Two-dimensional wind-tunnel tests of a NASA supercritical airfoil with various high-lift systems. Volume 1: Data analysis

High-lift systems for a NASA, 9.3%, method for calculating the viscous flow about two-dimensional multicomponent airfoils was evaluated by comparing its predictions with test data. High-lift systems derived from supercritical airfoils were compared in terms of performance to high-lift systems derived from conventional airfoils. The high-lift systems for the supercritical airfoil were designed to achieve maximum lift and consisted of: a single-slotted flap; a double-slotted flap and a leading-edge slat; and a triple-slotted flap and a leading-edge slat. Agreement between theoretical predictions and experimental results are also discussed

ACOG Junior Fellow Activity

The junior fellows in the Iowa section have had an exceptionally successful year. Section Chair Dr. Rachel Mejia and Vice Chair Dr. Amandeep Mahal attended the Annual District Meeting for District VI. The junior fellows worked with other representatives within the district to develop and promote medical student recruitment, networking, transition to practice, and fundraisin

Yield and Quality Evaluation of Direct Seeded Basmati Rice (Oryza sativa L.) under Different Irrigation and Nitrogen Regimes

Management practices need to be developed for successful cultivation of good quality aerobic basmati rice. Field experiments were conducted at Ludhiana, India during the summer seasons of 2011 and 2012 to ascertain the optimum irrigation schedule and dose and timings of nitrogen application to direct seeded basmati rice cultivar Pusa Basmati 1121. Three irrigation schedules (irrigations at 30, 50 and 70 mm CPE), three nitrogen levels (40, 60 and 80 kg N ha–1) and two modules of nitrogen splits (3 splits, i.e. application at 3, 6 and 9 weeks after sowing and 4 splits, i.e. application at 0, 3, 6 and 9 weeks after sowing) were tested in randomized block design with four replications on a loamy sand soil. The maximum grain yield, protein content, brown, milled and head rice recovery were obtained with irrigations at 30 mm CPE and these were significantly better than 50 and 70 mm CPE irrigation schedules. Among nitrogen levels, the significant increase in grain yield as well as quality parameters, viz. protein content, brown, milled and head rice recovery was recorded only up to a nitrogen dose of 60 kg ha–1. In Indian Punjab, good quality direct seeded basmati rice can be produced by following the irrigation schedule of 30 mm CPE and with the application of 60 kg N ha–1 applied in 3 splits (3, 6 and 9 weeks after sowing)

The Impact of African American Race on Patterns of Care and Outcome in Prostate Cancer

Objectives: We evaluated whether African Americans (AA) with intermediate to high-risk prostate cancer receive similar treatment as white patients and whether any observed disparities are persistent with time, across age groups, or by insurance status. Methods: We used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to identify 128,189 men with localized intermediate to high-risk prostate cancer (PSA >= 10 or Gleason >= 7 or T stage >= T2b) diagnosed from 2004 – 2010. We used multivariable logistic regression analyses to determine the impact of race on the receipt of definitive treatment and Fine-Gray competing risks regression to determine the impact of race on cancer mortality. Results: After adjusting for treatment, demographics, and prognostic factors, AA men had a higher risk of prostate-cancer specific mortality (AHR 1.12; 95% CI 1.01 – 1.25; P = 0.03). AA men were significantly less likely to receive curative-intent treatment than white men (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 0.82; 95% CI 0.79 – 0.86; P =70, suggesting increased racial disparity in the receipt of definitive treatment among older men (Pinteraction = 0.01). Among uninsured men, the adjusted OR for definitive treatment for AA vs. white was 0.38 (95% CI 0.27 – 0.54; P < 0.001), but among insured men, the adjusted OR was 0.62 (95% CI 0.57 – 0.66; P<0.001), (Pinteraction = 0.01). Conclusions: AA men with high-risk prostate cancer were significantly less likely to receive potentially life-saving definitive treatment when compared to white men. This disparity is worse in high-risk disease and among men age >=70, and is not improving over time. Having health insurance was associated with a reduction in this racial treatment disparity, suggesting that expansion of health insurance coverage may help reduce racial disparities in the management of aggressive prostate cancer. Factors underlying these treatment disparities should be urgently studied, as they are potentially correctable contributors to excess prostate cancer mortality among AA patients

Two-dimensional wind-tunnel tests of a NASA supercritical airfoil with various high-lift systems. Volume 2: Test data

