Design, development, and flight test of a demonstration advanced avionics system

Ames Research Center initiated a program in 1975 to provide the critical information required for the design of integrated avionics suitable for general aviation. The program emphasized the use of data busing, distributed microprocessors, shared electronic displays and data entry devices, and improved functional capability. Design considerations included cost, reliability, maintainability, and modularity. As a final step, a demonstration advanced avionics system (DAAS) was designed, built, and flight tested in a Cessna 402, twin engine, general aviation aircraft. A functional description of the DAAS, including a description of the system architecture, is presented and the program and flight test results are briefly reviewed

Two-dimensional gravitation and Sine-Gordon-Solitons

Some aspects of two-dimensional gravity coupled to matter fields, especially to the Sine-Gordon-model are examined. General properties and boundary conditions of possible soliton-solutions are considered. Analytic soliton-solutions are discovered and the structure of the induced space-time geometry is discussed. These solutions have interesting features and may serve as a starting point for further investigations.Comment: 23 pages, latex, references added, to appear in Phys.Rev.

Effects of a parental program for preventing underage drinking - The NGO program strong and clear

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The present study is an evaluation of a 3-year parental program aiming to prevent underage drinking. The intervention was implemented by a non-governmental organization and targeted parents with children aged 13-16 years old and included recurrent activities during the entire period of secondary school. The program consisted of four different types of group and self-administered activities: parent meetings, family dialogues, friend meetings, and family meetings.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A quasi-experimental design was used following parents and children with questionnaires during the three years of secondary school. The analytic sample consisted of 509 dyads of parents and children. Measures of parental attitudes and behaviour concerning underage drinking and adolescents' lifetime alcohol consumption and drunkenness were used. Three socio-demographic factors were included: parental education, school, and gender of the child. A Latent Growth Modelling (LGM) approach was used to examine changes in parental behaviour regarding youth drinking and in young people's drinking behaviour. To test for the pre-post test differences in parental attitudes repeated measures ANOVA were used.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results showed that parents in the program maintained their restrictive attitude toward underage drinking to a higher degree than non-participating parents. Adolescents of participants were on average one year older than adolescents with non-participating parents when they made their alcohol debut. They were also less likely to have ever been drunk in school year 9.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of the study suggested that Strong and Clear contributed to maintaining parents' restrictive attitude toward underage drinking during secondary school, postponing alcohol debut among the adolescents, and significantly reducing their drunkenness.</p

Carnivore Translocations and Conservation: Insights from Population Models and Field Data for Fishers (Martes pennanti)

Translocations are frequently used to restore extirpated carnivore populations. Understanding the factors that influence translocation success is important because carnivore translocations can be time consuming, expensive, and controversial. Using population viability software, we modeled reintroductions of the fisher, a candidate for endangered or threatened status in the Pacific states of the US. Our model predicts that the most important factor influencing successful re-establishment of a fisher population is the number of adult females reintroduced (provided some males are also released). Data from 38 translocations of fishers in North America, including 30 reintroductions, 5 augmentations and 3 introductions, show that the number of females released was, indeed, a good predictor of success but that the number of males released, geographic region and proximity of the source population to the release site were also important predictors. The contradiction between model and data regarding males may relate to the assumption in the model that all males are equally good breeders. We hypothesize that many males may need to be released to insure a sufficient number of good breeders are included, probably large males. Seventy-seven percent of reintroductions with known outcomes (success or failure) succeeded; all 5 augmentations succeeded; but none of the 3 introductions succeeded. Reintroductions were instrumental in reestablishing fisher populations within their historical range and expanding the range from its most-contracted state (43% of the historical range) to its current state (68% of the historical range). To increase the likelihood of translocation success, we recommend that managers: 1) release as many fishers as possible, 2) release more females than males (55–60% females) when possible, 3) release as many adults as possible, especially large males, 4) release fishers from a nearby source population, 5) conduct a formal feasibility assessment, and 6) develop a comprehensive implementation plan that includes an active monitoring program

An unknown genetic defect increases venous thrombosis risk, through interaction with protein C deficiency.

We used two-locus segregation analysis to test whether an unknown genetic defect interacts with protein C deficiency to increase susceptibility to venous thromboembolic disease in a single large pedigree. Sixty-seven pedigree members carry a His107Pro mutation in the protein C gene, which reduces protein C levels to a mean of 46% of normal. Twenty-one carriers of the mutation and five other pedigree members had verified thromboembolic disease. We inferred the presence in this pedigree of a thrombosis-susceptibility gene interacting with protein C deficiency, by rejecting the hypothesis that the cases of thromboembolic disease resulted from protein C deficiency alone and by not rejecting Mendelian transmission of the interacting gene. When coinherited with protein C deficiency, the interacting gene conferred a probability of a thrombotic episode of approximately 79% for men and approximately 99% for women, before age 60 years

The influence of gender on functional outcomes of lower extremity bypass

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to evaluate the effect of gender on early and late procedural and functional outcomes of lower extremity bypass (LEB). METHODS: We reviewed the records of 2576 patients (828 women; 32%) who underwent LEB for claudication or critical limb ischemia (CLI) in the Vascular Study Group of New England from 2003 to 2010. Logistic regression and proportional hazards models were used to adjust for potential confounding differences between genders. Morbidity, mortality, graft patency, freedom from major amputation, ambulation, and living status were analyzed postoperatively and over 1 year. RESULTS: Women were older (70 vs 68 years; P \u3c .001), had more hypertension (89% vs 85%; P = .006), less coronary artery disease (35% vs 39%; P = .03), smoking (73% vs 88%; P \u3c .001), and preoperative statin use (60% vs 64%; P = .04). Women were more likely to have CLI (76% vs 71%; P = .003), and ambulate with assistance at presentation (19% vs 16%; P = .02). Morbidity was similar except women had higher rates of reoperation for thrombosis (4% vs 2%; P \u3c .001) without differences in major amputation (2% vs 1%; P = .13) or in-hospital mortality (1.7% vs 1.7%; P = .96). Women and men with claudication had similar 1-year graft patency rates. Women with CLI had lower rates of primary (hazard ratio [HR], 1.24; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-1.48; P = .02), assisted primary (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.15-1.76; P = .001) and secondary patency (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.10-1.77; P = .006) during the first year compared with men. Freedom from amputation was similar for men and women with CLI (HR, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.84-1.63; P = .36). There were no differences in late survival between women and men with claudication (HR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.60-1.31; P = .36) or CLI (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.81-1.09; P = .39). More female claudicants were not independently ambulatory at discharge (30% vs 19%; P = .002) and were discharged to a nursing home (15% vs 5%; P \u3c .001) but these differences did not persist at 1 year. Women with CLI were more likely to be nonambulatory at discharge (13% vs 9%; P = .006) and at 1 year (13% vs 8%; P \u3c .001). More women with CLI were discharged to a nursing home (44% vs 35%; P = .01) and resided there at 1 year (11% vs 7%; P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Women have complication rates similar to men with inferior early and late functional outcomes after LEB. The reduced patency rates in women with CLI did not translate into differences in limb salvage. These findings might help define physician and patient expectations for women before revascularization