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F. General
87:6604 Baum, Rudy, 1987. Powerful NASA supercomputer system begins operating. Chem. Engng News, 65(12):21-22. NASA recently dedicated what might be described as the first,3-D model of the wind tunnel. At the heart of the new supercomputer is a Cray-2 with a 256-megabyte internal memory. The Cray is supported by two lesser mainframes, four superminis, and 38 smart-graphics workstations for depicting hydrodynamic information visually. The NAS (Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation) system, located at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, is the first that can solve Navier-Stokes equations for fluid motion over complex 3-D objects. (fcs) 87:6605 Bevis, Michael and Greg Cambareri, 1987. Computing the area of a spherical polygon of arbitrary shape. Mathl Geol., 19(4):335-346. North Carolina State Univ., Dept. of Mar., Earth and Atmos. Sci., Raleigh, NC 27695-8208, USA. 87:6606 Bristol, Rod, Gary Fladstol and Clint Brannon, 1987. Oscilloscopes: how to find the one that fits. IEEE Spectrum, 24(6):34-39. Options available on modern-day oscilloscopes are many and include number of signal channels, total data storage capacity, maximum length of each data record, speed at which information is registered, triggering capability, and identification of glitches. Other considerations are ease of operation, wave form, and costs. Suggestions are made for matching the specifications and analytic capabilities of the individual instrument with its intended application. A note describes newly available digitizing techniques. (hbf) 87:6607 Evennett, Peter, 1987. The third dimension in microscopy. Proc. R. microsc. Soc., 22(2): 111-114. The author describes available technology for adapting both light and electron microscopes for the production of stereo images, and stresses the wide applicability and relative ease of stereo imaging. Although straightforward conversions of standard microscopes for 3-D imaging is emphasized, some of the more complex techniques (confocal scanning light microscopy, stereoscopic x-ray microscopy, computer data handling, and image presentation via holograms and anaglyphs) are also discussed. Dept. of Pure and Appl. Zool., The Univ., Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
OLR (I 987~ 34 (I !)
87:6608 Guptill, S.C. and D.A. Nystrom, 1985. Geographic information systems: an important tool for spatial analysis. United States Geological Survey yearbook, Fiscal year 1985. USGS; 9-16. Work at USGS (particularly a joint project of USGS and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection) on digitized geographic information systems is described. These systems can store any number of geographic attributes linked to grid squares, and also store vectors describing linear features or boundaries which traverse grid squares. Application-specific displays may be output on varying scales. (fcs) 87:6609 Imhoff, M.L., C. Vermillion, M.H. Story, A.M. Choudhury, A. Gafoor and F. Polcyn, 1987. Monsoon flood boundary delineation and damage assessment using space borne imaging radar and Landsat data. Photogram. Engng, Remote Sens., 53(4):405-413. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA. 87:6610 Jordan, K.E., 1987. Performance comparison of large-scale scientific computers. Scalar mainframes, mainframes with integrated vector facilities, and supercomputers. Computer, 20(3):1023. A comprehensive evaluation of scientific computation on large-scale computers is performed by using a diverse collection of CPU-intensive codes that compete for machine resources. Comparisons were made across three classes of machines (scalar mainframes with vector add-ons, integrated vector mainframes and supercomputers) and within each class. Both the CPU times to execute individual codes and overall system performance were monitored. From benchmark results, Crays 'maintain the edge' for general purpose, diverse code (and provide experience in developing algorithms for the massively parallel computers to come), but Amdahrs VPs 'run a close second,' and with high vector content, surpass the Crays. Exxon Res. and Engng, Computing and Info. Support Div., Clinton Township, Rte. 22E, Annandale, NJ 08801, USA. (fcs) 87:6611 Karr, J.R., 1987. Biological monitoring and environmental assessment: a conceptual framework. Environ. Mgmt, 11(2):249-256. Direct biological monitoring is essential for effective assessment efforts. Past approaches to biomonitoring are too simplistic or conceptually invalid. The best