Flight test evaluation of a separate surface attitude command control system on a Beech 99 airplane

A joint NASA/university/industry program was conducted to flight evaluate a potentially low cost separate surface implementation of attitude command in a Beech 99 airplane. Saturation of the separate surfaces was the primary cause of many problems during development. Six experienced professional pilots who made simulated instrument flight evaluations experienced improvements in airplane handling qualities in the presence of turbulence and a reduction in pilot workload. For ride quality, quantitative data show that the attitude command control system results in all cases of airplane motion being removed from the uncomfortable ride region

Surrogate Models and Mixtures of Experts in Aerodynamic Performance Prediction for Mission Analysis

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/140436/1/6.2014-2301.pd

Closer look at the flight dynamics of wings with non-elliptic lift distributions

Prandtl’s alternative solution for wings with minimum induced drag opens another route for improving aircraft performance especially at the conceptual design phase. In this work, the lateral-directional characteristics of such wings are studied for a glider use case from a per-spective that focuses on pro verse yaw and handling qualities. The authors propose an aileron design methodology that ensures roll authority and proverse yaw characteristics. The resultsshow that these conditions cannot be satisfied by a conventional Elliptic configuration, whereaswings with non-elliptic distributions provide several solutions. Non-linear flight dynamic mod-els of the configurations that provided maximum proverse yaw were assessed in an engineering simulator and compared against the baseline Elliptic case. Proverse yaw was observed in thesimulation data and pilot feedback indicated improved handling qualities in the non-elliptic cases. However, the inherent directional instability combined with other lateral-directional coupling effects masked the observations from the pilot’s perspective

Mapping Determinants of Gene Expression Plasticity by Genetical Genomics in C. elegans

Recent genetical genomics studies have provided intimate views on gene regulatory networks. Gene expression variations between genetically different individuals have been mapped to the causal regulatory regions, termed expression quantitative trait loci. Whether the environment-induced plastic response of gene expression also shows heritable difference has not yet been studied. Here we show that differential expression induced by temperatures of 16 °C and 24 °C has a strong genetic component in Caenorhabditis elegans recombinant inbred strains derived from a cross between strains CB4856 (Hawaii) and N2 (Bristol). No less than 59% of 308 trans-acting genes showed a significant eQTL-by-environment interaction, here termed plasticity quantitative trait loci. In contrast, only 8% of an estimated 188 cis-acting genes showed such interaction. This indicates that heritable differences in plastic responses of gene expression are largely regulated in trans. This regulation is spread over many different regulators. However, for one group of trans-genes we found prominent evidence for a common master regulator: a transband of 66 coregulated genes appeared at 24 °C. Our results suggest widespread genetic variation of differential expression responses to environmental impacts and demonstrate the potential of genetical genomics for mapping the molecular determinants of phenotypic plasticity

Profiles of Parental Burnout Around the Globe: Similarities and Differences Across 36 Countries

Parental burnout (PB) is a pervasive phenomenon. Parenting is embedded in cultural values, and previous research has shown the role of individualism in PB. In this paper, we reanalyze previously collected data to identify profiles based on the four dimensions of PB, and explore whether these profiles vary across countries' levels of collectivistic-individualistic (COL-IND) values. Our sample comprised 16,885 individuals from 36 countries (73% women; 27% men), and we used a latent profile approach to uncover PB profiles. The findings showed five profiles: Fulfilled, Not in PB, Low risk of PB, High risk of PB and Burned out. The profiles pointed to climbing levels of PB in the total sample and in each of the three country groups (High COL/Low IND, Medium COL-IND, Low COL/High IND). Exploratory analyses revealed that distinct dimensions of PB had the most prominent roles in the climbing pattern, depending on the countries' levels of COL/IND. In particular, we found contrast to be a hallmark dimension and an indicator of severe burnout for individualistic countries. Contrary to our predictions, emotional distance and saturation did not allow a clear differentiation across collectivistic countries. Our findings support several research avenues regarding PB measurement and intervention

Parental Burnout Around the Globe: a 42-Country Study

High levels of stress in the parenting domain can lead to parental burnout, a condition that has severe consequences for both parents and children. It is not yet clear, however, whether parental burnout varies by culture, and if so, why it might do so. In this study, we examined the prevalence of parental burnout in 42 countries (17,409 parents; 71% mothers; M_{age} = 39.20) and showed that the prevalence of parental burnout varies dramatically across countries. Analyses of cultural values revealed that individualistic cultures, in particular, displayed a noticeably higher prevalence and mean level of parental burnout. Indeed, individualism plays a larger role in parental burnout than either economic inequalities across countries, or any other individual and family characteristic examined so far, including the number and age of children and the number of hours spent with them. These results suggest that cultural values in Western countries may put parents under heightened levels of stress

Molecular cloning and nucleotide sequence of the human growth hormone structural gene.

An almost complete cDNA copy of human growth hormone has been cloned and sequenced. The nucleotide sequence confirms the known protein sequence and predicts the sequence of a precursor region of 26 amino acids. We have compared the nucleotide sequence to that for the homolgous proteins, rat growth hormone and human chorionic somatomammotropin (Seeburg et al. and Shine et al., Nature 270, 486 (1977)). There appears to be evolutionary conservation of mRNA sequence features not related to protein structure