B-52 stability augmentation system reliability

The B-52 SAS (Stability Augmentation System) was developed and retrofitted to nearly 300 aircraft. It actively controls B-52 structural bending, provides improved yaw and pitch damping through sensors and electronic control channels, and puts complete reliance on hydraulic control power for rudder and elevators. The system has experienced over 300,000 flight hours and has exhibited service reliability comparable to the results of the reliability test program. Development experience points out numerous lessons with potential application in the mechanization and development of advanced technology control systems of high reliability

The Evaluation of Select Lifestyle Behavior Modification Following Participation in a Comprehensive Weight Management Clinic

Over the last decades, obesity in the United States has reached epidemic proportion. Obesity rates have nearly doubled since 1960 when 43% of the United States population was overweight or obese and 1% was extremely obese. In 2012, approximately 69% of the US population was overweight or obese while 6.3% were extremely obese. Obesity rates are expected to progressively increase; therefore, interventions and guidelines are imperative in order to reduce the long term health risks of the Nation and to reduce overall health care costs (National Institute of Health [NIH], 2012). Obesity increases morbidity resulting from associated hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, sleep apnea as well as other comorbidities. Moreover, obesity and its related disorders substantially increase the Nation’s health care costs (Jensen et al., 2013). Although comprehensive weight management clinics and bariatric surgery remain viable options for the treatment of obesity, variability among weight management programs is problematic. Ultimately, a better awareness of contributing factors for successful lifestyle change is called for in order to support sustained weight loss, promote weight maintenance, and sustain healthy lifestyle choices. This project evaluated select lifestyle behavior modification following participation in a comprehensive weight management program. Specifically, dietary and exercise habits were evaluated. Donabedian’s theoretical framework of structure, process, and outcome was utilized to evaluate a current institutional system, monitor end results of patient care, and evaluate structures and/or processes in a comprehensive weight management clinic. Bandura’s self-efficacy theory was utilized to support and augment participant’s perception of their abilities to change behaviors, support behavior change, gain confidence, and influence health related goals and thoughts. Seventeen participants were recruited from a small community weight management clinic in the Midwest. Participant informed consent was obtained after a full review of the project. Two established instruments, the Paffenbarger Physical Activity Questionnaire and the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire-R18V2, were used to gather data relative to physical activity and eating behavior. Instruments were repeated at six weeks and again at three months. Descriptive statistics were reported relative to select lifestyle behavior and changes while engaged in a weight management clinic using Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS®) and Statistical Analysis System (SAS®). Participants demonstrated weight loss and decreased BMI during the study period. Trends in improved eating behaviors were seen in a small portion of participants. Physical activity showed some increase but was inconsistent in the study population. Attrition and compliance with instrument completion in this small sample precluded further statistical analysis. Further exploration into the rationale for minimal physical activity among some participants, the evaluation of barriers to physical activity, continued evaluation of physical activity, and education regarding time management for physical activity should be considered

River Discharge, in State of the Climate in 2008

The global mean temperature in 2008 was slightly cooler than that in 2007; however, it still ranks within the 10 warmest years on record. Annual mean temperatures were generally well above average in South America, northern and southern Africa, Iceland, Europe, Russia, South Asia, and Australia. In contrast, an exceptional cold outbreak occurred during January across Eurasia and over southern European Russia and southern western Siberia. There has been a general increase in land-surface temperatures and in permafrost temperatures during the last several decades throughout the Arctic region, including increases of 1° to 2°C in the last 30 to 35 years in Russia. Record setting warm summer (JJA) air temperatures were observed throughout Greenland

Sex Differences in Rhythmic Preferences in the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus): A Comparative Study with Humans

A variety of parrot species have recently gained attention as members of a small group of non-human animals that are capable of coordinating their movements in time with a rhythmic pulse. This capacity is highly developed in humans, who display unparalleled sensitivity to musical beats and appear to prefer rhythmically organized sounds in their music. Do parrots also exhibit a preference for rhythmic over arrhythmic sounds? Here we presented humans and budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) – a small parrot species that have been shown to be able to align movements with a beat – with rhythmic and arrhythmic sound patterns in an acoustic place preference paradigm. Both species were allowed to explore an environment for 5 minutes. We quantified how much time they spent in proximity to rhythmic vs. arrhythmic stimuli. The results show that humans spent more time with rhythmic stimuli, and also preferred rhythmic stimuli when directly asked in a post-test survey. Budgerigars did not show any such overall preferences. However, further examination of the budgerigar results showed an effect of sex, such that male budgerigars spent more time with arrthymic stimuli, and female budgerigars spent more time with rhythmic stimuli. Our results support the idea that rhythmic information is interesting to budgerigars. We suggest that future investigations into the temporal characteristics of naturalistic social behaviors in budgerigars, such as courtship vocalizations and head-bobbing displays, may help explain the sex difference we observed

