An overview of the quiet short-haul research aircraft program

An overview of the Quiet Short Haul Research Aircraft (QSRA) Program is presented, with special emphasis on its propulsion and acoustic aspects. A description of the NASA technical participation in the program including wind tunnel testing, engine ground tests, and advanced aircraft simulation is given. The aircraft and its systems are described and, measured performance, where available, is compared to program goals. Preliminary data indicate that additional research and development are needed in some areas of which acoustics is an example. Some of these additional research areas and potential experiments using the QSRA to develop the technology are discussed. The concept of the QSRA as a national flight research facility is explained

Fire and edge effects in a fragmented tropical forest landscape in the southwestern Amazon.

The Amazon holds the largest tropical rain forest formation in the world but this natural ecosystem has been altered by both anthropogenic and natural disturbances since the 1970s (Davidson et al., 2012). The Brazilian Amazon experienced the highest annual tropical deforestation rates until the mid-2000s when rates began to decline dramatically due to the government?s environmental law enforcement. Conversely, other forest disturbances, such as understory fire, selective logging, and fragmentation (Aragao et al., 2014; Arima et al., 2014) have gained more importance in terms of their impacts on remnant forests. The degree of forest degradation varies as functions of disturbance type, the intensity and frequency of disturbance events, and the time since occurrence (Cochrane and Schulze, 1999; Barlow and Peres, 2004; Brando et al., 2014). Additionally, the impacts of these disturbances may vary across the region due to different gradients of physical conditions including rainfall, edaphic and geological properties (Hoorn et al., 2010; Malhi et al., 2004)

Understanding the scale and nature of outcome change in area-regeneration programmes: evidence from the New Deal for Communities Programme in England

The New Deal for Communities (NDC) Programme is one of the most intensive area-based initiatives (ABIs) launched in England. Between 1998 and 2010, 39 NDC Partnerships were charged with improving conditions in relation to six outcomes within deprived neighbourhoods, each accommodating around 9,800 people. Data point to only modest change, much of which reflected improving attitudes towards the area and the environment. There are problems in identifying positive people-based outcomes because relatively few individuals benefit from relevant initiatives. Few positive benefits leak out of NDC areas. Transformational change was always unlikely bearing in mind the limited nature of additional resources, and because only a minority of individuals directly engage with NDC projects. This evidence supports perspectives of ABIs rooted in 'local-managerialism'

Coherent Superposition States as Quantum Rulers

We explore the sensitivity of an interferometer based on a quantum circuit for coherent states. We show that its sensitivity is at the Heisenberg limit. Moreover we show that this arrangement can measure very small length intervals

Solidarity with wild animals

‘Solidarity’ is a key concept in political movements and usually bears on matters of labour, health and social justice. As such, it is essential in the reproduction and transformation of communities that support their members and protect their interests. It is sometimes overlooked that interspecies solidarity already pertains with a number of domesticated animals, and that people are willing to carry substantial emotional, financial and social burdens to benefit them. There has been even more reluctance to acknowledge wild animals as fellow members of our political communities with whom we might stand in solidarity. The purpose of this paper is to propose that solidaristic relations with certain wild animals are not only possible, but also already exist in some contexts. It explores three different understandings of solidarity, and in probing to what extent they can be applied to wild animals, it identifies some important different roles they can play in ‘animal politics’, and shows how they can help us reconceive our communities in less anthropocentric terms

Indentation-based characterization of creep and hardness behavior of magnesium carbon nanotube nanocomposites at room temperature

The time-dependent plastic deformation response of magnesium/carbon nanotube (CNT) nanocomposites containing 0.25, 0.5, and 0.75 vol% of carbon nanotubes is investigated through depth nanoindentation tests against monolithic pure magnesium in the present study. The Mg-CNT nanocomposite materials were successfully synthesized via a powder metallurgy technique coupled with microwave sintering followed by hot extrusion to produce 8-mm diameter, long solid bars. All depth-sensing indentation creep tests were conducted at ambient (room) temperature employing a diamond Berkovich pyramidal indenter. These tests are dual-stage, i.e., loading to a prescribed peak load of 50 mN, holding the peak load constant for a dwell period of 500 s, and finally unloading. Various strain rates of 0.01, 0.1, 1, and 10 s−1were performed to assess the effects of strain rate and dwell time on the ambient temperature creep response of the Mg-CNT nanocomposites. The outcomes of these tests are explained through material hardness, microstructure, the extent of CNT content in each material, and strain rate sensitivity. Upon analyzing the nanoindentation creep tests, the dominant creep mechanism at room temperature was found to be a dislocation creep mechanism. It is also found that CNTs increase the creep resistance of magnesium. Findings of this study can be used as a starting point for a high-temperature creep study on Mg-CNT nanocomposites. This paper is a continued study from our group on time-dependent plastic deformation of Mg nanocomposites (i.e., see Haghshenas et al., Journal of Composite Materials, https://doi.org/10.1177/0021998318808358). The short-term goal is to provide a compressive picture of the controlling creep mechanisms and their dependency upon, time, temperature, strain rate, volume fraction of the nanoparticles, and the type of the nanoparticles. Mg, in general, is a notorious material for high-temperature application; therefore, the long-term objective is to propose Mg nanocomposite as reliable replacements for Mg when lightweight and creep resistance are needed. However, to be able to confidently suggest such a replacement detailed understanding on the controlling phenomena, mention as short-term goals, are required

A multicentre integration of a computer-led follow-up of prostate cancer is valid and safe

Background Prostate cancer (CaP) has a rising number of patients requiring routine follow up. In this study, we aimed to test a computer led follow up service for prostate cancer in two UK hospitals. The testing aimed to validate the computer Expert system in making clinical decisions according to the individual patient’s clinical need. The valid model should accurately identify patients with disease recurrence or treatment failure based on their blood test and clinical picture. Methods A clinical decision support system (CDSS) was developed from European (EAU) and national (NICE) guidelines along with knowledge acquired from Urologists. This model was then applied in two UK hospitals to review patients post CaP treatment. These patients’ data (n= 200) were then reviewed by two independent Urology consultants (blinded from the CDSS and other consultant’s rating) and the agreement was calculated by kappa statistics for validation. The second objective aimed to verify the system by estimating the system reliability. Results The two individual urology consultants identified 12 % & 15% of the patients to have potential disease progression and recommended their referral to the Urology care. The kappa coefficient for the agreement between the CDSS and the 2 consultants was 0.81 (p < 0.001) and 0.84 (p < 0.001). The agreement among both specialist was also high with k = 0.83 (p < 0.001). The system reliability was estimated on all cases and this demonstrated 100% repeatability of the decisions. Conclusion The computer led follow up is a valid model for providing safe follow up for prostate cancer

Tailoring teleportation to the quantum alphabet

We introduce a refinement of the standard continuous variable teleportation measurement and displacement strategies. This refinement makes use of prior knowledge about the target state and the partial information carried by the classical channel when entanglement is non-maximal. This gives an improvement in the output quality of the protocol. The strategies we introduce could be used in current continuous variable teleportation experiments.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, RevTeX, made changes as recommended by referee, other minor textual corrections, resubmitted to Phys. Rev.