Maccagni, Dario; Nugent, Peter; Taniguchi, Yoshiaki; Tasca, Lidia A. M.; Tresse, Laurence; Zamorani, Gianni; Zucca, Elena
We present the first observations of foreground Lyα forest absorption from high-redshift galaxies, targeting 24 star-forming galaxies (SFGs) with z ~ 2.3-2.8 within a 5' × 14' region of the COSMOS field. The transverse sightline separation is ~2 h -1 Mpc comoving, allowing us to create a tomographic reconstruction of the three-dimensional (3D) Lyα forest absorption field over the redshift range 2.20 <= z <= 2.45. The resulting map covers 6 h -1 Mpc × 14 h -1 Mpc in the transverse plane and 230 h -1 Mpc along the line of sight with a spatial resolution of ≈3.5 h -1 Mpc, and is the first high-fidelity map of a large-scale structure on ~Mpc scales at z > 2. Our map reveals significant structures with >~ 10 h -1 Mpc extent, including several spanning the entire transverse breadth, providing qualitative evidence for the filamentary structures predicted to exist in the high-redshift cosmic web. Simulated reconstructions with the same sightline sampling, spectral resolution, and signal-to-noise ratio recover the salient structures present in the underlying 3D absorption fields. Using data from other surveys, we identified 18 galaxies with known redshifts coeval with our map volume, enabling a direct comparison with our tomographic map. This shows that galaxies preferentially occupy high-density regions, in qualitative agreement with the same comparison applied to simulations. Our results establish the feasibility of the CLAMATO survey, which aims to obtain Lyα forest spectra for ~1000 SFGs over ~1 deg2 of the COSMOS field, in order to map out the intergalactic medium large-scale structure at langzrang ~ 2.3 over a large volume (100 h -1 Mpc)3.
Large-Scale Graphene Film Deposition for Monolithic Device Fabrication
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Al-shurman, Khaled
Since 1958, the concept of integrated circuit (IC) has achieved great technological developments and helped in shrinking electronic devices. Nowadays, an IC consists of more than a million of compacted transistors. The majority of current ICs use silicon as a semiconductor material. According to Moore's law, the number of transistors built-in on a microchip can be double every two years. However, silicon device manufacturing reaches its physical limits. To explain, there is a new trend to shrinking circuitry to seven nanometers where a lot of unknown quantum effects such as tunneling effect can not be controlled. Hence, there is an urgent need for a new platform material to replace Si. Graphene is considered a promising material with enormous potential applications in many electronic and optoelectronics devices due to its superior properties. There are several techniques to produce graphene films. Among these techniques, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) offers a very convenient method to fabricate films for large-scale graphene films. Though CVD method is suitable for large area growth of graphene, the need for transferring a graphene film to silicon-based substrates is required. Furthermore, the graphene films thus achieved are, in fact, not single crystalline. Also, graphene fabrication utilizing Cu and Ni at high growth temperature contaminates the substrate that holds Si CMOS circuitry and CVD chamber as well. So, lowering the deposition temperature is another technological milestone for the successful adoption of graphene in integrated circuits fabrication. In this research, direct large-scale graphene film fabrication on silicon based platform (i.e. SiO2 and Si3N4) at low temperature was achieved. With a focus on low-temperature graphene growth, hot-filament chemical vapor deposition (HF-CVD) was utilized to synthesize graphene film using 200 nm thick nickel film. Raman spectroscopy was utilized to examine graphene formation on the bottom side of the Ni film
Morphodynamics of Migration Surveyed at Large Spatial and Temporal Scales
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Aalto, R.; Schwendel, A.; Nicholas, A. P.
The controls on rivers migration are diverse and often complex. One way forwards is to select study rivers that meet certain simplifying conditions: near-pristine (no anthropogenic complications), large size and rapid mobility (resulting in significant change viewable in Landsat imagery), limited geological complexity (no bedrock), steady hydrology (relatively little variation in discharge and sediment load), and simplified base level control (no tides or other substantial perturbations). Such systems could then be measured at appropriate spatial and temporal scales to extract the reach-scale dynamics while averaging out the more stochastic behaviour of individual meander bends. Such an approach requires both special rivers and novel techniques, which we have investigated and present here. The two explored examples are the near-pristine Beni River basin in northern Bolivia (800 km channel length) and the similarly natural Fly-Strickland River basin in Papua New Guinea (400 km channel length) - large, tropical sand-bedded rivers that meet the above criteria. First, we conducted a GIS analysis of migration using image collections that include 1950s military aerial reconnaissance -- this allowed us to characterize mobility decades before the first Landsat satellite was launched. Following this approach, we characterized migration rate, sinuosity, and other parameters at the reach scale of 10km and the temporal scale of 50+ years, with clear patterns of rate and morphology emerging as a function of location within the systems. We conducted extensive fieldwork to explore potential controls on these patterns, with the focus of this talk being the results from DGPS surveys of river and valley slope. The length scale of these rivers, the density of the forested floodplains, and the hostility of the environments precluded the use of standard RTK-DGPS methods. Instead, we employed three novel techniques for long baseline (100s of km) DGPS surveys: OmniStar HP/XP GLONASS
Using Agent Base Models to Optimize Large Scale Network for Large System Inventories
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Shameldin, Ramez Ahmed; Bowling, Shannon R.
The aim of this paper is to use Agent Base Models (ABM) to optimize large scale network handling capabilities for large system inventories and to implement strategies for the purpose of reducing capital expenses. The models used in this paper either use computational algorithms or procedure implementations developed by Matlab to simulate agent based models in a principal programming language and mathematical theory using clusters, these clusters work as a high performance computational performance to run the program in parallel computational. In both cases, a model is defined as compilation of a set of structures and processes assumed to underlie the behavior of a network system.
Scale-up of isoelectric focusing. [for large scale protein fracionation
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Bier, Milan
The paper describes some applications to large scale protein fractionation using a recycling isoelectric focusing apparatus. Separation is achieved in free solution without the use of supporting media. Various alternatives for the formation of the pH gradient are discussed and results of a computer simulation are presented.
The combustion behavior of large scale lithium titanate battery
Huang, Peifeng; Wang, Qingsong; Li, Ke; Ping, Ping; Sun, Jinhua
Safety problem is always a big obstacle for lithium battery marching to large scale application. However, the knowledge on the battery combustion behavior is limited. To investigate the combustion behavior of large scale lithium battery, three 50 Ah Li(NixCoyMnz)O2/Li4Ti5O12 batteries under different state of charge (SOC) were heated to fire. The flame size variation is depicted to analyze the combustion behavior directly. The mass loss rate, temperature and heat release rate are used to analyze the combustion behavior in reaction way deeply. Based on the phenomenon, the combustion process is divided into three basic stages, even more complicated at higher SOC with sudden smoke flow ejected. The reason is that a phase change occurs in Li(NixCoyMnz)O2 material from layer structure to spinel structure. The critical temperatures of ignition are at 112–121°C on anode tab and 139 to 147°C on upper surface for all cells. But the heating time and combustion time become shorter with the ascending of SOC. The results indicate that the battery fire hazard increases with the SOC. It is analyzed that the internal short and the Li+ distribution are the main causes that lead to the difference. PMID:25586064
Topographically Engineered Large Scale Nanostructures for Plasmonic Biosensing
Xiao, Bo; Pradhan, Sangram K.; Santiago, Kevin C.; Rutherford, Gugu N.; Pradhan, Aswini K.
We demonstrate that a nanostructured metal thin film can achieve enhanced transmission efficiency and sharp resonances and use a large-scale and high-throughput nanofabrication technique for the plasmonic structures. The fabrication technique combines the features of nanoimprint and soft lithography to topographically construct metal thin films with nanoscale patterns. Metal nanogratings developed using this method show significantly enhanced optical transmission (up to a one-order-of-magnitude enhancement) and sharp resonances with full width at half maximum (FWHM) of ~15nm in the zero-order transmission using an incoherent white light source. These nanostructures are sensitive to the surrounding environment, and the resonance can shift as the refractive index changes. We derive an analytical method using a spatial Fourier transformation to understand the enhancement phenomenon and the sensing mechanism. The use of real-time monitoring of protein-protein interactions in microfluidic cells integrated with these nanostructures is demonstrated to be effective for biosensing. The perpendicular transmission configuration and large-scale structures provide a feasible platform without sophisticated optical instrumentation to realize label-free surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing. PMID:27072067
Semantic overlay network for large-scale spatial information indexing
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Zou, Zhiqiang; Wang, Yue; Cao, Kai; Qu, Tianshan; Wang, Zhongmin
The increased demand for online services of spatial information poses new challenges to the combined filed of Computer Science and Geographic Information Science. Amongst others, these include fast indexing of spatial data in distributed networks. In this paper we propose a novel semantic overlay network for large-scale multi-dimensional spatial information indexing, called SON_LSII, which has a hybrid structure integrating a semantic quad-tree and Chord ring. The SON_LSII is a small world overlay network that achieves a very competitive trade-off between indexing efficiency and maintenance overhead. To create SON_LSII, we use an effective semantic clustering strategy that considers two aspects, i.e., the semantic of spatial information that peer holds in overlay network and physical network performances. Based on SON_LSII, a mapping method is used to reduce the multi-dimensional features into a single dimension and an efficient indexing algorithm is presented to support complex range queries of the spatial information with a massive number of concurrent users. The results from extensive experiments demonstrate that SON_LSII is superior to existing overlay networks in various respects, including scalability, maintenance, rate of indexing hits, indexing logical hops, and adaptability. Thus, the proposed SON_LSII can be used for large-scale spatial information indexing.
The combustion behavior of large scale lithium titanate battery.
Huang, Peifeng; Wang, Qingsong; Li, Ke; Ping, Ping; Sun, Jinhua
Safety problem is always a big obstacle for lithium battery marching to large scale application. However, the knowledge on the battery combustion behavior is limited. To investigate the combustion behavior of large scale lithium battery, three 50 Ah Li(Ni(x)Co(y)Mn(z))O2/Li(4)Ti(5)O(12) batteries under different state of charge (SOC) were heated to fire. The flame size variation is depicted to analyze the combustion behavior directly. The mass loss rate, temperature and heat release rate are used to analyze the combustion behavior in reaction way deeply. Based on the phenomenon, the combustion process is divided into three basic stages, even more complicated at higher SOC with sudden smoke flow ejected. The reason is that a phase change occurs in Li(Ni(x)Co(y)Mn(z))O2 material from layer structure to spinel structure. The critical temperatures of ignition are at 112-121 °C on anode tab and 139 to 147 °C on upper surface for all cells. But the heating time and combustion time become shorter with the ascending of SOC. The results indicate that the battery fire hazard increases with the SOC. It is analyzed that the internal short and the Li(+) distribution are the main causes that lead to the difference.
