Advancing-side directivity and retreating-side interactions of model rotor blade-vortex interaction noise

Acoustic data are presented from a 40 percent scale model of the four-bladed BO-105 helicopter main rotor, tested in a large aerodynamic wind tunnel. Rotor blade-vortex interaction (BVI) noise data in the low-speed flight range were acquired using a traversing in-flow microphone array. Acoustic results presented are used to assess the acoustic far field of BVI noise, to map the directivity and temporal characteristics of BVI impulsive noise, and to show the existence of retreating-side BVI signals. The characterics of the acoustic radiation patterns, which can often be strongly focused, are found to be very dependent on rotor operating condition. The acoustic signals exhibit multiple blade-vortex interactions per blade with broad impulsive content at lower speeds, while at higher speeds, they exhibit fewer interactions per blade, with much sharper, higher amplitude acoustic signals. Moderate-amplitude BVI acoustic signals measured under the aft retreating quadrant of the rotor are shown to originate from the retreating side of the rotor

Acoustic test of a model rotor and tail rotor: Results for the isolated rotors and combined configuration

Acoustic data from a model scale main rotor and tail rotor experiment in the NASA Langley 14 by 22 Foot Subsonic Tunnel are presented for the main rotor and trail rotor in isolation and for the two rotors operating together. Results for the isolated main rotor show the importance of the rotor flapping conditions on mid-frequency noise content. High levels of main rotor retreating side blade-vortex interaction noise are shown to radiate downstream of the model. The isolated tail rotor noise results show the dominance of harmonic noise in the thrusting direction. The occurrence of tail rotor broadband noise is seen by the broadening of the tail rotor harmonics and is attributed to fuselage wake turbulence. The combined main and tail rotor data are presented to show the dominance of each rotor's different noise sources at different directivity locations

Acoustic measurements from a rotor blade-vortex interaction noise experiment in the German-Dutch Wind Tunnel (DNW)

Acoustic data are presented from a 40 percent scale model of the 4-bladed BO-105 helicopter main rotor, measured in the large European aeroacoustic wind tunnel, the DNW. Rotor blade-vortex interaction (BVI) noise data in the low speed flight range were acquired using a traversing in-flow microphone array. The experimental apparatus, testing procedures, calibration results, and experimental objectives are fully described. A large representative set of averaged acoustic signals is presented

The Attitudes about Complex Therapy Scale (ACTS) in Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease: Development, Validity and Reliability

Background: Type 2 diabetes is associated with cardiovascular disease, and patients with both conditions are prescribed complex medication regimens. Aim: The aim was to develop a reliable and valid measure of attitudes associated with the prescription and management of multiple medicines in patients with Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Methods: Principal component analysis (PCA) and Cronbach alpha assessed the reliability of the Attitudes about Complex Therapy Scale (ACTS). Examinations of relationships with related measures inform concurrent validity. Questionnaires were sent to a cross-sectional sample of 480 people prescribed multiple medicines for co-morbid Type 2 diabetes. Results: Cronbach alpha was 0.76, indicating the scale had good internal reliability. PCA rotated a four factor model accounting for 37% of the variance. Four subscales identified; 1. Concerns about multiple medicines and increasing numbers of medicines; 2.Anxiety over missed medicines; 3. Desires to substitute medicines and reduce the number of medicines prescribed and; 4. Perceptions related to organising and managing complex therapy. The ACTS showed significant relationships with measures of anxiety, depression, general beliefs about medicines and self-efficacy. Also, the ACTS significantly correlated with adherence to medicines, showing good predictive validity. Conclusion: The ACTS was designed to assess negative attitudes towards complex therapy and multiple medication management. This tool could aid prescribing decisions and may identify people who are intentionally non-adherent to all or some of their medicines

Creating a library holding group: an approach to large system integration.

PURPOSE: Faced with resource constraints, many hospital libraries have considered joint operations. This case study describes how Providence Health & Services created a single group to provide library services. METHODS: Using a holding group model, staff worked to unify more than 6,100 nonlibrary subscriptions and 14 internal library sites. RESULTS: Our library services grew by unifying 2,138 nonlibrary subscriptions and 11 library sites and hiring more library staff. We expanded access to 26,018 more patrons. CONCLUSIONS: A model with built-in flexibility allowed successful library expansion. Although challenges remain, this success points to a viable model of unified operations

Patient perceptions of treatment and illness when prescribed multiple medicines for co-morbid type 2 diabetes

