Flight Flutter Testing of Rotary Wing Aircraft Using a Control System Oscillation Technique

A flight flutter testing technique is described in which the rotor controls are oscillated by series actuators to excite the rotor and airframe modes of interest, which are then allowed to decay. The moving block technique is then used to determine the damped frequency and damping variation with rotor speed. The method proved useful for tracking the stability of relatively well damped modes. The results of recently completed flight tests of an experimental soft-in-plane rotor are used to illustrate the technique. Included is a discussion of the application of this technique to investigation of the propeller whirl flutter stability characteristics of the NASA/Army XV-15 VTOL tilt rotor research aircraft

Dietary n-3-polyunsaturated fatty acids and energy balance in overweight or moderately obese men and women: a randomized controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Dietary n-3-polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3-PUFA) have been shown to reduce body weight and fat mass in rodents as well as in humans in one small short-term study. We conducted this controlled randomized dietary trial to test the hypothesis that n-3-PUFA lower body weight and fat mass by reducing appetite and <it>ad libitum </it>food intake and/or by increasing energy expenditure.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Twenty-six overweight or moderately obese (body mass index 28–33 kg/m²) men and women were included, and received either a diet rich in n-3-PUFA from both plant and marine sources or a control diet. Diets were administered in an isocaloric fashion for 2 weeks followed by 12 weeks of <it>ad libitum </it>intake. The n-3-PUFA and control diets were identical in all regards except for the fatty acid composition. All foods were provided to subjects, and leftovers were weighed back to assess actual food intake accurately for each day of the study. This design gave us 80% power to detect a difference in weight change between the n-3-PUFA and control diet groups of 2.25 kg at an α-error level of 5%.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Both groups lost similar amounts of weight when these diets were consumed <it>ad libitum </it>for 12 weeks [mean (SD): -3.5 (3.7) kg in the control group vs. -2.8 (3.7) kg in the n-3-PUFA group, F_(1,24)= 13.425, p = 0.001 for time effect; F_(1,24)= 0.385, p = 0.541 for time × group interaction]. Consistent with this finding, we also found no differences between the n-3-PUFA and control groups with regard to appetite as measured by visual analogue scale, <it>ad libitum </it>food intake, resting energy expenditure as measured by indirect calorimetry, diurnal plasma leptin concentrations, or fasting ghrelin concentrations.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggest that dietary n-3-PUFA do not play an important role in the regulation of food intake, energy expenditure, or body weight in humans.</p

Study Protocol – Metabolic syndrome, vitamin D and bone status in South Asian women living in Auckland, New Zealand: A randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind vitamin D intervention

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The identification of the vitamin D receptor in the endocrine pancreas suggests a role for vitamin D in insulin secretion. There is also some limited evidence that vitamin D influences insulin resistance, and thus the early stages of the development of type 2 diabetes.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eighty-four women of South Asian origin, living in Auckland, New Zealand, were randomised to receive either a supplement (4000IU 25(OH)D₃per day) or a placebo for 6 months. At baseline, all participants were vitamin D deficient (serum 25(OH)D₃<50 nmol/L), insulin resistant (HOMA-IR > 1.93) and/or hyperinsulinaemic, hyperglycemic or had clinical signs of dislipidaemia. Changes in HOMA-IR, lipids, parathyroid hormone, calcium and bone markers were monitored at 3 months and 6 months.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This randomised, controlled trial will be the first to investigate the effect of vitamin D supplementation on insulin resistance in non-diabetic subjects. It will subsequently contribute to the growing body of evidence about the role of vitamin D in metabolic syndrome.Registered clinical.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Registered clinical trial – Registration No. ACTRN12607000642482</p

Liturgical pharmacology : time of the question, complexity and ethics

Bernard Stiegler depicts technics as the human’s tertiary memory retention generating a pharmakon with both curative and malignant potential. He additionally rues the posthuman epoch’s depletion of a ‘time of the question’: revealed in the prevalent inaptitude for wisdom – scilicet long-term acuity. We offer Christian liturgy as an abeyant psychotechnique arcing the current pharmakon to cure through soliciting a ‘time of the question’. Rejuvenating Christian liturgy as a psychotechnique can bolster a broader societal ‘time of the question’. Firstly, we describe technic’s du jour mise on scène. Secondly, we constrain Christian liturgies as complex systems incorporating malleability, temporality, and instability. Thirdly, we imagine Christian liturgy as empty tradition allowing amateur repetition of ancient art enticing a ‘time of the question’.http://www.hts.org.zaam2016Procedural La

Positive and negative affect changes during gender-affirming hormonal treatment : results from the European Network for the Investigation of Gender Incongruence (ENIGI)

Improving transgender people’s quality of life (QoL) is the most important goal of gender-affirming care. Prospective changes in affect can influence QoL. We aim to assess the impact of initiating gender-affirming hormonal treatment (HT) on affect. In the European Network for the Investigation of Gender Incongruence (ENIGI) study, we prospectively collected data of 873 participants (451 transwomen (TW) and 422 transmen (TM)). At baseline, psychological questionnaires including the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) were administered. The PANAS, levels of sex steroids and physical changes were registered at each follow-up visit during a 3-year follow-up period, starting at the initiation of hormonal therapy. Data were analyzed cross-sectionally and prospectively. Over the first three months, we observed a decline in positive affect (PA) in both TM and TW. Thereafter, PA reached a steady state in TW, whereas in TM there was also a second decline at 18 months. In both TM and TW there was no persisting difference comparing baseline to the 36-months results. Concerning negative affect (NA), we observed a decline during the first year in TM, which sustained during the second year and was not different anymore at 36 months compared to baseline. In TW though, we did not find any change of NA during the entire follow-up. Even if some of these results show significant differences, they should be considered with caution, since there was no control group and the absolute differences are small. No association between affect and the level of sex steroids was observed. Baseline QoL and psychological burden are related to affect independently from gender but are not necessarily good predictors of the evolution of one’s affect during the gender-affirming process. Further research is necessary to investigate these preliminary results

Measuring and modelling the energy cost of reconfiguration in sensor networks [forthcoming]

As Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) must operate for long periods on a limited power budget, estimating the energy cost of software operations is critical. Contemporary reconfiguration approaches for WSN allow for software evolution at various granularities; from reflashing of a complete software image, through replacement of complete applications, to the reconfiguration of individual software components. This paper contributes a generic model for measuring and modelling the energy cost of reconfiguration in WSN. We validate that this model is accurate in the face of different hardware platforms, software stacks and software encapsulation approaches. We have embedded this model in the LooCI middleware, resulting in the first energy aware reconfigurable component model for sensor networks. We evaluate our approach using two real-world WSN applications and demonstrate that our model predicts the energy cost of reconfiguration with 93% accuracy. Using this model we demonstrate that selecting the most appropriate software modularisation approach is key to minimising energy consumption

Solution of the relativistic Dirac-Hulthen problem

The one-particle three-dimensional Dirac equation with spherical symmetry is solved for the Hulthen potential. The s-wave relativistic energy spectrum and two-component spinor wavefunctions are obtained analytically. Conforming to the standard feature of the relativistic problem, the solution space splits into two distinct subspaces depending on the sign of a fundamental parameter in the problem. Unique and interesting properties of the energy spectrum are pointed out and illustrated graphically for several values of the physical parameters. The square integrable two-component wavefunctions are written in terms of the Jacobi polynomials. The nonrelativistic limit reproduces the well-known nonrelativistic energy spectrum and results in Schrodinger equation with a "generalized" three-parameter Hulthen potential, which is the sum of the original Hulthen potential and its square.Comment: 13 pages, 3 color figure