Aging effect and test-retest reliability of the sinusoidal harmonic acceleration test and velocity step test using nanotorque rotatory chair

Introduction:Rotatory chair testing has been used to evaluate horizontal canal function.Frequently used tests include sinusoidal harmonic acceleration test(SHAT)and velocity step test(VST).Objectives:Assessment of age effect on the SHAT and VST and assessment of test-retest reliability of the parameters of those two tests.Methods:A prospective study was performed on 100 subjects with no ear or vestibular complaints and normal vestibular evaluation.They were divided into two groups;Group A:below 50 years of age and Group B:50 years of age or above.SHAT was presented at frequencies 0.02,0.04,0.08,0.16,0.32,0.64 Hz with a peak velocity of 60°/s.VST was performed using a maximum velocity of 100°/s with acceleration and deceleration of 200°/s2.Thirty subjects were tested twice to assess reliability.Results:Study participants ranged in age from 20 to 67 years.Regarding group A,the mean age was30.92±7.31 and 55.36±4.61 for group B.No significant differences were found in SHAT parameters between the two groups.As well,there was no significant difference in VST per-rotatory time constant,however,post-rotatory time constant was significantly longer for Group B(P value<0.05).Intraclass correlation coefficient(ICC)values showed moderate to good reliability(ICC 0.5800.818)for SHAT parameters for the lower frequencies and indicated moderate reliability for VST time constant(ICC 0.5090.652).Conclusions:Age has no significant effect on the parameters of SHAT and VST.Test-retest reliability is generally good for both tests.

Velocity Form Calculations of Generalized Oscillator Strengths for 3s→ (3p, 4p, 5p, 6p) Dipole Transitions of Atomic Sodium in Debye Plasma

In this paper, the generalized oscillator strengths (GOSs) of excitations of atomic sodium from ground state to 2p63s0 (3p, 4p, 5p, 6p) states, immersed in Debye plasma, were calculated by using wavefunctions which were obtained numerically from the restricted Hartree-Fock (RHF) equation. This RHF equation employs the local density approach for exchange interactions including plasma Debye screening. Theoretical RHF and random phase approximation with exchange (RPAE) velocity calculations have shown that the GOSs for excitations to 3 s0(3 p,4 p,5 p,6 p)depend on the plasma Debye screening effects, as shown by the reduction in the GOS amplitude with decreasing Debye length λD. The agreement between the present RPAE V results for the transitions 3 s→3 s0(3 p,4 p,5 p)and the length calculations of Martínez-Flores was satisfactory. Correlation effects were found quite to be significant in the vicinity of the maxima of the GOS of the 3 s→3 s0(4 p,5 p,6 p)excitations by using the RPAE V approach. We note the poor influence of many electron correlations on the GOS of (3 s→3 p)transition with the same principal quantum number. Finally, we comment that the RPAE V calculations are useful in investigating electron correlation effects on the transition GOS of atomic sodium planted in Debye plasma. The present velocity results also reveal that the 3 s→3 s0(5p, 6p)transition GOSs tend to be delocalized due to more significant screening effects at Debye lengths λD=20and 30 a.u. for excited subshells 5p and 6p, respectively. We report here novel results of GOS for 3 s→3 s06ptransition obtained from different Debye lengths.

Effective(kinetic freeze-out) temperature, transverse flow velocity, and kinetic freeze-out volume in high energy collisions

The transverse momentum spectra of different types of particles produced in central and peripheral gold–gold(Au–Au)and inelastic proton–proton(pp)collisions at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider,as well as in central and peripheral lead-lead(Pb–Pb)and pp collisions at the Large Hadron Collider,are analyzed by the multi-component standard(Boltzmann–Gibbs,Fermi–Dirac,and Bose–Einstein)distributions.The obtained results from the standard distribution give an approximate agreement with the measured experimental data by the STAR,PHENIX,and ALICE Collaborations.The behavior of the effective(kinetic freeze-out)temperature,transverse flow velocity,and kinetic freeze-out volume for particles with different masses is obtained,which observes the early kinetic freezeout of heavier particles as compared to the lighter particles.The parameters of emissions of different particles are observed to be different,which reveals a direct signature of the mass-dependent differential kinetic freeze-out.It is also observed that the peripheral nucleus–nucleus(AA)and pp collisions at the same center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair are in good agreement in terms of the extracted parameters.