Illness and treatment perceptions are vital for people self-managing co-morbid conditions with associated cardiovascular disease, such as type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, perceptions of a co-morbid condition and the use of multiple medicines have yet to be researched. This study investigated the illness and treatment perceptions of people with co-morbid T2D. The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (repeated for T2D, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia) and the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire Specific Concerns Scales (repeated for Oral hypoglycemic agents, anti-hypertensive medicines, and statins) were sent to 480 people managing co-morbid T2D. Data on the number of medicines prescribed were collected from medical records. Significantly different perceptions were found across the illnesses. The strongest effect was for personal control; the greatest control reported for T2D. Illness perceptions of T2D differed significantly from perceptions about hyperlipidemia. Furthermore, illness perceptions of T2D also differed from perceptions of hypertension with the exception of perceptions of illness severity. Hypertension and hyperlipidemia shared similar perceptions about comprehensibility, concerns, personal control, and timeline. Significant differences were found for beliefs about treatment necessity, but no difference was found for treatment concerns. When the number of medicines was taken as a between-subjects factor, only intentional non-adherence, treatment necessity beliefs, and perceptions of illness timeline were accounted for. Co-morbid illness and treatment perceptions are complex, often vary between illnesses, and can be influenced by the number of medicines prescribed. Further research should investigate relationships between co-morbid illness and treatment perception structures and self-management practices

Dynamical approach to chains of scatterers

Linear chains of quantum scatterers are studied in the process of lengthening, which is treated and analysed as a discrete dynamical system defined over the manifold of scattering matrices. Elementary properties of such dynamics relate the transport through the chain to the spectral properties of individual scatterers. For a single-scattering channel case some new light is shed on known transport properties of disordered and noisy chains, whereas translationally invariant case can be studied analytically in terms of a simple deterministic dynamical map. The many-channel case was studied numerically by examining the statistical properties of scatterers that correspond to a certain type of transport of the chain i.e. ballistic or (partially) localised.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure

Two-Loop Renormalization Group Equations for Soft Supersymmetry-Breaking Couplings

We compute the two-loop renormalization group equations for all soft supersymmetry-breaking couplings in a general softly broken N=1 supersymmetric model. We also specialize these results to the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model.Comment: 26 pages. [v4: Signs of equations (4.2) and (4.3) are fixed.

GPAQ-R: development and psychometric properties of a version of the general practice assessment questionnaire for use for revalidation by general practitioners in the UK.

BACKGROUND: The General Practice Assessment Questionnaire (GPAQ) has been widely used to assess patient experience in general practice in the UK since 2004. In 2013, new regulations were introduced by the General Medical Council (GMC) requiring UK doctors to undertake periodic revalidation, which includes assessment of patient experience for individual doctors. We describe the development of a new version of GPAQ - GPAQ-R which addresses the GMC's requirements for revalidation as well as additional NHS requirements for surveys that GPs may need to carry out in their own practices. METHODS: Questionnaires were given out by doctors or practice staff after routine consultations in line with the guidance given by the General Medical Council for surveys to be used for revalidation. Data analysis and practice reports were provided independently. RESULTS: Data were analysed for questionnaires from 7258 patients relating to 164 GPs in 29 general practices. Levels of missing data were generally low (typically 4.5-6%). The number of returned questionnaires required to achieve reliability of 0.7 were around 35 for individual doctor communication items and 29 for a composite score based on doctor communication items. This suggests that the responses to GPAQ-R had similar reliability to the GMC's own questionnaire and we recommend 30 completed GPAQ-R questionnaires are sufficient for revalidation purposes. However, where an initial screen raises concern, the survey might be repeated with 50 completed questionnaires in order to increase reliability. CONCLUSIONS: GPAQ-R is a development of a well-established patient experience questionnaire used in general practice in the UK since 2004. This new version can be recommended for use in order to meet the UK General Medical Council's requirements for surveys to be used in revalidation of doctors. It also meets the needs of GPs to ask about patient experience relating to aspects of practice care that are not specific to individual general practitioners (e.g. receptionists, telephone access) which meet other survey requirements of the National Health Service in England. Use of GPAQ-R has the potential to reduce the number of surveys that GPs need to carry out in their practices to meet the various regulatory requirements which they face

Anomalies in noncommutative gauge theories, Seiberg-Witten transformation and Ramond-Ramond couplings

We propose an exact expression for the unintegrated form of the star gauge invariant axial anomaly in an arbitrary even dimensional gauge theory. The proposal is based on the inverse Seiberg-Witten map and identities related to it, obtained earlier by comparing Ramond-Ramond couplings in different decsriptions. The integrated anomalies are expressed in terms of a simplified version of the Elliott formula involving the noncommutative Chern character. These anomalies, under the Seiberg-Witten transformation, reduce to the ordinary axial anomalies. Compatibility with existing results of anomalies in noncommutative theories is established.Comment: 16 pages. LaTe