Effects of Nose Strakes On Transport Aircraft

A low-speed wind tunnel investigation was conducted in the Langley 12-Foot Tunnel on a typical commercial transport configuration to determine the effect of adding nose strakes on the aerodynamic characteristics of the model. The fuselage and wings of the model were scaled versions of the McDonnell-Douglas DC-9 aircraft. A generic tail assembly was employed that was different from that of the DC-9. Three different strake configurations were tested at several inclination angles. One strake configuration was identical to that employed on the DC-9 aircraft. The model was tested through a range of angles of attack and sideslip angles. Tests were made both with and without strakes and also with the vertical tail removed

\u3ci\u3eDalea villosa\u3c/i\u3e ‘Sandhills Satin

Daleas (prairie-clovers) are annual or perennial, warm season legumes found from southern Canada to South America (Barneby, 1977). They are an important group of legumes in native grasslands of the Great Plains. The genus name Dalea L. is in honor of Samuel Dale, an English botanist (1659–1739). Until recently, these plants were classified in the genus Petalostemon Michx. (Weber, 1990). The prairie-clovers have potential as attractive garden ornamental plants in addition to their importance as constituents of prairies and pastures. They have uses, along with other native species, for beautification of roadsides, rest areas, parks, and recreation areas, and for soil stabilization (Salac et al., 1978). Daleas are common in the Nebraska Sandhills, an area in central Nebraska extending into South Dakota, consisting of almost 50,000 Km2. It is one of the largest grass-stabilized sand dune regions in the world. The Sandhills area has many unique or special plants, such as Penstemon haydenii S. Wats. and Lithospermum caroliniense (Walter) MacMill (Bleed and Flowerday, 1989). Dalea villosa (Nuttall) Sprengel, commonly known as silky prairie-clover, typically grows in moderately moist to dry sandy soils in disturbed sites, along right-of-ways, and in margins of sandy, wind-eroded blowouts (Farrar, 1990; Great Plains Flora Association, 1986). It has numerous, often horizontal to drooping flowering heads with pinkish-rose colored flowers. Flower spikes are solitary at ends of short branches near the top of the plant (Stubbendieck et al., 1989). Flowers are minute with five protruding yellow stamens encircling a spike up to 10 cm long (Farrar, 1990). Flowers mature acropetally and the fruit is a pod 2.5 to 3 mm long (Barneby, 1977). Plants flower from July to August, depending on location. It has one to several erect, branching stems and a reddish-orange taproot. A compact arching growth habit and an abundance of attractive, silvery, compound leaves give an appearance quite different from other species of the genus (Farrar, 1990). It has numerous alternate, odd-pinnately compound leaves, up to 2 to 4 cm long, with 11 to 25 leaflets, narrowly elliptic and 5 to 11 mm long (Great Plains Flora Association, 1986). Stems and leaves are silvery-green with short, white hairs (Farrar, 1990). Leaves are dotted with glands on the lower surface. The species is found from Manitoba to central Texas and from western Wisconsin to eastern Colorado (Barneby, 1977)

\u3ci\u3eDalea villosa\u3c/i\u3e ‘Sandhills Satin

Daleas (prairie-clovers) are annual or perennial, warm season legumes found from southern Canada to South America (Barneby, 1977). They are an important group of legumes in native grasslands of the Great Plains. The genus name Dalea L. is in honor of Samuel Dale, an English botanist (1659–1739). Until recently, these plants were classified in the genus Petalostemon Michx. (Weber, 1990). The prairie-clovers have potential as attractive garden ornamental plants in addition to their importance as constituents of prairies and pastures. They have uses, along with other native species, for beautification of roadsides, rest areas, parks, and recreation areas, and for soil stabilization (Salac et al., 1978). Daleas are common in the Nebraska Sandhills, an area in central Nebraska extending into South Dakota, consisting of almost 50,000 Km2. It is one of the largest grass-stabilized sand dune regions in the world. The Sandhills area has many unique or special plants, such as Penstemon haydenii S. Wats. and Lithospermum caroliniense (Walter) MacMill (Bleed and Flowerday, 1989). Dalea villosa (Nuttall) Sprengel, commonly known as silky prairie-clover, typically grows in moderately moist to dry sandy soils in disturbed sites, along right-of-ways, and in margins of sandy, wind-eroded blowouts (Farrar, 1990; Great Plains Flora Association, 1986). It has numerous, often horizontal to drooping flowering heads with pinkish-rose colored flowers. Flower spikes are solitary at ends of short branches near the top of the plant (Stubbendieck et al., 1989). Flowers are minute with five protruding yellow stamens encircling a spike up to 10 cm long (Farrar, 1990). Flowers mature acropetally and the fruit is a pod 2.5 to 3 mm long (Barneby, 1977). Plants flower from July to August, depending on location. It has one to several erect, branching stems and a reddish-orange taproot. A compact arching growth habit and an abundance of attractive, silvery, compound leaves give an appearance quite different from other species of the genus (Farrar, 1990). It has numerous alternate, odd-pinnately compound leaves, up to 2 to 4 cm long, with 11 to 25 leaflets, narrowly elliptic and 5 to 11 mm long (Great Plains Flora Association, 1986). Stems and leaves are silvery-green with short, white hairs (Farrar, 1990). Leaves are dotted with glands on the lower surface. The species is found from Manitoba to central Texas and from western Wisconsin to eastern Colorado (Barneby, 1977)