The effective ionization coefficients and electron drift velocities in gas mixtures of CF_3I with N_2 and CO_2 obtained from Boltzmann equation analysis

The electron swarm parameters including the density-normalized effective ionization coefficients（α-η）/N and the electron drift velocities V e are calculated for a gas mixture of CF3I with N2 and CO2 by solving the Boltzmann equation in the condition of a steady-state Townsend（SST） experiment.The overall density-reduced electric field strength is from 100 Td to 1000 Td（1 Td = 10-17V·cm2）,while the CF3I content k in the gas mixture can be varied over the range from 0% to 100%.From the variation of（αη）/N with the CF3I mixture ratio k,the limiting field strength（E/N） lim for each CF3I concentration is derived.It is found that for the mixtures with 70% CF3I,the values of（E/N） lim are essentially the same as that for pure SF 6.Additionally,the global warming potential（GWP） and the liquefaction temperature of the gas mixtures are also taken into account to evaluate the possibility of application in the gas insulation of power equipment.

Preliminary analysis of the hanging wall effect and velocity pulse of the 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake

A preliminary study of the PGA attenuation, hanging wall effect and velocity pulse characteristics from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake ofMS -8.0 is described in this paper. The study was carried out through analyses in the time and frequency domains of main earthquake records. In the PGA attenuation study, records from 316 stations less than 1000 km from the surface rupture of the fault were used as a database and attenuation relationships were developed and compared with some existing relationships that are widely used in China's Mainland, Chinese Taiwan and the US. At the same time, records from 28 stations less than 100 km from the fault were used to study the hanging wall effect and velocity pulse characteristics of this earthquake based on the distribution of PGA, PGV, spectral acceleration, and the velocity pulse peak, and the results are compared with the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake. In addition, the large PGAs of the UD components observed in this event are also discussed in this paper. From the results of the preliminary study, some conclusions are developed and suggestions for further research are proposed.

Estimation of the unfrozen water content of saturated sandstones by ultrasonic velocity

The unfrozen water content(UWC)of rocks at low temperature is an important index for evaluating the stability of the rock engineering in cold regions and artificial freezing engineering.This study addresses a new method to estimate the UWC of saturated sandstones at low temperature by using the ultrasonic velocity.Ultrasonic velocity variations can be divided into the normal temperature stage(20 to 0℃),quick phase transition stage(0 to-5℃)and slow phase transition stage(-5 to-25℃).Most increment of ultrasonic velocity is completed in the quick phase transition stage and then turns to be almost a constant in the slow phase transition stage.In addition,the UWC is also measured by using nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR)technology.It is validated that the ultrasonic velocity and UWC have a similar change law against freezing and thawing temperatures.The WE(weighted equation)model is appropriate to estimate the UWC of saturated sandstones,in which the parameters have been accurately determined rather than by data fitting.In addition,a linear relationship between UWC and ultrasonic velocity is built based on pore ice crystallization theory.It is evidenced that this linear function can be adopted to estimate the UWC at any freezing temperature by using P-wave velocity,which is simple,practical,and accurate enough compared with the WE model.

