Investigation of a Compound Helicopter Flying the Depart and Abort Mission Task Element

The next generation of rotorcraft will have to satisfy the appropriate handling qualities requirements before entering service. Many of these vehicles will operate at significantly greater speeds than the conventional helicopter and will therefore have different capabilities than current helicopters. Due to the different capabilities of the compound helicopter, it is possible that new Mission Task Elements (MTEs) need to be developed to assess the handling qualities of this type of helicopter. It is also possible that existing MTEs may be suitable without modification. Overall, it seems necessary to review the US Army’s current handling qualities specification, ADS-33, and determine the suitability of the current MTEs for compound vehicles. The broad aim of the paper is to assess the performance of compound helicopter during manoeuvring flight. More specifically, a simulation study of a compound helicopter flying the Depart and Abort ADS-33 Mission Task Element. There are two objectives: firstly the capabilities of the compound vehicle is compared with those of a conventional helicopter, and secondly, the suitability of the current Depart and Abort MTE, for compound vehicles, is assessed. The results of the research study highlight the capability of compound helicopters in low speed acceleration manoeuvres. These results can be used to redefine low speed acceleration manoeuvres in the new update to the ADS-33 specification. The results also indicate some information about the potential design issues with the compound helicopter

At Dusk

This music clip is from the CD entitled At Dusk. The band was directed by Dr. Robert Washut.https://scholarworks.uni.edu/jazzband/1020/thumbnail.jp

Infinite Hamiltonian paths in Cayley diagraphs of hyperbolic symmetry groups

AbstractThe hyperbolic symmetry groups [p,q], [p,q]+, and [p+, q] have certain natural generating sets. We determine whether or not the corresponding Cayley digraphs have one-way infinite or two-way infinite directed Hamiltonian paths. In addition, the analogous Cayley graphs are shown to have both one-way infinite and two-way infinite Hamiltonian paths

The Wide Field Imaging Interferometry Testbed

We are developing a Wide-Field Imaging Interferometry Testbed (WIIT) in support of design studies for NASA's future space interferometry missions, in particular the SPIRIT and SPECS far-infrared/submillimeter interferometers. WIIT operates at optical wavelengths and uses Michelson beam combination to achieve both wide-field imaging and high-resolution spectroscopy. It will be used chiefly to test the feasibility of using a large-format detector array at the image plane of the sky to obtain wide-field interferometry images through mosaicing techniques. In this setup each detector pixel records interferograms corresponding to averaging a particular pointing range on the sky as the optical path length is scanned and as the baseline separation and orientation is varied. The final image is constructed through spatial and spectral Fourier transforms of the recorded interferograms for each pixel, followed by a mosaic/joint-deconvolution procedure of all the pixels. In this manner the image within the pointing range of each detector pixel is further resolved to an angular resolution corresponding to the maximum baseline separation for fringe measurements. We present the motivation for building the testbed, show the optical, mechanical, control, and data system design, and describe the image processing requirements and algorithms. WIIT is presently under construction at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, IEEE Aerospace Conference 200

Sustainability educator perspectives of impacts, potential and barriers of sustainability education

BACKGROUND Sustainability education has been identified as a way of providing people with the knowledge, skills, motivation and attitudes to live more sustainably, improve wellbeing and help reverse global trends of climate change and biodiversity decline. Despite sustainability being part of the Australian curriculum for over 20 years, many metrics of sustainability are not improving in Australia. For example, Australia still has the worst rate of mammalian extinction in the world and scores poorly for biodiversity conservation. Sustainability education is recognised as a lever that can lead to improved environmental outcomes and there are calls for education to be recognised as a pillar of sustainability. However, the impact of sustainability education programs is understudied and there is little evidence base for how to create programs that support students to translate knowledge into action. In the study we are presenting, we consulted with sustainability education practitioners to understand their perspectives on current impacts of sustainability education and how to expand those impacts. AIMS The study aims to understand these key questions: How does sustainability education influence attitudes and behaviours around biodiversity conservation and sustainability? What pedagogies support impactful sustainability education? What barriers and opportunities are there for education to help create more sustainable communities? DESIGN AND METHODS Sustainability education practitioners and advisers were consulted through semi-structured interviews, in a mixture of telephone, virtual and face-to-face modes. The interviews were coded for anonymity and transcribed. Transcripts were uploaded to nVivo and autocoded. Transcripts were also manually coded; both methods were explored in tandem to develop final codes and themes. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS Nine people accepted the invitation for interview and returned the completed participant information and consent form. Six of the participants were from higher education institutions, the other three participants were from local and state government agencies, and one from a private organisation. Three participants were internationally based. Preliminary analysis suggests that practitioners see the potential of sustainability education to create behaviour change for more sustainable communities. Themes emerged around the importance of experiential, and personally meaningful learning that supports student agency to overcome barriers to behaviour change (e.g., student perceptions of costs and challenges of sustainability action). Better integration of sustainability concepts into formal and community-based education was identified as a lever to expand the impacts of sustainability

