T700 power turbine rotor multiplane/multispeed balancing demonstration

Research was conducted to demonstrate the ability of influence coefficient based multispeed balancing to control rotor vibration through bending criticals. Rotor dynamic analyses were conducted of the General Electric T700 power turbine rotor. The information was used to generate expected rotor behavior for optimal considerations in designing a balance rig and a balance technique. The rotor was successfully balanced 9500 rpm. Uncontrollable coupling behavior prevented observations through the 16,000 rpm service speed. The balance technique is practical and with additional refinement it can meet production standards

Specialization of the rostral prefrontal cortex for distinct analogy processes

Analogical reasoning is central to learning and abstract thinking. It involves using a more familiar situation (source) to make inferences about a less familiar situation (target). According to the predominant cognitive models, analogical reasoning includes 1) generation of structured mental representations and 2) mapping based on structural similarities between them. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to specify the role of rostral prefrontal cortex (PFC) in these distinct processes. An experimental paradigm was designed that enabled differentiation between these processes, by temporal separation of the presentation of the source and the target. Within rostral PFC, a lateral subregion was activated by analogy task both during study of the source (before the source could be compared with a target) and when the target appeared. This may suggest that this subregion supports fundamental analogy processes such as generating structured representations of stimuli but is not specific to one particular processing stage. By contrast, a dorsomedial subregion of rostral PFC showed an interaction between task (analogy vs. control) and period (more activated when the target appeared). We propose that this region is involved in comparison or mapping processes. These results add to the growing evidence for functional differentiation between rostral PFC subregions

KINEMATIC ANALYSIS OF THE BACK SALTO TAKE-OFF IN A TUMBLING SERIES: ADVANCED VS. BEGINNER TECHNIQUES

The purpose of this study was to differentiate techniques used by beginner and advanced level gymnasts in the take-off of a back salto preceded by a round-off back handspring. Six gymnasts performed multiple trials of the tumbling series, in which horizontal and vertical velocities of the center of mass were calculated, take-off and flight times investigated, and peak heights derived from the analysis. It was found that the advanced gymnasts did possess lower horizontal and higher vertical velocities, shorter take-off times, longer flight times, and higher saltos than the beginning gymnasts

Industrial wastewater treatment using hydrodynamic cavitation and heterogeneous advanced Fenton processing

A combination of hydrodynamic cavitation and heterogeneous advanced Fenton process (AFP) based on the use of zero valent iron as the catalyst has been investigated for the treatment of real industrial wastewater. The effect of various operating parameters such as inlet pressure, temperature, and the presence of copper windings on the extent of mineralization as measured by total organic carbon (TOC) content have been studied with the aim of maximizing the extent of degradation. It has been observed that increased pressures, higher operating temperature and the absence of copper windings are more favourable for a rapid TOC mineralization. A new approach of latent remediation has also been investigated where hydrodynamic cavitation is only used as a pre-treatment with an aim of reducing the overall cost of pollutant degradation. It has been observed that approach of latent remediation works quite well with about 50–60% removal of TOC using only minimal initial treatment by hydrodynamic cavitation

Intensification of hydroxyl radical production in sonochemical reactors

The efficacy of sonochemical reactors in chemical processing applications has been well established in the laboratory scale of operation though at a given set of operating parameters and no efforts have been directed in terms of maximizing the free radical production. In the present work, the effect of different operating parameters viz. pH, power dissipation into the system, effect of additives such as air, haloalkanes, titanium dioxide, iron and oxygen on the extent of hydroxyl radical formation in a sonochemical reactor have been investigated using salicylic acid dosimetry. Possible mechanisms for oxidation of salicylic acid in the presence of different additives have also been established. It has been observed that acidic conditions under optimized power dissipation in the presence of iron powder and oxygen result in maximum liberation of hydroxyl radicals as quantified by the kinetic rate constant for production of 2,5- and 2,3-dihydroxybenzoic acid. The study has enabled the optimization of the conditions for maximum efficacy of sonochemical reactors where free radical attack is the controlling mechanism for the chemical processing applications

An overview of tea research in Tanzania - with special reference to the Southern Highlands.

