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Tan, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Tan, J..

Temporal light modulation: A phantom array visibility measure

At temporal light modulation (TLM) frequencies between 80 Hz and 20 000 Hz observers may perceive a series of repeated images called the phantom array effect (PAE) when they move their eyes in large saccades across a modulating light source or across a scene lit by the modulating light source. To date, there is no well-established measure for quantifying PAE visibility, but there is growing awareness of the need for one among design professionals and sensitive populations. This paper documents a new measure, the phantom array visibility measure (PAVM), which is based on the results of recent human factors experiments. The measure follows the mathematical underpinning used by the flicker visibility measure and the stroboscopic visibility measure, where the time-domain TLM waveform is converted into its Fourier frequency components; each component is evaluated through a threshold curve of modulation depth, then summed through an equation employing a Minkowski exponent. This scales the PAVM so that a value of 1 indicates a waveform at a threshold visibility in the conditions of the underlying experiment.

Tan, J.↗

Five Decades of Northern Land Carbon Uptake Revealed by the Interhemispheric CO2 Gradient

The global land and ocean carbon sinks have increased proportionally with increasing carbon dioxide emissions during the past decades. It is thought that Northern Hemisphere lands make a dominant contribution to the global land carbon sink; however, the long-term trend of the northern land sink remains uncertain. Here, using measurements of the interhemispheric gradient of atmospheric carbon dioxide from 1958 to 2016, we show that the northern land sink remained stable between the 1960s and the late 1980s, then increased by 0.5 ± 0.4 petagrams of carbon per year during the 1990s and by 0.6 ± 0.5 petagrams of carbon per year during the 2000s. The increase of the northern land sink in the 1990s accounts for 65% of the increase in the global land carbon flux during that period. The subsequent increase in the 2000s is larger than the increase in the global land carbon flux, suggesting a coincident decrease of carbon uptake in the Southern Hemisphere. Comparison of our findings with the simulations of an ensemble of terrestrial carbon models over the same period suggests that the decadal change in the northern land sink between the 1960s and the 1990s can be explained by a combination of increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide, climate variability and changes in land cover. However, the increase during the 2000s is underestimated by all models, which suggests the need for improved consideration of changes in drivers such as nitrogen deposition, diffuse light and land-use change. Overall, our findings underscore the importance of Northern Hemispheric land as a carbon sink.

Carbon cycle↗

Handbook on Face Gear Drives with a Spur Involute Pinion

The use of face gears in power transmission and drive systems has a significant number of benefits. Face gears allow a variety of new transmission arrangements as well as high reduction ratio capability. This leads to drive system weight reduction and improvements in performance. In this work, basic information about the design and analysis of face gear drives is presented. The work considers face gears in mesh with spur involute pinions for both intersecting axes and offset drives. Tooth geometry, kinematics, generation of face gears with localized bearing contact by cutting and grinding, avoidance of tooth undercutting, avoidance of tooth pointing, tooth contact analysis, and algorithms for the simulation of meshing and contact arc all topics which are discussed. In addition, applications of face gear drives are presented. Included are design uses in aerospace applications such as helicopter transmissions, split-torque face gear arrangements, comparisons of face gears with bevel gears, and general design considerations.

Litvin, F. L.↗

Exosat observations of the X-ray burst source 4U 1608-52

The results of an analysis of two Exosat observations (July 1984, May 1986) of the highly variable X-ray burst source 4U 1608-52 are presented. During both observations the persistent X-ray flux was low (quiescence), and the persistent X-ray spectrum could be well fitted with a power-law model, with approximately the same index, but a somewhat different low-energy cut off. During both observations one type 1 burst was seen. It is shown that the relation between color temperature and effective temperature differs markedly from simple relations derived from theoretical models. A dip in the bolometric flux occurred near the peak of the 1986 burst. Possible models for this dip are discussed.

Penninx, W.↗