Large-Scale Low-Boom Inlet Test Overview
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Hirt, Stefanie
This presentation provides a high level overview of the Large-Scale Low-Boom Inlet Test and was presented at the Fundamental Aeronautics 2011 Technical Conference. In October 2010 a low-boom supersonic inlet concept with flow control was tested in the 8'x6' supersonic wind tunnel at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC). The primary objectives of the test were to evaluate the inlet stability and operability of a large-scale low-boom supersonic inlet concept by acquiring performance and flowfield validation data, as well as evaluate simple, passive, bleedless inlet boundary layer control options. During this effort two models were tested: a dual stream inlet intended to model potential flight hardware and a single stream design to study a zero-degree external cowl angle and to permit surface flow visualization of the vortex generator flow control on the internal centerbody surface. The tests were conducted by a team of researchers from NASA GRC, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Virginia
Wall turbulence manipulation by large-scale streamwise vortices
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Iuso, Gaetano; Onorato, Michele; Spazzini, Pier Giorgio; di Cicca, Gaetano Maria
This paper describes an experimental study of the manipulation of a fully developed turbulent channel flow through large-scale streamwise vortices originated by vortex generator jets distributed along the wall in the spanwise direction. Apart from the interest in flow management itself, an important aim of the research is to observe the response of the flow to external perturbations as a technique for investigating the structure of turbulence. Considerable mean and fluctuating skin friction reductions, locally as high as 30% and 50% respectively, were measured for an optimal forcing flow intensity. Mean and fluctuating velocity profiles are also greatly modified by the manipulating large-scale vortices; in particular, attenuation of the turbulence intensity was measured. Moreover the flow manipulation caused an increase in longitudinal coherence of the wall organized motions, accompanied by a reduced frequency of burst events, demonstrated by a reduction of the velocity time derivative PDFs and by an higher intermittency. A strong transversal periodic organization of the flow field was observed, including some typical behaviours in each of the periodic boxes originated by the interaction of the vortex pairs. Results are interpreted and discussed in terms of management of the near-wall turbulent structures and with reference to the wall turbulence regeneration mechanisms suggested in the literature.
IP over optical multicasting for large-scale video delivery
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Jin, Yaohui; Hu, Weisheng; Sun, Weiqiang; Guo, Wei
In the IPTV systems, multicasting will play a crucial role in the delivery of high-quality video services, which can significantly improve bandwidth efficiency. However, the scalability and the signal quality of current IPTV can barely compete with the existing broadcast digital TV systems since it is difficult to implement large-scale multicasting with end-to-end guaranteed quality of service (QoS) in packet-switched IP network. China 3TNet project aimed to build a high performance broadband trial network to support large-scale concurrent streaming media and interactive multimedia services. The innovative idea of 3TNet is that an automatic switched optical networks (ASON) with the capability of dynamic point-to-multipoint (P2MP) connections replaces the conventional IP multicasting network in the transport core, while the edge remains an IP multicasting network. In this paper, we will introduce the network architecture and discuss challenges in such IP over Optical multicasting for video delivery.
Evaluating Unmanned Aerial Platforms for Cultural Heritage Large Scale Mapping
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Georgopoulos, A.; Oikonomou, C.; Adamopoulos, E.; Stathopoulou, E. K.
When it comes to large scale mapping of limited areas especially for cultural heritage sites, things become critical. Optical and non-optical sensors are developed to such sizes and weights that can be lifted by such platforms, like e.g. LiDAR units. At the same time there is an increase in emphasis on solutions that enable users to get access to 3D information faster and cheaper. Considering the multitude of platforms, cameras and the advancement of algorithms in conjunction with the increase of available computing power this challenge should and indeed is further investigated. In this paper a short review of the UAS technologies today is attempted. A discussion follows as to their applicability and advantages, depending on their specifications, which vary immensely. The on-board cameras available are also compared and evaluated for large scale mapping. Furthermore a thorough analysis, review and experimentation with different software implementations of Structure from Motion and Multiple View Stereo algorithms, able to process such dense and mostly unordered sequence of digital images is also conducted and presented. As test data set, we use a rich optical and thermal data set from both fixed wing and multi-rotor platforms over an archaeological excavation with adverse height variations and using different cameras. Dense 3D point clouds, digital terrain models and orthophotos have been produced and evaluated for their radiometric as well as metric qualities.
Brief Mental Training Reorganizes Large-Scale Brain Networks
Tang, Yi-Yuan; Tang, Yan; Tang, Rongxiang; Lewis-Peacock, Jarrod A.
Emerging evidences have shown that one form of mental training—mindfulness meditation, can improve attention, emotion regulation and cognitive performance through changing brain activity and structural connectivity. However, whether and how the short-term mindfulness meditation alters large-scale brain networks are not well understood. Here, we applied a novel data-driven technique, the multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) data to identify changes in brain activity patterns and assess the neural mechanisms induced by a brief mindfulness training—integrative body–mind training (IBMT), which was previously reported in our series of randomized studies. Whole brain rsfMRI was performed on an undergraduate group who received 2 weeks of IBMT with 30 min per session (5 h training in total). Classifiers were trained on measures of functional connectivity in this fMRI data, and they were able to reliably differentiate (with 72% accuracy) patterns of connectivity from before vs. after the IBMT training. After training, an increase in positive functional connections (60 connections) were detected, primarily involving bilateral superior/middle occipital gyrus, bilateral frontale operculum, bilateral superior temporal gyrus, right superior temporal pole, bilateral insula, caudate and cerebellum. These results suggest that brief mental training alters the functional connectivity of large-scale brain networks at rest that may involve a portion of the neural circuitry supporting attention, cognitive and affective processing, awareness and sensory integration and reward processing. PMID:28293180
Large Scale Organization of a Near Wall Turbulent Boundary Layer
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Stanislas, Michel; Dekou Tiomajou, Raoul Florent; Foucaut, Jean Marc
This study lies in the context of large scale coherent structures investigation in a near wall turbulent boundary layer. An experimental database at high Reynolds numbers (Re θ = 9830 and Re θ = 19660) was obtained in the LML wind tunnel with stereo-PIV at 4 Hz and hot wire anemometry at 30 kHz. A Linear Stochastic Estimation procedure, is used to reconstruct a 3 component field resolved in space and time. Algorithms were developed to extract coherent structures from the reconstructed field. A sample of 3D view of the structures is depicted in Figure 1. Uniform momentum regions are characterized with their mean hydraulic diameter in the YZ plane, their life time and their contribution to Reynolds stresses. The vortical motions are characterized by their position, radius, circulation and vorticity in addition to their life time and their number computed at a fixed position from the wall. The spatial organization of the structures was investigated through a correlation of their respective indicative functions in the spanwise direction. The simplified large scale model that arise is compared to the ones available in the literature. Streamwise low (green) and high (yellow) uniform momentum regions with positive (red) and negative (blue) vortical motions. This work was supported by Campus International pour la Sécurité et l'Intermodalité des Transports.
Modulation of energetic coherent motions by large-scale topography
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Lai, Wing; Hamed, Ali M.; Troolin, Dan; Chamorro, Leonardo P.
The distinctive characteristics and dynamics of the large-scale coherent motions induced over 2D and 3D large-scale wavy walls were explored experimentally with time-resolved volumetric PIV, and selected wall-normal high-resolution stereo PIV in a refractive-index-matching channel. The 2D wall consists of a sinusoidal wave in the streamwise direction with amplitude to wavelength ratio a/ λx = 0.05, while the 3D wall has an additional wave in the spanwise direction with a/ λy = 0.1. The ?ow was characterized at Re 8000, based on the bulk velocity and the channel half height. The walls are such that the amplitude to boundary layer thickness ratio is a/ δ99 0.1, which resemble geophysical-like topography. Insight on the dynamics of the coherent motions, Reynolds stress and spatial interaction of sweep and ejection events will be discussed in terms of the wall topography modulation.
The effect of large scale inhomogeneities on the luminosity distance
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Brouzakis, Nikolaos; Tetradis, Nikolaos; Tzavara, Eleftheria
We study the form of the luminosity distance as a function of redshift in the presence of large scale inhomogeneities, with sizes of order 10 Mpc or larger. We approximate the Universe through the Swiss-cheese model, with each spherical region described by the Lemaitre Tolman Bondi metric. We study the propagation of light beams in this background, assuming that the locations of the source and the observer are random. We derive the optical equations for the evolution of the beam area and shear. Through their integration we determine the configurations that can lead to an increase of the luminosity distance relative to the homogeneous cosmology. We find that this can be achieved if the Universe is composed of spherical void-like regions, with matter concentrated near their surface. For inhomogeneities consistent with the observed large scale structure, the relative increase of the luminosity distance is of the order of a few per cent at redshifts near 1, and falls short of explaining the substantial increase required by the supernova data. On the other hand, the effect we describe is important for the correct determination of the energy content of the Universe from observations.
Exact-Differential Large-Scale Traffic Simulation
Hanai, Masatoshi; Suzumura, Toyotaro; Theodoropoulos, Georgios; Perumalla, Kalyan S
Analyzing large-scale traffics by simulation needs repeating execution many times with various patterns of scenarios or parameters. Such repeating execution brings about big redundancy because the change from a prior scenario to a later scenario is very minor in most cases, for example, blocking only one of roads or changing the speed limit of several roads. In this paper, we propose a new redundancy reduction technique, called exact-differential simulation, which enables to simulate only changing scenarios in later execution while keeping exactly same results as in the case of whole simulation. The paper consists of two main efforts: (i) a key idea and algorithm of the exact-differential simulation, (ii) a method to build large-scale traffic simulation on the top of the exact-differential simulation. In experiments of Tokyo traffic simulation, the exact-differential simulation shows 7.26 times as much elapsed time improvement in average and 2.26 times improvement even in the worst case as the whole simulation.
