NASA aviation safety reporting system

The origins and development of the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) are briefly reviewed. The results of the first quarter's activity are summarized and discussed. Examples are given of bulletins describing potential air safety hazards, and the disposition of these bulletins. During the first quarter of operation, the ASRS received 1464 reports; 1407 provided data relevant to air safety. All reports are being processed for entry into the ASRS data base. During the reporting period, 130 alert bulletins describing possible problems in the aviation system were generated and disseminated. Responses were received from FAA and others regarding 108 of the alert bulletins. Action was being taken with respect to 70 of the 108 responses received. Further studies are planned of a number of areas, including human factors problems related to automation of the ground and airborne portions of the national aviation system

Exploratory studies of the cruise performance of upper surface blown configurations

The data and major conclusions obtained from an experimental/analytical study of upper-surface blown (USB) configurations at cruise are summarized. The high-speed (subsonic) experimental work, studying the aerodynamic effects of wing-nacelle geometric variations, was conducted around semi-span model configurations composed of diversified, interchangeable components. Power simulation was provided by high pressure air ducted through closed forebody nacelles. Nozzle geometry was varied across size, exit aspect ratio, exit position and boattail angle. Both 3-D force and 2-D pressure measurements were obtained at cruise Mach numbers from 0.5 to 0.8 and at nozzle pressure ratios up to about 3.0. The experimental investigation was supported by an analytical synthesis of the system using a vortex lattice representation with first-order power effects. Results are also presented from a compatibility study in which a short-haul transport is designed on the basis of the aerodynamic findings in the experimental study as well as acoustical data obtained in a concurrent program. High-lift test data are used to substantiate the projected performance of the selected transport design

Quantitative estimation of sampling uncertainties for mycotoxins in cereal shipments

Many countries receive shipments of bulk cereals from primary producers. There is a volume of work that is ongoing that seeks to arrive at appropriate standards for the quality of the shipments and the means to assess the shipments as they are out-loaded. Of concern are mycotoxin and heavy metal levels, pesticide and herbicide residue levels, and contamination by genetically modified organisms (GMOs). As the ability to quantify these contaminants improves through improved analytical techniques, the sampling methodologies applied to the shipments must also keep pace to ensure that the uncertainties attached to the sampling procedures do not overwhelm the analytical uncertainties. There is a need to understand and quantify sampling uncertainties under varying conditions of contamination. The analysis required is statistical and is challenging as the nature of the distribution of contaminants within a shipment is not well understood; very limited data exist. Limited work has been undertaken to quantify the variability of the contaminant concentrations in the flow of grain coming from a ship and the impact that this has on the variance of sampling. Relatively recent work by Paoletti et al. in 2006 [Paoletti C, Heissenberger A, Mazzara M, Larcher S, Grazioli E, Corbisier P, Hess N, Berben G, Lubeck PS, De Loose M, et al. 2006. Kernel lot distribution assessment (KeLDA): a study on the distribution of GMO in large soybean shipments. Eur Food Res Tech. 224:129–139] provides some insight into the variation in GMO concentrations in soybeans on cargo out-turn. Paoletti et al. analysed the data using correlogram analysis with the objective of quantifying the sampling uncertainty (variance) that attaches to the final cargo analysis, but this is only one possible means of quantifying sampling uncertainty. It is possible that in many cases the levels of contamination passing the sampler on out-loading are essentially random, negating the value of variographic quantitation of the sampling variance. GMOs and mycotoxins appear to have a highly heterogeneous distribution in a cargo depending on how the ship was loaded (the grain may have come from more than one terminal and set of storage silos) and mycotoxin growth may have occurred in transit. This paper examines a statistical model based on random contamination that can be used to calculate the sampling uncertainty arising from primary sampling of a cargo; it deals with what is thought to be a worst-case scenario. The determination of the sampling variance is treated both analytically and by Monte Carlo simulation. The latter approach provides the entire sampling distribution and not just the sampling variance. The sampling procedure is based on rules provided by the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) and the levels of contamination considered are those relating to allowable levels of ochratoxin A (OTA) in wheat. The results of the calculations indicate that at a loading rate of 1000 tonnes h-1, primary sample increment masses of 10.6 kg, a 2000-tonne lot and a primary composite sample mass of 1900 kg, the relative standard deviation (RSD) is about 1.05 (105%) and the distribution of the mycotoxin (MT) level in the primary composite samples is highly skewed. This result applies to a mean MT level of 2 ng g-1. The rate of false-negative results under these conditions is estimated to be 16.2%. The corresponding contamination is based on initial average concentrations of MT of 4000 ng g-1 within average spherical volumes of 0.3m diameter, which are then diluted by a factor of 2 each time they pass through a handling stage; four stages of handling are assumed. The Monte Carlo calculations allow for variation in the initial volume of the MT-bearing grain, the average concentration and the dilution factor. The Monte Carlo studies seek to show the effect of variation in the sampling frequency while maintaining a primary composite sample mass of 1900 kg. The overall results are presented in terms of operational characteristic curves that relate only to the sampling uncertainties in the primary sampling of the grain. It is concluded that cross-stream sampling is intrinsically unsuited to sampling for mycotoxins and that better sampling methods and equipment are needed to control sampling uncertainties. At the same time, it is shown that some combination of crosscutting sampling conditions may, for a given shipment mass and MT content, yield acceptable sampling performance

