Instability thresholds for flexible rotors in hydrodynamic bearings

Two types of fixed pad hydrodynamic bearings (multilobe and pressure dam) were considered. Optimum and nonoptimum geometric configurations were tested. The optimum geometric configurations were determined by using a theoretical analysis and then the bearings were constructed for a flexible rotor test rig. It was found that optimizing bearings using this technique produces a 100% or greater increase in rotor stability. It is shown that this increase in rotor stability is carried out in the absence of certain types of instability mechanisms such as aerodynamic crosscoupling. However, the increase in rotor stability should greatly improve rotating machinery performance in the presence of such forces as well

An evaluation of Te Rau Puawai workforce 100: Stakeholder perspectives

To evaluate the Te Rau Puawai programme, the Ministry of Health commissioned the Maori and Psychology Research Unit of the University of Waikato in July 2001. The overall aim of the evaluation was to provide the Ministry with a clearer understanding of the programme including: the perceived critical success factors, the barriers if any regarding Te Rau Puawai, the impact of the programme, the extent to which the programme may be transferable, gaps in the programme, and suggested improvements. There are a number of stakeholders who do not have a direct role in the provision of Te Rau Puawai. These people are not involved in the day to day running of Te Rau Puawai (as do, for example, the coordinator, support team or academic mentors), nevertheless they play an important role, contributing in a variety of ways to the programme

Evidence of strategic periodicities in collective conflict dynamics

We analyze the timescales of conflict decision-making in a primate society. We present evidence for multiple, periodic timescales associated with social decision-making and behavioral patterns. We demonstrate the existence of periodicities that are not directly coupled to environmental cycles or known ultraridian mechanisms. Among specific biological and socially-defined demographic classes, periodicities span timescales between hours and days, and many are not driven by exogenous or internal regularities. Our results indicate that they are instead driven by strategic responses to social interaction patterns. Analyses also reveal that a class of individuals, playing a critical functional role, policing, have a signature timescale on the order of one hour. We propose a classification of behavioral timescales analogous to those of the nervous system, with high-frequency, or $\alpha$-scale, behavior occurring on hour-long scales, through to multi-hour, or $\beta$-scale, behavior, and, finally $\gamma$ periodicities observed on a timescale of days.Comment: 22 pages, 7 figures, 1 table. Accepted for publication in Journal of the Royal Society Interfac

Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and Antioxidants as Immunomodulators in Exercise: Implications for Heme Oxygenase and Bilirubin

Exercise is commonly prescribed as a lifestyle treatment for chronic metabolic diseases as it functions as an insulin sensitizer, cardio-protectant, and essential lifestyle tool for effective weight maintenance. Exercise boosts the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and subsequent transient oxidative damage, which also upregulates counterbalancing endogenous antioxidants to protect from ROS-induced damage and inflammation. Exercise elevates heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and biliverdin reductase A (BVRA) expression as built-in protective mechanisms, which produce the most potent antioxidant, bilirubin. Together, these mitigate inflammation and adiposity. Moderately raising plasma bilirubin protects in two ways: (1) via its antioxidant capacity to reduce ROS and inflammation, and (2) its newly defined function as a hormone that activates the nuclear receptor transcription factor PPARα. It is now understood that increasing plasma bilirubin can also drive metabolic adaptions, which improve deleterious outcomes of weight gain and obesity, such as inflammation, type II diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. The main objective of this review is to describe the function of bilirubin as an antioxidant and metabolic hormone and how the HO-1–BVRA–bilirubin–PPARα axis influences inflammation, metabolic function and interacts with exercise to improve outcomes of weight management

Emergent regularities and scaling in armed conflict data

Armed conflict exhibits regularities beyond known power law distributions of fatalities and duration over varying culture and geography. We systematically cluster conflict reports from a database of $10^5$ events from Africa spanning 20 years into conflict avalanches. Conflict profiles collapse over a range of scales. Duration, diameter, extent, fatalities, and report totals satisfy mutually consistent scaling relations captured with a model combining geographic spread and local conflict-site growth. The emergence of such social scaling laws hints at principles guiding conflict evolution

2-(4-Chloro­phen­yl)acetic acid–2-{(E)-[(E)-2-(2-pyridyl­methyl­idene)hydrazin-1-yl­idene]meth­yl}pyridine (1/1)

In the crystal of the title 1:1 adduct, C8H7ClO2·C12H10N4, the components are linked by an O—H⋯N hydrogen bond between the carb­oxy­lic acid and one of the pyridine N atoms. In the acid, the carb­oxy­lic acid group is approximately normal to [dihedral angle = 72.9 (2)°] but twisted with respect to the plane through the benzene ring [C—C—C—O torsion angle = 25.4 (5)°]. The base is roughly planar [dihedral angle between rings = 12.66 (15)°; r.m.s. deviation of the 16 non-H atoms = 0.107 Å] and the conformations about both imine bonds are E. The dimeric aggregates are linked into a supra­molecular layer in the ab plane by C—H⋯O inter­actions

3-(4-Chloro­phen­yl)-7-methyl-4-(4-methyl­phen­yl)-1-oxa-2,7-diaza­spiro­[4.5]dec-2-en-10-one

In the title compound, C21H21ClN2O2, the dihydro­isoxazole ring adopts an envelope conformation and the piperidinone ring is in a chair conformation. The dihedral angle between the two benzene rings is 84.2 (1)°. The crystal used was an inversion twin

2,2′-(Disulfanedi­yl)dibenzoic acid–2,9-dimethyl­phenanthroline–tetra­hydro­furan (1/2/1)

The asymmetric unit of the title co-crystal solvate, C14H10O4S2·2C14H12N2·C4H8O, comprises a 2,2′-(disulfanedi­yl)dibenzoic acid mol­ecule, two mol­ecules of 2,9-dimethyl­phenanthroline and a tetra­hydro­furan (THF) solvent mol­ecule. Each end of the twisted diacid [dihedral angle between the benzene rings = 74.33 (17)°] forms a strong O—H⋯N hydrogen bond with a 2,9-dimethyl­phenanthroline mol­ecule, forming a trimeric aggregate. The crystal structure comprises layers of acid and THF mol­ecules, and layers of 2,9-dimethyl­phenanthroline mol­ecules that alternate along the a axis, the main connections between them being of the type C—H⋯O