Flight service evaluation of composite helicopter components

This report presents an assessment of composite helicopter tail rotor spars and horizontal stabilizers, exposed to the effects of the environment, after up to five and a half years of commercial service. This evaluation is supported by test results of helicopter components and panels which have been exposed to outdoor environmental effects since September 1979. Full scale static and fatigue tests have been conducted on graphite/epoxy and Kevlar/epoxy composite components obtained from Sikorsky Model S-76 helicopters in commercial operations in the Gulf Coast region of Louisiana. Small scale static and fatigue tests are being conducted on coupons obtained from panels under exposure to outdoor conditions in Stratford, Connecticut and West Palm, Florida. The panel layups are representative of the S-76 components. Additionally, this report discusses the results of moisture absorption evaluations and strength tests on the S-76 components and composite panels with up to five years of outdoor exposure

A study on the discrimination of human skeletons using X-ray fluorescence and chemometric tools in chemical anthropology

Forensic anthropological investigations are often restricted in their outcomes by the resources allocated to them, especially in terms of positively identifying the victims exhumed from commingled mass graves. Commingled mass graves can be defined as those graves that contain a number of disarticulated human remains from different individuals that have been mixed by either natural processes or human interventions. The research developed aimed to apply the technique of non-destructive XRF analysis to test whether there is substantial differentiation within the trace elemental composition and their ratios of individuals to separate them using chemometric analysis. The results of the different atomic spectroscopic analyses combined with the use of multivariate analysis on a set of 5 skeletons produced a series of plots using Principal Component Analysis that helped to separate them with a high percentage of accuracy when two, three or four skeletons needed to be separated. Also, two new elemental ratios, Zn/Fe related to metabolic activities and K/Fe related to blood flow into the bone, have been defined for their use in forensic anthropology for the first time to aid in the separation. © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd

Design of an advanced control algorithm for a nuclear power plant feedwater control system

Electric power companies with nuclear power plants have been aggressively looking for ways to increase plant safety and availability by increasing the reliability and performance of the plant\u27s control systems. The performance of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Station\u27s feedwater control system can be significantly improved by replacing the proportional-integral compensator with a compensator based on modern control concepts. In response to a -10 inch reactor water level setpoint change, settling time is improved from 107 seconds with 3% overshoot to 34 seconds with no overshoot

Acupuncture for cancer pain in adults.

BACKGROUND: Forty percent of individuals with early or intermediate stage cancer and 90% with advanced cancer have moderate to severe pain and up to 70% of patients with cancer pain do not receive adequate pain relief. It has been claimed that acupuncture has a role in management of cancer pain and guidelines exist for treatment of cancer pain with acupuncture. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate efficacy of acupuncture for relief of cancer-related pain in adults. SEARCH STRATEGY: CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, AMED, and SPORTDiscus were searched up to November 2010 including non-English language papers. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating any type of invasive acupuncture for pain directly related to cancer in adults of 18 years or over. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: It was planned to pool data to provide an overall measure of effect and to calculate the number needed to treat to benefit, but this was not possible due to heterogeneity. Two review authors (CP, OT) independently extracted data adding it to data extraction sheets. Quality scores were given to studies. Data sheets were compared and discussed with a third review author (MJ) who acted as arbiter. Data analysis was conducted by CP, OT and MJ. MAIN RESULTS: Three RCTs (204 participants) were included. One high quality study investigated the effect of auricular acupuncture compared with auricular acupuncture at 'placebo' points and with non-invasive vaccaria ear seeds attached at 'placebo' points. Participants in two acupuncture groups were blinded but blinding wasn't possible in the ear seeds group because seeds were attached using tape. This may have biased results in favour of acupuncture groups. Participants in the real acupuncture group had lower pain scores at two month follow-up than either the placebo or ear seeds group.There was high risk of bias in two studies because of low methodological quality. One study comparing acupuncture with medication concluded that both methods were effective in controlling pain, although acupuncture was the most effective. The second study compared acupuncture, point-injection and medication in participants with stomach cancer. Long-term pain relief was reported for both acupuncture and point-injection compared with medication during the last 10 days of treatment. Although both studies have positive results in favour of acupuncture they should be viewed with caution due to methodological limitations, small sample sizes, poor reporting and inadequate analysis. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: There is insufficient evidence to judge whether acupuncture is effective in treating cancer pain in adults

When the voices of children are heard : evaluating the biological effects of socioeconomic status on children in postmedieval London.

As the most vulnerable members of society, children (and their treatment) may reveal important sociocultural and socioeconomic praxes throughout human history. During the Postmedieval period, children, especially low socioeconomic status (SES) individuals, participated in the workforce. By examining the demographic distributions and paleopathological profiles of juvenile skeletal remains from high SES (St. Bride’s Crypt and Chelsea Old Church) and low SES (St. Bride’s Lower and Crossbones) Postmedieval (1700-1850 CE) London cemeteries, we can better understand how SES impacted the biological health and mortality of children. While results indicated higher mortality risk associated with low SES circumstances, most differences in pathological conditions did not reflect straightforward low-high SES divides. Rather, paleopathological distributions showed greater differences by individual cemetery than between SES samples, suggesting more variation within ascribed SES groups. Ultimately, this evaluation of childhood frailty highlights the complexities of SES and the variable health, environmental, and social conditions affecting Postmedieval children