Halo detection via large-scale Bayesian inference
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Merson, Alexander I.; Jasche, Jens; Abdalla, Filipe B.; Lahav, Ofer; Wandelt, Benjamin; Jones, D. Heath; Colless, Matthew
We present a proof-of-concept of a novel and fully Bayesian methodology designed to detect haloes of different masses in cosmological observations subject to noise and systematic uncertainties. Our methodology combines the previously published Bayesian large-scale structure inference algorithm, HAmiltonian Density Estimation and Sampling algorithm (HADES), and a Bayesian chain rule (the Blackwell-Rao estimator), which we use to connect the inferred density field to the properties of dark matter haloes. To demonstrate the capability of our approach, we construct a realistic galaxy mock catalogue emulating the wide-area 6-degree Field Galaxy Survey, which has a median redshift of approximately 0.05. Application of HADES to the catalogue provides us with accurately inferred three-dimensional density fields and corresponding quantification of uncertainties inherent to any cosmological observation. We then use a cosmological simulation to relate the amplitude of the density field to the probability of detecting a halo with mass above a specified threshold. With this information, we can sum over the HADES density field realisations to construct maps of detection probabilities and demonstrate the validity of this approach within our mock scenario. We find that the probability of successful detection of haloes in the mock catalogue increases as a function of the signal to noise of the local galaxy observations. Our proposed methodology can easily be extended to account for more complex scientific questions and is a promising novel tool to analyse the cosmic large-scale structure in observations.
Brief Mental Training Reorganizes Large-Scale Brain Networks.
Tang, Yi-Yuan; Tang, Yan; Tang, Rongxiang; Lewis-Peacock, Jarrod A
Emerging evidences have shown that one form of mental training-mindfulness meditation, can improve attention, emotion regulation and cognitive performance through changing brain activity and structural connectivity. However, whether and how the short-term mindfulness meditation alters large-scale brain networks are not well understood. Here, we applied a novel data-driven technique, the multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) to resting-state fMRI (rsfMRI) data to identify changes in brain activity patterns and assess the neural mechanisms induced by a brief mindfulness training-integrative body-mind training (IBMT), which was previously reported in our series of randomized studies. Whole brain rsfMRI was performed on an undergraduate group who received 2 weeks of IBMT with 30 min per session (5 h training in total). Classifiers were trained on measures of functional connectivity in this fMRI data, and they were able to reliably differentiate (with 72% accuracy) patterns of connectivity from before vs. after the IBMT training. After training, an increase in positive functional connections (60 connections) were detected, primarily involving bilateral superior/middle occipital gyrus, bilateral frontale operculum, bilateral superior temporal gyrus, right superior temporal pole, bilateral insula, caudate and cerebellum. These results suggest that brief mental training alters the functional connectivity of large-scale brain networks at rest that may involve a portion of the neural circuitry supporting attention, cognitive and affective processing, awareness and sensory integration and reward processing.
Development of Large-Scale Functional Brain Networks in Children
Supekar, Kaustubh; Musen, Mark; Menon, Vinod
The ontogeny of large-scale functional organization of the human brain is not well understood. Here we use network analysis of intrinsic functional connectivity to characterize the organization of brain networks in 23 children (ages 7–9 y) and 22 young-adults (ages 19–22 y). Comparison of network properties, including path-length, clustering-coefficient, hierarchy, and regional connectivity, revealed that although children and young-adults' brains have similar "small-world" organization at the global level, they differ significantly in hierarchical organization and interregional connectivity. We found that subcortical areas were more strongly connected with primary sensory, association, and paralimbic areas in children, whereas young-adults showed stronger cortico-cortical connectivity between paralimbic, limbic, and association areas. Further, combined analysis of functional connectivity with wiring distance measures derived from white-matter fiber tracking revealed that the development of large-scale brain networks is characterized by weakening of short-range functional connectivity and strengthening of long-range functional connectivity. Importantly, our findings show that the dynamic process of over-connectivity followed by pruning, which rewires connectivity at the neuronal level, also operates at the systems level, helping to reconfigure and rebalance subcortical and paralimbic connectivity in the developing brain. Our study demonstrates the usefulness of network analysis of brain connectivity to elucidate key principles underlying functional brain maturation, paving the way for novel studies of disrupted brain connectivity in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. PMID:19621066
Large-Scale Advanced Prop-Fan (LAP)
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Degeorge, C. L.
In recent years, considerable attention has been directed toward improving aircraft fuel efficiency. Analytical studies and research with wind tunnel models have demonstrated that the high inherent efficiency of low speed turboprop propulsion systems may now be extended to the Mach .8 flight regime of today's commercial airliners. This can be accomplished with a propeller, employing a large number of thin highly swept blades. The term Prop-Fan has been coined to describe such a propulsion system. In 1983 the NASA-Lewis Research Center contracted with Hamilton Standard to design, build and test a near full scale Prop-Fan, designated the Large Scale Advanced Prop-Fan (LAP). This report provides a detailed description of the LAP program. The assumptions and analytical procedures used in the design of Prop-Fan system components are discussed in detail. The manufacturing techniques used in the fabrication of the Prop-Fan are presented. Each of the tests run during the course of the program are also discussed and the major conclusions derived from them stated.
Large-scale polarization of the microwave background and foreground
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
de Oliveira-Costa, Angélica; Tegmark, Max; O'dell, Christopher; Keating, Brian; Timbie, Peter; Efstathiou, George; Smoot, George
The DASI discovery of cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization has opened a new chapter in cosmology. Most of the useful information about inflationary gravitational waves and reionization is on large angular scales where galactic foreground contamination is the worst, so a key challenge is to model, quantify, and remove polarized foregrounds. We use the POLAR experiment, COBE/DMR and radio surveys to provide the strongest limits to date on the TE cross-power spectrum of the CMB on large angular scales and to quantify the polarized synchrotron radiation, which is likely to be the most challenging polarized contaminant for the WMAP satellite. We find that the synchrotron E and B contributions are equal to within 10% from 408 820 MHz with a hint of E domination at higher frequencies. We quantify Faraday rotation and depolarization effects in the two-dimensional (l,ν) plane and show that they cause the synchrotron polarization percentage to drop both towards lower frequencies and towards lower multipoles.
Large-scale polarization of the microwave background andforeground
de Oliveira-Costa, A.; Tegmark, M.; O'Dell, C.; Keating,B.; Timbie, P.; Efstathiou, G.; Smoot, G.
The DASI discovery of cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization has opened a new chapter in cosmology. Most of the useful information about inflationary gravitational waves and reionization is on large angular scales where galactic foreground contamination is the worst, so a key challenge is to model, quantify, and remove polarized foregrounds. We use the POLAR experiment, COBE/DMR and radio surveys to provide the strongest limits to date on the TE cross-power spectrum of the CMB on large angular scales and to quantify the polarized synchrotron radiation, which is likely to be the most challenging polarized contaminant for the WMAP satellite. We find that the synchrotron E and B contributions are equal to within 10 percent from 408-820 MHz with a hint of E domination at higher frequencies. We quantify Faraday rotation and depolarization effects in the two-dimensional ([script l],nu) plane and show that they cause the synchrotron polarization percentage to drop both towards lower frequencies and towards lower multipoles.
Automated workflow for large-scale selected reaction monitoring experiments.
Malmström, Lars; Malmström, Johan; Selevsek, Nathalie; Rosenberger, George; Aebersold, Ruedi
Targeted proteomics allows researchers to study proteins of interest without being drowned in data from other, less interesting proteins or from redundant or uninformative peptides. While the technique is mostly used for smaller, focused studies, there are several reasons to conduct larger targeted experiments. Automated, highly robust software becomes more important in such experiments. In addition, larger experiments are carried out over longer periods of time, requiring strategies to handle the sometimes large shift in retention time often observed. We present a complete proof-of-principle software stack that automates most aspects of selected reaction monitoring workflows, a targeted proteomics technology. The software allows experiments to be easily designed and carried out. The steps automated are the generation of assays, generation of mass spectrometry driver files and methods files, and the import and analysis of the data. All data are normalized to a common retention time scale, the data are then scored using a novel score model, and the error is subsequently estimated. We also show that selected reaction monitoring can be used for label-free quantification. All data generated are stored in a relational database, and the growing resource further facilitates the design of new experiments. We apply the technology to a large-scale experiment studying how Streptococcus pyogenes remodels its proteome under stimulation of human plasma.
Extending SME to Handle Large-Scale Cognitive Modeling.
Forbus, Kenneth D; Ferguson, Ronald W; Lovett, Andrew; Gentner, Dedre
Analogy and similarity are central phenomena in human cognition, involved in processes ranging from visual perception to conceptual change. To capture this centrality requires that a model of comparison must be able to integrate with other processes and handle the size and complexity of the representations required by the tasks being modeled. This paper describes extensions to Structure-Mapping Engine (SME) since its inception in 1986 that have increased its scope of operation. We first review the basic SME algorithm, describe psychological evidence for SME as a process model, and summarize its role in simulating similarity-based retrieval and generalization. Then we describe five techniques now incorporated into the SME that have enabled it to tackle large-scale modeling tasks: (a) Greedy merging rapidly constructs one or more best interpretations of a match in polynomial time: O(n(2) log(n)); (b) Incremental operation enables mappings to be extended as new information is retrieved or derived about the base or target, to model situations where information in a task is updated over time; (c) Ubiquitous predicates model the varying degrees to which items may suggest alignment; (d) Structural evaluation of analogical inferences models aspects of plausibility judgments; (e) Match filters enable large-scale task models to communicate constraints to SME to influence the mapping process. We illustrate via examples from published studies how these enable it to capture a broader range of psychological phenomena than before.
Large-scale structure formation with global topological defects
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Durrer, Ruth; Zhou, Zhi-Hong
We investigate cosmological structure formation seeded by topological defects which may form during a phase transition in the early Universe. First, we derive a partially new, local, and gauge-invariant system of perturbation equations to treat microwave background and dark matter fluctuations induced by topological defects or any other type of seeds. We then show that this system is well suited for numerical analysis of structure formation by applying it to seeds induced by fluctuations of a global scalar field. Our numerical results cover a larger dynamical range than those covered by previous investigations and are complementary to them since we use substantially different methods. The resulting microwave background fluctuations are compatible with older simulations. We also obtain a scale-invariant spectrum of fluctuations although with somewhat higher amplitude. On the other hand, our dark matter results yield a smaller bias parameter compatible with b~2 on scales of 20h-1 Mpc in contrast with previous work which yielded larger bias factors. Our conclusions are thus more positive. According to the aspects analyzed in this work, global topological defect-induced fluctuations yield viable scenarios of structure formation and do better than standard CDM on large scales.
