Twistable mold for helicopter blades

Design is described of mold for fabrication of blades composed of sets of aerodynamic shells having same airfoil section characteristics but different distributions. Mold consists of opposing stacks of thin templates held together by long bolts. When bolts are loosened, templates can be set at different positions with respect to each other and then locked in place

Random access-random release relay switching matrix

XY relay switching matrix provides complete random access and random release of 400 points. A mercury-wetted bistable relay with independent set and reset coils is the unique feature associated with each point

Free-flight measurements of dynamic stability derivatives of a blunted 120 deg cone in helium at Mach number 15.4

Free flight measurements of dynamic stability derivatives of blunted 120 deg cone in helium compared to unmodified Newtonian theory prediction

New concept in brazing metallic honeycomb panels

Aluminum oxide coating provides surface which will not be wetted by brazing alloy and which stops metallic diffusion welding of tooling materials to part being produced. This method eliminates loss of tooling materials and parts from braze wetting and allows fall-apart disassembly of tooling after brazing

Significance of Seed Size and Level of Hard Seededness on Survival of Medic Seeds ingested by Sheep

One experiment tested the effects of 2 seed sizes (from small and large pods) and 2 levels of hnrdseededness (low and high) on survival of Medicago truncatula Oaerln. cv. Paraggio seeds in whole pods fed to sheep. A maximum survival of 6.6% was obtained for the viable seed output/total seed input when the small pod size (small seeds) with the highest level of hard seed was fed to the sheep. Dy contrast, there was only n 1.1 % survival when the large pod size (larger seeds) with the lowest level of hard seed was fed to sheep. A second experiment examined the effects of i11 sacco digestion using 4 replicate rumen-fistulated Merino wethers, on the survival of small and large seeds of Sava snail medic (M. scutellata L.) and Paraggio barrel medic selected for both JOO% soft and 100% hard seeds. All soft seed of both species was digested; however, the percentage survival of small hard seeds was significantly greater than for large hard seeds. The experiments revealed that the resistance of hard seed to digestion depended largely upon seed size: small seed escaped the chewing process much better than large seed. Clearly the chewing process had for more influence on seed survival than digestion even when the conditions of the abomasum were simulated

Effect of breaking up sedentary time with callisthenics on endothelial function

Periods of prolonged sitting impairs endothelial function in lower limb conduit arteries, which is attenuated with physical activity breaks. The effect of activity breaks on upper limb arteries has not been examined. This study assessed changes in brachial artery endothelial function following either a prolonged sitting period or breaking up this sedentary time by performing sets of callisthenics exercises. Ten healthy participants (6 men) completed 2 conditions in a counterbalanced order: (a) 1-h 26-min sitting, or (b) breaking up this period every 20 min by performing a set of 5 callisthenics exercises. Brachial artery endothelial function was assessed via ultrasound using the flow-mediated dilation (FMD) technique prior to and following each condition, while brachial shear rate (SR) was acquired after each set of callisthenics. There was no significant change in FMD over time (P = 0.09) or between conditions (P = 0.12). Compared to sitting, brachial SR increased following each set of callisthenics, with a significant difference after the third break (Sit: 33.94 ± 12.79 s‾¹; Callisthenics: 57.16 ± 30.48 s‾¹, P = 0.02). Alterations in SR in the upper limbs suggest callisthenics may be an effective intervention to break up sedentary time and attenuate the potentially deleterious effects of prolonged sitting on cardiovascular health

NOS/NGS activities to support development of radio interferometric surveying techniques

National Geodetic Survey activities towards the development of operational geodetic survey systems based on radio interferometry are reviewed. Information about the field procedures, data reduction and analysis, and the results obtained to date is presented

Application of remote sensing to state and regional problems

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Statistical design considerations for pilot studies transitioning therapies from the bench to the bedside

Pilot studies are often used to transition therapies developed using animal models to a clinical setting. Frequently, the focus of such trials is on estimating the safety in terms of the occurrence of certain adverse events. With relatively small sample sizes, the probability of observing even relatively common events is low; however, inference on the true underlying event rate is still necessary even when no events of interest are observed. The exact upper limit to the event rate is derived and illustrated graphically. In addition, the simple algebraic expression for the confidence bound is seen to be useful in the context of planning studies