Flight investigation of a vertical-velocity command system for VTOL aircraft

A flight investigation was undertaken to assess the potential benefits afforded by a vertical-velocity command system (VVCS) for VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) aircraft. This augmentation system was conceived primarily as a means of lowering pilot workload during decelerating approaches to a hover and/or landing under category III instrument meteorological conditions. The scope of the investigation included a determination of acceptable system parameters, a visual flight evaluation, and an instrument flight evaluation which employed a 10 deg, decelerating, simulated instrument approach task. The results indicated that the VVCS, which decouples the pitch and vertical degrees of freedom, provides more accurate glide-path tracking and a lower pilot workload than does the unaugmented system

Bonding machine for forming a solar array strip

A machine is described for attaching solar cells to a flexable substrate on which printed circuitry has been deposited. The strip is fed through: (1) a station in which solar cells are elevated into engagement with solder pads for the printed circuitry and thereafter heated by an infrared lamp; (2) a station at which flux and solder residue is removed; (3) a station at which electrical performance of the soldered cells is determined; (4) a station at which an encapsulating resin is deposited on the cells; (5) a station at which the encapsulated solar cells are examined for electrical performance; and (6) a final station at which the resulting array is wound on a takeup drum

Sistema de prevenção e combate a incêndios florestais no município de Campinas-SP.

A atividade agropecuária foi a grande responsável pela erradicação da cobertura florestal do Estado de São Paulo. Atualmente, uma das maiores ameaças aos remanescentes florestais é o risco de incêndios. Em Campinas-SP, a evolução do uso das terras acompanhou esta dinâmica. Hoje, esses remanescentes recobrem 2233 ha do Município, representando 2,8% da sua área total, distribuídos em 114 florestas que variam de 1 a 230 ha. Nos últimos 20 anos, a cobertura florestal se manteve estabilizada. São raríssimos os casos atuais de desmatamento, devido ao interesse dos proprietários em preservar essas áreas. Todavia, essas manchas isoladas de matas mesófilas não estão isentas à ocorrência de incêndios. eles destroem a vegetação, determinam uma nova fitodinâmica e levam, em geral, a uma regressão do potencial biológico dessas unidades, incluindo os povoamentos faunísticos. Entre as causas mais frequentes de incêndios estão as queimadas agrícolas em áreas vizinhas, a ação de piromaníacos, o comportamento irresponsável de transeuntes e a realização de cultos religiosos. Este trabalho inventariou todos os remanescentes florestais de Campinas-SP e elaborou um sistema de prevenção e combate a incêndios. Os resultados também estão disponíveis na Internet

From bottom landers to observatory networks

For a long time, deep-sea investigation relied on autonomous bottom landers. Landers can vary in size from 200 kg weight to more than 2 t for the heaviest scientific landers and are used during exploration cruises on medium periods, from one week to some months. Today, new requirements appear. Scientists want to understand in detail the phenomena outlined during exploration cruises, to elaborate a model for future forecasting. For this, it is necessary to deploy instrumentation at a precise location often for a long period. A new mode of ocean science investigation using longterm seafloor observatories to obtain four dimensional data sets has appeared. Although this concept has been proposed for many years, the high level of investment required limits the number of projects implemented. Only multidisciplinary programs, supported by a strong social requirement were funded. Some observatories have been deployed

Flight investigation of cockpit-displayed traffic information utilizing coded symbology in an advanced operational environment

Traffic symbology was encoded to provide additional information concerning the traffic, which was displayed on the pilot's electronic horizontal situation indicators (EHSI). A research airplane representing an advanced operational environment was used to assess the benefit of coded traffic symbology in a realistic work-load environment. Traffic scenarios, involving both conflict-free and conflict situations, were employed. Subjective pilot commentary was obtained through the use of a questionnaire and extensive pilot debriefings. These results grouped conveniently under two categories: display factors and task performance. A major item under the display factor category was the problem of display clutter. The primary contributors to clutter were the use of large map-scale factors, the use of traffic data blocks, and the presentation of more than a few airplanes. In terms of task performance, the cockpit-displayed traffic information was found to provide excellent overall situation awareness. Additionally, mile separation prescribed during these tests

Handling qualities of a wide-body transport airplane utilizing Pitch Active Control Systems (PACS) for relaxed static stability application