Bio-Inspired Wooden Actuators for Large Scale Applications
Rüggeberg, Markus; Burgert, Ingo
Implementing programmable actuation into materials and structures is a major topic in the field of smart materials. In particular the bilayer principle has been employed to develop actuators that respond to various kinds of stimuli. A multitude of small scale applications down to micrometer size have been developed, but up-scaling remains challenging due to either limitations in mechanical stiffness of the material or in the manufacturing processes. Here, we demonstrate the actuation of wooden bilayers in response to changes in relative humidity, making use of the high material stiffness and a good machinability to reach large scale actuation and application. Amplitude and response time of the actuation were measured and can be predicted and controlled by adapting the geometry and the constitution of the bilayers. Field tests in full weathering conditions revealed long-term stability of the actuation. The potential of the concept is shown by a first demonstrator. With the sensor and actuator intrinsically incorporated in the wooden bilayers, the daily change in relative humidity is exploited for an autonomous and solar powered movement of a tracker for solar modules. PMID:25835386
High-throughput solution processing of large-scale graphene.
Tung, Vincent C; Allen, Matthew J; Yang, Yang; Kaner, Richard B
The electronic properties of graphene, such as high charge carrier concentrations and mobilities, make it a promising candidate for next-generation nanoelectronic devices. In particular, electrons and holes can undergo ballistic transport on the sub-micrometre scale in graphene and do not suffer from the scale limitations of current MOSFET technologies. However, it is still difficult to produce single-layer samples of graphene and bulk processing has not yet been achieved, despite strenuous efforts to develop a scalable production method. Here, we report a versatile solution-based process for the large-scale production of single-layer chemically converted graphene over the entire area of a silicon/SiO(2) wafer. By dispersing graphite oxide paper in pure hydrazine we were able to remove oxygen functionalities and restore the planar geometry of the single sheets. The chemically converted graphene sheets that were produced have the largest area reported to date (up to 20 x 40 microm), making them far easier to process. Field-effect devices have been fabricated by conventional photolithography, displaying currents that are three orders of magnitude higher than previously reported for chemically produced graphene. The size of these sheets enables a wide range of characterization techniques, including optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, to be performed on the same specimen.
High-throughput solution processing of large-scale graphene
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tung, Vincent C.; Allen, Matthew J.; Yang, Yang; Kaner, Richard B.
The electronic properties of graphene, such as high charge carrier concentrations and mobilities, make it a promising candidate for next-generation nanoelectronic devices. In particular, electrons and holes can undergo ballistic transport on the sub-micrometre scale in graphene and do not suffer from the scale limitations of current MOSFET technologies. However, it is still difficult to produce single-layer samples of graphene and bulk processing has not yet been achieved, despite strenuous efforts to develop a scalable production method. Here, we report a versatile solution-based process for the large-scale production of single-layer chemically converted graphene over the entire area of a silicon/SiO2 wafer. By dispersing graphite oxide paper in pure hydrazine we were able to remove oxygen functionalities and restore the planar geometry of the single sheets. The chemically converted graphene sheets that were produced have the largest area reported to date (up to 20 × 40 µm), making them far easier to process. Field-effect devices have been fabricated by conventional photolithography, displaying currents that are three orders of magnitude higher than previously reported for chemically produced graphene. The size of these sheets enables a wide range of characterization techniques, including optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, to be performed on the same specimen.
Modeling emergent large-scale structures of barchan dune fields
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Worman, S. L.; Murray, A. B.; Littlewood, R.; Andreotti, B.; Claudin, P.
In nature, barchan dunes typically exist as members of larger fields that display striking, enigmatic structures that cannot be readily explained by examining the dynamics at the scale of single dunes, or by appealing to patterns in external forcing. To explore the possibility that observed structures emerge spontaneously as a collective result of many dunes interacting with each other, we built a numerical model that treats barchans as discrete entities that interact with one another according to simplified rules derived from theoretical and numerical work and from field observations: (1) Dunes exchange sand through the fluxes that leak from the downwind side of each dune and are captured on their upstream sides; (2) when dunes become sufficiently large, small dunes are born on their downwind sides (`calving'); and (3) when dunes collide directly enough, they merge. Results show that these relatively simple interactions provide potential explanations for a range of field-scale phenomena including isolated patches of dunes and heterogeneous arrangements of similarly sized dunes in denser fields. The results also suggest that (1) dune field characteristics depend on the sand flux fed into the upwind boundary, although (2) moving downwind, the system approaches a common attracting state in which the memory of the upwind conditions vanishes. This work supports the hypothesis that calving exerts a first-order control on field-scale phenomena; it prevents individual dunes from growing without bound, as single-dune analyses suggest, and allows the formation of roughly realistic, persistent dune field patterns.
Modeling emergent large-scale structures of barchan dune fields
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Worman, S. L.; Murray, A.; Littlewood, R. C.; Andreotti, B.; Claudin, P.
In nature, barchan dunes typically exist as members of larger fields that display striking, enigmatic structures that cannot be readily explained by examining the dynamics at the scale of single dunes, or by appealing to patterns in external forcing. To explore the possibility that observed structures emerge spontaneously as a collective result of many dunes interacting with each other, we built a numerical model that treats barchans as discrete entities that interact with one another according to simplified rules derived from theoretical and numerical work, and from field observations: Dunes exchange sand through the fluxes that leak from the downwind side of each dune and are captured on their upstream sides; when dunes become sufficiently large, small dunes are born on their downwind sides ('calving'); and when dunes collide directly enough, they merge. Results show that these relatively simple interactions provide potential explanations for a range of field-scale phenomena including isolated patches of dunes and heterogeneous arrangements of similarly sized dunes in denser fields. The results also suggest that (1) dune field characteristics depend on the sand flux fed into the upwind boundary, although (2) moving downwind, the system approaches a common attracting state in which the memory of the upwind conditions vanishes. This work supports the hypothesis that calving exerts a first order control on field-scale phenomena; it prevents individual dunes from growing without bound, as single-dune analyses suggest, and allows the formation of roughly realistic, persistent dune field patterns.
Bio-inspired wooden actuators for large scale applications.
Rüggeberg, Markus; Burgert, Ingo
Implementing programmable actuation into materials and structures is a major topic in the field of smart materials. In particular the bilayer principle has been employed to develop actuators that respond to various kinds of stimuli. A multitude of small scale applications down to micrometer size have been developed, but up-scaling remains challenging due to either limitations in mechanical stiffness of the material or in the manufacturing processes. Here, we demonstrate the actuation of wooden bilayers in response to changes in relative humidity, making use of the high material stiffness and a good machinability to reach large scale actuation and application. Amplitude and response time of the actuation were measured and can be predicted and controlled by adapting the geometry and the constitution of the bilayers. Field tests in full weathering conditions revealed long-term stability of the actuation. The potential of the concept is shown by a first demonstrator. With the sensor and actuator intrinsically incorporated in the wooden bilayers, the daily change in relative humidity is exploited for an autonomous and solar powered movement of a tracker for solar modules.
Inflationary tensor fossils in large-scale structure
Dimastrogiovanni, Emanuela; Fasiello, Matteo; Jeong, Donghui; Kamionkowski, Marc E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Inflation models make specific predictions for a tensor-scalar-scalar three-point correlation, or bispectrum, between one gravitational-wave (tensor) mode and two density-perturbation (scalar) modes. This tensor-scalar-scalar correlation leads to a local power quadrupole, an apparent departure from statistical isotropy in our Universe, as well as characteristic four-point correlations in the current mass distribution in the Universe. So far, the predictions for these observables have been worked out only for single-clock models in which certain consistency conditions between the tensor-scalar-scalar correlation and tensor and scalar power spectra are satisfied. Here we review the requirements on inflation models for these consistency conditions to be satisfied. We then consider several examples of inflation models, such as non-attractor and solid-inflation models, in which these conditions are put to the test. In solid inflation the simplest consistency conditions are already violated whilst in the non-attractor model we find that, contrary to the standard scenario, the tensor-scalar-scalar correlator probes directly relevant model-dependent information. We work out the predictions for observables in these models. For non-attractor inflation we find an apparent local quadrupolar departure from statistical isotropy in large-scale structure but that this power quadrupole decreases very rapidly at smaller scales. The consistency of the CMB quadrupole with statistical isotropy then constrains the distance scale that corresponds to the transition from the non-attractor to attractor phase of inflation to be larger than the currently observable horizon. Solid inflation predicts clustering fossils signatures in the current galaxy distribution that may be large enough to be detectable with forthcoming, and possibly even current, galaxy surveys.
Making Large-Scale Networks from fMRI Data
Schmittmann, Verena D.; Jahfari, Sara; Borsboom, Denny; Savi, Alexander O.; Waldorp, Lourens J.