Effects of the Reynolds number on a scale-similarity model of Lagrangian velocity correlations in isotropic turbulent flows

A scale-similarity model of a two-point two-time Lagrangian velocity correlation(LVC) was originally developed for the relative dispersion of tracer particles in isotropic turbulent flows(HE, G. W., JIN, G. D., and ZHAO, X. Scale-similarity model for Lagrangian velocity correlations in isotropic and stationary turbulence. Physical Review E, 80, 066313(2009)). The model can be expressed as a two-point Eulerian space correlation and the dispersion velocity V. The dispersion velocity denotes the rate at which one moving particle departs from another fixed particle. This paper numerically validates the robustness of the scale-similarity model at high Taylor micro-scale Reynolds numbers up to 373, which are much higher than the original values(R_λ = 66, 102). The effect of the Reynolds number on the dispersion velocity in the scale-similarity model is carefully investigated. The results show that the scale-similarity model is more accurate at higher Reynolds numbers because the two-point Lagrangian velocity correlations with different initial spatial separations collapse into a universal form compared with a combination of the initial separation and the temporal separation via the dispersion velocity.Moreover, the dispersion velocity V normalized by the Kolmogorov velocity V_η ≡ η/τ_η in which η and τ_η are the Kolmogorov space and time scales, respectively, scales with the Reynolds number R_λ as V/V_η ∝ R_λ^(1.39) obtained from the numerical data.

Improved Car-Following Model Considering Modified Backward Optimal Velocity and Velocity Difference with Backward-Looking Effect

In this paper, a new traffic flow model called the forward-backward velocity difference (FBVD) model based on the full velocity difference model is proposed to investigate the backward-looking effect by applying a modified backward optimal velocity using generalized backward maximum speed. The FBVD model belongs to the family of microscopic models that consider spatiotemporally continuous formulations. Neutral stability conditions of the discrete car-following model are derived using the linear stability theory. The stability analysis results prove that the modified backward optimal velocity has a significant positive effect in stabilizing the traffic flow. Through nonlinear analysis, a kink-antikink solution is derived from the modified Korteweg-de Vries equation of the FBVD model to explain traffic congestion of the model. The validity of this theoretical model is checked using numerical results, according to which traffic jams were found to have been significantly diminished by the introduction of the modified backward optimal velocity.

Analysis of varying velocity on edge effects in laser bending

A 3-D nonlinear coupled thermal-mechanical finite element model accounting for the temperature dependency of the thermal and mechanical properties of the material was presented. Based on the presented model, the edge effects by using the varying scanning velocity in laser bending were investigated. The results show that the deceleration scan scheme can sizably reduce the curvature of the bending edge. However, if the scanning velocity has a deceleration then followed by acceleration, the normal displacement of the plate at the free edge is found to be almost the same as that found in the case where the scanning velocity is constant.

Effects of Transverse Temperature Gradient on the Rotor Velocity in an Ultrasonic Motor

As a result of the nonlinear effect, acoustic streaming has been widely used for increasing the transport coefficient or driving a rotor, for example, in resonant cavities and non-contact ultrasonic motors. It has been demonstrated by experiments that a temperature gradient transverse to the wave propagating direction can significantly increase the velocity of the streaming flows in resonant cavities. To check whether the transverse temperature gradient can also increase the working velocity of acoustic streaming-driven motors, we investigate this issue by numerically solving the hydrodynamic equations. It is found that the velocity of the rotor only weakly depends on the transverse temperature gradient, e.g., even with a temperature difference of 40℃ between the rotor and the stator, the velocity increases only -8.8%.

Influence of Velocity Overshoot Effect on High Frequency Perform- ance of AlGaAs / GaAs HBT's

The semiclassical transport equations are used to study the high frequency performance of AlGaAs / GaAs HBTs. Electron velocity overshoot effect and its influence on the cut off frequency characteristics of AlGaAs / GaAs HBTs with different collector design parameters are analyzed and discussed.

THE EFFECTS OF VELOCITY RATIO ON THE LARGE SCALE COHERENT STRUCTURES IN FREE SHEAR LAYERS

The velocity ratio of a free shear layer has an important influence on the spatial development of the large scale coherent structures in the layer. In this study, numerical simulations are performed to get an insight into this problem. The obtained numerical results agree quite well with those of a linear inviscid stability theory and the available experimental data.

