Buffet induced structural/flight-control system interaction of the X-29A aircraft

High angle-of-attack flight regime research is currently being conducted for modern fighter aircraft at the NASA Ames Research Center's Dryden Flight Research Facility. This flight regime provides enhanced maneuverability to fighter pilots in combat situations. Flight research data are being acquired to compare and validate advanced computational fluid dynamic solutions and wind-tunnel models. High angle-of-attack flight creates unique aerodynamic phenomena including wing rock and buffet on the airframe. These phenomena increase the level of excitation of the structural modes, especially on the vertical and horizontal stabilizers. With high gain digital flight-control systems, this structural response may result in an aeroservoelastic interaction. A structural interaction on the X-29A aircraft was observed during high angle-of-attack flight testing. The roll and yaw rate gyros sensed the aircraft's structural modes at 11, 13, and 16 Hz. The rate gyro output signals were then amplified through the flight-control laws and sent as commands to the flaperons and rudder. The flight data indicated that as the angle of attack increased, the amplitude of the buffet on the vertical stabilizer increased, which resulted in more excitation to the structural modes. The flight-control system sensors and command signals showed this increase in modal power at the structural frequencies up to a 30 degree angle-of-attack. Beyond a 30 degree angle-of-attack, the vertical stabilizer response, the feedback sensor amplitude, and control surface command signal amplitude remained relatively constant. Data are presented that show the increased modal power in the aircraft structural accelerometers, the feedback sensors, and the command signals as a function of angle of attack. This structural interaction is traced from the aerodynamic buffet to the flight-control surfaces

Lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy of the Florentine Valley Formation in the Tim Shea area, southwest Tasmania

The Florentine Valley Formation is defined. The Formation is subdivided into three members; the Churchill Sandstone Member, the Pontoon Hill Siltstone Member, and the Mt. Field Siltstone Member. Seven consecutive fossil assemblages based on brachiopods and trilobites can be recognised within the Florentine Valley Formation. International correlation of the assemblages in the Florentine Valley Formation is based on graptolites, that of the basal Karmberg Limestone on graptolites and conodonts. The Formation ranges in age from Early Tremadoc to Late Arenig

Paddlefish buccal flow velocity during ram suspension feeding and ram ventilation

A micro-thermistor probe was inserted into the buccal cavity of freely swimming paddlefish to measure flow velocity during ram ventilation, ram suspension feeding and prey processing. Swimming speed was measured from videotapes recorded simultaneously with the buccal flow velocity measurements. Both swimming velocity and buccal flow velocity were significantly higher during suspension feeding than during ram ventilation. As the paddlefish shifted from ventilation to feeding, buccal flow velocity increased to approximately 60 % of the swimming velocity. During prey processing, buccal flow velocity was significantly higher than the swimming velocity, indicating that prey processing involves the generation of suction. The Reynolds number (Re) for flow at the level of the paddlefish gill rakers during feeding is about 30, an order of magnitude lower than the Re calculated previously for pump suspension-feeding blackfish. These data, combined with data available from the literature, indicate that the gill rakers of ram suspension-feeding teleost fishes may operate at a substantially lower Re than the rakers of pump suspension feeders

Study Comparing the Lecture Method and Tutorial (Slide-tape) Method of Instruction for a Health Class Unit on Physical Fitness

Higher Educatio

Application of Remote Sensing to the Chesapeake Bay Region. Volume 2: Proceedings

A conference was held on the application of remote sensing to the Chesapeake Bay region. Copies of the papers, resource contributions, panel discussions, and reports of the working groups are presented

Application of Remote Sensing to the Chesapeake Bay Region. Volume 1: Executive summary

The proceedings are presented of a conference, jointly sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the University of Maryland. The purpose of the Conference was to assemble representatives of federal and state government agencies engaged in research on the condition and evolution of the Chesapeake Bay to compose a status report, to present current activities and future plans, and to recommend a long-range future course of policies and programs

Gordon Subgroup (Ordovician) carbonates at Precipitous Bluff and Point Cecil, southern Tasmania, Australia

The palaeogeographically and biostratigraphically important Ordovician carbonate sequence at Precipitous Bluff is at least 360m thick. The lowest 130 m, the New River Beds, consist of bryozoan algal biospararenites of Chazyan to Blackriveran age. These beds were probably deposited in a high energy subtidal environment with minor periods of intertidal deposition. The upper 50 m of this lowest unit contains abundant Calathium, bryozoans and corals. The succeeding 230 m of biosparites, biomicrites, argillaceous carbonates and siltstones, the Precipitous Bluff Beds, are dominated by trilobites, brachiopods and bryozoans, range in age from Trentonian to Cincinnatian and were probably deposited in deeper water than the New River Beds. The Prion Beach Beds at Point Cecil, five km south of Precipitous Bluff, are laceous micrites containing a trilobite/brachiopod fauna and include strata of Blackriveran and rentonian age and are thus biostratigraphically correlated with the upper part of the New River Beds and at least part of the Precipitous Bluff Beds. Vertical carbonates along New River Lagoon and sheared carbonates at Point Cecil suggest structural complications perhaps associated;with a continuation of a large, possibly transcurrent fault, trending north along New River

An in-silico quality assurance study of contouring target volumes in thoracic tumors within a cooperative group setting

Introduction: Target delineation variability is a significant technical impediment in multi-institutional trials which employ intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), as there is a real potential for clinically meaningful variances that can impact the outcomes in clinical trials. The goal of this study is to determine the variability of target delineation among participants from different institutions as part of Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) Radiotherapy Committee\u27s multi-institutional in-silico quality assurance study in patients with Pancoast tumors as a dry run for trial implementation. Methods: CT simulation scans were acquired from four patients with Pancoast tumor. Two patients had simulation 4D-CT and FDG-FDG PET-CT while two patients had 3D-CT and FDG-FDG PET-CT. Seventeen SWOG-affiliated physicians independently delineated target volumes defined as gross primary and nodal tumor volumes (GTV_P and GTV_N), clinical target volume (CTV), and planning target volume (PTV).Six board-certified thoracic radiation oncologists were designated as the \u27Experts\u27 for this study. Their delineations were used to create a simultaneous truth and performance level estimation (STAPLE) contours using ADMIRE software (Elekta AB, Sweden 2017). Individual participants\u27 contours were then compared with Experts\u27 STAPLE contours. Results: When compared to the Experts\u27 STAPLE, GTV_P had the best agreement among all participants, while GTV_N showed the lowest agreement among all participants. There were no statistically significant differences in all studied parameters for all TVs for cases with 4D-CT versus cases with 3D-CT simulation scans. Conclusions: High degree of inter-observer variation was noted for all target volume except for GTV_P, unveiling potentials for protocol modification for subsequent clinically meaningful improvement in target definition. Various similarity indices exist that can be used to guide multi-institutional radiotherapy delineation QA credentialing