Speed benefits of tilt-rotor designs for LHX

The merits of an advanced helicopter and a tilt rotor aircraft for light utility, scout, and attack roles in combat missions envisioned for the year 2000 and beyond were compared. It is demonstrated that speed has increasing value for 11 different mission classes broadly encompassing the intended LHX roles. Helicopter speeds beyond 250 knots are judged to have lower military worth. Since the tilt rotor concept offers a different cost speed relationship than that of helicopters, assessment of a tilt rotor LHX variant was warranted. The technical parameters of an advanced tilt rotor are stablished. Parameters of representative missions are identified, computed relative value of the tilt rotor LHX are compared to the baseline helicopter, a first-order life cycle estimate for the tilt rotor LHX is established, military worth of the alternative design is computed and the results are evaluated. It is suggested that the tilt rotor is the solution with the greatest capability for meeting the uncertainties of future needs

An Improved Canine Genome and a Comprehensive Catalogue of Coding Genes and Non-Coding Transcripts

The domestic dog, Canis familiaris, is a well-established model system for mapping trait and disease loci. While the original draft sequence was of good quality, gaps were abundant particularly in promoter regions of the genome, negatively impacting the annotation and study of candidate genes. Here, we present an improved genome build, canFam3.1, which includes 85 MB of novel sequence and now covers 99.8% of the euchromatic portion of the genome. We also present multiple RNA-Sequencing data sets from 10 different canine tissues to catalog ∼175,000 expressed loci. While about 90% of the coding genes previously annotated by EnsEMBL have measurable expression in at least one sample, the number of transcript isoforms detected by our data expands the EnsEMBL annotations by a factor of four. Syntenic comparison with the human genome revealed an additional ∼3,000 loci that are characterized as protein coding in human and were also expressed in the dog, suggesting that those were previously not annotated in the EnsEMBL canine gene set. In addition to ∼20,700 high-confidence protein coding loci, we found ∼4,600 antisense transcripts overlapping exons of protein coding genes, ∼7,200 intergenic multi-exon transcripts without coding potential, likely candidates for long intergenic non-coding RNAs (lincRNAs) and ∼11,000 transcripts were reported by two different library construction methods but did not fit any of the above categories. Of the lincRNAs, about 6,000 have no annotated orthologs in human or mouse. Functional analysis of two novel transcripts with shRNA in a mouse kidney cell line altered cell morphology and motility. All in all, we provide a much-improved annotation of the canine genome and suggest regulatory functions for several of the novel non-coding transcripts

Examining the generalizability of research findings from archival data

This initiative examined systematically the extent to which a large set of archival research findings generalizes across contexts. We repeated the key analyses for 29 original strategic management effects in the same context (direct reproduction) as well as in 52 novel time periods and geographies; 45% of the reproductions returned results matching the original reports together with 55% of tests in different spans of years and 40% of tests in novel geographies. Some original findings were associated with multiple new tests. Reproducibility was the best predictor of generalizability-for the findings that proved directly reproducible, 84% emerged in other available time periods and 57% emerged in other geographies. Overall, only limited empirical evidence emerged for context sensitivity. In a forecasting survey, independent scientists were able to anticipate which effects would find support in tests in new samples

Examining the generalizability of research findings from archival data

This initiative examined systematically the extent to which a large set of archival research findings generalizes across contexts. We repeated the key analyses for 29 original strategic management effects in the same context (direct reproduction) as well as in 52 novel time periods and geographies; 45% of the reproductions returned results matching the original reports together with 55% of tests in different spans of years and 40% of tests in novel geographies. Some original findings were associated with multiple new tests. Reproducibility was the best predictor of generalizability—for the findings that proved directly reproducible, 84% emerged in other available time periods and 57% emerged in other geographies. Overall, only limited empirical evidence emerged for context sensitivity. In a forecasting survey, independent scientists were able to anticipate which effects would find support in tests in new samples

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Assessment of the Status of Harbor Porpoise (\u3ci\u3ePhocoena phocoena\u3c/i\u3e) in Oregon and Washington Waters

The status of harbor porpoise, Phocoena phocoena, is reviewed for stocks in Oregon and Washington waters, and the adjacent transboundary waters of southern British Columbia, Canada, emphasizing the most recent data on their geographic range, population structure, distribution, population size, trends in abundance, and reproductive biology. This information is used to determine if the annual rate of incidental mortality and serious injury in gill-net fisheries from 1990-94 could be at a biologically significant level. In the eastern North Pacific Ocean, harbor porpoise are found near the coast, generally in water depths of less than 200 m. Differences in harbor porpoise mitochondrial DNA and organochlorine pollutant ratios and concentrations indicate that porpoise movements and intrinsic rates of mixing are sufficiently restricted to form geographically distinct groups, but not specific stock boundaries. Two harbor porpoise transboundary management areas, the Inland Washington Stock and the Oregon/Washington Coast Stock, are recommended because incidental takes of harbor porpoise occur in commercial sockeye salmon gill-net fisheries of inland Washington waters. The corrected 1990-91 best and minimum abundance estimates are N = 3,352 (CV(N) = 0.270) and Nmin = 2,680 for inland Washington/southern British Columbia, and N = 26,175 (CV(N) = 0.206) and Nmin = 22,049 for coastal Oregon/Washington. Except for Puget Sound, where a substantial decline in harbor porpoise abundance has occurred, there are no data to determine population trends in Oregon and Washington waters. The aerial survey data collected during the summer of 1990-91 for water depths less than 91 m (50 fathoms), indicated significant differences (z = 6.9, P\u3c0.001) in harbor porpoise mean densities (1.7 animals/km2 and 0.5 animals/km2, respectively) between the waters of southern coastal Washington/Oregon and northern coastal and inland Washington (i.e., the U.S. and Canadian portions of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and San Juan Islands). Although incidental takes of this species in gill-net fisheries only occur in the regions of lowest harbor porpoise densities, other factors such as variations in habitat quality may be responsible for these observed density differences. To determine if the annual number of incidental takes in gill-net fisheries was potentially significant for a particular stock, an average mortality rate was calculated for 1990-94 and compared to the stock’s calculated potential biological removal (PBR) level (i.e., the product of the minimum population estimate, one-half the maximum theoretical productivity rate and a population recovery factor). For the Inland Washington Stock, an estimated total of 16 harbor porpoise are killed or seriously injured annually: 15 animals/year (90% C.I. = 2 - 58) are incidentally taken in the commercial and tribal sockeye salmon drift gill-net fishery and 1 is estimated to be taken annually in the tribal northwest Washington chinook salmon set gill-net fishery. This combined rate is less than the PBR, but it exceeds 10% of the calculated PBR (27 x 0.1 = 2.7 animals). This tribal chinook salmon fishery also operates in the waters of the Oregon/Washington Coast Stock. An average of 9 harbor porpoise (1990-93 data) are incidentally taken or seriously injured annually. The annual incidental mortality is less than 10% of the PBR (220 x 0.1 = 22) for the coastal stock

Anticipating conflict-control policies : the "CONEX" games as a planning tool

"February 1970.""1858"--handwritten on coverIncludes bibliographical references and inde