Correlation Method of Average Plasma Velocity Measurement in Hall-Effect Thrusters

A new method to measure the average plasma velocity in a Hall-effect thruster is presented. The method is brought forward in virtue of the characteristics of low frequency oscillation induced by the propellant ionization in the channel and the oriented movement feature of the plasma density out of the channel. The method, equivalent to the correlation method generally used in the signal processing field, provides a solution to the problem of specific impulse measurement on a timescale of hundreds of microseconds and makes the time evolution of average plasma velocity clear. The comparison between the measured value and the calibrated value shows that the relative error is about 3%.

Shear wave velocity-based evaluation and design of stone column improved ground for liquefaction mitigation

The evaluation and design of stone column improvement ground for liquefaction mitigation is a challenging issue for the state of practice. In this paper, a shear wave velocity-based approach is proposed based on the well-defined correlations of liquefaction resistance （CRR）-shear wave velocity （V）-void ratio （e） of sandy soils, and the values of parameters in this approach are recommended for preliminary design purpose when site specific values are not available. The detailed procedures of pre- and post-improvement liquefaction evaluations and stone column design are given. According to this approach, the required level of ground improvement will be met once the target V of soil is raised high enough （i.e., no less than the critical velocity） to resist the given earthquake loading according to the CRR-V relationship, and then this requirement is transferred to the control of target void ratio （i.e., the critical e） according to the V-e relationship. As this approach relies on the densification of the surrounding soil instead of the whole improved ground and is conservative by nature, specific considerations of the densification mechanism and effect are given, and the effects of drainage and reinforcement of stone columns are also discussed. A case study of a thermal power plant in Indonesia is introduced, where the effectiveness of stone column improved ground was evaluated by the proposed V-based method and compared with the SPT-based evaluation. This improved ground performed well and experienced no liquefaction during subsequent strong earthquakes.

Experimental study on influence of boundary on location of maximum velocity in open channel flows

The velocity dip phenomenon may occur in a part of or in the whole flow field of open channel flows due to the secondary flow effect. Based on rectangular flume experiments and the laser Doppler velocimetry, the influence of the distance to the sidewall and the aspect ratio on the velocity dip is investigated. Through application of statistical methods to the experimental results, it is proposed that the flow field may be divided into two regions, the relatively strong sidewall region and the relatively weak sidewall region. In the former region, the distance to the sidewall greatly affects the location of maximum velocity, and, in the latter region, both the distance to the sidewall and the aspect ratio influence the location of the maximum velocity.

Velocity adjustable TMD and numerical simulation of seismic performance

A new type of velocity adjustable tuned mass damper （TMD） consisting of impulse generators and clutches is presented. The force impulse is generated by a joining operation of electromagnets and springs and MR dampers are used as clutches. Rules for velocity adjustment are established according to the working mechanism of TMD. The analysis program is developed on a VB platform. Seismic response of SDOF structures with both passive TMD and velocity adjustable TMD are analyzed. The results show that （l） the control effectiveness of passive TMDs is usually unstable; （2） the control effectiveness of the proposed semi-active TMDs is much better than passive TMDs under typical seismic ground motions; and （3） unlike the passive TMD system, the proposed velocity adjustable TMDs exhibit good control effectiveness even when the primary structure performance becomes inelastic during severe earthquakes.

Prediction of the dynamic effective properties of particle-reinforced composite materials

The prediction behaviors of some coherent plane wave equations for the effective velocities and attenuations of the coherent plane waves propagating through a composite material and for the effective elastic moduli of the composites are studied. The numerical results obtained by Waterman & Truell's, Twersky's and Gubernatis's equations for Glass-Epoxy composites with various volume fractions are compared. It is found that the predictions by both Twersky's and Gubernatis's equations underestimate the effective velocities and the effective elastic moduli when compare with the predictions by Waterman & Truell's equation. Furthermore, the deviations are more evident for the shear wave than that for the longitudinal wave. But these deviations decrease gradually with the increase of the frequency and increase gradually with the increase of the volume fraction.