Pairwise correlations are currently a popular way to estimate a large-scale network (> 1000 nodes) from functional magnetic resonance imaging data. However, this approach generally results in a poor representation of the true underlying network. The reason is that pairwise correlations cannot distinguish between direct and indirect connectivity. As a result, pairwise correlation networks can lead to fallacious conclusions; for example, one may conclude that a network is a small-world when it is not. In a simulation study and an application to resting-state fMRI data, we compare the performance of pairwise correlations in large-scale networks (2000 nodes) against three other methods that are designed to filter out indirect connections. Recovery methods are evaluated in four simulated network topologies (small world or not, scale-free or not) in scenarios where the number of observations is very small compared to the number of nodes. Simulations clearly show that pairwise correlation networks are fragmented into separate unconnected components with excessive connectedness within components. This often leads to erroneous estimates of network metrics, like small-world structures or low betweenness centrality, and produces too many low-degree nodes. We conclude that using partial correlations, informed by a sparseness penalty, results in more accurate networks and corresponding metrics than pairwise correlation networks. However, even with these methods, the presence of hubs in the generating network can be problematic if the number of observations is too small. Additionally, we show for resting-state fMRI that partial correlations are more robust than correlations to different parcellation sets and to different lengths of time-series. PMID:26325185
Nanomaterials processing toward large-scale flexible/stretchable electronics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Takahashi, Toshitake
In recent years, there has been tremendous progress in large-scale mechanically flexible electronics, where electrical components are fabricated on non-crystalline substrates such as plastics and glass. These devices are currently serving as the basis for various applications such as flat-panel displays, smart cards, and wearable electronics. In this thesis, a promising approach using chemically synthesized nanomaterials is explored to overcome various obstacles current technology faces in this field. Here, we use chemically synthesized semiconducting nanowires (NWs) including group IV (Si, Ge), III-V (InAs) and II-IV (CdS, CdSe) NWs, and semiconductor-enriched SWNTs (99 % purity), and developed reliable, controllable, and more importantly uniform assembly methods on 4-inch wafer-scale flexible substrates in the form of either parallel NW arrays or SWNT random networks, which act as the active components in thin film transistors (TFTs). Thusly obtained TFTs composed of nanomaterials show respectable electrical and optical properties such as 1) cut-off frequency, ft ~ 1 GHz and maximum frequency of oscillation, fmax ~ 1.8 GHz from InAs parallel NW array TFTs with channel length of ~ 1.5 μm, 2) photodetectors covering visible wavelengths (500-700 nm) using compositionally graded CdSxSe1-x (0 < x < 1) parallel NW arrays, and 3) carrier mobility of ~ 20 cm2/Vs, which is an order of magnitude larger than conventional TFT materials such as a-Si and organic semiconductors, without sacrificing current on/off ratio (Ion/Ioff ~ 104) from SWNT network TFTs. The capability to uniformly assemble nanomaterials over large-scale flexible substrates enables us to use them for more sophisticated applications. Artificial electronic skin (e-skin) is demonstrated by laminating pressure sensitive rubber on top of nanomaterial-based active matrix backplanes. Furthermore, an x-ray imaging device is also achieved by combining organic photodiodes with this backplane technology.
Ecosystem resilience despite large-scale altered hydroclimatic conditions.
Ponce Campos, Guillermo E; Moran, M Susan; Huete, Alfredo; Zhang, Yongguang; Bresloff, Cynthia; Huxman, Travis E; Eamus, Derek; Bosch, David D; Buda, Anthony R; Gunter, Stacey A; Scalley, Tamara Heartsill; Kitchen, Stanley G; McClaran, Mitchel P; McNab, W Henry; Montoya, Diane S; Morgan, Jack A; Peters, Debra P C; Sadler, E John; Seyfried, Mark S; Starks, Patrick J
Climate change is predicted to increase both drought frequency and duration, and when coupled with substantial warming, will establish a new hydroclimatological model for many regions. Large-scale, warm droughts have recently occurred in North America, Africa, Europe, Amazonia and Australia, resulting in major effects on terrestrial ecosystems, carbon balance and food security. Here we compare the functional response of above-ground net primary production to contrasting hydroclimatic periods in the late twentieth century (1975-1998), and drier, warmer conditions in the early twenty-first century (2000-2009) in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. We find a common ecosystem water-use efficiency (WUE(e): above-ground net primary production/evapotranspiration) across biomes ranging from grassland to forest that indicates an intrinsic system sensitivity to water availability across rainfall regimes, regardless of hydroclimatic conditions. We found higher WUE(e) in drier years that increased significantly with drought to a maximum WUE(e) across all biomes; and a minimum native state in wetter years that was common across hydroclimatic periods. This indicates biome-scale resilience to the interannual variability associated with the early twenty-first century drought--that is, the capacity to tolerate low, annual precipitation and to respond to subsequent periods of favourable water balance. These findings provide a conceptual model of ecosystem properties at the decadal scale applicable to the widespread altered hydroclimatic conditions that are predicted for later this century. Understanding the hydroclimatic threshold that will break down ecosystem resilience and alter maximum WUE(e) may allow us to predict land-surface consequences as large regions become more arid, starting with water-limited, low-productivity grasslands.
Planar Doppler Velocimetry for Large-Scale Wind Tunnel Testing
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
McKenzie, Robert L.
Recently, Planar Doppler Velocimetry (PDV) has been shown by several laboratories to offer an attractive means for measuring three-dimensional velocity vectors everywhere in a light sheet placed in a flow. Unlike other optical means of measuring flow velocities, PDV is particularly attractive for use in large wind tunnels where distances to the sample region may be several meters, because it does not require the spatial resolution and tracking of individual scattering particles or the alignment of crossed beams at large distances. To date, demonstrations of PDV have been made either in low speed flows without quantitative comparison to other measurements, or in supersonic flows where the Doppler shift is large and its measurement is relatively insensitive to instrumental errors. Moreover, most reported applications have relied on the use of continuous-wave lasers, which limit the measurement to time-averaged velocity fields. This work summarizes the results of two previous studies of PDV in which the use of pulsed lasers to obtain instantaneous velocity vector fields is evaluated. The objective has been to quantitatively define and demonstrate PDV capabilities for applications in large-scale wind tunnels that are intended primarily for the production testing of subsonic aircraft. For such applications, the adequate resolution of low-speed flow fields requires accurate measurements of small Doppler shifts that are obtained at distances of several meters from the sample region. The use of pulsed lasers provides the unique capability to obtain not only time-averaged fields, but also their statistical fluctuation amplitudes and the spatial excursions of unsteady flow regions such as wakes and separations. To accomplish the objectives indicated, the PDV measurement process is first modeled and its performance evaluated computationally. The noise sources considered include those related to the optical and electronic properties of Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) arrays and to
Large-scale mass distribution in the Illustris simulation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Haider, M.; Steinhauser, D.; Vogelsberger, M.; Genel, S.; Springel, V.; Torrey, P.; Hernquist, L.
Observations at low redshifts thus far fail to account for all of the baryons expected in the Universe according to cosmological constraints. A large fraction of the baryons presumably resides in a thin and warm-hot medium between the galaxies, where they are difficult to observe due to their low densities and high temperatures. Cosmological simulations of structure formation can be used to verify this picture and provide quantitative predictions for the distribution of mass in different large-scale structure components. Here we study the distribution of baryons and dark matter at different epochs using data from the Illustris simulation. We identify regions of different dark matter density with the primary constituents of large-scale structure, allowing us to measure mass and volume of haloes, filaments and voids. At redshift zero, we find that 49 per cent of the dark matter and 23 per cent of the baryons are within haloes more massive than the resolution limit of 2 × 108 M⊙. The filaments of the cosmic web host a further 45 per cent of the dark matter and 46 per cent of the baryons. The remaining 31 per cent of the baryons reside in voids. The majority of these baryons have been transported there through active galactic nuclei feedback. We note that the feedback model of Illustris is too strong for heavy haloes, therefore it is likely that we are overestimating this amount. Categorizing the baryons according to their density and temperature, we find that 17.8 per cent of them are in a condensed state, 21.6 per cent are present as cold, diffuse gas, and 53.9 per cent are found in the state of a warm-hot intergalactic medium.
Local Large-Scale Structure and the Assumption of Homogeneity
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Keenan, Ryan C.; Barger, Amy J.; Cowie, Lennox L.
Our recent estimates of galaxy counts and the luminosity density in the near-infrared (Keenan et al. 2010, 2012) indicated that the local universe may be under-dense on radial scales of several hundred megaparsecs. Such a large-scale local under-density could introduce significant biases in the measurement and interpretation of cosmological observables, such as the inferred effects of dark energy on the rate of expansion. In Keenan et al. (2013), we measured the K-band luminosity density as a function of distance from us to test for such a local under-density. We made this measurement over the redshift range 0.01 < z < 0.2 (radial distances D ~ 50 - 800 h 70 -1 Mpc). We found that the shape of the K-band luminosity function is relatively constant as a function of distance and environment. We derive a local (z < 0.07, D < 300 h 70 -1 Mpc) K-band luminosity density that agrees well with previously published studies. At z > 0.07, we measure an increasing luminosity density that by z ~ 0.1 rises to a value of ~ 1.5 times higher than that measured locally. This implies that the stellar mass density follows a similar trend. Assuming that the underlying dark matter distribution is traced by this luminous matter, this suggests that the local mass density may be lower than the global mass density of the universe at an amplitude and on a scale that is sufficient to introduce significant biases into the measurement of basic cosmological observables. At least one study has shown that an under-density of roughly this amplitude and scale could resolve the apparent tension between direct local measurements of the Hubble constant and those inferred by Planck team. Other theoretical studies have concluded that such an under-density could account for what looks like an accelerating expansion, even when no dark energy is present.
Large scale steam valve test: Performance testing of large butterfly valves and full scale high flowrate steam testing
Meadows, J.B.; Robbins, G.E.; Roselius, D.G.
This report presents the results of the design testing of large (36-inch diameter) butterfly valves under high flow conditions. The two butterfly valves were pneumatically operated air-open, air-shut valves (termed valves 1 and 2). These butterfly valves were redesigned to improve their ability to function under high flow conditions. Concern was raised regarding the ability of the butterfly valves to function as required with high flow-induced torque imposed on the valve discs during high steam flow conditions. High flow testing was required to address the flow-induced torque concerns. The valve testing was done using a heavily instrumented piping system. This test program was called the Large Scale Steam Valve Test (LSSVT). The LSSVT program demonstrated that the redesigned valves operated satisfactorily under high flow conditions.
Internal dose following a large-scale nuclear war
Peterson, K.R.; Shapiro, C.S.; Harvey, T.F.
In this study, we use the PATHWAY model, in conjunction with a reasonable hypothetical nuclear attack on the US to arrive at calculations of internal and external dose estimates that are based on valid model results. Our own estimates are presented with calculational aids (at every step) that enable readers to use their own nuclear war scenarios, fallout patterns, assumptions about the climatic changes brought on by large fires following a nuclear attack, the viability of the transportation system for food delivery, the quality and quantity of water and foods available locally, the required caloric intakes of the survivors, and several other factors. We conclude that the average American family that survived a large-scale nuclear war, using their own home or workplace as a refuge, would receive a total internal dose from ingestion that is from one to 10 percent of the total external dose. Those who stayed where shelter protection factors and foraged food consumption were large could receive internal doses from 11 percent to more than 100% of the total external dose. 28 refs., 9 figs.
