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

Exchange Effects and CIDEP

Väitöskirjassa on tutkittu tilastollisen koesuunnittelun teoriaa. Koesuunnittelua tarvitaan, kun tilastollisiin mittauksiin on käytettävissä vain rajallinen määrä resursseja mutta samalla kuitenkin halutaan luotettavaa tietoa. Tutkimuksen kolmessa ensimmäisessä artikkelissa on kehitetty koesuunnitelmia satunnaiskertoimisille regressiomalleille. Malleja voidaan soveltaa, kun tehdään usealle yksilölle peräkkäisiä mittauksia, esimerkiksi eri aikapisteissä. Väitöskirjan artikkeleissa sovelluskohteena ovat olleet puiden rungot, joista on mitattu läpimittoja eri korkeuksilla. Kutakin yksilöä, tässä tapauksessa puunrunkoa, vastaavat omat regressiomallin kertoimet. Koesuunnitelma käsittää tiedon siitä, miten mittausten määrä jakaantuu eri yksilöiden välillä ja yksilöiden sisäisesti. Tavoitteena on joko arvioida mallin keskimääräiset parametrit mahdollisimman tarkasti tai ennustaa uusia havaintoarvoja. Ensimmäisessä artikkelissa on ennustealue on sama kuin havaintoväli ja toisessa se on havaintovälin ulkopuolella. Kolmannessa artikkelissa on esillä käänteisennusteongelma, kun halutaan arvioida pistettä, jossa vastemuuttuja, esim. puun läpimitta, saavuttaa tietyn tason. Koesuunnitelmia vertaillaan keskenään käyttämällä erilaisia optimaalisuuskriteereitä. Kolmannessa ja neljännessä väitöskirjan artikkelissa tarkastellaan DS-kriteeriä, jota on tutkittu vain vähän tähän mennessä. DS-kriteeri on siinä mielessä yleinen, että koesuunnitelman ollessa DS-optimaalinen se on optimaalinen myös monen perinteisen optimaalisuuskriteerin suhteen. Yleensä DS-optimaalista suunnitelmaa ei ole olemassa, mutta suunnitelmia voidaan parantaa DS-kriteerin suhteen. Tutkimuksessa on rajoituttu yksinkertaisiin polynomimalleihin, joten lisätutkimus on tarpeen DS-kriteerin käytöstä laajemmissa yhteyksissä.The thesis consists of five papers and a summary. It has two main themes in the area of experimental design. Firstly, optimal designs for estimation, prediction and inverse prediction are developed in random coefficient linear regression models. Mainly first-degree models are dealt with. The results can be applied in repeated measurements situations. Secondly, a relatively new design criterion, the distance optimality criterion, is introduced. Its properties are studied and some results in estimation and prediction problems deduced. The criterion can be used to find optimal designs or to improve designs in polynomial regression models. It has interesting relations to traditional D- and E-optimality criteria

Quantifying Signpost Usage by Captive Male White-Tailed Deer

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) use rubbing of signpost structures to communicate during the breeding season. Rubbing of signpost structures allows deer to communicate via visual and chemical cues, which allows them to establish dominance hierarchies and maintain hierarchal status throughout the breeding season (Moore and Marchinton 1974, Miller et al. 1981, Hewitt 2011). Once a living tree is rubbed, the exposed light-colored sapwood creates a stark contrast in wooded areas, increasing visibility and further enticing deer to investigate the structure (Oehler et al. 1995). Anatomically, the tubular apocrine sudoriferous glands of white-tailed deer are located at the antler base on the forehead (Atkeson and Marchinton 1982), which creates a challenge when depositing gland secretions to either vertical or horizontal signposts. When at the rub, chemical communication ensues via olfactory senses because of the unique gland secretions deposited from the tubular apocrine sudoriferous glands (Atkeson and Marchinton 1982). Signpost communication via secretions allows males and females to gather reproductive information, leading to potential breeding opportunities (Sawyer et al. 1989, Miller et al. 1991). Signpost communication is important during the breeding season because male breeding success is limited by breeding attempts, and using signpost structures increases the potential for a male to find a mate (Moore and Marchinton 1974)