A quantitative examination of the engagement of undergraduate Lumbee commuter students at a Native American-serving nontribal institution

There is a paucity of research on American Indian students in U.S. higher education, particularly those who commute and are citizens of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. Unfortunately, no studies have examined the engagement of undergraduate Lumbee commuter students. Kuh (2009b) defined student engagement as “the time and effort students devote to activities that are empirically linked to desired outcomes of college and what institutions do to induce students to participate in these activities” (p. 683). Engagement is a “powerful means” for students to enhance their cognitive and psychosocial development (Astin, 1996, p. 590). Student engagement also has a positive link to grades (Astin, 1977, 1993a; National Survey of Student Engagement [NSSE], 2000; Pike, Schroeder, & Berry, 1997) and rates of persistence (Astin, 1985; Pike et al., 1997; Simpson & Burnett, 2017). The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional, single institution research design was to address the “American Indian research asterisk” by increasing the visibility and representation of American Indians in quantitative studies. Guiding the study conceptually was Astin’s (1984, 1999) theory of student involvement and Kuh’s (2009b) two-part definition of engagement. More precisely, the study sought to answer five research questions. The researcher hypothesized there was a difference in the engagement of undergraduate Lumbee commuter students based on their gender, academic classification, grade point average, and membership in a student organization. In addition, the researcher hypothesized family obligations predict undergraduate Lumbee commuter student engagement. The engagement of undergraduate Lumbee commuter students at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNC Pembroke) was examined using items from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). The influence of family obligations on undergraduate Lumbee commuter student engagement was examined using Fuligni, Tseng, and Lam’s (1999) Current Assistance to the Family subscale. Family obligations was selected for this study because: 1) family (a core value in Lumbee identity) is the number one factor affecting the persistence of American Indian students in higher education (Bass, 2013; Guillory & Wolverton, 2008); and, 2) it was a way to include a culturally relevant variable in the examination of Lumbee student engagement. Data were collected from 144 participants who were: enrolled undergraduate students at UNC Pembroke during the spring semester of 2019; 18 years of age or older; lived off campus; and, self-identified as Lumbee. Results of one-way multivariate analyses of variance (MANOVA) did not find statistically significant differences in student engagement by gender, academic classification, grade point average, or membership in a student organization. A follow-up one-way MANOVA did find a statistically significant relationship between student engagement and membership in a student organization after the researcher collapsed the categories of membership types. Finally, the results of a single multivariate regression indicated that family obligations was not a significant predictor of student engagement. Contributing to the not statistically significant findings was the study’s lack of power to detect differences in the sample (due to the sample size) and the homogeneity of the population, which resulted in very little separation among the members on the measures. The study adds to the literature on the engagement of undergraduate Lumbee commuter students in higher education. Implications for practice include indigenizing the academy as a way for institutions of higher education to make a conscious “effort to bring Indigenous people, as well as their philosophies and cultures, into strategic plans, governance roles, academics, research and recruitment” (MacDonald, 2016, para. 4). Future research suggestions include: 1) a qualitative follow-up to the current study to mine reasons for and challenges to undergraduate Lumbee commuter student engagement; 2) the addition of culturally relevant items to the NSSE to better measure and understand undergraduate Lumbee commuter student engagement in curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular campus activities, especially those with a cultural focus; 3) a mixed methods approach to explore predictors of engagement, the influence of family obligations on Lumbee commuter, and the process students use to prioritize engagement in campus activities; and, 4) a reexamination of the definition of engagement and what constitutes engagement for those who commute and are Lumbee

Estradiol alters the immune-responsiveness of cervical epithelial cells stimulated with ligands of Toll-like receptors 2 and 4.

