Systems driven HLFC design

The paper presents an aerodynamic study carried out in parallel with the EU AFLoNext project to assess the issues involved in combining hybrid laminar flow control (HLFC) technology for drag reduction with wing ice protection systems (WIPS). The paper describes the selection of appropriate test cases in the literature which are representative of wings designed for HLFC system and the progression from an initial baseline HLFC chamber layout to layouts driven by practical constraints such as WIPS requirements and aircraft structure. The resulting HLFC system is a compromise between all concerned systems. Conclusions are drawn about design driven not purely by performance but by the ability to physically implement the system on a commercial aircraft

Streamlining and Refining FEDS Loads Models - Final Report

The Facility Energy Decision System (FEDS) software is a powerful buildings energy analysis tool developed by Battelle at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory with support from numerous organizations including several within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). FEDS is used extensively throughout the federal sector to examine building energy efficiency potential and recommend energy saving retrofit projects. The focus of this CRADA was to update the foundation of the FEDS loads models, to improve the core functionality and calculation methods and position the building efficiency analysis software for continued growth. The broader intent was to increase FEDS utility and user satisfaction via improving modeling accuracy, facilitating development and making possible a wide range of new and desired capability enhancements. This report provides an summary of the various tasks performed under the CRADA

Research and Consultancy Services in the Mining Industry in Zimbabwe: A Coordinated Approach Through the Mineral Resources Centre

IMR Report.Education in the engineering fields can be considerably enhanced if it is designed to address the immediate and long-term needs of society. In this context education not only comprises the provision of basic training, but also includes the careful planning and execution of applied and fundamental research. This paper focuses on education and research institutions that provide services to the mining sector in Zimbabwe and describes a new approach to meeting high-quality teaching, research and consultancy requirements against a background of diminishing government funding. Key units within the University of Zimbabwe providing services to the mining industry include the Institute of Mining Research, The Departments of Geology and Physics in the Faculty of Science and Mining Engineering and Metallurgy in the Faculty of Engineering. Within government, services are provided principally by the Departments of Geological Survey, Metallurgy and Mining Engineering, and the Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre. The major source of funding for all of these institutions is Government. There is a degree of overlap between these institutions, some of which were established more than 30 years ago with terms of reference appropriate for the time. With decreasing funding exacerbated by a harsh economic climate in Zimbabwe there is need to revisit the charters of these organizations and to review the provision of services to the mining sector. Recognition of this situation has led the Department of Geology to spearhead a new initiative to establish an alternative structure through which consultancy and research in mining related topics can be coordinated at the University of Zimbabwe. The Mineral Resources Centre (MRC) was established to facilitate fund-raising activities through consultancy services, research, postgraduate training and capital investment. By representing a group of like-minded stakeholders, the MRC can address larger projects, and thus secure more funding than individual entities will be able to obtain. The MRC is designed to be a lightweight structure that will not replace any of the existing teaching and research departments. The MRC is not be bound to any particular faculty within the university, and may even include stakeholders from outside the university. Interested parties are invited to participate on a voluntary basis in accordance with the management and quality- control guidelines laid out by the MRC. Participation is on a contract basis and will be determined for each project. Service providers that participate in the MRC agree to use their resources in the best possible way, so that services can be presented in unison. In combining forces between various departments with expertise in Earth Sciences, it is envisaged that a wider audience can be reached, a better service can be provided and a larger resource base can be tapped both within the private and the public sectors. The MRC may help coordinate capital investment, and human resource development in the various participating entities. Considering the limited availability of financial and human resources in Zimbabwe, coordination and prevention of unnecessary overlap is in itself a valuable exercise

Lemur Biorhythms and Life History Evolution

Skeletal histology supports the hypothesis that primate life histories are regulated by a neuroendocrine rhythm, the Havers-Halberg Oscillation (HHO). Interestingly, subfossil lemurs are outliers in HHO scaling relationships that have been discovered for haplorhine primates and other mammals. We present new data to determine whether these species represent the general lemur or strepsirrhine condition and to inform models about neuroendocrine-mediated life history evolution. We gathered the largest sample to date of HHO data from histological sections of primate teeth (including the subfossil lemurs) to assess the relationship of these chronobiological measures with life history-related variables including body mass, brain size, age at first female reproduction, and activity level. For anthropoids, these variables show strong correlations with HHO conforming to predictions, though body mass and endocranial volume are strongly correlated with HHO periodicity in this group. However, lemurs (possibly excepting Daubentonia) do not follow this pattern and show markedly less variability in HHO periodicity and lower correlation coefficients and slopes. Moreover, body mass is uncorrelated, and brain size and activity levels are more strongly correlated with HHO periodicity in these animals. We argue that lemurs evolved this pattern due to selection for risk-averse life histories driven by the unpredictability of the environment in Madagascar. These results reinforce the idea that HHO influences life history evolution differently in response to specific ecological selection regimes