3D Modal Solution for Tidally Induced Lagrangian Residual Velocity with Variations in Eddy Viscosity and Bathymetry in a Narrow Model Bay

In this study, we examine the results obtained by the Finite-volume Coastal Ocean Circulation Model(FVCOM) regarding the effects of eddy viscosity and bathymetry on the three-dimensional(3 D) Lagrangian residual velocity(LRV) in a narrow bay. The results are cast in terms of two nondimensional numbers: the ratio of friction to local acceleration(δ) and the ratio of the minimum depth over shoals to the maximum depth in the channel(ε). The ratio δ depends on the eddy viscosity and mean depth. For a given eddy viscosity, when ε > 0.5, the along-estuary LRV tends to be vertically sheared and when ε < 0.5, the exchange is laterally sheared. When ε << 1, the structure of the 3 D, depth-integrated, and breadth-averaged LRV changes only slightly as δ increases. For ε values between 0.33 and 0.5, the structure of the 3 D LRV is mainly laterally sheared. In the same ε range, the 3 D and depth-integrated LRV exhibit reversed structures from high to low δ values. In addition, the breadth-averaged LRV weakens the typical twolayered circulation when δ decreases. When ε is 1, the two-layered vertical structure reverses direction, and a three-layered vertical structure develops in the outer bay as δ decreases.

Settling velocity of equiaxed dendrites in a tube

The settling velocity of equiaxed dendrites can cause macrosegregation and influence the structure of the equiaxed zone during the casting solidification process. So an understanding of the settling characteristics is needed to predict the structure and segregation in castings. The settling velocity of NH4Cl equiaxed dendrites of non-spherical geometry was studied experimentally in an NH4Cl-70wt.%H2O solution. A calculation formula was proposed to calculate the settling velocity of sediment equiaxed dendrites in a tube filled with saturated solution at a moderate Reynolds number region. The retardation effects of the wall and morphology of the equiaxed dendrite on the settling velocity were taken into account in the development of the calculation formula, and the correction function B of the drag coefficient with consideration of the retardation effects of the wall and morphology of the equiaxed dendrite on the settling velocity of the equiaxed dendrite was calibrated according to the experimental results. A comparison showed that the formula has a good accordance with the experimental results.

Electron Transport Coefficients and Effective Ionization Coefficients in SF_6-O_2 and SF_6-Air Mixtures Using Boltzmann Analysis

The electron drift velocity, electron energy distribution function （EEDF）, densitynormalized effective ionization coefficient and density-normalized longitudinal diffusion velocity are calculated in SF6-O2 and SFs-Air mixtures. The experimental results from a pulsed Townsend discharge are plotted for comparison with the numerical results. The reduced field strength varies from 40 Td to 500 Td （1 Townsend=10-17 V.cm2） and the SF6 concentration ranges from 10% to 100%. A Boltzmann equation associated with the two-term spherical harmonic expansion approximation is utilized to gain the swarm parameters in steady-state Townsend. Results show that the accuracy of the Boltzlnann solution with a two-term expansion in calculating the electron drift velocity, electron energy distribution function, and density-normalized effective ionization coefficient is acceptable. The effective ionization coefficient presents a distinct relationship with the SF6 content in the mixtures. Moreover, the E/Ncr values in SF6-Air mixtures are higher than those in SF6-O2 mixtures and the calculated value E/Ncr in SF6-O2 and SF6-Air mixtures is lower than the measured value in SFB-N2. Parametric studies conducted on these parameters using the Boltzmann analysis offer substantial insight into the plasma physics, as well as a basis to explore the ozone generation process.