Emission Characteristics of an Axially Staged Sector Combustor for a Small Core High OPR Subsonic Aircraft Engine

This paper presents the nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter emissions of a single sector axially staged combustor sector designed and fabricated by United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) in partnership with NASA under a compact low-emissions combustor contract supported by the NASA Advanced Air Transport Technology (AATT) N+3 project. The test was conducted at NASA Glenn Research Center's CE-5 combustion test facility. The facility provided inlet air temperatures up to 922 K and pressures up to 19.0 bar. The combustor design concept, called Axially Controlled Stoichiometry (ACS), was developed by Pratt & Whitney (P&W) under NASA's Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) program for an N+2 combustor for use in twin-aisle subsonic aircraft engines. Under the N+3 project the ACS combustor was scaled-down for application to small-core N+3 engines for use in single-aisle aircraft. The results show that the NOx and CO emissions characteristics are similar in both the N+2 and N+3 applications. The non-volatile particulate matter (nvPM) emissions trends are similar to CO emissions with an exception at high fuel-air ratio, as inlet air temperature and pressure conditions change from taxi to approach. Three NOx correlation equations are generated to describe theNOx emissions of this combustor. The percentage landing and takeoff (LTO) NOx reduction of the N+3 ACS combustor is between 82% and 89% relative to the ICAO CAEP/6 standard, which meets the NASA N+3 goal of exceeding 80% LTO NOx reduction

Spatially generalizable representations of facial expressions: Decoding across partial face samples

A network of cortical and sub-cortical regions is known to be important in the processing of facial expression. However, to date no study has investigated whether representations of facial expressions present in this network permit generalization across independent samples of face information (e.g. eye region Vs mouth region). We presented participants with partial face samples of five expression categories in a rapid event-related fMRI experiment. We reveal a network of face sensitive regions that contain information about facial expression categories regardless of which part of the face is presented. We further reveal that the neural information present in a subset of these regions: dorsal prefrontal cortex (dPFC), superior temporal sulcus (STS), lateral occipital and ventral temporal cortex, and even early visual cortex, enables reliable generalization across independent visual inputs (faces depicting the 'eyes only' versus 'eyes removed'). Furthermore, classification performance was correlated to behavioral performance in STS and dPFC. Our results demonstrate that both higher (e.g. STS, dPFC) and lower level cortical regions contain information useful for facial expression decoding that go beyond the visual information presented, and implicate a key role for contextual mechanisms such as cortical feedback in facial expression perception under challenging conditions of visual occlusion

An evaluation of paediatric tinnitus services in UK National Health Service audiology departments

© 2020 The Author(s). Background: Whilst evidence indicates many children experience troublesome tinnitus, specialist services for children are far less established than those available for adults. To date, there is limited understanding of how paediatric tinnitus is managed in the UK, and to what extent current practice reflects what is recommended. This service evaluation aimed to 1) profile how tinnitus in children is managed in UK clinical practice, and assess to what extent care provided by services reflects advice included in the British Society of Audiology (BSA) Tinnitus in Children Practice Guidance, 2) collate clinician opinions on how services may be optimised, and 3) identify common problems experienced by children who present with bothersome tinnitus in clinic. Methods: As part of a larger survey, eight questions regarding services for paediatric tinnitus were distributed to UK NHS audiology services via email and social media. Representatives from eighty-seven services responded between July and September 2017. Results: Fifty-three percent of respondents reported that their department provided a paediatric tinnitus service. Among these services, there was widespread use of most BSA recommended assessments and treatments. Less widely used practices were the assessment of mental health (42%), and the use of psychological treatment approaches; cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) (28%), mindfulness (28%), and narrative therapy (14%). There was varied use of measurement tools to assess tinnitus in children, and a minority of respondents reported using adult tinnitus questionnaires with children. Frequently reported tinnitus-related problems presented by children were sleep difficulties, concentration difficulties at school, situation-specific concentration difficulties, and emotional distress. Conclusions: Approaches used to manage children with troublesome tinnitus in UK NHS services are largely consistent and reflective of the current practice guidance. However, findings from this study indicate specialist staff training, access to child-specific tools, and the treatment and referral of children with tinnitus-related psychological problems represent key areas in need of optimisation

A model for assessing water quality risk in catchments prone to wildfire

Post-fire debris flows can have erosion rates up to three orders of magnitude higher than background rates. They are major sources of fine suspended sediment, which is critical to the safety of water supply from forested catchments. Fire can cover parts or all of these large catchments and burn severity is often heterogeneous. The probability of spatial and temporal overlap of fire disturbance and rainfall events, and the susceptibility of hillslopes to severe erosion determine the risk to water quality. Here we present a model to calculate recurrence intervals of high magnitude sediment delivery from runoff-generated debris flows to a reservoir in a large catchment (>100 km2) accounting for heterogeneous burn conditions. Debris flow initiation was modelled with indicators of surface runoff and soil surface erodibility. Debris flow volume was calculated with an empirical model, and fine sediment delivery was calculated using simple, expert-based assumptions. In a Monte-Carlo simulation, wildfire was modelled with a fire spread model using historic data on weather and ignition probabilities for a forested catchment in central Victoria, Australia. Multiple high intensity storms covering the study catchment were simulated using Intensity–Frequency–Duration relationships, and the runoff indicator calculated with a runoff model for hillslopes. A sensitivity analysis showed that fine sediment is most sensitive to variables related to the texture of the source material, debris flow volume estimation, and the proportion of fine sediment transported to the reservoir. As a measure of indirect validation, denudation rates of 4.6–28.5 mm ka−1 were estimated and compared well to other studies in the region. From the results it was extrapolated that in the absence of fire management intervention the critical sediment concentrations in the studied reservoir could be exceeded in intervals of 18–124 years