On the controllability of saturating crossflow vortices

This thesis examines the suitability of the crossflow generated by rotating boundary layers for investigating crossflow amplification control thresholds at scales suitable for university wind tunnels. Using rotating disk flow as a starting point, it was postulated that the addition of a concentric annulus, rotating at a different angular velocity to the inner disk, would allow controlled changes in crossflow growth just prior to non-linear saturation. A novel formulation for the boundary layer a rotating disk with radially variable angular velocity was derived for application on the disk-annulus system, though ultimately it was determined that the resultant equations were elliptical in character and therefore no longer representative of the physics of the swept-wing boundary layer. In order to ensure parabolicity, a configuration involving a rotating body in an axial flow was proposed. It was speculated that local variations in edge velocity, induced by the body geometry, would provide an appropriate analogue to the variable pressure gradients found in the vicinity of swept-wing leading edge. A novel formulation for the boundary layer equations for a generalised rotating body of revolution, both with and without an incompressible axial flow, was subsequently derived, implemented within the QinetiQ BL2D boundary layer method and validated against other shape-specific formulations. The formulation employs a velocity switch, u*, which allows for a seamless transition between quiescent and axial flow investigations and provides a valuable alternative to other shape and flow specific formulations. The perturbation and stability equations in a general orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system were derived to include Coriolis accelerations terms, as well as retaining viscous curvature. The existing QinetiQ e^N method, CoDS, was modified and extended to enable the analysis of rotating boundary layers and provided qualitatively good agreement with results published by Garrett (2002), with quantitative differences attributed mainly to scaling. The methods were combined in order to answer the original research question, whether the boundary layer due to a rotating body could be used as a viable analogue for swept-wing flow in the context of crossflow growth control. Velocity profiles for rotating axi-symmetric bodies were shown to provide a good match to those of swept-wing flow, with differences only in the second wall-normal derivatives. Results showed that geometries could be selected which demonstrated non-monotonic N-factor growth, of the type encountered during HYLTEC and AFLoNext. An axi-symmetric body derived from the upper surface of the RAE2822 demonstrated N-factor amplification followed by sudden stabilisation

Review: \u3ci\u3eVeratrum californicum\u3c/i\u3e Alkaloids

Veratrum spp. grow throughout the world and are especially prevalent in high mountain meadows of North America. All parts of Veratrum plants have been used for the treatment of ailments including injuries, hypertension, and rheumatic pain since as far back as the 1600s. Of the 17–45 Veratrum spp., Veratrum californicum alkaloids have been proven to possess favorable medicinal properties associated with inhibition of hedgehog (Hh) pathway signaling. Aberrant Hh signaling leads to proliferation of over 20 cancers, including basal cell carcinoma, prostate and colon among others. Six of the most well-studied V. californicum alkaloids are cyclopamine (1), veratramine (2), isorubijervine (3), muldamine (4), cycloposine (5), and veratrosine (6). Recent inspection of the ethanolic extract from V. californicum root and rhizome via liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry has detected up to five additional alkaloids that are proposed to be verazine (7), etioline (8), tetrahydrojervine (9), dihydrojervine (10), 22-keto-26-aminocholesterol (11). For each alkaloid identified or proposed in V. californicum, this review surveys literature precedents for extraction methods, isolation, identification, characterization and bioactivity to guide natural product drug discovery associated with this medicinal plant

Trust \u3ci\u3eThe Key to Leading When Lives Are on the Line\u3c/i\u3e

The Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation was called in to assist the bureau\u27s Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team in Memphis to apprehend a married couple wanted on drug trafficking charges. The fugitive couple and an adult son, all with criminal records, were believed to be living in trailers in a mountain valley where outsiders would be easily noticed. The fugitives were known to stockpile weapons and had vowed never to be taken alive by law enforcement. Thus the FBI considered them to be armed and extremely dangerous. Two HRT snipers along with two SWAT snipers were given the mission of positively identifying the fugitives and providing security and containment for the assault force. The snipers would have to travel several kilometers through wooded, mountainous terrain using night vision goggles (NVGs). The SWAT snipers did not have nighttime, overland movement capability, which is why HRT was brought in

Heads will roll! Routes to effective trust repair in the aftermath of a CEO transgression

CEO transgressions are a common storyline in today's business press. Such incidents result in the need to repair trust for both the CEO and the organisation that the CEO leads. Existing empirical research on trust repair has focused primarily on interpersonal trust, resulting in a body of knowledge that provides many insights to the errant CEO but few insights for those who aim to repair trust in the organisation. Since organisations also need to regain the trust of stakeholders after a CEO transgression, research on organisational trust repair is clearly warranted. Organisations have options for trust repair that are not available to individuals (e.g. dismissing the transgressor), these actions may be initiated by parties other than the culpable party (e.g. the Board of Directors), and the mechanisms underlying organisational versus interpersonal trust repair may differ. However, trust in CEOs and their associated organisations may also be intertwined since the CEO is the symbolic representative of the organisation. To better understand how organisations and CEOs can repair trust in the aftermath of a CEO transgression, we conduct a scenario experiment examining two tactics that are commonly used in practice: CEO dismissal, and CEO apology + penance. We also examine the proposed underlying mechanisms of perceived repentance and perceived disentitativity. Results indicate that both tactics can influence trust in the CEO as well as the organisation, and that perceived repentance and perceived disentitativity mediate the effects of Board responses on trust in the CEO but not on trust in the organisation

EFSUMB Recommendations and Guidelines for Gastrointestinal Ultrasound - Part 1: Examination Techniques and Normal Findings (Short version)

Abstract ▼ In October 2014 the European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology formed a Gastrointestinal Ultrasound (GIUS) task force group to promote the use of GIUS in a clinical setting. One of the main objectives of the task force group was to develop clinical recommendations and guidelines for the use of GIUS under the auspices of EFSUMB. The first part, gives an overview of the examination techniques for GIUS recommended by experts in the field. It also presents the current evidence for the interpretation of normal sonoanatomical and physiological features as examined with different ultrasound modalities

EFSUMB Recommendations and Guidelines for Gastrointestinal Ultrasound - Part 1: Examination Techniques and Normal Findings (Long version).

Abstract ▼ In October 2014 the European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology formed a Gastrointestinal Ultrasound (GIUS) task force group to promote the use of GIUS in a clinical setting. One of the main objectives of the task force group was to develop clinical recommendations and guidelines for the use of GIUS under the auspices of EFSUMB. The first part, gives an overview of the examination techniques for GIUS recommended by experts in the field. It also presents the current evidence for the interpretation of normal sonoanatomical and physiological features as examined with different ultrasound modalities