Piloted simulation studies have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of two pitch active control systems (PACS) on the flying qualities of a wide-body transport airplane when operating at negative static margins. These two pitch active control systems consisted of a simple 'near-term' PACS and a more complex 'advanced' PACS. Eight different flight conditions, representing the entire flight envelope, were evaluated with emphasis on the cruise flight conditions. These studies were made utilizing the Langley Visual/Motion Simulator (VMS) which has six degrees of freedom. The simulation tests indicated that (1) the flying qualities of the baseline aircraft (PACS off) for the cruise and other high-speed flight conditions were unacceptable at center-of-gravity positions aft of the neutral static stability point; (2) within the linear static stability flight envelope, the near-term PACS provided acceptable flying qualities for static stabilty margins to -3 percent; and (3) with the advanced PACS operative, the flying qualities were demonstrated to be good (satisfactory to very acceptable) for static stabilty margins to -20 percent

Universality of the Gunn effect: self-sustained oscillations mediated by solitary waves

The Gunn effect consists of time-periodic oscillations of the current flowing through an external purely resistive circuit mediated by solitary wave dynamics of the electric field on an attached appropriate semiconductor. By means of a new asymptotic analysis, it is argued that Gunn-like behavior occurs in specific classes of model equations. As an illustration, an example related to the constrained Cahn-Allen equation is analyzed.Comment: 4 pages,3 Post-Script figure

Psychometric Development of the Research and Knowledge Scale

BACKGROUND: Many research participants are misinformed about research terms, procedures, and goals; however, no validated instruments exist to assess individual\u27s comprehension of health-related research information. We propose research literacy as a concept that incorporates understanding about the purpose and nature of research. OBJECTIVES: We developed the Research and Knowledge Scale (RaKS) to measure research literacy in a culturally, literacy-sensitive manner. We describe its development and psychometric properties. RESEARCH DESIGN: Qualitative methods were used to assess perspectives of research participants and researchers. Literature and informed consent reviews were conducted to develop initial items. These data were used to develop initial domains and items of the RaKS, and expert panel reviews and cognitive pretesting were done to refine the scale. We conducted psychometric analyses to evaluate the scale. SUBJECTS: The cross-sectional survey was administered to a purposive community-based sample (n=430) using a Web-based data collection system and paper. MEASURES: We did classic theory testing on individual items and assessed test-retest reliability and Kuder-Richardson-20 for internal consistency. We conducted exploratory factor analysis and analysis of variance to assess differences in mean research literacy scores in sociodemographic subgroups. RESULTS: The RaKS is comprised of 16 items, with a Kuder-Richardson-20 estimate of 0.81 and test-retest reliability 0.84. There were differences in mean scale scores by race/ethnicity, age, education, income, and health literacy (all P \u3c 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides preliminary evidence for the reliability and validity of the RaKS. This scale can be used to measure research participants\u27 understanding about health-related research processes and identify areas to improve informed decision-making about research participation

Diurnal blood pressure pattern and development of prehypertension or hypertension in young adults: the CARDIA study

Nondippers (people whose sleep systolic blood pressure [SBP] fails to decrease >10% from daytime SBP) have increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The prevalence of nondipping in younger adults has not been well studied, nor has its value for predicting hypertension. We examined the prevalence of nondipping in a substudy of the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults (CARDIA) Study. We used Cox regression to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) conferred by nondipping for incident prehypertension or hypertension (preHTN/HTN) over 15 years. Of the 264 nonhypertensive participants at baseline, 118 (45%) were nondippers. Blacks were more likely than whites to be nondippers (52% versus 33%, P = .004). The incidence rate of preHTN/HTN was 29.2/1000 person-years among dippers and 36.2/1000 person-years among nondippers. Compared with those in the lowest quartile of nighttime to daytime SBP, those in the highest quartile were more likely to develop preHTN/HTN (HR 1.61; P = .06), but this relationship was attenuated after adjustment (HR 1.34; P = .27). Our results demonstrate that nondipping is common in young, nonhypertensive adults, and is more common in blacks than whites. Nondipping might predate a meaningful clinically detected increase in BP in some people, but more research in larger study samples is needed

Trouble in Paradise - A disabled person's right to the satisfaction of a self-defined need:Some conceptual and practical problems

This paper questions the usefulness of the rights-based approach to ameliorating the social situation of disabled people in Britain and advances two criticisms. First, that rights and self-de? ned needs have been under-theorised by disability theorists to the extent that they have insuf? ciently appreciated the problems that these approaches pose. The paper suggests that rights to appropriate resources to satisfy self-de? ned needs will generate vast numbers of competing rights claims and that the resulting tendency of rights to con? ict has been under-appreciated. Secondly, that there has been little consideration of how these con? icts might be reconciled. The ? rst two sections of the paper look at the concepts of ascribed and self-de? ned needs, respectively, whilst the ? nal one looks at some of the problems of the rights approach and some of the dif? culties of making self-de? ned need the basis of rights claims