Preliminary system design study for a digital fly-by-wire flight control system for an F-8C aircraft

The design of a fly-by-wire control system having a mission failure probability of less than one millionth failures per flight hour is examined. Emphasis was placed on developing actuator configurations that would improve the system performance, and consideration of the practical aspects of sensor/computer and computer/actuator interface implementation. Five basic configurations were defined as appropriate candidates for the F-8C research aircraft. Options on the basic configurations were included to cover variations in flight sensors, redundancy levels, data transmission techniques, processor input/output methods, and servo actuator arrangements. The study results can be applied to fly by wire systems for transport aircraft in general and the space shuttle

A Comparison of the Performance of Five Randomly Selected Groups of 1978-1979 Eighth Grade Students on Five Different Stanford Achievement Test Batteries Standardized in 1929, 1940, 1952, 1964, and 1973

The purpose of this study was to examine the test performance of five randomly selected groups of 1978 students on five different versions of the Stanford Achievement Test. Three types of comparisons were made. First, the test scores of the five groups of 1978 students in grade 8.1 were compared with each other on the 1929, 1940, 1952, 1964, and 1973 Stanford Achievement Tests. Second, the test scores of each 1978 test group were compared with the test scores of the 8.1 normlng group for each test. Last, the test scores of 1978 students were compared with the test scores of students of the same age in the normlng groups for the five different tests. A total of 236 subjects from one middle school in Upper East Tennessee was used. The 236 subjects were randomly assigned to five groups. The five groups were randomly paired with the five different Stanford Achievement Tests and were tested under the same testing conditions. A computer comparison of the past achievement of the five 1978 test groups proved the groups equal in ability at the time of testing. In making the comparisons, it was found that students in the 1978 test groups were not achieving less than students in the past in all subjects. Reading and language achievement scores were as high or higher than in the past. Mathematics scores were lower than in the past except for 1973. Recommendations for future research were given

Investigations of the Fishery of Fish Lake, Utah

Fish Lake, which is located in Sevier county, Utah, is considered to be one of the most productive lakes in the intermountain regions. It is visited annually by thousands of fishermen from Utah and surrounding states. In 1934, a thirteen-day check made by the Utah Fish and Game Department showed that anglers caught 17,521 fish with a total weight of 13,844 pounds, and spent a sum of $27,246.21 on expenses

The Logic of Being: An Evaluation of Arguments for God\u27s Existence

The existence of God and the scholarly debates concerning it have dominated Western philosophy for roughly a millennia and a half with no verifiable conclusions being reached. Rather than throwing another “logical” justification for the existence of higher powers into the ring, the research and analysis I have undertaken concerns itself with the premise that there is no logical argument for the existence of God that will satisfy the debate. This dismissal is accompanied by an in-depth deconstruction of the work of Kurt Gödel, a logician and mathematician credited with the publication of the Incompleteness Theorems. The use of the First Incompleteness Theorem (in summary, the First Incomplete Theorem states that no consistent system of axioms is capable of proving all those axioms true) will be utilized in the critique of scholarly arguments for the existence of God; namely, those of Saint Anselm, Rene Descartes, William Craig Lane, and Alvin Plantinga. I argue that Gödel’s theorem, despite being purely mathematical and logical in nature, can be re-interpreted and co-opted into theological discussions while maintaining its intellectual integrity. The application of this theorem to religious philosophy will then be used to dismiss logical attempts at justification of the existence of God. It must be made clear that this dismissal of the logical existence of God is not a dismissal of the possible dismissal of God; rather, this rejection of logic and acceptance of the absurd, as philosopher Soren Kierkegaard would argue as well, is necessary for faith in God

A Comparison of the Performance of Five Randomly Selected Groups of 1978-1979 Eighth Grade Students on Five Different Stanford Achievement Test Batteries Standardized in 1929, 1940, 1952, 1964, and 1973

The purpose of this study was to examine the test performance of five randomly selected groups of 1978 students on five different versions of the Stanford Achievement Test. Three types of comparisons were made. First, the test scores of the five groups of 1978 students in grade 8.1 were compared with each other on the 1929, 1940, 1952, 1964, and 1973 Stanford Achievement Tests. Second, the test scores of each 1978 test group were compared with the test scores of the 8.1 normlng group for each test. Last, the test scores of 1978 students were compared with the test scores of students of the same age in the normlng groups for the five different tests. A total of 236 subjects from one middle school in Upper East Tennessee was used. The 236 subjects were randomly assigned to five groups. The five groups were randomly paired with the five different Stanford Achievement Tests and were tested under the same testing conditions. A computer comparison of the past achievement of the five 1978 test groups proved the groups equal in ability at the time of testing. In making the comparisons, it was found that students in the 1978 test groups were not achieving less than students in the past in all subjects. Reading and language achievement scores were as high or higher than in the past. Mathematics scores were lower than in the past except for 1973. Recommendations for future research were given