The mucosa of the female reproductive tract plays a pivotal role in host defence. Pregnancy must alter immunological mechanisms at this interface to protect the conceptus. We sought to determine how estradiol (E2) alters the immune-responsiveness of cervical epithelial cells to ligand stimulation of Toll-like receptor (TLR)-2 and -4. Human ectocervical epithelial cells (HECECs) were cultured and co-incubated with two concentrations of E2 and peptidoglycan (PGN) or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) over durations that ranged between 10 minutes and 18 hours. Cytometric Bead Array was performed to quantify eight cytokines in the supernatant fluid. In response to PGN, HECECs co-incubated with E2 released lesser quantities of IL-1ß and IFNγ, higher levels of RANTES, and variable levels of IL-6 and IL-8 than those not exposed to E2. In contrast, HECECs co-incubated with LPS and E2 secreted increased levels of IL-1ß, IL-6, IL-8, and IFNγ at 2 and 18 hours than HECECs not exposed to E2, and reduced levels of RANTES at same study time-points. Estradiol alters the immune-responsiveness of cultured HECECs to TLR2 and TLR4 ligands in a complex fashion that appears to vary with bacterial ligand, TLR subtype, and duration of exposure. Our observations are consistent with the functional complexity that this mucosal interface requires for its immunological roles

Menopause in Central America: attitudes, symptoms and treatment.

UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigaciones en Productos Naturales (CIPRONA

Development and content validity of a patient reported outcomes measure to assess symptoms of major depressive disorder

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Although many symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) are assessed through patient-report, there are currently no patient-reported outcome (PRO) instruments that incorporate documented evidence of patient input in PRO instrument development. A review of existing PROs used in MDD suggested the need to conduct qualitative research with patients with MDD to better understand their experience of MDD and develop an evaluative instrument with content validity. The aim of this study was to develop a disease-specific questionnaire to assess symptoms important and relevant to adult MDD patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The questionnaire development involved qualitative interviews for concept elicitation, instrument development, and cognitive interviews to support content validity. For concept elicitation, ten MDD severity-specific focus group interviews with thirty-eight patients having clinician-confirmed diagnoses of MDD were conducted in January 2009. A semi-structured discussion guide was used to elicit patients' spontaneous descriptions of MDD symptoms. Verbatim transcripts of focus groups were coded and analyzed to develop a conceptual framework to describe MDD. A PRO instrument was developed by operationalizing concepts elicited in the conceptual framework. Cognitive interviews were carried out in patients (n = 20) to refine and test the content validity of the instrument in terms of item relevance and comprehension, instructions, recall period, and response categories.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Concept elicitation focus groups identified thirty-five unique concepts falling into several domains: i) emotional, ii) cognitive, iii) motivation, iv) work, v) sleep, vi) appetite, vii) social, viii) activities of daily living, ix) tired/fatigue, x) body pain, and xi) suicidality. Concept saturation, the point at which no new relevant information emerges in later interviews, was achieved for each of the concepts. Based on the qualitative findings, the PRO instrument developed had 15 daily and 20 weekly items. The cognitive interviews confirmed that the instructions, item content, and response scales were understood by the patients.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Rigorous qualitative research resulted in the development of a PRO measure for MDD with supported content validity. The MDD PRO can assist in understanding and assessing MDD symptoms from patients' perspectives as well as evaluating treatment benefit of new targeted therapies.</p

Business ethics competencies research: implications for Canadian practitioners

This paper describes a proposed framework of knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs) that a practitioner who is competent in business ethics, compliance, or integrity should possess. These competencies may be leveraged as key input to selecting content for an institutionalized business ethics training program. The focus in this paper is on the management problem of 'What competencies are important for job performance of business ethics practitioners'. Phase I consisted of developing a provisional taxonomy of business ethics competencies and Phase II involved academic and industry practitioners implicated in business ethics to validate the conceptually developed provisional taxonomy of business ethics competencies to eventually make recommendations regarding the selection of business ethics training content. The contribution to the business ethics competency-based management knowledge that is presented in this paper is a proposed business ethics competency model and the implications of this model for Canadian practitioners are discussed