Challenges in comparing the quality of life of older people between ethnic groups, and the implications for national well-being indicators: a secondary analysis of two cross-sectional surveys

BackgroundThe current international interest in well-being indicators among governmental agencies means that many quality of life scales are potential components of such national indicator sets. Measuring well-being in minority groups is complex and challenging. Scales are available that have been validated in specific parts of the population, such as older people. However, validation among combinations of minority groups, such as older adults of ethnic minority backgrounds, is lacking. FindingsWe pooled data from two surveys of older adults in Great Britain: one conducted among White British people, and one among four ethnic minority groups. Quality of life was measured by the Older People's Quality of Life (OPQOL); Control, Autonomy, Self-realisation, Pleasure (CASP-19); and World Health Organization Quality of Life scale for older people (WHOQOL-OLD). We found differences, some significant, between groups in terms of self-reported importance of various aspects of quality of life. A regression model of each total quality of life scale revealed greater unexplained variability in the White British group than the others. Principal components analysis within each ethnic group's data showed considerable differences in the correlation structures. ConclusionsThere are differences between ethnic groups that are consistent across the three scales and are not explained by a battery of predictor variables. If scales such as these are used to compare quality of life between ethnic groups, or equivalently between geographical regions, the different results in each group are liable to bias any comparison which could lead to inequitable policy decisions.<br/

U.S. River Discharge for 2008 in State of the Climate in 2008

The global mean temperature in 2008 was slightly cooler than that in 2007; however, it still ranks within the 10 warmest years on record. Annual mean temperatures were generally well above average in South America, northern and southern Africa, Iceland, Europe, Russia, South Asia, and Australia. In contrast, an exceptional cold outbreak occurred during January across Eurasia and over southern European Russia and southern western Siberia. There has been a general increase in land-surface temperatures and in permafrost temperatures during the last several decades throughout the Arctic region, including increases of 1° to 2°C in the last 30 to 35 years in Russia. Record setting warm summer (JJA) air temperatures were observed throughout Greenland

Methane emissions from western Siberian wetlands: heterogeneity and sensitivity to climate change

The prediction of methane emissions from high-latitude wetlands is important given concerns about their sensitivity to a warming climate. As a basis for the prediction of wetland methane emissions at regional scales, we coupled the variable infiltration capacity macroscale hydrological model (VIC) with the biosphere–energy-transfer–hydrology terrestrial ecosystem model (BETHY) and a wetland methane emissions model to make large-scale estimates of methane emissions as a function of soil temperature, water table depth, and net primary productivity (NPP), with a parameterization of the sub-grid heterogeneity of the water table depth based on TOPMODEL. We simulated the methane emissions from a 100 km × 100 km region of western Siberia surrounding the Bakchar Bog, for a retrospective baseline period of 1980–1999 and have evaluated their sensitivity to increases in temperature of 0–5 °C and increases in precipitation of 0–15%. The interactions of temperature and precipitation, through their effects on the water table depth, played an important role in determining methane emissions from these wetlands. The balance between these effects varied spatially, and their net effect depended in part on sub-grid topographic heterogeneity. Higher temperatures alone increased methane production in saturated areas, but caused those saturated areas to shrink in extent, resulting in a net reduction in methane emissions. Higher precipitation alone raised water tables and expanded the saturated area, resulting in a net increase in methane emissions. Combining a temperature increase of 3 °C and an increase of 10% in precipitation to represent climate conditions that may pertain in western Siberia at the end of this century resulted in roughly a doubling in annual emissions

Agreement between methods of measurement with multiple observations per individual

Limits of agreement provide a straightforward and intuitive approach to agreement between different methods for measuring the same quantity. When pairs of observations using the two methods are independent, i.e., on different subjects, the calculations are very simple and straightforward. Some authors collect repeated data, either as repeated pairs of measurements on the same subject, whose true value of the measured quantity may be changing, or more than one measurement by one or both methods of an unchanging underlying quantity. In this paper we describe methods for analysing such clustered observations, both when the underlying quantity is assumed to be changing and when it is not