The history of tea development in Tanzania from the early part of this century to the present is summarised. Average yields of made tea from well managed estates in the Mufindi district have increased from around 600 kg ha-1 in the late 1950s to 3000 kg ha-1 at the present time: by comparison, yields from smallholder farms have remained much lower, averaging only 400-500 kg ha-1. There have been a large number of technical, economic and other changes over the last 30 to 40 years. The removal of shade trees, the use of herbicides, the application of NPK compound fertilisers, the introduction of irrigation (on some estates) and changes in harvesting policy have all contributed to the increases in yield. Financial and infrastructural problems have contributed to the low yields from many smallholders and others, and have limited the uptake of new technology. The contribution of research is reviewed, from the start of the Tea Research Institute of East Africa in Kenya in 1951, through to the development of the Marikitanda Tea Research Centre in Amani in 1967; the Ngwazi Tea Research Unit in Mufindi (1967 to 1970, and from 1986), and lastly the Kifyulilo Tea Research Station, also in Mufindi in 1986. The yield potential of well fertilized and irrigated clonal tea, grown at an altitude of 1800 m, is around 6000 kg ha-1. This potential is reduced by drought, lack of fertilizer, bush vacancies and inefficient harvesting practices. The corresponding potential yields at high (2200 m) and low (1200 m) altitude sites range from 3000-3500 kg ha-1 up to 9000-10000 kg ha-1 and are largely a function of temperature. The opportunities for increasing yields of existing tea, smallholder and estate, are enormous. Tea production in the Southern Highlands of Tanzania is about to expand rapidly. Good, appropriate research is needed to sustain this development over the long term, and suggestions on how best this is done in order to assist the large scale producers as well as the smallholders, are discussed

QCD Corrections in two-Higgs-doublet extensions of the Standard Model with Minimal Flavor Violation

We present the QCD corrections to R_b and to the Delta B=1 effective Hamiltonian in models with a second Higgs field that couples to the quarks respecting the criterion of Minimal Flavor Violation, thus belonging either to the (1,2)_1/2 or to the (8,2)_1/2 representation of SU(3)xSU(2)xU(1). After the inclusion of the QCD corrections, the prediction for R_b becomes practically insensitive to the choice of renormalization scheme for the top mass, which for the type-I and type-II models translates in a more robust lower bound on tan(beta). The QCD-corrected determinations of Rb and BR(B->Xs gamma) are used to discuss the constraints on the couplings of a (colored) charged Higgs boson to top and bottom quarks.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures. v2: version published in Phys. Rev. D, with additional reference and not

The static potential in QED3_3 with non-minimal coupling

Here we study the effect of the non-minimal coupling j^{\mu}\eps \partial^{\nu} A^{\alpha} on the static potential in multiflavor QED$_3$. Both cases of four and two components fermions are studied separately at leading order in the $1/N$ expansion. Although a non-local Chern-Simons term appears, in the four components case the photon is still massless leading to a confining logarithmic potential similar to the classical one. In the two components case, as expected, the parity breaking fermion mass term generates a traditional Chern-Simons term which makes the photon massive and we have a screening potential which vanishes at large inter-charge distance. The extra non-minimal couplings have no important influence on the static potential at large inter-charge distances. However, interesting effects show up at finite distances. In particular, for strong enough non-minimal coupling we may have a new massive pole in the photon propagator while in the opposite limit there may be no poles at all in the irreducible case. We also found that, in general, the non-minimal couplings lead to a finite range {\bf repulsive} force between charges of opposite signs.Comment: 19 pages and 7 figure

Teaching Corner: Regional anaesthesia for ophthalmic surgery

Performing safe and effective regional anaesthesia for ophthalmic surgery is an important skill for anaesthetic and ophthalmologic practitioners. Akinetic sharp-needle blocks are generally safe but rare, sight and life threatening complications occur. Sub-Tenon’s block using a blunt canula provides akinesa and is a safer alternative but serious complications have been reported. This review provides an introduction to the relevant anatomy, local anaesthetic drugs and commonly used techniques and a practical guide to their safe performance