Tools for Interpreting Large-Scale Protein Profiling in Microbiology
Hendrickson, E. L.; Lamont, R. J.; Hackett, M.
Quantitative proteome analysis of microbial systems generates large datasets that can be difficult and time consuming to interpret. Fortunately, many of the data display and gene clustering tools developed to analyze large transcriptome microarray datasets are also applicable to proteomes. Plots of abundance ratio versus total signal or spectral counts can highlight regions of random error and putative change. Displaying data in the physical order of the genes in the genome sequence can highlight potential operons. At a basic level of transcriptional organization, identifying operons can give insights into regulatory pathways as well as provide corroborating evidence for proteomic results. Classification and clustering algorithms can group proteins together by their abundance changes under different conditions, helping to identify interesting expression patterns, but often work poorly with noisy data like that typically generated in a large-scale proteome analysis. Biological interpretation can be aided more directly by overlaying differential protein abundance data onto metabolic pathways, indicating pathways with altered activities. More broadly, ontology tools detect altered levels of protein abundance for different metabolic pathways, molecular functions and cellular localizations. In practice, pathway analysis and ontology are limited by the level of database curation associated with the organism of interest. PMID:18946006
Detector architecture of the cosmology large angular scale surveyor
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Rostem, K.; Bennett, C. L.; Chuss, D. T.; Costen, N.; Crowe, E.; Denis, K. L.; Eimer, J. R.; Lourie, N.; Essinger-Hileman, T.; Marriage, T. A.; Moseley, S. H.; Stevenson, T. R.; Towner, D. W.; Voellmer, G.; Wollack, E. J.; Zeng, L.
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) provides a powerful tool for testing modern cosmology. In particular, if inflation has occurred, the associated gravitational waves would have imprinted a specific polarized pattern on the CMB. Measurement of this faint polarized signature requires large arrays of polarization-sensitive, background- limited detectors, and an unprecedented control over systematic effects associated with instrument design. To this end, the ground-based Cosmology Large Angular Scale Surveyor (CLASS) employs large-format, feedhorn- coupled, background-limited Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) bolometer arrays operating at 40, 90, and 150 GHz bands. The detector architecture has several enabling technologies. An on-chip symmetric planar orthomode transducer (OMT) is employed that allows for highly symmetric beams and low cross-polarization over a wide bandwidth. Furthermore, the quarter-wave backshort of the OMT is integrated using an innovative indium bump bonding process at the chip level that ensures minimum loss, maximum repeatability and performance uniformity across an array. Care has been taken to reduce stray light and on-chip leakage. In this paper, we report on the architecture and performance of the first prototype detectors for the 40 GHz focal plane.
Decentralization, stabilization, and estimation of large-scale linear systems
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Siljak, D. D.; Vukcevic, M. B.
In this short paper we consider three closely related aspects of large-scale systems: decentralization, stabilization, and estimation. A method is proposed to decompose a large linear system into a number of interconnected subsystems with decentralized (scalar) inputs or outputs. The procedure is preliminary to the hierarchic stabilization and estimation of linear systems and is performed on the subsystem level. A multilevel control scheme based upon the decomposition-aggregation method is developed for stabilization of input-decentralized linear systems Local linear feedback controllers are used to stabilize each decoupled subsystem, while global linear feedback controllers are utilized to minimize the coupling effect among the subsystems. Systems stabilized by the method have a tolerance to a wide class of nonlinearities in subsystem coupling and high reliability with respect to structural perturbations. The proposed output-decentralization and stabilization schemes can be used directly to construct asymptotic state estimators for large linear systems on the subsystem level. The problem of dimensionality is resolved by constructing a number of low-order estimators, thus avoiding a design of a single estimator for the overall system.
Testing LSST Dither Strategies for Large-scale Structure Systematics
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Awan, Humna; Gawiser, Eric J.; Kurczynski, Peter
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will start a ten-year survey of the southern sky in 2022. Since the telescope observing strategy can lead to artifacts in the observed data, we undertake an investigation of implementing large telescope-pointing offsets (called dithers) as a means to minimize the induced artifacts. We implement various types of dithers, varying in both implementation timescale and the dither geometry, and examine their effects on the r-band coadded depth after the 10-year survey. Then we propagate the depth fluctuations to galaxy counts fluctuations, which are a systematic for large-scale structure studies. We show that the observing strategies induce window function uncertainties which set a constraint on the level of information we can extract from an optimized survey to precisely measure Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations at high redshifts. We find that the best dither strategies lead to window function uncertainties well below the minimum statistical uncertainty after the 10 years of survey, hence not requiring any systematics correction methods. While the systematics level is considerably higher after the first year of the survey, dithering can play a critical role in reducing it. We also explore different cadences, and demonstrate that the best dither strategies minimize the window function uncertainties for various cadences.
Uplink channel estimation error for large scale MIMO system
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Albdran, Saleh; Alshammari, Ahmad; Matin, Mohammad
The high demand on the wireless networks and the need for higher data rates are the motivation to develop new technologies. Recently, the idea of using large-scale MIMO systems has grabbed great attention from the researchers due to its high spectral and energy efficiency. In this paper, we analyze the UL channel estimation error using large number of antennas in the base station where the UL channel is based on predefined pilot signal. By making a comparison between the identified UL pilot signal and the received UL signal we can get the realization of the channel. We choose to deal with one cell scenario where the effect of inter-cell interference is eliminated for the sake of studying simple approach. While the number of antennas is very large in the base station side, we choose to have one antennal in the user terminal side. We choose to have two models to generate the channel covariance matrix includes one-ring model and exponential correlation model. Figures of channel estimation error are generated where the performance of the mean square error MSE per antenna is presented as a function signal to noise ratio SNR. The simulation results show that the higher the SNR the better the performance. Furthermore, the affect of the pilot length on the channel estimation error is studied where two different covariance models are used to see the impact of the two cases. In the two cases, the increase of the pilot length has improved the estimation accuracy.
IRAM 30 m Large Scale Survey of 12CO(2-1) and 13CO(2-1) Emission in the Orion Molecular Cloud
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Berné, O.; Marcelino, N.; Cernicharo, J.
Using the IRAM 30 m telescope, we have surveyed a 1 × 0.°8 part of the Orion molecular cloud in the 12CO and 13CO (2-1) lines with a maximal spatial resolution of ~11'' and spectral resolution of ~0.4 km s-1. The cloud appears filamentary, clumpy, and with a complex kinematical structure. We derive an estimated mass of the cloud of 7700 M ⊙ (half of which is found in regions with visual extinctions AV below ~10) and a dynamical age for the nebula of the order of 0.2 Myr. The energy balance suggests that magnetic fields play an important role in supporting the cloud, at large and small scales. According to our analysis, the turbulent kinetic energy in the molecular gas due to outflows is comparable to turbulent kinetic energy resulting from the interaction of the cloud with the H II region. This latter feedback appears negative, i.e., the triggering of star formation by the H II region is inefficient in Orion. The reduced data as well as additional products such as the column density map are made available online (http://userpages.irap.omp.eu/~oberne/Olivier_Berne/Data).
Industrialization of lipid nanoparticles: From laboratory-scale to large-scale production line.
Hu, Caibiao; Qian, Airui; Wang, Qiang; Xu, Feng; He, Yi; Xu, Jing; Xia, Yongchang; Xia, Qiang
This work aimed at developing a large-scale modular production line, which referred to coenzyme Q10 loaded-NLC as well as its continuous and scalable emulsification and homogenization process. The production line exhibited good control over the emulsification and homogenization process and enabled the particle size of NLC below 210nm at a throughput of 25kg/h (for lipid solution at a flow rate of 0.4kg/min). Among the several process parameters investigated, the size of the NLC was mainly influenced by the pre-emulsification temperature, homogenization pressure and homogenization. Suitable emulsification temperature (70°C), homogenization pressure (600, 800bar), and homogenization cycle (3, 4cycles) resulted in relatively smaller particles. These results proved that coenzyme Q10, a model active, had been successfully loaded into the NLC. Meanwhile, the large-scale production line can be effectively applied for continuous and modular production of NLC. The line had modern networking features-essential in the Internet age-and a modular design that was easily modified and upgraded. In addition, the long-term stability over 6month was monitored at 30°C and at 40°C to assess a potential effect of the laboratory scale and large scale on stability. All batches at room temperature and below were stable, and only a negligible increase in size was observed.
Climatological context for large-scale coral bleaching
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Barton, A. D.; Casey, K. S.
Large-scale coral bleaching was first observed in 1979 and has occurred throughout virtually all of the tropics since that time. Severe bleaching may result in the loss of live coral and in a decline of the integrity of the impacted coral reef ecosystem. Despite the extensive scientific research and increased public awareness of coral bleaching, uncertainties remain about the past and future of large-scale coral bleaching. In order to reduce these uncertainties and place large-scale coral bleaching in the longer-term climatological context, specific criteria and methods for using historical sea surface temperature (SST) data to examine coral bleaching-related thermal conditions are proposed by analyzing three, 132 year SST reconstructions: ERSST, HadISST1, and GISST2.3b. These methodologies are applied to case studies at Discovery Bay, Jamaica (77.27°W, 18.45°N), Sombrero Reef, Florida, USA (81.11°W, 24.63°N), Academy Bay, Galápagos, Ecuador (90.31°W, 0.74°S), Pearl and Hermes Reef, Northwest Hawaiian Islands, USA (175.83°W, 27.83°N), Midway Island, Northwest Hawaiian Islands, USA (177.37°W, 28.25°N), Davies Reef, Australia (147.68°E, 18.83°S), and North Male Atoll, Maldives (73.35°E, 4.70°N). The results of this study show that (1) The historical SST data provide a useful long-term record of thermal conditions in reef ecosystems, giving important insight into the thermal history of coral reefs and (2) While coral bleaching and anomalously warm SSTs have occurred over much of the world in recent decades, case studies in the Caribbean, Northwest Hawaiian Islands, and parts of other regions such as the Great Barrier Reef exhibited SST conditions and cumulative thermal stress prior to 1979 that were comparable to those conditions observed during the strong, frequent coral bleaching events since 1979. This climatological context and knowledge of past environmental conditions in reef ecosystems may foster a better understanding of how coral reefs will
Large-scale dimension densities for heart rate variability analysis
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Raab, Corinna; Wessel, Niels; Schirdewan, Alexander; Kurths, Jürgen
In this work, we reanalyze the heart rate variability (HRV) data from the 2002 Computers in Cardiology (CiC) Challenge using the concept of large-scale dimension densities and additionally apply this technique to data of healthy persons and of patients with cardiac diseases. The large-scale dimension density (LASDID) is estimated from the time series using a normalized Grassberger-Procaccia algorithm, which leads to a suitable correction of systematic errors produced by boundary effects in the rather large scales of a system. This way, it is possible to analyze rather short, nonstationary, and unfiltered data, such as HRV. Moreover, this method allows us to analyze short parts of the data and to look for differences between day and night. The circadian changes in the dimension density enable us to distinguish almost completely between real data and computer-generated data from the CiC 2002 challenge using only one parameter. In the second part we analyzed the data of 15 patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), 15 patients with congestive heart failure (CHF), 15 elderly healthy subjects (EH), as well as 18 young and healthy persons (YH). With our method we are able to separate completely the AF (ρlsμ=0.97±0.02) group from the others and, especially during daytime, the CHF patients show significant differences from the young and elderly healthy volunteers (CHF, 0.65±0.13 ; EH, 0.54±0.05 ; YH, 0.57±0.05 ; p<0.05 for both comparisons). Moreover, for the CHF patients we find no circadian changes in ρlsμ (day, 0.65±0.13 ; night, 0.66±0.12 ; n.s.) in contrast to healthy controls (day, 0.54±0.05 ; night, 0.61±0.05 ; p=0.002 ). Correlation analysis showed no statistical significant relation between standard HRV and circadian LASDID, demonstrating a possibly independent application of our method for clinical risk stratification.
