Telerobotic controller development

To meet NASA's space station's needs and growth, a modular and generic approach to robotic control which provides near-term implementation with low development cost and capability for growth into more autonomous systems was developed. The method uses a vision based robotic controller and compliant hand integrated with the Remote Manipulator System arm on the Orbiter. A description of the hardware and its system integration is presented

Introduction to The Special Issue: Advances in Methods and Measurement in Family Psychology

This special issue presents a collection of reports that highlight recent advances in methods and measurement and also shed light on the complexity of family psychology. The importance of theory in guiding solid family science is evident throughout these reports. The reports include guides for researchers who incorporate direct observation into their research protocols and the ever-expanding field of tele-health interventions. Advanced analytic approaches are offered in the areas of grid sequence analysis, latent fixed-effects models, and the Factors of Curves Model (FOCUS). These sophisticated analytic approaches may be applied to advance systemic thinking in family psychology. The last set of articles illustrate how complex and innovative methodologies are applied to address important societal issues. Work experiences and marital relationships in African American couples address the importance of spillover effects in contemporary families. The creation of biobehavioral plasticity index has the potential to inform gene x environment contributions to family functioning. Finally, the unique methodological issues that are particularly germane to the diverse nature of stepfamilies and nonresident fathers are addressed. We hope that readers of this special issue will return to these reports as resources and examples of theory-driven methods and measurements

Convergence and stability theorems for the Picard-Mann hybrid iterative scheme for a general class of contractive-like operators

In this paper we use the general class of contractive-like operators introduced by Bosede and Rhoades (J. Adv. Math. Stud. 3(2):1-3, 2010) to prove strong convergence and stability results for Picard-Mann hybrid iterative schemes considered in a real normed linear space. We establish the strong convergence and stability of the Picard iterative scheme as a corollary. Our results generalize and improve a multitude of results in the literature, including the recent results of Chidume (Fixed Point Theory Appl. 2014:233, 2014)

Weighing Super-Massive Black Holes with Narrow Fe Kα\alpha Line

It has been suggested that the narrow cores of the Fe K$\alpha$ emission lines in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs) are likely produced in the torus, the inner radius of which can be measured by observing the lag time between the $V$ and $K$ band flux variations. In this paper we compare the virial products of the infrared time lags and the narrow Fe K$\alpha$ widths for 10 type 1 AGNs with the black hole masses from other techniques. We find the narrow Fe K$\alpha$ line width is in average 2.6$^{+0.9}_{-0.4}$ times broader than expected assuming an isotropic velocity distribution of the torus at the distance measured by the infrared lags. We propose the thick disk model of the torus could explain the observed larger line width. Another possibility is the contamination by emission from the broad line region or the outer accretion disk. Alternatively, the narrow iron line might originate from the inner most part of the obscuring torus within the sublimation radius, while the infrared emission from outer cooler part. We note the correlation between the black hole masses based on this new technique and those based on other known techniques is statistically insignificant. We argue that this could be attributed to the small sample size and the very large uncertainties in the measurements of iron K line widths. The next generation of X-ray observatories could help verify the origin of the narrow iron K$\alpha$ line and the reliability of this new technique.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables, Science China G, in pres

Collective Modes of Tri-Nuclear Molecules

A geometrical model for tri-nuclear molecules is presented. An analytical solution is obtained provided the nuclei, which are taken to be prolately deformed, are connected in line to each other. Furthermore, the tri-nuclear molecule is composed of two heavy and one light cluster, the later sandwiched between the two heavy clusters. A basis is constructed in which Hamiltonians of more general configurations can be diagonalized. In the calculation of the interaction between the clusters higher multipole deformations are taken into account, including the hexadecupole one. A repulsive nuclear core is introduced in the potential in order to insure a quasi-stable configuration of the system. The model is applied to three nuclear molecules, namely $^{96}$Sr + $^{10}$Be + $^{146}$Ba, $^{108}$Mo + $^{10}$Be + $^{134}$Te and $^{112}$Ru + $^{10}$Be + $^{130}$Sn.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figure