Food Allergies and Disabilities in Children

There is increased curiosity and research regarding the role that food allergies may or may not have in relation to major disabilities in children. Some researchers claim that symptoms, from simple aches and pains to cancer, are caused by food allergies. More specifically, in regards to children, there has been much speculation and research concerning specific food allergies and its possible link to two major disabilities in particular, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and autism

The Peril of the Plankton

The pelagic environment is characterized by unevenly distributed resources and risks. Such unpredictability presents adaptive challenges to diverse planktonic organisms including the larvae of benthic marine invertebrates. Estimates of mortality during planktonic development are highly variable, ranging from 0% to 100% per day. Predation is considered a significant source of this mortality, but what explains the variability in estimates of the mortality of marine invertebrate larvae? While differential exposure of larval prey to predators may explain these widely variable estimates, adaptations that reduce vulnerability of marine larvae to predators may also be important. Although there are excellent reviews of predation upon larvae and of larval mortality and defenses, nearly 15 years have elapsed since these topics were formally reviewed. Here, we highlight recent advances in understanding the behavioral, chemical, and morphological defenses that larvae possess and assess their effectiveness in reducing the risk of predation. While recent work confirms that larval mortality is generally high, it also demonstrates that larvae can reduce their risk of predation in several ways, including: (1) temporarily escaping the benthos during vulnerable early stages, (2) producing chemical compounds that reduce palatability, (3) possessing morphological defenses such as spines and shells, and (4) exhibiting induced defensive responses whereby larvae can alter their behavior, morphology, and life histories in the presence of predators. Taken together, these studies indicate that marine invertebrate larvae possess a sophisticated suite of defensive phenotypes that have allowed them to persist in the life cycle of benthic invertebrates for eons

Atomic oxygen beam source for erosion simulation

A device for the production of low energy (3 to 10 eV) neutral atomic beams for surface modification studies is described that reproduces the flux of atomic oxygen in low Earth orbit. The beam is produced by the acceleration of plasma ions onto a negatively biased plate of high-Z metal; the ions are neutralized and reflected by the surface, retaining some fraction of their incident kinetic energy, forming a beam of atoms. The plasma is generated by a coaxial RF exciter which produces a magnetically-confined (4 kG) plasma column. At the end of the column, ions fall through the sheath to the plate, whose bias relative to the plasma can be varied to adjust the beam energy. The source provides a neutral flux approximately equal to 5 x 10(exp 16)/sq cm at a distance of 9 cm and a fluence approximately equal to 10(exp 20)/sq cm in five hours. The composition and energy of inert gas beams was diagnosed using a mass spectometer/energy analyzer. The energy spectra of the beams demonstrate energies in the range 5 to 15 eV, and qualitatively show expected dependences upon incident and reflecting atom species and potential drop. Samples of carbon film, carbon-based paint, Kapton, mylar, and teflon exposed to atomic O beams show erosion quite similar to that observed in orbit on the space shuttle

Community-Campus Partnerships for Health: Making a Positive Impact

Offers pragmatic insights from diverse community-campus partnerships, service-learning initiatives, and workforce diversity efforts across the country, including communities from the foundation's Community Voices initiative

Analysis and Preliminary Design of an Advanced Technology Transport Flight Control System

The analysis and preliminary design of an advanced technology transport aircraft flight control system using avionics and flight control concepts appropriate to the 1980-1985 time period are discussed. Specifically, the techniques and requirements of the flight control system were established, a number of candidate configurations were defined, and an evaluation of these configurations was performed to establish a recommended approach. Candidate configurations based on redundant integration of various sensor types, computational methods, servo actuator arrangements and data-transfer techniques were defined to the functional module and piece-part level. Life-cycle costs, for the flight control configurations, as determined in an operational environment model for 200 aircraft over a 15-year service life, were the basis of the optimum configuration selection tradeoff. The recommended system concept is a quad digital computer configuration utilizing a small microprocessor for input/output control, a hexad skewed set of conventional sensors for body rate and body acceleration, and triple integrated actuators