Three high lift systems for a 9.3 percent blunt based, supercritical airfoil were designed, fabricated, and wind tunnel tested. A method for calculating the viscous flow about two dimensional multicomponent airfoils was evaluated by comparing its predictions with test data. A comparison of high lift systems derived from supercritical airfoils with high lift systems derived from conventional airfoils is presented. The high lift systems for the supercritical airfoil were designed to achieve maximum lift and consisted of: (1) a single slotted flap, (2) a double slotted flap and a leading edge slat, and (3) a triple slotted flap and a leading edge slat. Aerodynamic force and moment data and surface pressure data are presented for all configurations and boundary layer and wake profiles for the single slotted flap configuration. The wind-tunnel models, test facilities and instrumentation, and data reduction are described

Quality of medical training and emigration of physicians from India

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Physician 'brain drain' negatively impacts health care delivery. Interventions to address physician emigration have been constrained by lack of research on systematic factors that influence physician migration. We examined the relationship between the quality of medical training and rate of migration to the United States and the United Kingdom among Indian medical graduates (1955–2002).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We calculated the fraction of medical graduates who emigrated to the United States and the United Kingdom, based on rankings of medical colleges and universities according to three indicators of the quality of medical education (a) student choice, (b) academic publications, and (c) the availability of specialty medical training.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Physicians from the top quintile medical colleges and of universities were 2 to 4 times more likely to emigrate to the United States and the United Kingdom than graduates from the bottom quintile colleges and universities.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Graduates of institutions with better quality medical training have a greater likelihood of emigrating. Interventions designed to counter loss of physicians should focus on graduates from top quality institutions.</p

Survey and scientific evaluation of medicinal plants used by the Pahan and Teli tribal communities of Natore district, Bangladesh

The Pahans and the Telis are two of the smallest indigenous communities in Bangladesh. The Pahans, numbering about 14,000 people are widely scattered in several northern districts of the country, while the Telis are such a small community that nothing has been reported on their numbers and lifestyle. Both tribes are on the verge of disappearance. One each of the Pahan and the Teli community was located after much search in two adjoining villages of Natore district, Bangladesh. Since the tribes were found to still depend on their traditional medicinal practitioners for treatment of ailments, it was the objective of the present study to document their traditional usage of medicinal plants and to evaluate such plants against modern research-based pharmacological activity studies on these plants. Interviews were conducted of the practitioners of the Pahan and Teli community of Natore district with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and using the guided field-walk method. Plant specimens aspointed out by the practitioners were collected and pressed on the field and identification completed at the Bangladesh National Herbarium. The Pahan tribal practitioners used 13 plants distributed into 9 families for treatment of 14 different ailments. The Teli tribal practitioner used 15 plants divided into 14 families for treatment of 17 different ailments. Eight out of the thirteen plants used by the Pahan tribal practitioner (61.5%) had reported relevant pharmacological activities in the scientific literature, while six out of the fifteen plants used by the Teli tribal practitioners (40%) had such relevant pharmacological activities in accordance with their usage. The medicinal plants used by the Pahans and Telis warrant further scientific studies toward discovery of lead compounds and efficacious drugs and the documentation and protection of the traditional medical knowledge held by these tribes

Conditional cancer-specific mortality in T4, N1, or M1 prostate cancer: implications for long-term prognosis

Background: The risk of prostate cancer-specific mortality (PCSM) following a diagnosis of prostate cancer may improve after patients have survived a number of years after diagnosis. We sought to determine long-term conditional PCSM for patients with stage T4, N1, or M1 prostate cancer. Methods: We identified 66,817 patients diagnosed with stage IV (T4N0M0, N1M0, or M1) prostate cancer between 1973 and 2011 using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Conditional five-year PCSM was evaluated for each group of patients at 5, 10, and 15 years of survival according to the Fine & Gray model for competing risks after adjusting for tumor grade, age, income level, and marital status. Race-stratified analyses were also performed. Results: There were 13,345 patients with T4 disease, 12,450 patients with N1 disease, and 41,022 patients with M1 disease. Median follow-up among survivors in the three groups was 123 months (range: 0-382 months), 61 months (range: 0-410 months), and 30 months (range: 0-370 months), respectively. Conditional PCSM improved in all three groups over time. Among patients with T4 disease, 5-year PCSM improved from 13.9% at diagnosis to 11.2%, 8.1%, and 6.5% conditioned on 5, 10, or 15 years of survival, respectively (p < 0.001 in all cases). In patients with N1 disease, 5-year PCSM increased within the first five years and decreased thereafter, from 18.9% at diagnosis to 21.4% (p < 0.001), 17.6% (p = 0.055), and 13.8% (p <0.001), respectively. In patients with metastatic disease, 5-year PCSM improved from 57.2% at diagnosis to 41.1%, 28.8%, and 20.8%, respectively (p < 0.001). White race was associated with Conditional mortality after T4, N1, or M1 prostate cancer--2 a greater increase in conditional survival compared to non-white race among those with T4 or N1 disease. Conclusions: While patients with T4, N1, or M1 prostate cancer are never “cured,” their odds of cancer-specific survival increase substantially after they have survived for 5 or more years. Physicians who take care of patients with prostate cancer can use this data to guide follow-up decisions and to counsel newly diagnosed patients and survivors regarding their long-term prognosis