Belligerent Targeting and the Invalidity of a Least Harmful Means Rule

The law of armed conflict provides the authority to use lethal force as a first resort against identified enemy belligerent operatives. There is virtually no disagreement with the rule that once an enemy belligerent becomes hors de combat — what a soldier would recognizes as “combat ineffective” — this authority to employ deadly force terminates. Recently, however, some have forcefully asserted that the LOAC includes an obligation to capture in lieu of employing deadly force whenever doing so presents no meaningful risk to attacking forces, even when the enemy belligerent is neither physically disabled or manifesting surrender. Proponents of this obligation to capture rather than kill, or use the least harmful means to incapacitate enemy belligerents, do not contest the general authority to employ deadly force derived from belligerent status determinations. Instead, they insist that the conditions that rebut this presumptive attack authority are broader than the traditional understanding of the meaning of hors de combat embraced by military experts, and include any situation where an enemy belligerent who has yet to be rendered physically incapable of engaging in hostilities may be subdued without subjecting friendly forces to significant risk of harm. This essay offers our collective and — we hope — comprehensive rebuttal of this least harmful means LOAC interpretation. First, Section I reviews the fundamental principles of the LOAC that permit status-based attacks against enemy belligerents with combat power highly likely to cause death unless and until the enemy is rendered physically incapable of participating in hostilities. Section II thoroughly analyzes the affirmative prohibitions on the use of force that the LOAC — and specifically Additional Protocol I — does require, and also highlights what Additional Protocol I does not require. In particular, the fact that Additional Protocol I — by any account the most humanitarian-oriented LOAC treaty ever developed — did not impose any affirmative least harmful means obligation vis à vis belligerents undermines any assertion that such an obligation may be derived from the positive LOAC. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Section III emphasizes how this least harmful means concept, especially when derived from an expanded interpretation of the meaning of the concept of hors de combat, is fundamentally inconsistent with the tactical, operational, and strategic objectives that dictate employment of military power. The LOAC must, as it has historically, remain rationally grounded in the realities of warfare. We are confident that anyone grappling with this issue understands that decisions related to the employment of combat power are not resolved in the quiet and safe confines of law libraries, academic conferences, or even courtrooms; they are resolved in the intensely demanding situations into which our nation thrusts our armed forces. The law must, as it always has, remain animated by the realities of warfare in the effort to strike a continuing credible balance between the authority to prevail on the battlefield and humanitarian objective of limiting unnecessary suffering. The clarity of the existing paradigm achieves that goal and does not include any legal obligation to use the least harmful means in targeting enemy belligerent personnel

Surface Studies of Oxidation of a Single-Grain Quasicrystal

We have used Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) to characterize the surface properties of a single-grain Al70Pd21Mn9 (APM) quasicrystal (QC) upon oxidation. When oxygen is adsorbed on this surface, a disordered layer is formed at low coverages. This chemisorbed oxygen destroys the five-fold quasiperiodicity completely. Further adsorption of oxygen leads to a thin layer (less than 20 A) of AI oxide which passivates the surface. At elevated temperatures (870 K), adsorption of oxygen induces an enrichment of AI on the surface. This is explained by the exothermicity of its oxide and the possibility of increased mobility of AI at higher temperatures. Al is the only element in this QC which can be oxidized. No evidence of oxidization for Pd and Mn is observed

Towards A Direct Detection of the Spin of Dark Matter

We investigate the contribution of higher spin particles in the signal of direct detection experiments searching for dark matter. We consider a bosonic or fermionic higher spin dark matter (HSDM) candidate which interacts with the Standard Model via a dark U(1) mediator. For a particular subclass of interactions, spin-polarized targets may be used for spin determination: The angular dependence of scatterings can distinguish integer (spin-$s$) vs. half-integer (spin-$s + 1/2$), while the recoil energy dependence of the signal determines $s$. We consider also the signal of a supersymmetric higher spin dark sector, which suggests a characteristic signal (''SUSY Rilles'') for directional direct detection.Comment: Matches published version in PL