Reconstructing Information in Large-Scale Structure via Logarithmic Mapping
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Szapudi, Istvan
We propose to develop a new method to extract information from large-scale structure data combining two-point statistics and non-linear transformations; before, this information was available only with substantially more complex higher-order statistical methods. Initially, most of the cosmological information in large-scale structure lies in two-point statistics. With non- linear evolution, some of that useful information leaks into higher-order statistics. The PI and group has shown in a series of theoretical investigations how that leakage occurs, and explained the Fisher information plateau at smaller scales. This plateau means that even as more modes are added to the measurement of the power spectrum, the total cumulative information (loosely speaking the inverse errorbar) is not increasing. Recently we have shown in Neyrinck et al. (2009, 2010) that a logarithmic (and a related Gaussianization or Box-Cox) transformation on the non-linear Dark Matter or galaxy field reconstructs a surprisingly large fraction of this missing Fisher information of the initial conditions. This was predicted by the earlier wave mechanical formulation of gravitational dynamics by Szapudi & Kaiser (2003). The present proposal is focused on working out the theoretical underpinning of the method to a point that it can be used in practice to analyze data. In particular, one needs to deal with the usual real-life issues of galaxy surveys, such as complex geometry, discrete sam- pling (Poisson or sub-Poisson noise), bias (linear, or non-linear, deterministic, or stochastic), redshift distortions, pro jection effects for 2D samples, and the effects of photometric redshift errors. We will develop methods for weak lensing and Sunyaev-Zeldovich power spectra as well, the latter specifically targetting Planck. In addition, we plan to investigate the question of residual higher- order information after the non-linear mapping, and possible applications for cosmology. Our aim will be to work out
Sampling small-scale and large-scale conformational changes in proteins and molecular complexes
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Yun, Mi-Ran; Mousseau, N.; Derreumaux, P.
Sampling of small-scale and large-scale motions is important in various computational tasks, such as protein-protein docking and ligand binding. Here, we report further development and applications of the activation-relaxation technique for internal coordinate space trajectories (ARTIST). This method generates conformational moves of any complexity and size by identifying and crossing well-defined saddle points connecting energy minima. Simulations on two all-atom proteins and three protein complexes containing between 70 and 300 amino acids indicate that ARTIST opens the door to the full treatment of all degrees of freedom in dense systems such as protein-protein complexes.
Rapid large-scale oligonucleotide selection for microarrays.
Rahmann, Sven
We present the first algorithm that selects oligonucleotide probes (e.g. 25-mers) for microarray experiments on a large scale. For example, oligos for human genes can be found within 50 hours. This becomes possible by using the longest common substring as a specificity measure for candidate oligos. We present an algorithm based on a suffix array with additional information that is efficient both in terms of memory usage and running time to rank all candidate oligos according to their specificity. We also introduce the concept of master sequences to describe the sequences from which oligos are to be selected. Constraints such as oligo length, melting temperature, and self-complementarity are incorporated in the master sequence at a preprocessing stage and thus kept separate from the main selection problem. As a result, custom oligos can now be designed for any sequenced genome, just as the technology for on-site chip synthesis is becoming increasingly mature.
Lightweight computational steering of very large scale molecular dynamics simulations
Beazley, D.M.; Lomdahl, P.S.
We present a computational steering approach for controlling, analyzing, and visualizing very large scale molecular dynamics simulations involving tens to hundreds of millions of atoms. Our approach relies on extensible scripting languages and an easy to use tool for building extensions and modules. The system is extremely easy to modify, works with existing C code, is memory efficient, and can be used from inexpensive workstations and networks. We demonstrate how we have used this system to manipulate data from production MD simulations involving as many as 104 million atoms running on the CM-5 and Cray T3D. We also show how this approach can be used to build systems that integrate common scripting languages (including Tcl/Tk, Perl, and Python), simulation code, user extensions, and commercial data analysis packages.
Scalable parallel distance field construction for large-scale applications
Yu, Hongfeng; Xie, Jinrong; Ma, Kwan -Liu; Kolla, Hemanth; Chen, Jacqueline H.
Computing distance fields is fundamental to many scientific and engineering applications. Distance fields can be used to direct analysis and reduce data. In this paper, we present a highly scalable method for computing 3D distance fields on massively parallel distributed-memory machines. Anew distributed spatial data structure, named parallel distance tree, is introduced to manage the level sets of data and facilitate surface tracking overtime, resulting in significantly reduced computation and communication costs for calculating the distance to the surface of interest from any spatial locations. Our method supports several data types and distance metrics from real-world applications. We demonstrate its efficiency and scalability on state-of-the-art supercomputers using both large-scale volume datasets and surface models. We also demonstrate in-situ distance field computation on dynamic turbulent flame surfaces for a petascale combustion simulation. In conclusion, our work greatly extends the usability of distance fields for demanding applications.
Large scale structure of the globular cluster population in Coma
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gagliano, Alexander T.; O'Neill, Conor; Madrid, Juan P.
A search for globular cluster candidates in the Coma Cluster was carried out using Hubble Space Telescope data taken with the Advanced Camera for Surveys. We combine different observing programs including the Coma Treasury Survey in order to obtain the large scale distribution of globular clusters in Coma. Globular cluster candidates were selected through careful morphological inspection and a detailed analysis of their magnitude and colors in the two available wavebands, F475W (Sloan g) and F814W (I). Color Magnitude Diagrams, radial density plots and density maps were then created to characterize the globular cluster population in Coma. Preliminary results show the structure of the intergalactic globular cluster system throughout Coma, among the largest globular clusters catalogues to date. The spatial distribution of globular clusters shows clear overdensities, or bridges, between Coma galaxies. It also becomes evident that galaxies of similar luminosity have vastly different numbers of associated globular clusters.
Large-Scale Advanced Prop-Fan (LAP) blade design
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Violette, John A.; Sullivan, William E.; Turnberg, Jay E.
This report covers the design analysis of a very thin, highly swept, propeller blade to be used in the Large-Scale Advanced Prop-Fan (LAP) test program. The report includes: design requirements and goals, a description of the blade configuration which meets requirements, a description of the analytical methods utilized/developed to demonstrate compliance with the requirements, and the results of these analyses. The methods described include: finite element modeling, predicted aerodynamic loads and their application to the blade, steady state and vibratory response analyses, blade resonant frequencies and mode shapes, bird impact analysis, and predictions of stalled and unstalled flutter phenomena. Summarized results include deflections, retention loads, stress/strength comparisons, foreign object damage resistance, resonant frequencies and critical speed margins, resonant vibratory mode shapes, calculated boundaries of stalled and unstalled flutter, and aerodynamic and acoustic performance calculations.
Recovery Act - Large Scale SWNT Purification and Solubilization
Michael Gemano; Dr. Linda B. McGown
The goal of this Phase I project was to establish a quantitative foundation for development of binary G-gels for large-scale, commercial processing of SWNTs and to develop scientific insight into the underlying mechanisms of solubilization, selectivity and alignment. In order to accomplish this, we performed systematic studies to determine the effects of G-gel composition and experimental conditions that will enable us to achieve our goals that include (1) preparation of ultra-high purity SWNTs from low-quality, commercial SWNT starting materials, (2) separation of MWNTs from SWNTs, (3) bulk, non-destructive solubilization of individual SWNTs in aqueous solution at high concentrations (10-100 mg/mL) without sonication or centrifugation, (4) tunable enrichment of subpopulations of the SWNTs based on metallic vs. semiconductor properties, diameter, or chirality and (5) alignment of individual SWNTs.
Large-angular-scale anisotropy in the cosmic background radiation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Gorenstein, M. V.; Smoot, G. F.
Results of an extended series of airborne measurements of large-angular-scale anisotropy in the 3-K cosmic background radiation are reported. A dual-antenna microwave radiometer operating at 33 GHz flown aboard a U-2 aircraft to 20-km altitude on 11 flights between December 1976 and May 1978 measured differential intensity between pairs of directions distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere. Measurements show clear evidence of anisotropy that is readily interpreted as due to the solar motion relative to the sources of the radiation. The anisotropy is well fitted by a first order spherical harmonic of amplitude 3.6 + or - 0.5 mK, corresponding to a velocity of 360 + or - 50 km/s toward the direction 11.2 + or - 0.5 hours of right ascension and 19 deg + or - 8 deg declination.