Quasiphasematched frequency doubling in a waveguide of a 1560 nm diode laser and locking to the rubidium D absorption lines

An external-cavity 1560-nm diode laser was frequency doubled in a 3-cm-long periodically poled LiNbO 3 waveguide doubler with 120% W 21 conversion efficiency. The 780-nm light was used to detect the D 2 transitions of Rb, and the laser frequency was locked to Doppler-broadened lines of Rb. Furthermore, the ϳ1 mW of second-harmonic power was sufficient for detecting the sub-Doppler lines of Rb, and the laser was locked to a 87 Rb crossover line. © 1996 Optical Society of America Lasers operating at f ixed and known frequencies near the 1550-nm transmission window of optical fibers are required for densely packed multiwavelength communication systems. 1 Such lasers may also be required for coherent optical communication systems to ease the acquisition and locking of a local oscillator laser to a transmitter laser and for achieving coldstart communication. 2 In addition, absolutely stabilized sources may be applicable to fiber-optic sensors and as frequency standards for high-resolution spectroscopy. Optical frequency standards can be realized by locking to atomic or molecular transitions. Molecular absorptions in the 1550-nm wavelength range, e.g., ammonia, 3 acetylene, 4,5 and hydrogen iodide, 6 are usually weak overtone or combination bands. Lasers at 1550 nm were locked to Doppler-broadened transitions of these molecules. 5 Atomic transitions that can be used as frequency references, e.g., transitions between excited states in noble gases (Ar, Kr, etc.) 2 and transitions between upper levels in Rb, 7 do not originate from the ground state. Hence additional excitation, electrical (with a discharge lamp 2 ) or optical (with another laser 7 ), is required for populating one of these upper levels. An alternative approach that may overcome the difficulties associated with frequency references near 1550 nm is second-harmonic generation (SHG) and locking to absorption lines near 780 nm. A thoroughly characterized reference at 780.25 nm is the atomicRb D 2 line. 8 This reference was already used to stabilize 1560-nm laser diodes with the internally generated second harmonic of diode lasers, 9 but the SHG power was only 2 pW. Recently bulk external SHG in KNbO 3 crystal with a second-harmonic power of 2.2 nW was employed for the same goal. 10 Locking to a Doppler-broadened line was possible, but the power level was not sufficient to saturate the absorption for locking to sub-Doppler lines. Frequency doubling in KNbO 3 was also used to lock to K at 770 nm, 11 with a second-harmonic power of 20 nW. Because the power levels of diode lasers near 1550 nm are quite low (typically a few milliwatts), higher-eff iciency frequency conversion is required for detection and locking to sub-Doppler lines as well as to improve the signal-to-noise ratio for locking to Dopplerbroadened lines. A technique that may achieve this goal is quasi-phase-matched 12 (QPM) frequency conversion in a waveguide. In QPM doubling, a periodic modulation of the material nonlinear coefficient compensates for the phase velocity mismatch between the fundamental and the second-harmonic waves. This technique permits the use of large nonlinear coefficients, e.g., d 33 , in LiNbO 3 that are not accessible by birefringent phase matching. In LiNbO 3 the improvement in conversion eff iciency compared with birefringent phase matching is ͑2d 33 ͞pd 31 ͒ 2 ϳ 20, where 2͞p is the QPM reduction factor and d 31 is the effective nonlinear coeff icient for birefringent phase matching. Further improvement in conversion efficiency is obtained by waveguide confinement. Furthermore, room-temperature operation, as well as relaxed temperature and wavelength tolerances, is possible. The use of QPM waveguides for optical frequency standards at the 1300-nm fiber-optic transmission window has already been demonstrated 13 : the second harmonic of a 1319-nm Nd:YAG laser was locked to I 2 transitions near 660 nm. We applied the technique of waveguide QPM frequency conversion for efficient single-pass doubling of a 1560-nm external-cavity diode laser. The second-harmonic power was sufficiently high that we could detect sub-Doppler lines, and the laser was locked to Doppler-broadened lines as well as to subDoppler lines of Rb near 780 nm. The experimental setup for locking to Doppler-broadened lines of Rb is shown i