Novel Management Methods: Immunocontraception and Other Fertility Control Tools

Impacts of overabundant ungulate populations on human activities and conservation include crop and forestry losses, collisions with vehicles, disease transmission, nuisance behaviour, damage to infrastructures, predation on livestock and native species, and reduction of biodiversity in plant and animal communities (e.g. Curtis et ai., 2002; Massei et al., 2011; Reimoser and Putman, 2011; Ferroglio et ai., 2011; Langbein et al., 2011). Current trends in human population growth and landscape development indicate that human-ungulate conflicts in Europe, as well as in the United States, are likely to increase in parallel with increased expansion in numbers and range of many of these species (Rutberg and Naugle, 2008; Brainerd and Kaltenborn, 2010; Gionfriddo et aI., 2011 a). Many of these conflicts have been traditionally managed by lethal methods. However, current trends in distribution and numbers of wild boar, feral pigs and deer in Europe and in the United States (e.g. Saez-Royuela and Telleria, 1986; Waithman et ai., 1999; Ward, 2005; Apollonio et al., 2010) suggest that recreational hlllting is not sufficient to control ungulate densities. In addition, ethical considerations regarding humane treatment of animals are increasingly shaping public attitudes about what are considered acceptable methods of mitigating human-wildlife conflicts, and lethal control is often opposed (Beringer et al., 2002; Wilson, 2003; Barfield et al., 2006; McShea, 2012). Public antipathy towards lethal methods increasingly constrains the options available for ungulate management, particularly in urban and suburban areas and in protected areas where culling is often opposed on ethical, legal or safety grounds (Kirkpatrick et al., 2011; Boulanger et al., 2012; Rutberg et al., 2013). Consequently, interest in non-lethal methods, such as translocation or fertility control, has increased (Fagerstone et ai., 2010)

Sustainability education impacts on student knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and wellbeing

BACKGROUND Educating about sustainability is a critical step in moving towards a more sustainable future for humanity. And as higher education moves into the online space, there is greater potential for education for sustainability to reach bigger and more diverse audiences. The University of Tasmania’s (UTAS) Diploma of Sustainable Living is one such example. However, while sustainability education has the potential to impact student knowledge, attitudes and behaviours about sustainability, these impacts are rarely captured in a systematic way. In this presentation we introduce the outcome of a study designed to capture the impacts of taking a fully online unit, Backyard Biodiversity (KPZ006), part of the Diploma of Sustainable Living at UTAS. The study uses a survey, offered to students before and after taking the unit, to examine changes in student knowledge, attitudes, behaviours, and wellbeing. AIMS This study aims to understand if and how engaging with the online unit, Backyard Biodiversity, impacts on student knowledge, attitudes, behaviours, and wellbeing. DESCRIPTION OF INTERVENTION This study is designed to assess the impact of an online unit, Backyard Biodiversity, on its non- traditional (predominantly mature-aged, part-time) student cohort. This 12-week, Diploma-level unit is focused on understanding biodiversity, its benefits (using Sustainable Development Goals framework) and how to create a more biodiverse backyard. To do so, it uses an experiential learning approach where students learn about and engage with their own backyard and neighbourhood. The unit was consciously designed to have co-benefits for student wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviours. DESIGN AND METHODS We draw on a mixed-methods research design by including survey questions that facilitate quantitative (e.g. Likert scale questions) and qualitative (e.g. open-ended questions) analyses. The before-after surveys have been offered to students since the unit’s inception in 2020 and are matched according to an anonymous linking code. To date, over 1500 total surveys have been completed but in this analysis, we included only paired surveys - those that had a matched before and after survey completed (n = 140). We report the average responses before and after for selected questions and use T-tests to determine statistically significant differences. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS We found that there was a statistically significant increase in students’ subjective knowledge, and agency around biodiversity management. There were significant changes in how important students considered biodiversity to be and how connected they felt to nature. Students reported more pro- environmental behaviours after taking the unit and many believed that taking the unit improved their wellbeing. While there are limitations to this approach, our study suggests that sustainability education, even fully online units, can create real impacts for sustainability