Developing Means of Compliance for eVTOL Vehicles: Phase II Final Report

692M15-18-C-00010Development of new air vehicles types (e.g., personal air vehicles, urban taxis, etc.) have led to a proliferation of Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) vehicle concepts including electric vehicles, many of which are well funded and are in various stages of prototype development and testing. These vehicles almost exclusively feature fly-by-wire (FBW) flight control systems with advanced flight control system response-types. The processes and requirements needed to certify these disparate vehicles for operation within the National Airspace System are still emerging. To aid in the requirements and certification process, a mission-oriented approach is being applied to define Mission Task Elements (MTEs), often referred to as Flight Test Maneuvers (FTMs), that will serve as a means of compliance with Part 21.17(b) of certification regulations. This report summarizes the Phase II effort of this program wherein an industry representative lift plus cruise electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) configuration was used to develop and exercise via analysis and fixed-base simulation candidate Handling Qualities Task Elements (HQTEs), a subset of MTEs/FTMs, that address control law transitions, envelope protections, and automation. MTEs/FTMs are repeatable tests based on the vehicle Concept of Operations (CONOPS) and tailored to evaluate aircraft characteristics that assure safe operations within the flight envelope and the ability to perform the intended mission(s) with acceptable pilot workload/compensation

N-3 fatty acids in patients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors

BACKGROUND: Trials have shown a beneficial effect of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in patients with a previous myocardial infarction or heart failure. We evaluated the potential benefit of such therapy in patients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors or atherosclerotic vascular disease who had not had a myocardial infarction. METHODS: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, we enrolled a cohort of patients who were followed by a network of 860 general practitioners in Italy. Eligible patients were men and women with multiple cardiovascular risk factors or atherosclerotic vascular disease but not myocardial infarction. Patients were randomly assigned to n-3 fatty acids (1 g daily) or placebo (olive oil). The initially specified primary end point was the cumulative rate of death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, and nonfatal stroke. At 1 year, after the event rate was found to be lower than anticipated, the primary end point was revised as time to death from cardiovascular causes or admission to the hospital for cardiovascular causes. RESULTS: Of the 12,513 patients enrolled, 6244 were randomly assigned to n-3 fatty acids and 6269 to placebo. With a median of 5 years of follow-up, the primary end point occurred in 1478 of 12,505 patients included in the analysis (11.8%), of whom 733 of 6239 (11.7%) had received n-3 fatty acids and 745 of 6266 (11.9%) had received placebo (adjusted hazard ratio with n-3 fatty acids, 0.97; 95% confidence interval, 0.88 to 1.08; P=0.58). The same null results were observed for all the secondary end points. CONCLUSIONS: In a large general-practice cohort of patients with multiple cardiovascular risk factors, daily treatment with n-3 fatty acids did not reduce cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. Copyright © 2013 Massachusetts Medical Society