Expanding the parameters of academia

This paper draws on qualitative data gathered from two studies funded by the UK Leadership Foundation for Higher Education to examine the expansion of academic identities in higher education. It builds on Whitchurch’s earlier work, which focused primarily on professional staff, to suggest that the emergence of broadly based projects such as widening participation, learning support and community partnership is also impacting on academic identities. Thus, academic as well as professional staff are increasingly likely to work in multi-professional teams across a variety of constituencies, as well as with external partners, and the binary distinction between ‘academic’ and ‘non-academic’ roles and activities is no longer clear-cut. Moreover, there is evidence from the studies of an intentionality about deviations from mainstream academic career routes among respondents who could have gone either way. Consideration is therefore given to factors that influence individuals to work in more project-oriented areas, as well as to variables that affect ways in which these roles and identities develop. Finally, three models of academically oriented project activity are identified, and the implications of an expansion of academic identities are reviewed

Singularities of nn-fold integrals of the Ising class and the theory of elliptic curves

We introduce some multiple integrals that are expected to have the same singularities as the singularities of the $n$-particle contributions $\chi^{(n)}$ to the susceptibility of the square lattice Ising model. We find the Fuchsian linear differential equation satisfied by these multiple integrals for $n=1, 2, 3, 4$ and only modulo some primes for $n=5$ and $6$, thus providing a large set of (possible) new singularities of the $\chi^{(n)}$. We discuss the singularity structure for these multiple integrals by solving the Landau conditions. We find that the singularities of the associated ODEs identify (up to $n= 6$) with the leading pinch Landau singularities. The second remarkable obtained feature is that the singularities of the ODEs associated with the multiple integrals reduce to the singularities of the ODEs associated with a {\em finite number of one dimensional integrals}. Among the singularities found, we underline the fact that the quadratic polynomial condition $1+3 w +4 w^2 = 0$, that occurs in the linear differential equation of $\chi^{(3)}$, actually corresponds to a remarkable property of selected elliptic curves, namely the occurrence of complex multiplication. The interpretation of complex multiplication for elliptic curves as complex fixed points of the selected generators of the renormalization group, namely isogenies of elliptic curves, is sketched. Most of the other singularities occurring in our multiple integrals are not related to complex multiplication situations, suggesting an interpretation in terms of (motivic) mathematical structures beyond the theory of elliptic curves.Comment: 39 pages, 7 figure

Asymptotic normalization coefficients for 8B->7Be+p from a study of 8Li->7Li+n

Asymptotic normalization coefficients (ANCs) for 8Li->7Li+n have been extracted from the neutron transfer reaction 13C(7Li,8Li)12C at 63 MeV. These are related to the ANCs in 8B->7Be+p using charge symmetry. We extract ANCs for 8B that are in very good agreement with those inferred from proton transfer and breakup experiments. We have also separated the contributions from the p_1/2 and p_3/2 components in the transfer. We find the astrophysical factor for the 7Be(p,gamma)8B reaction to be S_17(0)=17.6+/-1.7 eVb. This is the first time that the rate of a direct capture reaction of astrophysical interest has been determined through a measurement of the ANCs in the mirror system.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 2 table

Conformational changes of calmodulin upon Ca2+ binding studied with a microfluidic mixer

A microfluidic mixer is applied to study the kinetics of calmodulin conformational changes upon Ca2+ binding. The device facilitates rapid, uniform mixing by decoupling hydrodynamic focusing from diffusive mixing and accesses time scales of tens of microseconds. The mixer is used in conjunction with multiphoton microscopy to examine the fast Ca2+-induced transitions of acrylodan-labeled calmodulin. We find that the kinetic rates of the conformational changes in two homologous globular domains differ by more than an order of magnitude. The characteristic time constants are ≈490 μs for the transitions in the C-terminal domain and ≈20 ms for those in the N-terminal domain of the protein. We discuss possible mechanisms for the two distinct events and the biological role of the stable intermediate, half-saturated calmodulin