Bolometric light curves and explosion parameters of 38 stripped-envelope core-collapse supernovae

Literature data are collated for 38 stripped-envelope core-collapse supernovae (SE SNe; i.e. SNe IIb, Ib, Ic and Ic-BL) that have good light curve coverage in more than one optical band. Using bolometric corrections derived in previous work, the bolometric light curve of each SN is recovered and template bolometric light curves provided. Peak light distributions and decay rates are investigated; SNe subtypes are not cleanly distinguished in this parameter space, although some grouping of types does occur and there is a suggestion of a Phillips-like relation for most SNe Ic-BL. The bolometric light curves are modelled with a simple analytical prescription and compared to results from more detailed modelling. Distributions of the explosion parameters shows the extreme nature of SNe Ic-BL in terms of their 56Ni mass and the kinetic energy, however ejected masses are similar to other subtypes. SNe Ib and Ic have very similar distributions of explosion parameters, indicating a similarity in progenitors. SNe~IIb are the most homogeneous subtype and have the lowest average values for 56Ni mass, ejected mass, and kinetic energy. Ejecta masses for each subtype and SE SNe as a whole are inconsistent with those expected from very massive stars. The majority of the ejecta mass distribution is well described by more moderately massive progenitors in binaries, indicating these are the dominant progenitor channel for SE SNe

Superintegrability and higher order polynomial algebras II

In an earlier article, we presented a method to obtain integrals of motion and polynomial algebras for a class of two-dimensional superintegrable systems from creation and annihilation operators. We discuss the general case and present its polynomial algebra. We will show how this polynomial algebra can be directly realized as a deformed oscillator algebra. This particular algebraic structure allows to find the unitary representations and the corresponding energy spectrum. We apply this construction to a family of caged anisotropic oscillators. The method can be used to generate new superintegrable systems with higher order integrals. We obtain new superintegrable systems involving the fourth Painleve transcendent and present their integrals of motion and polynomial algebras.Comment: 11 page

Effect in supralethally irradiated rats of granulocyte colony- stimulating factor and lisofylline on hematopoietic reconstitution by syngeneic bone marrow or whole organ passenger leukocytes

We have previously shown the existence of migratory hematopoietic stem cells in adult solid organs. This study demonstrates that granulocyte colony- stimulating factor (G-CSF) and lisofylline, a phosphatidic acid inhibitor that suppresses hematopoiesis-inhibiting cytokines, can enhance the engraftment of organ-based hematopoietic stem cells. When syngeneic heart grafts or liver nonparenchymal cells were transplanted into lethally irradiated (9.5 Gy) Lewis rats, complete hematopoietic reconstitution and animal survival were significantly improved by treating the recipient with G- CSF or, to a lesser extent, with lisofylline. Pretreatment of hepatic nonparenchymal cell donors with G-CSF, but not lisofylline, also resulted in striking improvement of recipient survival which was associated with an augmented subpopulation of donor stem cells. The results suggest that these drugs can be used to enhance the chimerism that we postulate to be the basis of organ allograft acceptance

An infinite family of superintegrable systems from higher order ladder operators and supersymmetry

We will discuss how we can obtain new quantum superintegrable Hamiltonians allowing the separation of variables in Cartesian coordinates with higher order integrals of motion from ladder operators. We will discuss also how higher order supersymmetric quantum mechanics can be used to obtain systems with higher order ladder operators and their polynomial Heisenberg algebra. We will present a new family of superintegrable systems involving the fifth Painleve transcendent which possess fourth order ladder operators constructed from second order supersymmetric quantum mechanics. We present the polynomial algebra of this family of superintegrable systems.Comment: 8 pages, presented at ICGTMP 28, accepted for j.conf.serie

Searching for ejected supernova companions in the era of precise proper motion and radial velocity measurements

The majority of massive stars are born in binaries, and most unbind upon the first supernova. With precise proper motion surveys such as Gaia, it is possible to trace back the motion of stars in the vicinity of young remnants to search for ejected companions. Establishing the fraction of remnants with an ejected companion, and the photometric and kinematic properties of these stars, offers unique insight into supernova progenitor systems. In this paper, we employ binary population synthesis to produce kinematic and photometric predictions for ejected secondary stars. We demonstrate that the unbound neutron star velocity distribution from supernovae in binaries closely traces the input kicks. Therefore, the observed distribution of neutron star velocities should be representative of their natal kicks. We evaluate the probability for any given filter, magnitude limit, minimum measurable proper motion (as a function of magnitude), temporal baseline, distance and extinction that an unbound companion can be associated with a remnant. We compare our predictions with results from previous companion searches, and demonstrate that the current sample of stars ejected by the supernova of their companion can be increased by a factor of 5-10 with Gaia data release 3. Further progress in this area is achievable by leveraging the absolute astrometric precision of Gaia, and by obtaining multiple epochs of deep, high resolution near-infrared imaging with the Hubble Space Telescope, JWST and next-generation wide-field near-infrared observatories such as Euclid or the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS. 19 pages, 17 figure