Observations of changes in marine boundary layer clouds

Recent research outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlights the response of marine boundary layer (MBL) clouds to warming associated with increasing greenhouse gases as a major contributor to uncertainties in model projections of climate change. Understanding how MBL clouds respond to increasing temperatures is hampered by the relative scarcity of marine surface observations and the difficulty of retrieving accurate parameters remotely from satellites. In this study we combine data from surface observations with that from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP), CloudSat and CALIPSO, with a view to investigating the spatial distribution and variations in MBL cloud fraction and cloud liquid water path (LWP). These results are then compared with the treatment of MBL clouds in the UK Met Office HadGEM models. Future work will assess how variations in LWP impact the top of atmosphere radiative energy balance using data from the Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB), in order to quantify the response of MBL clouds on interannual timescales to a changing climat

Autonomous power expert system

The goal of the Autonomous Power System (APS) program is to develop and apply intelligent problem solving and control technologies to the Space Station Freedom Electrical Power Systems (SSF/EPS). The objectives of the program are to establish artificial intelligence/expert system technology paths, to create knowledge based tools with advanced human-operator interfaces, and to integrate and interface knowledge-based and conventional control schemes. This program is being developed at the NASA-Lewis. The APS Brassboard represents a subset of a 20 KHz Space Station Power Management And Distribution (PMAD) testbed. A distributed control scheme is used to manage multiple levels of computers and switchgear. The brassboard is comprised of a set of intelligent switchgear used to effectively switch power from the sources to the loads. The Autonomous Power Expert System (APEX) portion of the APS program integrates a knowledge based fault diagnostic system, a power resource scheduler, and an interface to the APS Brassboard. The system includes knowledge bases for system diagnostics, fault detection and isolation, and recommended actions. The scheduler autonomously assigns start times to the attached loads based on temporal and power constraints. The scheduler is able to work in a near real time environment for both scheduling and dynamic replanning

Autonomous power system intelligent diagnosis and control

The Autonomous Power System (APS) project at NASA Lewis Research Center is designed to demonstrate the abilities of integrated intelligent diagnosis, control, and scheduling techniques to space power distribution hardware. Knowledge-based software provides a robust method of control for highly complex space-based power systems that conventional methods do not allow. The project consists of three elements: the Autonomous Power Expert System (APEX) for fault diagnosis and control, the Autonomous Intelligent Power Scheduler (AIPS) to determine system configuration, and power hardware (Brassboard) to simulate a space based power system. The operation of the Autonomous Power System as a whole is described and the responsibilities of the three elements - APEX, AIPS, and Brassboard - are characterized. A discussion of the methodologies used in each element is provided. Future plans are discussed for the growth of the Autonomous Power System

Rubidium and cesium frequency standards status and performance on the GPS program

The on-oribt operational performance of the frequency standards on the Global Positioning System (GPS) 1 to 10 NAVSTAR satellites are discussed. The history of the Rb frequency standards showing the improvements incorporated at various stages of the program and the corresponding results are presented. Also presented is the operational history of the NAVSTAR cesium frequency standards. The frequency standards configuration data presented covers the chronology of events from the concept validation satellites, NAVSTAR 1 to 10, starting in 1978 to the present, including the configurations of clocks to be used on the GPS Production Program. Data are presented showing the results of long-term laboratory testing of a production Rb frequency standard with the necessary data taken to calculate Delta F, drift, time error, and Allan variance

The Free Radical Scavenger α-Phenyl-Tert-Butyl Nitrone Aggravates Hippocampal Apoptosis and Learning Deficits in Experimental Pneumococcal Meningitis

The effect of adjuvant therapy with the radical scavenger α-phenyl-tert-butyl nitrone (PBN; 100 mg/kg given intraperitoneally every 8 h for 5 days) on brain injury and learning function was evaluated in an infant rat model of pneumococcal meningitis. Meningitis led to cortical necrotic injury (median, 3.97% [range, 0%-38.9%] of the cortex), which was reduced to a median of 0% (range, 0%-30.9%) of the cortex (P < .001) by PBN. However, neuronal apoptosis in the hippocampal dentate gyrus was increased by PBN, compared with that by saline (median score, 1.15 [range, 0.04-1.73] vs. 0.31 [range, 0-0.92]; P < .001). Learning function 3 weeks after cured infection, as assessed by the Morris water maze, was decreased, compared with that in uninfected control animals (P < .001). Parallel to the increase in hippocampal apoptosis, PBN further impaired learning in infected animals, compared with that in saline-treated animals (P < .02). These results contrast with those of an earlier study, in which PBN reduced cortical and hippocampal neuronal injury in group B streptococcal meningitis. Thus, in pneumococcal meningitis, antioxidant therapy with PBN aggravates hippocampal injury and learning deficit

The genealogy of judgement: towards a deep history of academic freedom

The classical conception of academic freedom associated with Wilhelm von Humboldt and the rise of the modern university has a quite specific cultural foundation that centres on the controversial mental faculty of 'judgement'. This article traces the roots of 'judgement' back to the Protestant Reformation, through its heyday as the signature feature of German idealism, and to its gradual loss of salience as both a philosophical and a psychological concept. This trajectory has been accompanied by a general shrinking in the scope of academic freedom from the promulgation of world-views to the offering of expert opinion

Role of stress-assisted martensite in the design of strong ultrafine-grained duplex steels

This work explains the occurrence of transformation-induced plasticity via stress-assisted martensite, when designing ultrafine-grained duplex steels. It is found that, when the austenite is reduced to a fine scale of about 300 nm, the initial deformation-induced microstructure can be dominated by parallel lamellae of epsilon martensite or mechanical twinning, which cannot efficiently provide nucleation sites for strain-induced martensite. Hence, alpha martensite nucleation occurs independently by a stress-assisted process that enhances transformation-induced plasticity in ultrafine-grained austenite. This metallurgical principle was validated experimentally by using a combination of transmission Kikuchi diffraction mapping, transmission electron microscopy, and atom probe microscopy, and demonstrated theoretically by the thermodynamics model of stress-assisted martensite.The authors acknowledge the facilities, and the scientific and technical assistance of the Australian Microscopy & Microanalysis Research Facility (ammrf.org.au) node at Sydney Microscopy & Microanalysis, at the University of Sydney.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359645414006958