Takeaway meal consumption and risk markers for coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity in children aged 9-10 years: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate associations between takeaway meal consumption and risk markers for coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and obesity risk markers in children. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, school-based observational study. SETTING: 85 primary schools across London, Birmingham and Leicester. PARTICIPANTS: 1948 UK primary school children in year 5, aged 9-10 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Children reported their frequency of takeaway meal consumption, completed a 24-hour dietary recall, had physical measurements and provided a fasting blood sample. RESULTS: Among 1948 participants with complete data, 499 (26%) never/hardly ever consumed a takeaway meal, 894 (46%) did so <1/week and 555 (28%) did ≥1/week. In models adjusted for age, sex, month, school, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, more frequent takeaway meal consumption was associated with higher dietary intakes of energy, fat % energy and saturated fat % energy and higher energy density (all P trend <0.001) and lower starch, protein and micronutrient intakes (all P trend <0.05). A higher frequency of takeaway meal consumption was associated with higher serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (P trend=0.04, 0.01, respectively); children eating a takeaway meal ≥1/week had total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol 0.09 mmol/L (95% CI 0.01 to 0.18) and 0.10 mmol/L (95% CI 0.02 to 0.18) higher respectively than children never/hardly ever eating a takeaway meal; their fat mass index was also higher. CONCLUSIONS: More frequent takeaway meal consumption in children was associated with unhealthy dietary nutrient intake patterns and potentially with adverse longer term consequences for obesity and coronary heart disease risk

Studies Needed to Address Public Health Challenges of the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic: Insights from Modeling

In light of the 2009 influenza pandemic and potential future pandemics, Maria Van Kerkhove and colleagues anticipate six public health challenges and the data needed to support sound public health decision making.The authors acknowledge support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (MDVK, CF, NMF); Royal Society (CF); Medical Research Council (MDVK, CF, PJW, NMF); EU FP7 programme (NMF); UK Health Protection Agency (PJW); US National Institutes of Health Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study program through cooperative agreement 1U54GM088588 (ML); NIH Director's Pioneer Award, DP1-OD000490-01 (DS); EU FP7 grant EMPERIE 223498 (DS); the Wellcome Trust (DS); 3R01TW008246-01S1 from Fogerty International Center and RAPIDD program from Fogerty International Center with the Science & Technology Directorate, Department of Homeland Security (SR); and the Institut de Veille Sanitaire Sanitaire funded by the French Ministry of Health (J-CD). The funders played no role in the decision to submit the article or in its preparation

Adults With Complex Congenital Heart Disease: Cerebrovascular Considerations for the Neurologist

As infant and childhood mortality has decreased in congenital heart disease, this population is increasingly reaching adulthood. Adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) represent a group with increased risk of stroke, silent brain infarcts, and vascular cognitive impairment. Cyanotic and other complex cardiac lesions confer the greatest risk of these cerebrovascular insults. ACHD patients, in addition to having an increased risk of stroke from structural cardiac issues and associated physiological changes, may have an accelerated burden of conventional vascular risk factors, including hypertension and impaired glucose metabolism. Adult neurologists should be aware of the risks of clinically evident and subclinical cerebrovascular disease in this population. We review the existing evidence on primary and secondary stroke prevention in individuals with complex congenital heart disease, and identify knowledge gaps in need of further research, including treatment of acute stroke in this population. Multisystemic genetic syndromes are outside the scope of this review

Duration of wrinkle correction following repeat treatment with Juvéderm hyaluronic acid fillers

Many patients elect to have repeat treatments with hyaluronic acid dermal fillers to maintain wrinkle correction, but the clinical performance of these products after repeat treatments has not been formally assessed. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Juvéderm injectable gel (Juvéderm Ultra, Juvéderm Ultra Plus, and Juvéderm 30) through 1 year after repeat treatment of nasolabial folds (NLFs) that were previously treated with Juvéderm or Zyplast 6–9 months prior to the repeat treatment. Upon completion of the pivotal IDE clinical trial for Juvéderm, five of the original 11 study sites were selected to participate in an extended follow-up evaluation, and a total of 80 subjects were enrolled. For the Juvéderm-treated NLFs in each treatment group, the median injection volume was 1.5–1.6 mL for initial treatment but only 0.5–0.6 mL for the repeat treatment (p < 0.0001). Mean Investigator-assigned NLF severity scores on a scale of 0–4 for the Juvéderm-treated NLFs improved from 2.5–2.7 (moderate to severe) at baseline to 1.2–1.5 (mild) just prior to repeat treatment (>24 weeks) and 0.7–0.9 (mild) at 4 weeks after repeat treatment. At 48 weeks post-repeat treatment, the mean NLF scores were 1.1–1.3 (mild), and 78–90% of subjects were considered responders (≥1 point improvement). Thus, subjects sustained a total of 18–21 months of wrinkle correction with a repeat treatment at 6–9 months and needed substantially less filler (60% less) for repeat treatment than for initial treatment, indicating that retreatment at this timepoint may be beneficial to patients