Large Scale Bacterial Colony Screening of Diversified FRET Biosensors
Litzlbauer, Julia; Schifferer, Martina; Ng, David; Fabritius, Arne; Thestrup, Thomas; Griesbeck, Oliver
Biosensors based on Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) between fluorescent protein mutants have started to revolutionize physiology and biochemistry. However, many types of FRET biosensors show relatively small FRET changes, making measurements with these probes challenging when used under sub-optimal experimental conditions. Thus, a major effort in the field currently lies in designing new optimization strategies for these types of sensors. Here we describe procedures for optimizing FRET changes by large scale screening of mutant biosensor libraries in bacterial colonies. We describe optimization of biosensor expression, permeabilization of bacteria, software tools for analysis, and screening conditions. The procedures reported here may help in improving FRET changes in multiple suitable classes of biosensors. PMID:26061878
Towards Online Multiresolution Community Detection in Large-Scale Networks
Huang, Jianbin; Sun, Heli; Liu, Yaguang; Song, Qinbao; Weninger, Tim
The investigation of community structure in networks has aroused great interest in multiple disciplines. One of the challenges is to find local communities from a starting vertex in a network without global information about the entire network. Many existing methods tend to be accurate depending on a priori assumptions of network properties and predefined parameters. In this paper, we introduce a new quality function of local community and present a fast local expansion algorithm for uncovering communities in large-scale networks. The proposed algorithm can detect multiresolution community from a source vertex or communities covering the whole network. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is efficient and well-behaved in both real-world and synthetic networks. PMID:21887325
Unfolding large-scale online collaborative human dynamics
Zha, Yilong; Zhou, Tao; Zhou, Changsong
Large-scale interacting human activities underlie all social and economic phenomena, but quantitative understanding of regular patterns and mechanism is very challenging and still rare. Self-organized online collaborative activities with a precise record of event timing provide unprecedented opportunity. Our empirical analysis of the history of millions of updates in Wikipedia shows a universal double–power-law distribution of time intervals between consecutive updates of an article. We then propose a generic model to unfold collaborative human activities into three modules: (i) individual behavior characterized by Poissonian initiation of an action, (ii) human interaction captured by a cascading response to previous actions with a power-law waiting time, and (iii) population growth due to the increasing number of interacting individuals. This unfolding allows us to obtain an analytical formula that is fully supported by the universal patterns in empirical data. Our modeling approaches reveal "simplicity" beyond complex interacting human activities. PMID:27911766
Mass Efficiencies for Common Large-Scale Precision Space Structures
NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)
Williams, R. Brett; Agnes, Gregory S.
This paper presents a mass-based trade study for large-scale deployable triangular trusses, where the longerons can be monocoque tubes, isogrid tubes, or coilable longeron trusses. Such structures are typically used to support heavy reflectors, solar panels, or other instruments, and are subject to thermal gradients that can vary a great deal based on orbital altitude, location in orbit, and self-shadowing. While multi layer insulation (MLI) blankets are commonly used to minimize the magnitude of these thermal disturbances, they subject the truss to a nonstructural mass penalty. This paper investigates the impact of these add-on thermal protection layers on selecting the lightest precision structure for a given loading scenario.
Large scale self energy calculations for ion-surface interactions
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Kürpick, P.; Thumm, U.
We present large scale non-perturbative self energy calculations for the interaction of an ion with a metal surface. Using both the simple jellium potential and more sophisticated ab initio potentials(P. J. Jennings, R. O. Jones and M. Weinert, Phys. Rev. B, 37), 6113 (1988)., we study the complex self energy matrix for various n-manifolds allowing for the calculation of diabatic and adiabatic non-perturbative level shifts and widths, and hybrid orbitals(P. Kürpick and U.Thumm, to be published.). Besides this self energy calculations a new adiabatic close--coupling calculation is being developed that will be applied to the interaction of ions in various charge states with metal surfaces.
In-line unit for large-scale condensate pumps
Tazetdinov, A.G.
An in-line unit has been tested in the VNIIAEN for a screw centrifugal stage, Three alternative preincorporated axial impellers designed by the Voznesenskii-Pekin method for the sleeve action were tested with two types of centrifugal impellers. The optimum values of relative vortex current, mean peripheral component of the absolute velocity, and mean peripheral velocity are obtained. The existence of an optimum value for the mean relative vortex is explained. Results of tests lead to the design of a third alternative CI and AI No. 4 as specified. As a result of the tests, a screw centrifugal state with high energy and cavitational indices, a unit needed for the development of large scale condensate pumps, was obtained.
Grid infrastructure to support science portals for large scale instruments.
von Laszewski, G.; Foster, I.
Soon, a new generation of scientific workbenches will be developed as a collaborative effort among various research institutions in the US. These scientific workbenches will be accessed in the Web via portals. Reusable components are needed to build such portals for different scientific disciplines, allowing uniform desktop access to remote resources. Such components will include tools and services enabling easy collaboration, job submission, job monitoring, component discovery, and persistent object storage. Based on experience gained from Grand Challenge applications for large-scale instruments, we demonstrate how Grid infrastructure components can be used to support the implementation of science portals. The availability of these components will simplify the prototype implementation of a common portal architecture.
Computational solutions to large-scale data management and analysis
Schadt, Eric E.; Linderman, Michael D.; Sorenson, Jon; Lee, Lawrence; Nolan, Garry P.
Today we can generate hundreds of gigabases of DNA and RNA sequencing data in a week for less than US$5,000. The astonishing rate of data generation by these low-cost, high-throughput technologies in genomics is being matched by that of other technologies, such as real-time imaging and mass spectrometry-based flow cytometry. Success in the life sciences will depend on our ability to properly interpret the large-scale, high-dimensional data sets that are generated by these technologies, which in turn requires us to adopt advances in informatics. Here we discuss how we can master the different types of computational environments that exist — such as cloud and heterogeneous computing — to successfully tackle our big data problems. PMID:20717155
Optical modulation of aqueous metamaterial properties at large scale.
Yang, Sui; Wang, Yuan; Ni, Xingjie; Zhang, Xiang
Dynamical control of metamaterials by adjusting their shape and structures has been developed to achieve desired optical functionalities and to enable modulation and selection of spectra responses. However it is still challenging to realize such a manipulation at large scale. Recently, it has been shown that the desired high (or low) symmetry metamaterials structure in solution can be self-assembled under external light stimuli. Using the this approach, we systematically investiagted the optical controlling process and report here a dynamical manipulation of magnetic properties of metamaterials. Under external laser excitations, we demonstrated that selected magnetic properties of metamaterials can be tuned with the freedom of chosen wavelength ranges. The magnetic dipole selectivity and tunability were further quantified by in situ spectral measurement.
Studies on Editing Patterns in Large-scale Wikis
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Boulain, Philip; Shadbolt, Nigel; Gibbins, Nicholas
Wiki systems have developed over the past years as lightweight, community-editable, web-based hypertext systems. With the emergence of Semantic Wikis, these collections of interlinked documents have also gained a dual role as ad-hoc RDF graphs. However, their roots lie at the limited hypertext capabilities of the World Wide Web: embedded links, without support for composite objects or transclusion. In this chapter, we present experimental evidence that hyperstructure changes, as opposed to content changes, form a substantial proportion of editing effort on a large-scale wiki.We then follow this with a in-detail experiment, studying how individual editors work to edit articles on the wiki. These experiments are set in the wider context of a study of how the technologies developed during decades of hypertext research may be applied to improve management of wiki document structure and, with semantic wikis, knowledge structure.
Successful Physician Training Program for Large Scale EMR Implementation
Stevens, L.A.; Mailes, E.S.; Goad, B.A.; Longhurst, C.A.
Summary End-user training is an essential element of electronic medical record (EMR) implementation and frequently suffers from minimal institutional investment. In addition, discussion of successful EMR training programs for physicians is limited in the literature. The authors describe a successful physician-training program at Stanford Children's Health as part of a large scale EMR implementation. Evaluations of classroom training, obtained at the conclusion of each class, revealed high physician satisfaction with the program. Free-text comments from learners focused on duration and timing of training, the learning environment, quality of the instructors, and specificity of training to their role or department. Based upon participant feedback and institutional experience, best practice recommendations, including physician engagement, curricular design, and assessment of proficiency and recognition, are suggested for future provider EMR training programs. The authors strongly recommend the creation of coursework to group providers by common workflow. PMID:25848415
Large-Scale Quantitative Analysis of Painting Arts
Kim, Daniel; Son, Seung-Woo; Jeong, Hawoong
Scientists have made efforts to understand the beauty of painting art in their own languages. As digital image acquisition of painting arts has made rapid progress, researchers have come to a point where it is possible to perform statistical analysis of a large-scale database of artistic paints to make a bridge between art and science. Using digital image processing techniques, we investigate three quantitative measures of images – the usage of individual colors, the variety of colors, and the roughness of the brightness. We found a difference in color usage between classical paintings and photographs, and a significantly low color variety of the medieval period. Interestingly, moreover, the increment of roughness exponent as painting techniques such as chiaroscuro and sfumato have advanced is consistent with historical circumstances. PMID:25501877
U-shaped Vortex Structures in Large Scale Cloud Cavitation
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Cao, Yantao; Peng, Xiaoxing; Xu, Lianghao; Hong, Fangwen
The control of cloud cavitation, especially large scale cloud cavitation(LSCC), is always a hot issue in the field of cavitation research. However, there has been little knowledge on the evolution of cloud cavitation since it is associated with turbulence and vortex flow. In this article, the structure of cloud cavitation shed by sheet cavitation around different hydrofoils and a wedge were observed in detail with high speed camera (HSC). It was found that the U-shaped vortex structures always existed in the development process of LSCC. The results indicated that LSCC evolution was related to this kind of vortex structures, and it may be a universal character for LSCC. Then vortex strength of U-shaped vortex structures in a cycle was analyzed with numerical results.
Large scale ocean circulation from the GRACE GGM01 Geoid
NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)
Tapley, B. D.; Chambers, D. P.; Bettadpur, S.; Ries, J. C.
The GRACE Gravity Model 01 (GGM01), computed from 111 days of GRACE K-band ranging (KBR) data, is differenced from a global mean sea surface (MSS) computed from a decade of satellite altimetry to determine a mean dynamic ocean topography (DOT). As a test of the GGM01 gravity model, large-scale zonal and meridional surface geostrophic currents are computed from the topography and are compared with those derived from a mean hydrographic surface. Reduction in residual RMS between the two by 30-60% (and increased correlation) indicates that the GGM01 geoid represents a dramatic improvement over older geoid models, which were developed from multiple satellite tracking data, altimetry, and surface gravity measurements. For the first time, all major current systems are clearly observed in the DOT from space-based measurements.