TNT equivalency of M10 propellant

Peak, side-on blast overpressure and scaled, positive impulse have been measured for M10 single-perforated propellant, web size 0.018 inches, using configurations that simulate the handling of bulk material during processing and shipment. Quantities of 11.34, 22.7, 45.4, and 65.8 kg were tested in orthorhombic shipping containers and fiberboard boxes. High explosive equivalency values for each test series were obtained as a function of scaled distance by comparison to known pressure, arrival time and impulse characteristics for hemispherical TNT surface bursts. The equivalencies were found to depend significantly on scaled distance, with higher values of 150-100 percent (pressure) and 350-125 percent (positive impulse) for the extremes within the range from 1.19 to 3.57 m/cube root of kg. Equivalencies as low as 60-140 percent (pressure) and 30-75 percent (positive impulse) were obtained in the range of 7.14 to 15.8 m/cube root of kg. Within experimental error, both peak pressure and positive impulse scaled as a function of charge weight for all quantities tested in the orthorhombic configuration

Burden of podoconiosis in poor rural communities in Guliso woreda, western Ethiopia

Background. Podoconiosis is an environmental lymphoedema affecting people living and working barefoot on irritant red clay soil. Podoconiosis is relatively well described in southern Ethiopia, but remains neglected in other parts of the Ethiopian highlands. This study aimed to assess the burden of podoconiosis in rural communities in western Ethiopia. Methodology/Principal Findings. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Gulliso woreda (district), west Ethiopia. A household survey in the 26 rural kebeles (villages) of this district was conducted to identify podoconiosis patients and to measure disease prevalence. A more detailed study was done in six randomly selected kebeles to describe clinical features of the disease, patients’ experiences of foot hygiene, and shoe wearing practice. 1,935 cases of podoconiosis were registered, giving a prevalence of 2.8%. The prevalence was higher in those aged 15 – 64 years (5.2%) and in females than males (prevalence ratio 2.6:1). 90.3% of patients were in the 15 – 64 year age group. In the detailed study, 335 cases were interviewed and their feet assessed. The majority of patients were farmers, uneducated, and poor. Two-third of patients developed the disease before the age of thirty. Almost all patients (97.0%) had experienced adenolymphangitis (ALA - red, hot legs, swollen and painful groin) at least once during the previous year. Patients experienced an average of 5.5 ALA episodes annually, each of average 4.4 days, thus 24 working days were lost annually. The incidence of ALA in podoconiosis patients was higher than that reported for filariasis in other countries. Shoe wearing was limited mainly due to financial problems. Conclusions. We have documented high podoconiosis prevalence, frequent adenolymphangitis and high disease-related morbidity in west Ethiopia. Interventions must be developed to prevent, treat and control podoconiosis, one of the core neglected tropical diseases in Ethiopia

The Future of Private Loans: Who is Borrowing, and Why?

Examines developments in private loans within the student lending industry, characteristics of loan borrowers, and trends that might impact the growth of private loans in the future

Modification of the one-dimensional REKAP program to allow for charring in three material layers Final report

Modified one-dimensional reaction kinetics program to allow for charring in three material layers of rocket nozzle throat insert cas

Mask breathing system for the Apollo command module

Breathing mask for Apollo command module spacecre

Computer program for solving compressible nonsimilar-boundary-layer equations for laminar, transitional, or turbulent flows of a perfect gas

A computer program is described which solves the compressible laminar, transitional, or turbulent boundary-layer equations for planar or axisymmetric flows. Three-point implicit difference relations are used to reduce the momentum and energy equations to finite-difference form. These equations are solved simultaneously without iteration. Turbulent flow is treated by the inclusion of either a two-layer eddy-viscosity model or a mixing-length formulation. The eddy conductivity is related to the eddy viscosity through a static turbulent Prandtl number which may be an arbitrary function of the distance from the wall boundary. The transitional boundary layer is treated by the inclusion of an intermittency function which modifies the fully turbulent model. The laminar-boundary-layer equations are recovered when the intermittency is zero, and the fully turbulent equations are solved when the intermittency is unity

Individual correlates of podoconiosis in areas of varying endemicity: a case-control study

BACKGROUND Podoconiosis is a non-filarial form of elephantiasis resulting in lymphedema of the lower legs. Previous studies have suggested that podoconiosis arises from the interplay of individual and environmental factors. Here, our aim was to understand the individual-level correlates of podoconiosis by comparing 460 podoconiosis-affected individuals and 707 unaffected controls. METHODS/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS This was a case-control study carried out in six kebeles (the lowest governmental administrative unit) in northern Ethiopia. Each kebele was classified into one of three endemicity levels: 'low' (prevalence 5%). A total of 142 (30.7%) households had two or more cases of podoconiosis. Compared to controls, the majority of the cases, especially women, were less educated (OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 1.3 to 2.2), were unmarried (OR = 3.4, 95% CI = 2.6-4.6) and had lower income (t = -4.4, p<0.0001). On average, cases started wearing shoes ten years later than controls. Among cases, age of first wearing shoes was positively correlated with age of onset of podoconiosis (r = 0.6, t = 12.5, p<0.0001). Among all study participants average duration of shoe wearing was less than 30 years. Between both cases and controls, people in 'high' and 'medium' endemicity kebeles were less likely than people in 'low' endemicity areas to 'ever' have owned shoes (OR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.4-0.7). CONCLUSIONS Late use of shoes, usually after the onset of podoconiosis, and inequalities in education, income and marriage were found among cases, particularly among females. There were clustering of cases within households, thus interventions against podoconiosis will benefit from household-targeted case tracing. Most importantly, we identified a secular increase in shoe-wearing over recent years, which may give opportunities to promote shoe-wearing without increasing stigma among those at high risk of podoconiosis

Conditions for asymptotic stability of the discrete, minimum variance, linear estimator

Conditions for asymptotic stability of discrete minimum variance estimation formula